Holy Tuesday

The Bridge / Bricktown Campus

Holy Tuesday

Opening

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

Quote

“God loves us more than a father, mother, friend, or any else could love, and even more than we are able to love ourselves.” -St. John Chrysostom

Reflection

“God loves you and is here to save you” expresses Jesus’ whole earthly life. The problem is, God’s people are used to this message. They’ve heard it for hundreds of years. Even the best, the truest things, can become par for the course. Oh, yes, I know this one. We see the Sunday school answers coming way ahead.

Does the truth get stale? Or do we?

One of the paradoxes about the Word is that He is not only unimaginably ancient and unchanging but also eternally fresh, like a rushing mountain spring. G.K. Chesterton suggests we can see God’s tireless joy even in the cycles of nature. When God makes yet another daisy or another day, it’s as if He’s saying, “Do it again.” Maybe one of the greatest tragedies of the Fall that Jesus comes to deliver us from is not what we do but what we lack: sensitive hearts easy to delight, easy to break with sorrow and beauty, commitment and love—the fullness of joy.

The Lord says it again. Except, this time, “God loves you and is here to save you” comes in His own Nazarene accent, with his eyes looking into each of our own. He knows we’ll reject this offer, as we rejected the prophets who came before, and will kill it and bury it in the ground. To become sensitized to divine love is too painful. But we don’t know that what we reject is a seed God will plant. God will “do it again,” patiently, turning our rejection into a new harvest of love.

Prayer

O God, by the passion of your blessed Son you made an instrument of shameful death to be for us the means of life: Grant us so to glory in the cross of Christ, that we may gladly suffer shame and loss for the sake of your Son our Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Reflective Practice

This week, as you read Scripture, don’t rush or feel pressure to read every passage. As soon as something sounds strange or fresh, or moves you, or puzzles you, stop there. Stay there for the rest of your reflection time. Ask the living Lord what He might be saying to you or inviting you to notice.

Read

John 12:20-36 - 20 Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the festival. 21 They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. “Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Jesus.” 22 Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus.

23 Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. 25 Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.

27 “Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name!”

Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.” 29 The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him.

30 Jesus said, “This voice was for your benefit, not mine. 31 Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. 32 And I, when I am lifted up] from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” 33 He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die.

34 The crowd spoke up, “We have heard from the Law that the Messiah will remain forever, so how can you say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this ‘Son of Man’?”

35 Then Jesus told them, “You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. Whoever walks in the dark does not know where they are going. 36 Believe in the light while you have the light, so that you may become children of light.” When he had finished speaking, Jesus left and hid himself from them.

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