Rise. Fall. Resurrection.
Holy Week is more than just a celebration of Jesus' resurrection. It's a reminder of how we respond to disappointment when God doesn't act as we expect.
Since I posted last week’s article (Hold On!), I’ve been processing what to share next. Then, Sunday morning, the Church around the world celebrated Palm Sunday, and I realized I wasn’t done with disappointment.
I’ll share new thoughts within Holy Week this week, but I’m linking them to the posts and thoughts from earlier this month. If you haven’t seen those posts, I encourage you to explore the links under each heading.
Holy Week Begins
Palm Sunday celebrates the start of Holy Week and the pinnacle of Jesus’ ministry. But it was so much more than a triumphal entry…it’s the beginning of the end.
This is how Matthew described it:
As Jesus and the disciples approached Jerusalem, they came to the town of Bethphage on the Mount of Olives. Jesus sent two of them on ahead. “Go into the village over there,” he said. “As soon as you enter it, you will see a donkey tied there, with its colt beside it. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone asks what you are doing, just say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will immediately let you take them.”
This took place to fulfill the prophecy that said,
“Tell the people of Jerusalem,
‘Look, your King is coming to you.
He is humble, riding on a donkey—
riding on a donkey’s colt.’”
The two disciples did as Jesus commanded. They brought the donkey and the colt to him and threw their garments over the colt, and he sat on it.
Most of the crowd spread their garments on the road ahead of him, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. Jesus was in the center of the procession, and the people all around him were shouting,
“Praise God for the Son of David!
Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
Praise God in highest heaven!”
The entire city of Jerusalem was in an uproar as he entered. “Who is this?” they asked.
And the crowds replied, “It’s Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”
-Matthew 21:1-11
That was Matthew’s description, but it is one of only ten events in all 4 Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John). For Jesus’ followers, it marked the moment they had all expected through their months and years of listening to Jesus teach his one unifying message: the coming of the Kingdom of God.
They thought, “Surely this is it. Jesus is taking Jerusalem by storm. His kingdom will be established at any moment now!” On the one hand, they couldn’t have been any more right, but on the other hand, it looked completely different than they expected.
In just six days, their king was dead and buried in a tomb.
Asking for a Friend
For those of us who call ourselves ‘Christian,’ we are in a week of celebration. Our Savior has come, and he defeated both sin and death. Hosanna! This is correct, but if this is our only perspective, it removes the depth of emotion this week carried for those original followers of Jesus. Celebration alone robs us of what it means to be called disciples of Jesus today.
I don’t care who you are or what you believe, but Jesus isn’t who you think he is and often shows up unexpectedly. This was true for the original followers of Jesus and will be true for you, too.
Kanye being Kanye
I was reminded of this truth as I began seeing clips of an interview with Kanye West to promote a new album. A few years ago, Kanye famously became a ‘Christian’ artist who declared he would only make ‘clean’ music that glorified Jesus. Kanye showed up at church events with Joel Ostend and hosted his own church services. It seemed this was a new man.
This new album didn’t follow in that mold, and Kanye shed some light on perhaps why. He said,
“You know, I have my issues with Jesus. There’s a lot of things I went through and I’ve prayed about, and Jesus didn’t show up.”
-Kanye West
What I find most interesting about this short clip (of an hour-plus interview) is how it represents every person who has ever dipped their toes into the pool of Christianity. It doesn’t take anyone long to realize Jesus isn’t a genie in a bottle. He doesn’t always answer my prayers; when he does, it doesn’t often look like what I prayed for.
As a follower of Jesus, disappointment is more common than we would like to admit.
To make this point, I posted a little graphic on Facebook promoting my series of posts on disappointment with God. The general response from a handful of my friends (who all happened to be long-time followers of Jesus) was something along these lines: “I’ve never been disappointed with God. I don’t always understand Him, but I believe He is good.”
We don’t like to admit we are disappointed with how and when God acts and speaks.
Be Real (with yourself, others, and God)
This brings me back to Holy Week. This week, I read a short seven-day devotional that led me through different parts of Jesus’ journey, from the triumphal entry of Jerusalem to the cross and resurrection. Part of this devotional was an invitation to enter into the story. It called me to walk with Jesus and his disciples so that I could sense and feel the things they felt.
Can I be honest with you? I don’t know if I’ve ever really done this - put myself in Jesus’ shoes or his disciples during this most difficult of days. I haven’t seen myself walking beside Jesus during his last days — as he washed his disciples’ feet, sweat drops of blood in the garden, or stood in front of a mocking crowd. I definitely haven’t done it enough. It’s what his disciples did — sometimes right by his side and other times from a distance.
This invitation followed my advice to be real and feel your feelings. Feeling what these men and women felt 2,000 years ago puts us in touch with how we feel today.
How would I have felt walking alongside this makeshift parade on Palm Sunday? What about watching Jesus clear the Temple? What would have been my reaction to the woman anointing Jesus with the expensive perfume just a few nights before his death? What would I have done as I sat in the upper room during the Passover meal? What would I have felt following Jesus to the Garden of Gethsemane? Or watching Judas appear with a contingent of soldiers to arrest Jesus?
Disappointment wouldn’t do justice to the feelings washing over me as I witnessed his crucifixion and burial. As Kanye said, “I would have some issues with God.”
Origin Stories
A few weeks ago, I told you disappointment and pain are a part of your story as a disciple. Your pain produces purpose. From the beginning, followers of Jesus have been let down. Jesus isn’t who you think he is. Jesus surprises us in the ways he acts. I understand his ways more clearly, but even 35 years into following Jesus, he surprises me.
Can you be okay with that?
Today is Good Friday (if you read this as it is released). It’s perhaps the darkest day in human history. Today, we remember the day God died. Feel that. This is not the way the disciples thought it would be. It’s shocking to say.
As dark as Friday was, could Saturday have been darker? On Friday, you could have hoped for a miracle as you watched Jesus’ arrest and trial from a distance. Didn’t Jesus’ Kingdom consist of miracles? It looked like a miracle might happen a few times. Pilate didn’t want to crucify Jesus. He wanted to swap Jesus with the true criminal Barabbas, but it backfired miserably. Jesus still died a criminal’s death.
Maybe Saturday was the darkest day in human history. Saturday, Jesus’ dead body lay in a grave. It was done.
They say it’s darkest before dawn, which isn’t really true, but it sure sounds cool. In those two darkest days of history, there was still hope—a hint of dawn. It was too dark to see, but hope was there. No one (I mean no one) realized the resurrection power that lived within this carpenter from Nazareth.
In your darkest days, there is hope. Jesus may not have shown up. You could have prayed and prayed but seen nothing. Jesus may seem to be silent. Easter tells us there is hope. Like Kanye, you may have issues with Jesus, but hope remains.
Just hold on.
It won’t make sense to hold onto Jesus but hold on anyway. In his interview, Kanye said it didn’t make sense to continue to pray. He said he doesn’t need prayer; he needs to work. In other words, he was his own hope.
That hope won’t sustain you.
Hold onto the hope that Jesus brings dead things to life.
It won’t make sense, and it won’t look possible. I can’t explain it, but it is exactly what Jesus has done for me. Over and over, God brought the things that seemed dead to life. Resurrection power lives within the one we call Jesus.
There are two rewards for holding onto this hope. Ultimately, your reward is Jesus himself. He is enough. He is what you are truly searching for. But there is one more reward when you continue to hold onto this hope.
When you endure, your reward is joy.
This is why Easter is a celebration. The first disciples held on (barely), and their reward was both Jesus and joy. They sat in his presence again, and their elation was palpable. Each time we read about them being with him, their interaction is sweet.
So, I’ll end today as I did last week. Disappointment with God is part of following Jesus. To work through it, tap into your origin stories, be real with yourself, God, and others, and keep holding on.
Finally, this newsletter is and always will be a labor of love. However, it’s not completely free to maintain. I would be honored if you would consider becoming a paid subscriber. Many thanks to those supporting this work, including my Mom and Melanie.