Are You Ready for Holy Week?
Time flies. Christmas, the New Year celebrations and Chinese New Year came and went by in a flash. And if we’re not careful, Holy Week will sneak up on us and zip by, just another blip on our very busy calendars.
Which would be a tragic shame.
Holy Week is the most important and solemn time of the Christian calendar. It is at the heart of what all Christians believe. Holy Week focuses on the single most important event in the Bible, and in the history of the world - the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.
It is no exaggeration to say that Holy Week is what the entire Old Testament anticipates, and what the rest of the New Testament expands and teaches on.
It is therefore profitable for us to pause and ponder on how we should prepare ourselves for Holy Week, and I suggest the following three steps:
1. Read the Bible
Start by understanding the significance of Holy Week. Holy Week recounts the events leading up to Jesus’ death and resurrection, and are described in all four Gospel accounts - Matthew 21-28, Mark 11-16, Luke 19-24, and John 12-20. Prayerful reading of these passages will remind us of the Holy Week events and the significance of the resurrection.
2. Reflect on Christ’s Mercy
Contemplate Christ’s humility, His atonement on the cross, His victory over death, and the hope and salvation that His resurrection brings. As you read each passage of scripture, ask yourself two questions:
“What does this teach me about God?”
“What does this teach me about Man (me)?”
3. Holy Week services
The four services are on Palm Sunday (24th March), Maundy Thursday (28th March), Good Friday (29th March) and Easter (Resurrection) Sunday (31st March). Each service is distinctive and reflects different aspects of Christ’s journey to the cross and His resurrection. Attending these services will help us better understand the significance of Holy Week.
From a broad perspective, there’s nothing intrinsically special about “Holy Week” that makes it “holier” than any other.
However, in the chaos of our increasingly hectic society, Holy Week reminds us to pause and ponder, and not let this greatest of all weeks fly by us like every other. Celebrating Holy Week is an opportunity for us to walk together with the universal church of Christ across the world and across time, through the most important week in human history.
May God make this Holy Week special for you in a deeply personal way. As you journey with Christ from Palm Sunday to His sacrifice on Good Friday and to the triumph of Easter Sunday, may you know afresh His love for you and be filled with His fullness. May our participation in the events of Holy Week draw us into deeper union with each other and with the Lord, that we might share in His glory and shine as His witnesses to the world.
Eugel Yeo
Associate Lay Leader
