"He Has Risen!": A Holy Week Reflection

By Zoë Azaryah

This week marks a very special occasion. It's a week of reflection, thanksgiving, and worship for us, in turn for the week of suffering, humiliation, and death Jesus experienced to set us free from the dominion but the wages of sin – death. As we spend the week leading up to Easter Sunday, we reflect on the impact of the sacrifice of our Messiah, whose love was shown to us not only by words but through the most loving and selfless act to ever be carried out by anyone on this earth. This isn't about easter eggs or bunnies. This is about a God who left His glorious throne in heaven to dwell amongst human beings. It's about the holy and righteous King of kings who dwelt amongst sinners, being mocked and persecuted by them to the point of crucifixion for the sake of our souls. This is about a God who so grieved for the destruction of His creation and so longed to relate with us that He chose to conform to our likeness – sending His Son to this earth not in fine clothing or a king's palace, but as a carpenter. This is about the God who sent His only begotten Son so that whoever believes in Him would not perish but have everlasting life. This is about our God who sacrificed His very own life for the sake of our sins; a God who didn't have to die but chose to lay down His life so that we may live more abundantly and for eternity! This is about our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ!

"For this reason, he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people."

- Hebrews 2:17

An act worthy by none other than God himself in all His righteousness was carried out for us, that the perfect blood of Jesus Christ would not only tear the veil, allowing us to receive the free gift of salvation, but continue to advocate mercy on our behalf. From His death to His resurrection, Jesus accomplished something for us that only He was worthy and capable of doing. There's a particular title introduced to us by the Apostle Paul in the book of Colossians used to describe this one-of-a-kind attribute of Jesus, "The firstborn from the dead." Honestly, this took me aback when I first came across it! I was perplexed and thought, "Didn't Jesus resurrect Lazarus and others while He was alive? How could He be the first to be resurrected?" Then I understood, as the answer was there in plain sight, presented in the simplicity of the gospel. Jesus was the first to die, resurrect, and continue living. We embrace this concept when we proclaim that we serve a true and living God. This is why He alone is worthy to open the scroll. Jesus overcame death, and death could not overcome Him. I know we hear it so often, but as a church, during this time, it's essential to go beyond the surface of solely the proclamation (which is true) that Jesus died for our sins. I believe this is a time when the fullness of the cross should be embraced in the entirety of its beauty!

"But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him."

 - Acts 2:24

I believe God wants us to rediscover a special gift extended to us through the cross during this Easter period. This gift is something even God did in Genesis 2:2, but humans all too often stubbornly refuse to do it! I believe during this time, God wants us to rest! We need to rest secure in the fact that we are saved. To rest in His grace and mercy. Rest in His goodness and in what seems to be the hardest for us to do – the unknown. Why? Because there is certainty through the cross. A certainty of an eternity spent with The True and Living God, of hope fulfilled, of God's faithfulness, and of God's love for us. Through the cross, God granted us a gift that we take for granted more times than not. Reading through the book of Deuteronomy alone makes me thankful for grace through faith in Jesus! Not only did Jesus fulfill the law, allowing our faith in Him to be enough, but He also freed us from a long list of traditions and customs and laws and instructions from God given to the Israelites that they may be made holy. We are now made holy not by the sacrifices of animals and the keeping of the law but by the blood of The Lamb! If that alone doesn't make you excited, I don't know what will!

"For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love."

- Galatians 5:6

". . .for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his."

- Hebrews 4:10

There's a particular verse I find so fitting for this time of reflection – Hebrews 4:15, which comforts us by urging us to acknowledge the suffering Jesus endured, making something clear about Him – He understands our suffering because He experienced suffering Himself. While we may go through circumstances in life that may make us proclaim those all-so-familiar words, "no one understands how I feel," it brings us to recognize that there is, in fact, someone who understands and even more than you do! Jesus. Because of this, we can lean on and rely on Him for the strength to endure and, as Hebrews 12:2 tells us, come into the joy that awaits us, just as Jesus endured the shame of the cross and became glorified once again with our Father in heaven. So I encourage us all during this time to put aside our hurt, our disappointment, our pain, and even any resentment we may be holding towards God consciously or subconsciously, giving them to God and, in return, receiving His easy yoke, as well as His burden, which is light, that we may focus on the greatest act of love in the history of all mankind, which has allowed us to share in the freedom of God – the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ of Nazareth!

"Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends."

 - John 15:13