April 20 - Holy Week

The resurrection of Jesus Christ is one doctrine in Christianity more than all others that have compelled either belief or scorn.  At the time no one, not even his disciples, believed that Jesus would rise from the dead.  Indeed, the primary taunt continually hurled at him during the agony of his torture was “If you really are the Christ, come down from there!  Can not he who is the ‘King of Israel’ save himself?”

In the crucifixion, God shows that far from abandoning his creation and steering clear of its brokenness, he embraces it in his death to redeem it.  Dorothy Sayers wrote, “God did not abolish the fact of evil: He transformed it.  He did not stop the crucifixion: He rose from the dead.” This is God’s way of redemption: His justice is seen in condemning the sin and cruelty of humanity.  His love is seen in taking that punishment upon himself through the gift of his Son. It was for this reason that the Apostle Paul wrote to the church at Corinth, “If there is no resurrection from the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.  And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.”

It is this remarkable love of God in Christ that we celebrate throughout Holy Week.  A love that, in the words of Zechariah the priest, “rescues us and frees us from fear, so that we might worship God with a holy worship, in his holy presence our whole life long.”

—MATT ALLHANDS