The Resurrection Makes Holy Week Holy

We are now in Holy Week. The gospel readings for both Palm Sunday and Good Friday end this way: the apostles have scattered in self-centered cowardice and fear; the women who had followed Jesus (including his poor mother) are in mourning, inconsolable over the death of their master; Jesus Himself is dead, deader than a doornail; and His battered and broken body is wrapped in linen and laid to rest in a borrowed tomb. 

It is a tragedy. It’s an abject failure. It’s a defeat, a flop, the total destruction of so many hopeful plans. This charismatic young teacher, this man some called the long-awaited Messiah, is dead. Up until that moment, they were so certain He was the one who would change everything. Surely He would gather a powerful army around Him (as His forefather David had done centuries earlier), and drive out the hated Romans. He would usher in a new era of peace and prosperity for all of Israel. He would rule with justice and might, commanding armies and expanding His empire, and then die at a ripe old age after many decades of rule. 

And then, in less than a day, between the evening Passover meal and the following afternoon, He was gone. He was dead. 

Not only was He dead, but He died in such an ignoble manner. He was mocked, beaten, spit upon, scourged, and humiliated. He was nailed to a cross beam and perched for hours above the town garbage dump, in total agony as the life forces slowly ebbed from His body. 

That is where we stand at the end of the Passion gospels during Holy Week: Failure. Defeat. Evil triumphing over good. The man who taught about love and truth was dead. 

If that’s where the story ends, then there is no way we can call the Gospel the “Good News.” There’s no way we can that day “Good” Friday. The Passion and death of Jesus are an abject failure without Easter. As the apostle Paul wrote: “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile…If only for this life have we hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.” 

Without the Resurrection, Christian faith is futile and pitiful. Without the Resurrection, the good guys lose, the bad guys win. The whole story turns out to be a gruesome tragedy. 

This reminds me of one of my favorite musical productions: “Jesus Christ Superstar.” I love the songs in this show. It’s classic ‘70s rock with a splash of Broadway story-telling. But regardless of how good the Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice compositions are (at least in my opinion), the ending of the show is terrible because Jesus ends up dead and stays dead. Also, throughout the show, Jesus is portrayed as self-doubting, unsure, and somewhat wimpy. Judas Iscariot, on the other hand, is the determined, level-headed driving force of the story. 

The musical is certainly a captivating, engaging modern version of the life of Jesus, but it ends on Good Friday with no mention of Easter Sunday and the Resurrection. So, that means it ends in tragedy.

This is why it’s so important to take the Holy Week Passion gospels and the Easter Sunday gospel as a matched set. Only through the lens of Easter can we see that the Passion was necessary. Only when we understand that Jesus’ resurrection conquered death once and for all, can we see that He had to die to pay the price for our sins. Only if Christ is risen can the terms Good News and Good Friday rightfully bear the moniker “good.”

Don’t forget the most important part of the Greatest Story Ever Told: He is risen! He is risen indeed!