Holy Week: Walking with the Disciples Toward Easter

Holy Week is not just a sequence of days on the liturgical calendar; it's an invitation into a sacred journey. Each step brings us closer to the heart of the gospel, to the passion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And as we journey through it, we are not alone. We walk alongside Jesus’s first disciples—those bewildered, hopeful, fearful, and faithful followers who dared to follow Him even when they didn’t understand where the road would lead.
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Pastor McLane Stone

Palm Sunday: The Hope of a King
We begin with the triumphal entry. As we explored this past Sunday, Jesus enters Jerusalem in humility. Though the crowds expect a Davidic king to return Israel to its former glory, Jesus is something different.

With the disciples, we feel the tension of misunderstood triumph. We, too, long for quick victories and visible success. But Holy Week reminds us that God's victory often looks like surrender before it looks like glory.

Monday to Wednesday: Moments of Teaching and Tension
These quieter days of Holy Week are filled with parables, questions, and mounting opposition. Jesus teaches in the temple, overturns tables, and confronts hypocrisy. The disciples witness both authority and vulnerability in Jesus. They are confused by His predictions, unsettled by His warnings.

Walking with them, we reflect on our own misunderstandings. How often do we cling to expectations that Jesus never promised? These middle days ask us to trust Him even when the path is murky and the message is hard.

Maundy Thursday: The Table of Love and Betrayal
Around the table, Jesus offers bread and wine, body and blood. He washes their feet, even the feet of the one who will betray Him. The disciples are bewildered by His humility and disturbed by His words. “One of you will betray me.” “This is my body.” “Love one another as I have loved you.”

This is the night of intimacy and unraveling. As we linger with the disciples in the upper room, we are reminded that love is not always neat. It is sacrificial, costly, and sometimes misunderstood. Jesus invites us to this same table of grace—even when we are confused, even when we are not yet faithful.

Good Friday: The Scattering and the Silence
The garden. The trial. The cross. By Friday, the disciples are scattered—some hiding, one denying, a few watching from a distance. Their dreams have collapsed under the weight of Roman nails and a wooden cross.

We sit with them in the silence of grief. Good Friday teaches us that God is not absent in suffering. In fact, God is never nearer than in the broken body of Christ. We are called not to rush past this pain but to stay, to witness, and to trust that even here—especially here—God is at work.

Holy Saturday: The Long Wait
Nothing happens. Or so it seems.

The tomb is sealed. The disciples are locked away in fear. It’s a day of waiting, wondering, and doubt. But Holy Saturday reminds us that God is still moving, even in the silence. Redemption is unfolding in the stillness.

How often do we live in the “Saturday” spaces of life—between grief and hope, between prayer and answer? This day teaches us to wait with faith.

Easter Sunday: The Shock of Joy
And then—resurrection. Light breaks into darkness. Life bursts from death. The women run from the tomb, and the disciples hear the impossible: “He is not here; He is risen!”

Even in their joy, the disciples are slow to believe. But Jesus meets them in their doubt. He shows them His scars. He breaks bread with them again. The journey does not end with the empty tomb—it begins again with a risen Savior who calls them to go and tell.

So we, too, rise. Easter is not the end of the story but the beginning of new life. With the disciples, we step into resurrection life, carrying the good news that even death cannot stop the love of God.

As we walk through Holy Week together, I invite you to experience the full breadth and depth of this journey. The experience of this week in all its diversity and complexity is a gift from the Lord. I look forward to celebrating with you all this coming Sunday.

Pastor McLane