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April 12, 2025 – The past 10 days have been an up-down, roller-coaster ride. Including the unexpected sudden death of “another person way younger than me,” together with the need to help cobble together a memorial service, followed by a quick road trip up to Louisville – plagued by endless rain and flooding – for a joyful Celebration-of-25-years-of-Marriage ceremony.

All of which I suppose is a good metaphor for the Lenten journey itself, or for any Christian on his pilgrim-path throughout life. (Keeping in mind that “Happy are the people whose strength is in You! Whose hearts are set on the pilgrim’s way.” Psalm 84:5.) But now it’s time to focus on the upcoming Palm Sunday, which begins another week of roller-coaster riding.

It’s called Holy Week, what has been called “the most sacred period in the liturgical calendar.” It begins with Palm Sunday, a day featuring moments of victory and expectation for Jesus, “yet a tragic irony looms. The same voices that welcome Him today will demand His crucifixion by Friday.” A week for reflecting and renewing, ending in a celebration of Christ’s resurrection. And to review: Holy Week marks the end of Lent and itself ends with Easter Sunday. It begins with Palm Sunday and includes Holy Wednesday (also called “Spy Wednesday,” a reference to the betrayal of Judas), followed by Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday.

Palm Sunday in turn remembers “Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem.” The symbolism of Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey comes from Zechariah 9:9. In turn, the welcoming crowds chanted from Psalm 118:26, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD.”  Further:

The symbolism of the donkey may refer to the Eastern tradition that it is an animal of peace, versus the horse, which is the animal of war.  A king would have come riding upon a horse when he was bent on war and riding upon a donkey when he wanted to point out he was coming in peace. Jesus’ entry to Jerusalem would have thus symbolized his entry as the Prince of Peace, not as a war-waging king.

(Emphasis added.) But then came the part where Jesus got “numbered among the transgressors,” which in any reasonable interpretation means “the rest of us poor struggling slobs, even down to the present day.” To explain, one Gospel reading for Palm Sunday is Luke 23:1-49. It includes Luke 22:37, where Jesus said, “I tell you that this Scripture must be fulfilled in Me: ‘And He was numbered with the transgressors.’” In turn, Biblehub.com has other translations for transgressors. Words like lawless, rebels, evil doers, outlaws, or even “criminals.” And the notes thereto point to Isaiah 53, “a manifest prophecy of the Messiah;” specifically, Isaiah 53:12:

Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

Bible Hub also noted Jesus was “crucified between two thieves; and more than this.” The “more than this” involved what we’d call a legal fiction, ”a fact assumed or created by courts which is then used in order to apply a legal rule.” The Old Testament rule – Leviticus 17:11 – demanded a blood sacrifice to cover the sins of “the people.” (All people down to the present day, including us.) To solve that problem for all time, Jesus substituted His own blood for ours:

[In]stead of his people, and having their sins laid upon him, and imputed to him, he was made and accounted, by imputation, not only a sinner, but sin itself…

(Emphasis added.) Which is something to think about in this final week of Lent, 2025.

Something else to think about: Psalm 22, and especially the first verse. We know it well  because Jesus quoted it on the cross. See Matthew 27:46:  “About the ninth hour, Jesus cried out in a loud voice, ‘Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?’ which means, ‘My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?’” (See also Mark 15:34, or in the Latin, “Deus, Deus meus.”) What many don’t realize is that Psalm 22:1 goes on to add:  “Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish?” And that’s a thought many can relate to these days.

Then comes Psalm 22:18. In the NIV:  “They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment.” That from Psalm 22 was mirrored in Matthew 27:35:  “When they had crucified Him, they divided up His garments by casting lots.” (Talk about “preordained before the beginning of time.”) But that’s enough on Palm Sunday. (Except for those who may explore the links in the Notes.) Which brings up another note: Holy Week doesn’t “end” with Easter Sunday. Easter Sunday just begins another liturgical season, 50 days long, called Eastertide:

[In Western Christianity] Easter time is the period of 50 days, spanning from Easter Sunday to Pentecost Sunday. It is celebrated as a single joyful feast, called the “great Lord’s Day,” Each Sunday of the season is treated as a Sunday of Easter. In some traditions, Easter Sunday is the first Sunday of Eastertide and the following Sunday (Low Sunday) is the second Sunday of Eastertide and so on…

Then comes Pentecost season, or “the Season after Pentecost,” which this year runs from Sunday, June 8, through the rest of the year to the season of Advent, at the end of next November. Meaning the up-and-down roller-coaster ride will continue, but all that and more will be the subjects of later postings. In the meantime, “Have a Happy Holy Week!”

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The upper image is courtesy of Palm Sunday – Image Results. The painting was accompanied by a Page, Days of Holy Week: What they teach us about faith, redemption. (Which I borrowed from.)

The Book of Common Prayer reference: The “corporate-mystical” prayer is on page 339, the post-communion prayer for Holy Eucharist, Rite I.

Feast days are designated days on the liturgical (church) calendar “set aside to commemorate events, saints, or doctrines that are important in the life of the Church. These can range from Solemnities, which are the highest-ranking feast days like Easter and Christmas, to optional memorials that celebrate lesser-known saints.” Feast Days: Celebrating the Church’s Calendar.

Re: “His pilgrim-path.” Not “his or her,” or the ubiquitous “their.” Sorry, I’m old school in some ways, at least for this post.

Re: Psalm Psalm 84:5. I used the version in the Book of Common Prayer, where it’s listed as Psalm 84:4 (which happens sometimes). I capitalized the “You,” for God, and the following word in the BCP, “whose hearts are set.” Also, the Biblehub translations include “on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem” (which I’ve done), “all who deeply desire to visit your temple,” and of those whose “hearts are on the road [that leads to you].” (Brackets in the “Hub” website.) The last one ties in with John 6:37, where Jesus promised that “whoever comes to Me I will never drive away.” (And yes, I capitalized the “Me” too.)

Re: “A reference to Judas.” See Why Is Wednesday of Holy Week Called Spy Wednesday?

For this post I borrowed from On Holy Week – 2016, Psalm 22 and the “Passion of Jesus,” from April 2017, and from March 2018, Palm Sunday: To “not sin,” or to accomplish something?

The lower image is courtesy of Liturgical year – Wikipedia. See also Ordinary Time – Wikipedia.

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