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How did Jesus feel during Holy Week?

 

Pamela Scott DCS

 

 

 

Since we are now in Holy Week, I have been concentrating my reading around the final week of Jesus’ life.  It is a story, which is so vital to our faith and one we know so well.  That week from Palm Sunday, the triumphal entry of Jesus riding on a donkey into Jerusalem.  I time where we can only imagine the scene, the noise, the exclamations of ‘Hosana’, the crowds watching this joyous occasion.  This leads on to the scene of Jesus being disgusted by the moneychangers and the merchants in the temple.  Yet again there would be crowds of people creating lots of noise.  Moving on to the scene where Jesus is with many friends and others enjoying a meal, during this meal a woman breaks open a bottle of Nard and pours it on his head.  At this meal there were many people, chatting, laughing, having a cheerful time.  We move on to the Thursday, known as Maundy Thursday, when Jesus celebrates the Passover meal with the 12 disciples.  The conversation became a bit more serious with Jesus explaining he would be betrayed, maybe some chatter to begin with, then quiet contemplation.  Then in the garden of Gethsemane, a place that Jesus should have been surrounded by his close friends but when he took Peter, James and John with him to pray they couldn’t even stay awake.  All he wanted was some support, he knew what was going to happen, he knew he would have to go through it alone so all he wanted was for them to keep watch while he prayed.  Jesus was then arrested, mocked, spat on, humiliated and much worse and during that time there was no-one he knew and trusted.  He was on his own when they crucified him.

 

 

 

I think about how Jesus went from being surrounded by many people he knew and trusted to being on his own.  In a way this is how many of us are feeling just now.  We used to be surrounded by people we know and trust, people we saw every day, every few days, every week, to being in a state of isolation.  Some being lucky to have family members in the same house others being completely on their own, almost feeling abandoned.  If we are lucky to get out, we may see others at a distance, through a window or over a fence but there is still that sense of being on your own.  This may give us a small insight into how Jesus was feeling.

 

 

 

We are fortunate that we do not have to go through what Jesus had to for us.  We do not have to die on a cross…he did!!!

 

 

 

We will come out the other side, we will be able to meet our family and friends, give them a hug.  In a way that is what happened on that first Easter morning, when Jesus rose from the dead to be with his friends again.  He could have meals with them, talk with them and journey with them.

 

 

 

What we have to remember is that in this time of difficulty, when we can’t meet who we would want to meet, talk face to face with those we want to, we have Jesus with us.  We may feel isolated from our family and friends, but He is there, always wanting to hear from us, always holding our hand, always surrounding us with his love. 

 

 

 

May we always know the peace of Christ.

 

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