Holy Saturday

O God, Creator of heaven and earth:  Grant that, as the crucified body of your dear Son was laid in the tomb and rested on this holy Sabbath, so we may await with him the coming of the third day, and rise with him to newness of life; who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Good Friday

Cristo Crucificado by Diego Rodriguez da Silva y Velázquez  1632 (Art and the Bible)
Surely He has borne our grief and carried our sorrows He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities. All we like sheep have gone astray and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
Hear my prayer, O Lord: and let my cry come unto you.

Holy Thursday: Blood of the Covenant

Man of Sorrows Jacob van Oostsanen 1510

Holy Thursday (or Maundy Thursday) is when the church commemorates the Last Supper of Jesus and His disciples. The Last Supper is where Jesus instituted the sacrament of Holy Communion.

Some important Scripture verses that pertain to my ongoing contemplation of repentance, penance, and forgiveness.

Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. -

(Matthew 26:26-28 ESV)

And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. - (Luke 22:19-20 ESV)

So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. - (John 6:53-56 ESV)

For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread,  and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world. - (1 Corinthians 11:23-32 ESV)

For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.” It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. - (Hebrews 10:26-31 ESV)

The point? To receive Holy Communion without first being repentant of our sins is to receive it unworthily. To receive Holy Communion without discerning the true presence of the body and blood of Christ is to receive it unworthily. To receive Holy Communion without understanding it is for the remission of sins is to receive it unworthily. May God's mercy rest upon those who receive it and teach others to receive it, in an unworthy manner.

COLLECT.

O LORD God, Who has left unto us in a wonderful Sacrament a memorial of your Passion: Grant, we beseech you, that we may so use this Sacrament of your Body and Blood, that the fruits of your redemption may continually be manifest in us; Who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.

Wednesday in Holy Week

Collect

GRANT, we beseech you, Almighty God, that we, who for our evil deeds are continually afflicted, may mercifully be relieved by the Passion of your Only-begotten Son, Who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Lutheran Prayers for Holy Week

Continually afflicted by evil deeds. Can I get that tattooed on me? Maybe across my forehead.

Tuesday of Holy Week

Collect
Almighty and Everlasting God, grant us grace so to contemplate the Passion of our Lord, that we may find therein forgiveness for our sins; through the same Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord, Who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.

Lutheran Prayers for Holy Week

Passion means suffering.

I do not understand how some can look upon Christ on cross as something they earned by their good behavior (choosing to believe) rather than their bad condition - being born a sinner. Did He redeem you because you let Him? Or did He redeem you because He chose to? When you believe redemption is entirely the work of Christ Jesus it is much more humbling and you are more likely to see an ongoing need for forgiveness because there is an ongoing need for the Savior.

Deep thoughts on a Tuesday afternoon.

Monday in Holy Week

The Collect

Grant, we beseech you, Almighty God, that we, who amid so many adversities do fail through our own infirmities, may be restored through the Passion and Intercession of your Only-begotten Son, Who lives and reigns, with you and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.

Lutheran Prayers for Holy Week

Sunday of the Passion

Jesus, I will ponder now

On Thy holy Passion;

With Thy Spirit me endow

For such meditation.

Grant that I in love and faith

May the image cherish

Of Thy suffering, pain, and death,

That I may not perish.