A Week Out of Time

So, why do we do all these services during Holy Week?

Why do we carry palms and branches in a procession on Palm Sunday?

Why do we stay and pray with Jesus after his death?

Why do we stay up late a night to be there when Jesus breaks the gates of Hades and rises from the grave?

 Is all of this just in remembrance of history 

or maybe a simple reenactment to help us understand what happened so many years ago?

NOPE. 

WE ARE THERE

.

at Lazarus' grave

as Jesus enters Jerusalem

in the garden with the disciples when Jesus is taken

at the foot of the cross when Jesus breathes his last

at the tomb when the women discover the stone rolled away

in the upper room when the disciples see the risen Jesus

Now I know, you are probably saying, "Those things happened way back in history. We are not in Jerusalem, we're in Massachusetts or New York! How can we be there and see all these things which already happened?"

Well I'll tell you.

Think back to every liturgy you've ever been to. What is the very first thing that the Priest says? (If you can't remember, ask your parents or look it up in your prayer books.)

Have you found it? Yup, that's right. he says:

"Blessed be the Kingdom"

Now why does he say such a thing? Is the priest just letting us know that the Kingdom (of heaven) is a nice place? And why is he talking about the Kingdom of Heaven anyway, I thought we were in our Church?

AH HA!

The Church during Liturgy is the Kingdom of Heaven.

When we have these services we are participating in the ways things will be in the Kingdom of Heaven. All the hymns and the prayers let us know that we aren't just at St. George's any more, we are also involved in something much bigger, something beyond time as we know it.

I'll let Dr. Who explain:

Things aren't always as simple as they appear to be. And that's pretty great for us because it means that when we are in Church, God allows us to be a part of something which we normally wouldn't be able to do: jump outside of time. 

So, what does this mean for Holy Week? 

Well it means that we didn't have to be in Jerusalem in 33 A.D. in order to participate in those events which changed the world forever. All these hundreds of years later, we still get the chance to be there and to see all those amazing things.

Quite often, if you listen, even just a little bit, during Church services you can hear clues which let you know that something very special is going on.

For instance, last Wednesday we heard:

"Lazarus is in the tomb two days, seeing the dead of all ages. . ."

Notice that this is in the present tense, not the past. 

Lazarus is dead now. And soon (very soon indeed) he will not be dead any more.

So lets stop thinking of Holy Week and Pascha as a time when we remember things which happened a long time ago, and. . .

Be there with those crowds on Pam Sunday!

Be there to weep with the Virgin Mary at the foot of the cross.

And be there with the women when they discover that Jesus Christ is not dead, 
but has Risen!!!