Holy Week tells us that the hardest days
have already been written.
I knew as soon as my phone rang that something was wrong. My parents have been living in a retirement home for almost three years, and whenever the number for the nurse shows up on my display, my heart often skips a beat. It’s usually not good news and this time was no different. What was initially thought to be a virus turned into an ambulance ride and hospitalization for my 92- year-old dad.
Thankfully, he was discharged on Friday and is resting at home. But needless to say, it was one of those weeks – unexpected, busy, tiring, and somewhat stressful. Yet I’m under no illusions that there won’t be much harder weeks to come.
The good news is that when our days feel heavy and hard, there is another week that has already made a way.
Holy Week – the days leading up to and including Jesus’ death and resurrection – doesn’t arrive when life feels easy. It comes amid quiet shadows, lingering questions and deepest aches. It makes room for unanswered prayers, unfiltered grief, and the sting of loneliness, betrayal and injustice. It even allows space for the sense that all is lost beyond repair.
The beauty of Holy Week is not that it avoids suffering, but walks straight through it in victory and hope.
What Jesus suffered as the sinless Son of God gives meaning to our own suffering. He experienced human pain, physically, emotionally and even spiritually. He showed sacrificial love, enduring hardship for the forgiveness of sins. He proved there is purpose in affliction, offering redemption to a sin-cursed world. He opened the doorway to restoration and life everlasting beyond the here and now.
As Jesus spoke to the disciples in his final hours, amongst many things, he told them this: So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. John 16:22
If today finds you facing trials and bearing burdens, feeling tired, distracted or alone, this week is a reminder that Jesus has already made a way. He brings healing for our broken souls, broken hearts, and broken lives. He walks with us as the One who already suffered for our sakes. He forgives as the One who paid the debt we could not pay. He offers purpose and hope as the One who brings transformation through the trial. He can shift our eyes from the pain to the promise of everlasting life and joy.
The words of one of my favourite songs say it well:
“In Christ alone, my hope is found,
He is my light, my strength, my song.
This Cornerstone, this solid ground,
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease,
My Comforter, my All in All,
Here in the love of Christ I stand.” (Getty and Townsend)
So, reflect on the price Jesus paid. Be thankful for the gift Jesus offers. Find peace in the comfort Jesus brings. Offer worship for the life Jesus gives.
Most of all, hold on to hope. Holy Week tells us that the hardest days of all have already been written.
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20
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