By Colleen Leonard, archived

I love the Lord, because he has heard my voice and my supplications. Because he inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live.

Jesus entered Jerusalem and in doing so began the last week of his early life. Christians now call this week “Holy Week.”

The week included a process of praise, daily teaching in the temple, the Passover meal, and the beginning of what we now call the Lord’s Supper. Jesus’ week included betrayal by one disciple, denial by another, illegal trials, and scourging, Then, Jesus was crucified unjustly.

The week was full of irony.

Holy Week is the week when people greeted Jesus as king, the descendant of David, as he rode into Jerusalem on a lowly donkey. Yet soon the people were yelling, “Crucify him…crucify him!” as the derided “King of the Jews.”

This week more than others, Jesus depended on his disciples to have a strong testimony that he was the Christ, yet one betrayed him, and another denied knowing him.

This was the week when Jesus, who had healed and brought many to life, died on the cross. And some said, “He could not save himself!”

This was a week in which Jesus cried to God, “Why have you forsaken me?” Yet we know it was a victory, a week holier than any other.

Only the high priest could enter the holy of Holies in the temple. Although Jesus taught in another part of the temple, he never could have entered the Holy of Holies, yet he is the “high priest” of our salvation.

Prayer Phrase

“See, I am making all things new” (Revelation 21:5).

Weaving a Life

Hold, or imagine yourself holding, a piece of patterned cloth. Examine it carefully. Notice overlapping threads, mingling colors that form the design. Write a journal entry or meditate about the threads and patterns of your life. What design do you see? How does the life pattern you are weaving create justice and wholeness in God’s world? What new pattern is God calling you to weave?

Today’s Prayer for Peace

Engage in a daily practice of praying for peace in our world. Click here to read today’s prayer and be part of this practice of peace.