Holy Wednesday

The Bridge / Bricktown Campus

Holy Wednesday

Opening

Let's begin with a moment of silence, centering our minds, bodies, and hearts upon the Lord our God.

Quote

“Christ belongs to the lowly of heart, and not to those who would exalt themselves over His flock. The coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Scepter of God’s Majesty, was in no pomp of pride and haughtiness—as it could so well have been—but in self-abasement…” -St. Clement

Reflection

In two days, we usually meditate on the physical pain of Jesus’ crucifixion—the flogging, the crown of thorns, the slow asphyxiating agony of His death. But this pain is mingled inextricably with shame, betrayal, and the loss of a group of friends. These friends forsake each other and Christ, not because they fear death (most are willing to take part in a glorious-if-doomed Maccabean-style uprising) but because they fear dying like criminals. They fear being tarred with the same brush as their disgraced leader, rejected by Jews and Gentiles. Crucifixion is ignominy.

Humans are social beings, and Christ was fully human. His tradition, meanwhile, recognized that shame and backstabbing hurt more than physical torture. Isaiah’s speaker, the writer of Hebrews, and the psalmist are far more preoccupied with disgrace and betrayal than pain—the shame of others saying “Aha! Aha!”, beard-plucking, spitting, “hostility from sinners”—all of which come to a head in Jesus’ betrayal, rejection, and crucifixion.

Yet Christ “despised the shame” of the cross. What does that mean? He was certainly sensitive to that shame. The psalm He calls out from the cross (“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”) interprets disgrace and betrayal as signs that even God has betrayed the sufferer. Yet after assenting to Judas’ betrayal, on the way to having His body and reputation twisted beyond repair, Jesus says, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in Him.” Christ undergoes all this as the “Son of Man,” identifying with us in our shame and betrayal, to transform our absolute ignominy, uncleanness, and loneliness into occasions for glory. In despising the shame of the cross, Christ willingly experiences it to the uttermost, and God converts it to honor and praise.

Prayer

Lord God, whose blessed Son our Savior gave His body to be whipped and his face to be spit upon: Give us grace to accept joyfully the sufferings of the present time, confident of the glory that shall be revealed; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Reflective Practice

Reach out to the despised, rejected, the shamed in prayer and action. Focus on their social needs more than their physical needs (but meet these as well if you can). Which people in your family, social circles, or commute need most (or deserve least) to be treated as fellow humans or fellow Christians?

Read

John 13:21-32 - 21 After he had said this, Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified, “Very truly I tell you, one of you is going to betray me.”

22 His disciples stared at one another, at a loss to know which of them he meant. 23 One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was reclining next to him. 24 Simon Peter motioned to this disciple and said, “Ask him which one he means.”

25 Leaning back against Jesus, he asked him, “Lord, who is it?”

26 Jesus answered, “It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.” Then, dipping the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. 27 As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him.

So Jesus told him, “What you are about to do, do quickly.” 28 But no one at the meal understood why Jesus said this to him. 29 Since Judas had charge of the money, some thought Jesus was telling him to buy what was needed for the festival, or to give something to the poor. 30 As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out. And it was night.

31 When he was gone, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified and God is glorified in him. 32 If God is glorified in him, God will glorify the Son in himself, and will glorify him at once.

Easter Sunday

Opening Let's begin with a moment of silence, centering our minds, bodies, and hearts upon the Lord our God. Quote “All who truly believe in Christ and cleave to Him with all their soul, are changed into his image by the power of his Resurrection.” -St. Theophan the Recluse Reflection “I have seen the Lord!” In just five words, Mary Magdalene points us not only to the aim and destination of this Lenten season but also to the entire purpose of human existence. To live is to see the Lord, encountering the living and resurrected Christ in all His mystery and wonder. Any act of devotion, practice of prayer, or habit of faith is meant to lead you to a single destination: Jesus Christ. If you’ve made it to the end of the season of Lent, it has undoubtedly been filled with life’s ups and downs—moments of great joy and wonder interwoven with unexpected pain and acute loss. Life is never an easily-distinguished season of joy or sorrow. Instead, we live in the tension of multiple emotions and realities. Thus, our “return” to the Lord is never simple or straightforward. We must contend daily with the sickness within while simultaneously longing for the healing that comes from above. Today, on Resurrection Sunday, we return to the empty tomb, looking back at a singular moment that changed the very fabric of creation itself. Yet we also look ahead to the righting of every wrong, the return of our Lord in glory to heal the world. And in the space between glory and glory, the everyday realities of our lives, we return daily, learning to see Jesus today as more beautiful and worthy of unceasing devotion than He was the day before. And so, having completed our journey of returning to our Lord, let us now cleave to Him with all our might, seeking “the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God” (Col 3:1). Prayer O God, who for our redemption gave Your only-begotten Son to the death of the cross, and by His glorious resurrection delivered us from the power of our enemy: Grant us so to die daily to sin, that we may evermore live with Him in the joy of His resurrection; through Jesus Christ Your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. Reflective Practice Though our Lenten journey is now complete, our life with Christ is just beginning! Reflect on the ways the Lord has met you in this journey, showing you great mercy, and continue to live daily in His love, returning to Him with a heart of repentance, gratitude, and unceasing devotion. Read John 20:1-18 - Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2 So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!” 3 So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 4 Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7 as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. 8 Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. 9 (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) 10 Then the disciples went back to where they were staying. 11 Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12 and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. 13 They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?” “They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” 14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. 15 He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?” Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”). 17 Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” 18 Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.

Holy Saturday

Opening Let's begin with a moment of silence, centering our minds, bodies, and hearts upon the Lord our God. Quote “I said to my soul, be still, and wait without hope For hope would be hope for the wrong thing; wait without love, For love would be love of the wrong thing; there is yet faith But the faith and the love and the hope are all in the waiting.” -T.S. Eliot Reflection Holy Saturday has always been a strange day for me. Lent is technically over, but Easter is not yet here. The death of Christ has been remembered but not His resurrection. If God or the early church had consulted someone before arranging the calendar, they might have been told, “Better to strike while the iron is hot. Just when everyone’s emotions at Jesus’ death are at their highest pitch—the next day is the time to celebrate the Resurrection.” Instead, we have this in-between space, the Sabbath when Jesus’ body rested, a hiatus between mourning and celebration. What should we do with it? Early Christians associated this day with Christ’s descent to Sheol, or Hades, where, in Peter’s words, He “preached even to those who are dead,” freeing righteous souls by conquering death from the inside: “trampling down death by death.” The Bible doesn’t spell this out, but whatever Christ’s soul was doing while He lay entombed, it remained separate from His body. This is the time when Christ was dead. And, unless He died (and stayed dead for a space of time), Christ could not overturn death itself. In many ways, then, part of our redemption occurs today, for most of us will also spend time separate from our bodies. But Holy Saturday also feels awkward because it symbolizes the uncertain place most of us occupy. Like Jesus’ cowering or scattered followers (or the writer of Lamentations), we do not understand what God is invisibly doing when He dashes our hopes. We’re confused about the shattered images of God in our lives, good things that have been broken and buried. Scriptures bear witness that even in confusion, we can trust that He has defeated death, even if we do not notice it yet. As we trust, we must wait. Prayer O God, Creator of heaven and earth: Grant that, as the crucified body of your dear Son was laid in the tomb and rested on this holy Sabbath, so we may await with Him the coming of the third day, and rise with Him to newness of life; who now lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen. Reflective Practice Find an icon of the Resurrection or the Harrowing of Hell and draw or trace it, meditating on it as you do so. Read John 19:38-42 - 38 Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jewish leaders. With Pilate’s permission, he came and took the body away. 39 He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds. 40 Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs. 41 At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid. 42 Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.

Good Friday

Opening Let's begin with a moment of silence, centering our minds, bodies, and hearts upon the Lord our God. Quote “Even on the cross he did not hide himself from sight; rather, he made all creation witness to the presence of its Maker.” -St. Athanasius Reflection Today Christ is “exalted” and “lifted up” (Isa 52:15). A routine yet brutal execution, witnessed by a handful of people, is somehow a display for the world. But of what? The pattern of God’s self-giving love has been public knowledge since before the prophets, going back to Abraham, Noah, the Garden of Eden—as far back as God’s words and deeds toward His creation stretch. The covenants. The sacrifices. The Servant described in Isaiah. The sign over Jesus’ cross makes it plain, in several languages: This is the King of the Jews. The one who shows the world that God is in charge. But no one expected this. A cross with God on it? No one would have imagined it. And yet, all these prophecies and signs are fulfilled. It is finished. All of history bends toward Jesus as He suffers and dies. The fountain from which creation sprang is now revealed, love utterly poured out. Jesus is showing us how God gives, how God is, the essence of God’s authority. In the moment, we don’t see it. But eventually, in retrospect, we do: Jesus Christ is the Lord of all, the center of reality. No matter how long we have known the Lord, His ways are still deeper, more mysterious, more beautiful. They change our definitions of wisdom and power, what it means to love, to be His Beloved. There is so much that can be said about where the Gospel takes us today and where it leaves us. But if those words don’t lead us to awed silence, then perhaps they are not the right words. Prayer Almighty God, we pray You graciously behold this your family, for whom our Lord Jesus Christ was willing to be betrayed, and given into the hands of sinners, and to suffer death upon the cross; who now lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen. Reflective Practice Consider deepening your fast today—whatever might make extra room in your day for silence and quiet of heart. Spend as much time as you’re able in silent reflection or prayer. Breathe deeply. Remember Christ on the cross. Remind yourself that this is your Lord. Read John 18 + 19