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We often focus on the Passion during Holy Week, not speaking of the
promise
of resurrection until Easter Sunday. By doing so, we can more fully
appreciate the magnitude of Lord's suffering. It is also a way of imagining
what it was like for the people at the time, who saw the death of Christ as
the final chapter. It was not until that first Easter that they remembered His
promise: "The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day."
Just as day follows night and hope follows disappointment, other promises
are associated with each of the Passion events. This work provides an
opportunity to be reminded of those yet-to-be fulfilled promises, which we
look to with hope and anticipation. Christ was rejected as King on Good
Friday, but He has promised that one day every tongue will confess Him as
Lord. And though He last took part in the Feast on Maundy Thursday, He
has promised that we will join Him at the wedding feast of the Lamb in the
coming kingdom.
In the words of Jesus himself, "You will weep and mourn while the world
rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. Now is your time
of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take
away your joy. For if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and
take you to be with me that you also may be where I am." This is the
promise in the passion and suffering of the Lord. It is the hope of our
salvation in Him.
Pamela Stewart
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