Ask the Pastor: Holy Week, Holy People, Holy Communion
by the Rev. Walter Snyder
Religion Columnist
     While some have services every day of Holy Week, most congregations pause until
Maundy Thursday, "the night on which He was betrayed." Jesus here began a new Passover with
a new Passover meal. In place of Israel's families gathering to hear of rescue from Egyptian
bondage, Jesus established a New Testament in the cup of his blood, freeing us from sinful,
deathly bondage. No longer would blood be painted on door posts, poured on altar or ark,
or sprinkled on the people. The final Lamb was to be slaughtered, his body and blood now
given his people to eat and to drink.
     The first Passover involved God creating a nation out of Israel's loosely knit tribal
structure. Blood and water, from lambs and from Red Sea, were his chosen means. This
prefigures the great Passover, where God made the new Israel, the Christian Church. This is
not an earthly nation, but heavenly. It, too, is of blood and water: Christ's blood shed on
the cross flows in Baptism's waters, washing away sins and making us into citizens of the
new Jerusalem.
     As happens so often, in the new Passover God appears to be doing things "backwards" by
our standards: The death of the Lamb follows the giving of his body and blood. Only after
the first meal of the New Testament came the betrayal and crucifixion. Many churches
remember this by solemnly stripping the decorations from the church following reception of
the Lord's Supper on Maundy Thursday. We carry away the beauty even as our beautiful Savior
was carried away.
     Good Friday follows as we remember the brutal sacrifice which gained our freedom from
sin, death, and Hell. Whether at noontime, which recalls the hour when darkness came over
the earth, or in the evening, Christians around the world come to hear the Gospels tell of
the death of the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Again, many will receive
his body and blood, remembering in the eating and drinking what has been proclaimed in
Scripture, sermon, and song.
     Yet if it stood as the end of the Church's proclamation, Good Friday would have Pharaoh
trapping Israel by the Red Sea and no rescue taking place. Death would be in even firmer
control than ever, for God himself would be powerless against it. Yet this is a PassOVER.
Christ, as First-fruit of the Resurrection, passes over from death to life, leading us in
his trail.
     Easter Eve's Vigil forms the bridge. It early became the time to baptize catechumens,
those who'd been fully instructed in the Christian Faith. It begins with thoughts of Christ
in the tomb and thus gives illustration of the Scripture that we are "buried with Christ by
baptism into his death." Yet even as baptism kills sin, just as water killed Pharaoh's
pursuing troops, so it also brings "newness of life," as did water for Israel, safe on the
other side. The Scriptures of the Vigil hearken back to creating, saving waters time and
again. Safe on the other side, the new Israel may again eat and drink the heavenly food of
Jesus' body and blood for strength through this life's journey.
     Then comes the day and the full celebration of the Resurrection. Hymns ancient and new
resurrect the alleluias which have been "buried" through Lent. Easter is often called
"the Lamb's High Feast." Yet this is not a feast that he enjoys alone, but one to which he
invites his blood-bought people. Heavenly manna may again be eaten by those still bound to
earth. Again, Christians might receive Christ's body and blood in remembrance of him. Luther
summed up this thought in the final stanza of the hymn Christ Jesus Lay in Death's Strong
Bands:
		Then let us feast this Easter Day
		On Christ the Bread of Heaven;
		The Word of Grace has purged away
		The old and evil leaven.
		Christ alone our souls will feed;
		He is our meat and drink indeed;
		Faith lives upon no other! Alleluia!
     To Ask the Pastor, please write Ask the Pastor, PO Box 12, Emma, MO, 65327 or send email
to askthepastor@aol.com. I look forward to hearing from you.
     Walter Snyder is the pastor of Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Emma, Missouri and coauthor
of the book "What Do Lutherans Believe."