Theologically, we often focus on the resurrection itself, but I’ve been thinking about everything that happens just before it.
The waiting, the confusion, the sense that what people hoped for didn’t unfold the way they expected. From that perspective, Easter isn’t just about victory, but about how God works through what looks like failure.
It raises an interesting question: if we had been there, would we have recognized what was happening, or would it have looked like everything had gone wrong?
This would be interesting to contemplate; however, I do not believe that there was a gap. A quiet before. The real Psalm Sunday took place, and then Jesus simply went on teaching, healing, etc. For us, Holy Week is a choreographed religious observance; for them, it was a high-stakes, overcrowded, and chaotic logistical marathon.
The Passover. Jerusalem’s population swelled from roughly 30,000 to over 200,000 during Passover. The city was a sprawling campsite. There were no newspapers or social media. Information traveled via word-of-mouth in the markets.
If you weren’t in the immediate vicinity of the Temple or the Praetorium, the “triumphal entry” or the trial of Jesus would have been just more background noise in a city already shouting with commerce and prayer.
To a modern person, a crucifixion is a world-shattering event. To a resident of Roman-occupied Judea, it was a Tuesday. The Romans used crucifixion as a billboard: It was a tool of state terror designed to be seen frequently.
When the crowds saw three men carrying crossbeams toward Golgotha, many likely didn’t ask for names. They saw three more “insurrectionists” or “criminals” paying the Roman tax of blood. Unless they were part of the specific movement following Jesus, he was just another face in a very long line of executed rebels.
The “average” person that week was hyper-focused on Levitical purity. They were worried about buying an unblemished lamb, finding a place to eat the Seder, and avoiding “uncleanness.”
The political maneuvering between the Sanhedrin and Pontius Pilate happened behind closed doors or in the early morning hours. Most people were likely asleep or preparing their homes when Jesus was arrested and tried.
We look at that week through a magnifying glass, but for the people there, it was a kaleidoscope. If you were a shopkeeper three streets over, you weren’t watching a ‘Way of the Cross’—you were arguing with a customer over the price of bitter herbs. Jesus didn’t die in a vacuum; he died in the middle of a massive, distracted, and busy holiday crowd that, for the most part, was just trying to get through the day.
Just my perspective.
Peter
Bro @Peter
I appreciate your imaginative insight into the passion week. If the Jerusalem milieu was pretty much as you suggest, (and what you wrote seems pretty reasonable to me), imagine what may be happening in our current environment, cataclysmic events of which you and I may be blissfully unaware.
What great armies are currently amassing on spiritual borders, what battle lines are being drawn? What powerful principalities are convening in secure celestial bunkers, secretly drawing up dastardly plans, assessing their own strengths and vulnerabilities? What powers of anti-Christ, rulers and rabble-rousers over the darkness of this age, spiritual hosts of wickedness may be conniving devastating guerrilla campaigns and designing immoderate insurgent strategies against The King, His word, and His authority, huddled in heavenly war-rooms while you and I casually worry about Spring’s crabgrass in our lawns or Autumns left-over leaves in our gutters (Ephesians 6:12)? What humble saints are taking their enlistment seriously, dutifully praying through many tears, the rapid deployment of “Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) systems”, an otherworldly “shield of faith” with which disciples of Jesus are able to quench all the “fiery darts” of the wicked one. (Ephesians 6:16)? What devoted platoon leaders have given their lives to overseeing basic-training exercises for the troops, faithful exhausting discipleship, demonstrating the full armor of God to raw recruits; “this is how you wear the belt of truth”, “fasten your Kevlar vest of righteousness like this”, “this is how to care for your combat boots, you need them to keep your feet safe when you are deployed to Gospel trenchs”. What divine skills has The Father invested into Christian craftsmen; artisan saints like Bezalel the son of Uri, men and women in whom God Almighty has “filled with His Own Spirit and endowed them with His own wisdom, understanding, knowledge, and all manner of workmanship” (Exodus 31:1-6)? Who recognizes these gifted artisans among us, spiritual craftsmen specifically motivated to design noble life-saving apparatus suitable for spiritual battlefields? Who honors those fearless heralds, who standing on street-corners cry out to deaf and recalcitrant ears; who admires those quiet recruiters who share light and hope with hapless individuals, one-on-one, in grocery store check-out lines, coffee houses, or hotel lobbies; who supports or underwrites those bunkered authors in shade-drawn studies and basement pressrooms, composing good tidings of great joy, spreading The Gospel of Resurrection and Life to lost and dying refugees of war? How do we praise the passionate pastors who nurse the wounded, feed the flock, point-out the wolves, and who faithfully and often thanklessly place their own welfare squarely between their fold and the perils of the wild? How many saints rise every morning to crucify their own flesh, dedicate their daily thoughts and energies to the work of The King, and purpose to reflect the righteousness of Jesus the Christ in every movement of their being? How many unsung soldiers stand their post, firmly against the endless flood of ridiculous rhetoric and upside-down philosophy, in meekness their stalwart stand imposses celestial pressure, their personal sacrifice proves The Truth of righteousness against the lies of a soul-sick and deceived population.
As you know, Passion week was the apex of history, the focus of all chronology. Everything up until that time was rushing toward it, and everything since that time has depended on it. The “First Century” was inaugurated “Anno Domini”. The crucifixion of God IS the fulcrum of His creation. The very moment Jesus said “It is finished” is the moment death died and new live began; it was like the world stopped spinning, and reversed direction. All history was launched backward from that point and the fixed fate of future-time was born. The Bodily Resurrection of Jesus the Christ punctuated the First-fruit of New Life for mankind; whether people took notice of it or not. Like you pointed out, there is always more unseen than is seen. But even so, you and I walk by faith, in Him we live and move and have our being. We operate moment-by-moment listening to and carefully heeding every word of God. We take God at His word, and do not walk by the myopic scope of our human sight. Now, just as during passion week, we are His, we are in Him, and we are engaged in the fate of the world for eternity. Let us take as many as we can into that celestial eternity.
Some trust in chariots, and some in horses;
But we will remember the name of the LORD our God.
They have bowed down and fallen;
But we have risen and stand upright.
Save, LORD! (Hosanna)
May the King answer us when we call.
(Psalm 20:7-9)
We are in this together.
Your Bro.
KP
Thanks for that very thoughtful response. All I can say to it is Amen! So many times, myself included, we travel through our everyday lives at the speed of life. We get up. We eat breakfast, or don’t. We drink our coffee, watch the morning news, or whatever. We get dressed and head out the door. Most of us have a routine. We stop here or there, get stuff, and head off to work or school. We complete our assigned tasks, head home, wonder what we’ll eat for dinner, miss our loved ones, think of upcoming birthdays or holidays, plan trips, and pay bills. For the most part, we live in our happy little bubbles.
What is the person’s name who sold us the coffee? What is your Mail Person’s name? Why is that thing there? What is this over here? Did you see that person on the corner? What were they doing? Did you know that the person who just cut you off in traffic was on their way to the Hospital? Did you see the old person on the bench? What did you miss? You would be surprised.
I started, a long time ago now, to slow down. I try to notice everything. Whenever I am dealing with someone, I notice their face. I notice their body language. I ask them, “How’s your day going?” You would be surprised how this simple question throws so many people off. Especially since I actually wait for the answer.
As you said,
Yup. Jesus tried to teach us this concept, too. He Said.
" Jesus said to him, 'No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” Luke 9:62
Along with this.
“Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” Matthew 6:34
I truly believe He was telling us to slow down. Live in today. Experience it all. This day will be gone forever, never to repeat. Precious is every day.
Peter
It seemed to me you were asking about the 3 days and nights Jesus lay in the tomb before His resurrection. If that’s the case, then my answer is that I would have been like everyone else. It would have looked to me that it had gone wrong. There wasn’t anyone of that time who knew or guessed that Jesus would be raised. Why would it be any different for me? We are on the other side of the cross and know, but back then there was no knowing.
He said it and He said it many times. He said He would rise again and specifically on the third day. Jesus said a lot of things that His disciples didn’t get and this was one of them. Are we really so much different than the people of that time? The culture is different, but people remain the same. Even now the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing. They don’t get it and they didn’t get it then.
Thank you for this @ellenvera for many this week is a celebratory week. For me it’s always been about confusion. I know I’m supposed to feel something, or feel a certain way, but I’ve only ever felt confusion, and even sadness..grief actually.
But this year something shifted as I began to read the story and learn why Jesus did certain things and what the events taking place mean, what these events mean..because everything He said and did has meaning..meanings.
I feel a very deep, humbling awe. I’ve been experiencing His presence strongly this week. It’s been an amazing week!
Joanne