How are you feeling about Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, even Easter this year? In a day and age that is so saturated with media, advertisements, and high profile events, have you paused a moment to consider how your heart is doing? When we do not pause in our lives to be present to the Lord, it becomes easy to get swept up in the pace and things happening all around us. Even if they are wonderful or good things. This is a striking moment in the church calendar to give us a chance to slow down and be more intentional. For those of us who observe Lent, this whole season is a preparation leading up to the arrest, death and burial of Jesus Christ, and then the unfathomable, unimaginable bodily resurrection of Christ three days later.
Over the years, I myself have been in different places mentally, spiritually, and maybe even physically around this time of year. Today, as we reflect on what Christ himself has gone through, we take the time to locate ourselves again in space around the crucifixion and then expectancy of resurrection to come.
This also means paying attention to where you are emotionally and personally as you approach Jesus. In the Garden of Gethsemane on the night before Jesus is arrested, Jesus is fully aware of what will soon happen. In anguish, he waits in prayer with His Father, crying out, ““My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” (Matthew 26:39, NIV). He brings all of His emotions to the Father, “sorrowful and troubled,” even turning to those who are with Him saying, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” (Matthew 26:37-38). He desperately needs this encounter with God, His Father. In His desperation, He sits with the One who is with Him. His own Father. Jesus knows He can trust Him. Even if the answer to His pain and suffering is not what Jesus would be able to endure. It was to His Father that He turned.
Warfare is truly done on ones’ knees.
A note for those who feel disconnected. For those who feel numbed by all the fanfare. For some who feel resistance or dryness to sitting down to pray. Or emotional disengagement. This is part of the crucifixion story too. Jesus’ own closest circle, the men around whom He spent the most time, were unable to engage well in this moment. Instead of being awake to the spiritual and emotional, they were falling asleep. They could not keep their eyes open (Matthew 26:43).
I pray that if this is you, you will know this: these men were still near Jesus. They were not far from Him. Physically, but even relationally they were right by Him. They were experiencing the same event, but their experience of it was very different. It truly felt like separation, especially as the events of the night wore on.
May I just tell you: there is never a time when Jesus does not allow you to come back. To reset. To take a moment and look around you and tune back in and feel things again. There is never a moment that the Spirit cannot recall to you an intimate moment in the your spiritual walk, something that made your faith worthwhile, and the trustworthiness of the Father. Even in the darkness, you can come back in prayer and with a new posture. Following the steps of the Savior which he modeled on that night before His death. Sitting down to petition God even if His answer doesn’t change. But knowing that God can be turned to in the midst of the heaviest moments.
I know that this has been a roller coaster season for me. Personally, I have felt a little bit of it all. But today as we come to the culmination of all Holy Week, I want to be alert. I want to be spiritually awake to catch the significance of everything that Jesus my love has gone through. I need Him to remind me of His journey and of what that meant for Him, and in many ways, I feel like I am seeing this story through fresh eyes. So, I pray that you too will be personally able to take inventory this weekend, looking not just into the community aspects of gathering. But spiritually, prayerfully checking in to commune with the God Almighty who loves you.
[Photo credit: Photo by James Coleman on Unsplash]
Kate Lee
Kate has an MA in Christian Ministry and Leadership, with a focus on Pastoral Care and Counseling. She currently works as youth director at a small church in Southern California and is also in the marketplace. Being bi-vocational and belonging to and working with a younger generation of Christ-followers puts her in a unique intersection of connection and ministry. She is blessed to be amongst creatives and others who honor God with their work and life. You may read more from Kate on her blog, A Corner of Kate Lee.
