Passion Week

Not too many people think much about Good Friday anymore.

There was a time when whole communities were virtually shut down on Good Friday afternoon. Businesses closed, or at least allowed their employees to attend church services. I’m sure some still do this—but I wonder how many people in the general public would even know what we mean when we talk about Good Friday.

Another Easter season has come and gone. It’s Easter Monday (yes, that’s really a thing) as I write this, and I thought it might be a good time to share a few thoughts about the meaning and significance of the season, as I understand it.

These ideas really crystallized in my mind as I was driving home from a ministry appointment on Good Friday afternoon, searching for something meaningful to listen to on the radio—yes, even Christian radio—as the traffic raced past me. How many of these people, I wondered as I watched the cars, even know that today is Good Friday? More importantly—how many people in our churches remember that it is Good Friday?

Read Part 1, and Part 2.

As Jesus taught His disciples in the Upper Room on the night before His death, He addressed them in light of their collective position as “the foundation” (Eph. 2:20) for the forthcoming church.

The church age would begin on a specific “day” (John 14:20) which, we know, would occur on Pentecost Sunday. Once this age began, these men would bear the responsibility of leading a worldwide evangelistic and teaching ministry.

As we enter into Palm Sunday and Passion Week, it is appropriate that we focus our attention on the discourse that Jesus gave His disciples in the Upper Room—most of it after Judas left (John 13:30)—on the night before His death.

I asserted in the previous installment that Jesus took this opportunity to reveal many new truths associated with the church age to His apostles.