Holy Week

The Holy Week.

Today was Palm Sunday. I remember as a little kid learning about Palm Sunday, and thinking it was a special day for the palm of your hands. It took me a long time to understand why they would talk about it while showing a picture of Jesus on a donkey.

The triumphal entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem. A testament of how quickly things can go sour. By the end of the week, they were clamoring for his death.

So much did Christ experience in the course of this one holy week, the world was forever changed.

I often wonder how his disciples felt.

To know, but not really know what was going to happen.
To see your friend and mentor--a man who had done no wrong--unjustly crucified to please the masses.
Can you picture that?

If I had to see even the worse person I know killed before me, I would be sad. Life is precious. So to see my best friend, and leader killed? I would feel so defeated and devastated.

We, now, have the benefit of hindsight. We know what happened, the timeline, and the reason. Back then, Peter realized that he had denied Christ, just as he was told he would.

Words once said cannot be unsaid. They can be forgiven, however. And that is what Christ did.

Probably one of my favorite stories is after Christ is resurrected and he finds some of his disciples fishing with about as much success as I've ever had. He, from the shore, instructs them to cast their nets on the other side. They do it, and catch too many fish. It is then that they recognize who was speaking, and Peter jumps into the water to get to shore as quickly as possible.

Can you imagine? Mourning the death of your best friend for days. Only hoping that you'll see them again in the next life. Then to see that they are there close by. Alive! Oh, what joy! Hallelujah!

The joy, excitement, love, and every other good feeling from that moment makes it one of my favorite Easter stories.

I'm so grateful for the sacrifice that was made half a world away, so long ago. Jesus sacrificed himself, but also had to see his loved ones suffer for his pain. ...which he would have experienced the night before his crucifixion, in Gethsemane. It was a heavy, heavy burden he carried. He did it for me, and for you. For your family and mine.