A Big Picture Summary of Holy Week

Picture by Avel Chuklanov on Unsplash

One of the first services I ever attended in the Episcopal Church was Palm Sunday. I had never experienced anything like it before—parading around the parameter of the church while waving real palm branches. Arriving back in my pew with the gentle sunlight of springtime filtering through the stained glass windows above me. Feeling energized from becoming part of the biblical narrative, as I enacted this familiar story through the movement of my own body, within my own community of Christ’s followers.

This service then drew me into Holy Week, which includes Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday and the Great Vigil of Easter, and Easter Sunday. Over the years, these services have taken on deeper meaning for me, in different churches, cities, and phases of life. But as someone who didn’t grow up in a liturgical tradition, it has taken some time to keep track of what each service is and how they all fit together. Maybe you feel the same—whether new to the church or a lifelong parishioner, the plot-line and rituals can get confusing!

The following is a big picture summary of Holy Week, so you can know what’s going on during this sacred week that is observed by Christians all over the world—and maybe even attend a service if you are interested. There are particularities between different traditions, and this is written from my Episcopalian experience. It is also written to be accessible to kids, so feel free to share with the youth and children in your life.

Palm Sunday: Jesus Enters Jerusalem a Last Time

The first day of Holy Week is Palm Sunday: the day that Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a humble donkey. People laid palm branches on the ground for his donkey to walk on, honoring him as a king—but a different kind of king. Jesus wasn’t someone who ruled over a land with wealth and power. Instead, he was someone who brought God’s peace and justice, showing people a different way of being in the world. This was the last time Jesus went into Jerusalem, and led into the events of his death and resurrection.

Some churches begin this service outside, where everyone is given a palm branch. After blessing the palms, the whole congregation processes (or walks together) around the outside of the church waving their palm branches and making joyful noises with instruments and singing. Sometimes, there is even a real donkey leading the procession!

Maundy Thursday: Jesus’ Last Supper and Betrayl

Maundy Thursday is when Jesus gathered his disciples—his closest friends—together in an upper room in Jerusalem and shared a meal, or what we now call, “the last supper.” The table would have been long and low, with Jesus and his disciples sitting on the floor—so closely that one person’s head might be on another person’s chest as they rested and enjoyed the food. There would have been food like olives, cucumbers, dates, and unleavened bread, as well as wine.

During the meal, Jesus took a towel and a bowl of water and washed all of his friends’ feet. This was a surprise, because he was their teacher and leader. They thought they should be washing his feet! But just like when Jesus rode a donkey instead of a horse, he was showing them a different kind of leadership—one that was based on serving others. He even gave his disciples a new commandment (or a holy rule; which is also where we get the word Maundy as it comes from the Latin word for commandment) to love one another in the same way that he loved them.

That same night, one of his disciples betrayed him. Judas told the soldiers who were looking for Jesus that he would be in the garden of Gethsemane later that night. While Jesus was in the garden praying, a soldier came, arrested him, and took him away.

Today, churches carry out this commandment, and example of servant leadership, through washing one another’s feet. During the Maundy Thursday service, people are invited to come up by the altar where they sit down, take off their shoes, and put their feet in a bowl of water. Then, a priest or other people in the congregation take turns kneeling down to wash and dry one another’s feet.

At the end of the service everything is taken away from around and on the altar—all of the candles, hymnals and cushions, crosses and banners. This helps people see what it was like when Jesus was taken away and all of his disciples were left alone. It helps us enter into the story and feel all the feelings. The blessed bread and wine that were used for the Eucharist are put away in a separate altar, often in a side chapel, because the Eucharist will not be celebrated again until Easter Sunday. The priest then washes the altar with a wet cloth, just like the disciples will prepare Jesus’ body for burial after he dies. The lights are turned off and the clergy and parishioners leave the church in darkness and silence.

Good Friday: Jesus Suffers and Dies on the Cross

The next day—which we call Good Friday—Jesus was put on trial, even though he hadn’t done anything wrong. He had a lot of followers, and he was telling people to always obey God, which was threatening to the Roman empire—the emperor acted like a king and wanted everyone to follow and obey him. As a result, Jesus was tried and condemned as guilty.

People made fun of Jesus and hurt him. He had to carry a big wooden cross through the streets of Jerusalem, all the way to a hill, outside of the city, called Golgotha—which was shaped like a skull and is where all the garbage from the city went. There, the soldiers nailed Jesus to the cross, and he hung on it until he died. People were heartbroken and disappointed. They had hoped Jesus would save them from the harsh leaders who ruled over them. They had wanted him to be strong and powerful like a king. But instead, he had seemed weak and died.

Some of Jesus’ followers, who stayed close to him until the end, carefully took him down from the cross. They cleaned his body, wrapped it in cloth, and laid it in a tomb in a garden—a room carved out of a rock, with a large stone rolled in front of it like a door.

On Good Friday, a big wooden cross is carried down the middle aisle of the church and placed at the front of the sanctuary. Some churches lay the cross down on the floor or steps. People are invited to come forward and venerate the cross (which means to honor and show respect, with love and devotion). They may choose to do something like put their hand on the cross, kneel before it, stand in silence, or pray.

The Great Vigil of Easter: From Waiting to Resurrection

The whole next day, which we call Holy Saturday, was quiet. How could it be that Jesus had died? Jesus’ followers grieved and waited, but no one knew what they were waiting for—what would happen next.

Holy Saturday is a day of waiting and silence. People find ways to prayerfully reflect on everything that has happened and spend time with God in this in-between period.

The Great Vigil of Easter then takes place on Saturday at sunset, which liturgically the church considers Easter Sunday. People gather outside of the church around a small bonfire. The Paschal Candle (a big white candle representing the light of Christ) is lit and its light spreads to everyone’s smaller handheld candles. Then people follow the Paschal Candle into the church, where the person carrying it stops three times along the way to sing, “the light of Christ,” and everyone responds by singing, “thanks be to God.” When people enter the church it is still dark and just the candles light the sanctuary. Then part way through the service, the lights are turned on, bells are rung, and we celebrate that Jesus has risen! This service lets us experience what it is like for Christ’s light to come into the world and grow among us.

Easter Sunday: Christ is Risen! Alleluia, Alleluia.

The next morning—which we call Easter Sunday—some of Jesus’ women friends came to see him because they loved him deeply. But when they arrived at the tomb, something amazing had happened—the big stone had been rolled away, and Jesus wasn’t there. God had raised him from the dead, brought him back to life! In one of the stories, one of the women named Mary Magdalene even sees Jesus walking in the garden and they have a conversation. The disciples hurry to tell the others.

And this is what we celebrate on Easter: that Jesus died, but he also rose again. Because God’s love is stronger than death. Through Jesus, we get to have this kind of life, too. Even though one day we will die, we will also be given new life in God. And even though we may go through hard things, God’s love will always be with us.

That is what we call the good news of the gospel. So on Easter, may you celebrate the good news that God’s love is the strongest force in the world—and that it will always be with you.

Some churches offer a sunrise service, which follows the same liturgy as the Great Vigil on Saturday evening. At the later services, people come ready to celebrate! There is lively music and often brass instruments like horns and trumpets. After church people can stay to chat, eat food, or have an Easter egg hunt in the church’s garden.

The Great Vigil and Easter Sunday are also the first time churches get to say “alleluia” since Lent—marking the transition from penitence and preparation to the emergence of new life. All of the spiritual discipline during Lent has cultivated closer connection to God, and made way for rejoicing! The season of Easter then continues for fifty days, which was how long Jesus spent on earth with his disciples after he rose from the grave…and because it takes time to learn how to live into the fullness of resurrection.

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