Holy Week Reading Guide 2015

HOLY WEEK 2015 | UNIVERSITY OF MARY HARDIN-BAYLOR

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Holy Week 2015 O God, who hast proven Thy love for mankind by sending us Jesus Christ our Lord, and hast illumined our human life by the radiance of His presence, I give Thee thanks for this Thy greatest gift.

For my Lord’s days upon earth: For the record of His deeds of love: For the words He spoke for my guidance and help: For His obedience unto death: For His triumph over death: For the presence of His Spirit with me now: I thank thee, O God.

Grant that the remembrance of the blessed Life that once was lived out on this common earth under these ordinary skies may remain with me in all the tasks and duties of this day.

Let me remember –

His eagerness, not to be ministered unto, but to minister: His bravery in face of His own suffering: His meekness of bearing, so that, when reviled, He reviled not again: His steadiness of purpose in keeping to His appointed task: His simplicity: His self-discipline: His serenity of spirit: His complete reliance upon Thee, His Father in Heaven.

And in each of these ways give me grace to follow in His footsteps.

Almighty God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, I commit all my ways unto Thee. I make over my soul to Thy keeping. I pledge my life to Thy service. May this day be for me a day of obedience and of charity, a day of happiness and of peace. May all our walk and conversation be such as becometh the gospel of Christ. Amen.

A Diary of Private Prayer, John Baillie Sixth Day Morning Truly God has proven His love and illumined our lives by the radiance of the presence and example of Jesus. Let us treasure “looking unto Jesus” (Hebrews 3:1; 12:2) during this Holy Week. This series of readings will give special attention to prayers of Jesus. For, “In the days of His flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to Him who was able to save him from death, and He was heard because of His reverence.”

(Hebrews 5:7) Listen to Him pray…

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HOLY WEEK 2015 | UNIVERSITY OF MARY HARDIN-BAYLOR

Palm Sunday Jesus triumphantly enters Jerusalem. He visits and cleanses the Temple.

He said to them, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer;’ but you make it a den of robbers.” Matthew 21:13 See also Isaiah 56:7.

Jesus knew and honored the true value and intention of the ‘house’ of God. The Celts had a name for those places where God is especially accessible: thin places…

“A truly thin place is any environment that invites transformation in us, helping us as believers in Jesus to think and see and understand as he does. Any place that creates a space and an atmosphere that inspires us to be honest before God and to listen to the deep murmurings of his spirit within us is thin.

“What makes a place holy? What makes a place truly thin? Before all else, the answer lies in our own internal landscape. Indeed, the first and best thin place must be our own souls.

When, by the grace of God, that which has separated us from him has been removed, we can encounter the Holy One himself in freedom and friendship. Scripture tells us that the veil in the temple was literally torn in two when Jesus was crucified; we now have free access to the Holy of Holies. Our Christian forefathers and mothers in Celtic lands tell us that God is so very near that in some of his creation there is barely a film between him and us. Whether it be in a forest glade or on a starry night or in a quiet corner of a coffee shop, we have only to meet him there. If we truly want to be open to God and hope and seek for more of him in our lives, we can find him ever nearer and ever dearer in the thin places of our spiritual landscape.”

Thin Places, Tracy Balzer (29, 38, 39)

Consider: Where can you go and what can you do to be in a ‘thin place’ with God? How can your house be a “house of prayer?” What needs to be cleared for that to happen?

HOLY WEEK 2015 | UNIVERSITY OF MARY HARDIN-BAYLOR

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Monday Jesus curses the fig tree. He dialogues and teaches in the temple.

(Note: There are varied understandings of the timeline of Holy Week.)

“And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.” Matthew 21:22 …More things are wrought by prayer Than this world dreams of. Wherefore, let thy voice Rise like a fountain for me night and day.

For what are men better than sheep or goats That nourish a blind life within the brain, If, knowing God, they lift not hands of prayer Both for themselves and those who call them friends?

For so the whole round earth is every way Bound by gold chains about the feet of God. Alfred, Lord Tennyson Consider: Ask the Father for what is in your heart or on your mind, for yourself or others.

Trust Him to do the ‘editing,’ if needed. Who or what needs your prayers? Jesus invites you to ask…

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HOLY WEEK 2015 | UNIVERSITY OF MARY HARDIN-BAYLOR

Tuesday Jesus continues to teach and debate in the temple. He weeps over Jerusalem.

When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given Him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given Him. And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. John 17:1-5 We look back on these crucial days through the lens of what is known as Jesus’s High Priestly Prayer. Now the hour has come… And we see that the desire of His heart is to glorify God. He is our example in this…

From prayer that asks that I may be Sheltered from winds that beat on Thee, From fearing when I should aspire, From faltering when I should climb higher From silken self, O Captain, free Thy soldier who would follow Thee.

From subtle love of softening things, From easy choices, weakenings, (Not thus are spirits fortified, Not this way went the Crucified) From all that dims Thy Calvary O Lamb of God, deliver me.

Give me the love that leads the way, The faith that nothing can dismay, The hope no disappointments tire, The passion that will burn like fire; Let me not sink to be a clod; Make me Thy fuel, Flame of God. Amy Carmichael Consider: Ask for the “love that leads the way, the faith that nothing can dismay, and the hope no disappointments tire, the passion that will burn like fire.” Ask expectantly.

HOLY WEEK 2015 | UNIVERSITY OF MARY HARDIN-BAYLOR

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Wednesday Possibly a quiet day. Jesus is anointed at Bethany. Judas arranges to betray Him. “But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.” Luke 21:36 A Prayer of Self-Dedication (Book of Common Prayer) Almighty and eternal God, so draw our hearts to you, so guide our minds, so fill our imaginations, so control our wills, that we may be wholly yours, utterly dedicated to you; and then use us, we pray you, as you will, and always to your glory and the welfare of your people; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Consider: Jesus urges His disciples to “stay awake.” Where have you grown weary or dozed? He directs them to pray for strength. Ask for strength to endure, escape, and stand.

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HOLY WEEK 2015 | UNIVERSITY OF MARY HARDIN-BAYLOR

Thursday Jesus shares the Passover with the disciples. He washes their feet and prays for them (and for us). He prays in the garden. He is betrayed.

“Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.” Mark 14:36 “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” And there appeared to Him an angel from heaven, strengthening Him. And being in an agony He prayed more earnestly; and His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. Luke 22:42 Father, I abandon myself into Your hands; do with me what You will.

Whatever You may do. I thank You: I am ready for all, I accept all.

Let only Your will be done in me, and in all Your creaturesI wish no more than this, O Lord.

Into Your hands I commend my soul; I offer it to You with all the love of my heart for I love You, Lord, and so need to give myself, to surrender myself into Your hands, without reserve, and with boundless confidence, for You are my Father.

Charles de Foucauld’s personalized translation of the Lord’s Prayer\ Consider: What do you learn about how Jesus loves and trusts His Father? What does this prayer teach you about Jesus? About the Father?

HOLY WEEK 2015 | UNIVERSITY OF MARY HARDIN-BAYLOR

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Friday Jesus is tried, sentenced, crucified, and buried.

And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Luke 23:34 “So what, in the situation of personal injury, is the rightness of the kingdom heart? Here we must once again recall the point about order: that we have already heard and received the word of the kingdom, and that anger, contempt, and absorbing desire have been dealt with so that our lives are not being run by them…

“This being so, when we are personally injured our world does not suddenly become our injury. We have a larger view of our life and our place in God’s world. We see God; we see ourselves in his hands. And we see our injurer as more than one who has imposed on us or hurt us. We recognize his humanity, his pitiful limitations (shared with us), and we also see him under God. This vision, and the grace that comes with it, enables the prayer: “Father forgive them, for they do not really understand what they are doing.” And in fact they don’t as Jesus well knew when he prayed this prayer over his murderers.”

Divine Conspiracy, Dallas Willard (176) Consider: Over what situation or person do you need to pray, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do”? What did Jesus know about God and about others that made it natural and possible for him to pray (and mean) this prayer?

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HOLY WEEK 2015 | UNIVERSITY OF MARY HARDIN-BAYLOR

Saturday Jesus descends into hell and sets captives free. (Ephesians 4:8, 9) “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” Luke 22:31, 32 This same Simon Peter later wrote to the “elect exiles” scattered because of their faith in Jesus: Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. 1 Peter 5:6-10 Be encouraged: Jesus’s prayer for Simon Peter was granted! His faith did not fail. And he strengthened his brothers.

Consider: Where is life hard? How are you being sifted? What does it do for you to know that Jesus sees and knows your situation, and that he prays for you that your faith may not fail? That Jesus sees ahead to when you will strengthen others?

HOLY WEEK 2015 | UNIVERSITY OF MARY HARDIN-BAYLOR

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Sunday Jesus is raised from the dead and begins appearing to His followers.

“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.” John 17:20-26 Surely the Father hears the Son and delights to answer His prayers!

Consider: Will you join Jesus in His prayers for us? May He make His name/nature known to us and fill us with His love!

Celebrate! i thank You God for most this amazing day: for the leaping greenly spirits of trees and a blue true dream of sky; and for everything which is natural which is infinite which is yes (i who have died am alive again today, and this is the sun’s birthday; this is the birth day of life and love and wings: and of the gay great happening illimitably earth) how should tasting touching hearing seeing breathing any--lifted from the no of all nothing--human merely being doubt unimaginable You? (now the ears of my ears awake and now the eyes of my eyes are opened) e e cummings

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HOLY WEEK 2015 | UNIVERSITY OF MARY HARDIN-BAYLOR

Consider the prayers of Jesus… and that Jesus prays for you…

Jesus Christ is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?

Romans 8:34 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:14-16 …He is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. Hebrews 7:25 Take heart!

HOLY WEEK 2015 | UNIVERSITY OF MARY HARDIN-BAYLOR

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