Holy Week Day 4 – Repent or be Alone

On Holy and Great Thursday the Church commemorates the final moments of Christ’s life before His death on the Cross. The day begins, in our current cycles of services, with the commemoration of the Mystical Supper and concludes with Christ hanging on the Cross.

How quickly our attention is taken from Christ’s final meal with His Disciples to His imprisonment and trial? How quickly our attention is taken from judgement to execution? In just a few pages of our Holy Week book, Christ is put on trial in the dead of night and secretly condemned to death. Suddenly, after weeks of prayer and fasting, and after several nights of keeping watch, our Lord is hanging on the Cross for our salvation.

What happened? How did it all happen so fast? Didn’t the disciples realize what was taking place? The simple answer is, no, the disciples didn’t fully realize the reality they were facing. That is probably the way God wanted it. Christ was born to die, as we learn through the Icon of Nativity, and if the disciples had picked up on what was happening sooner, they may have tried to interfere with God’s plan for salvation.

I write all this not to comfort you in your sin. Just because Christ came to die, should not mean that we should be ok with our sin. Holy Week is about our journey with Christ to the Cross and Resurrection, but unless we journey with Him in repentance, we will end up alone like Judas. Yes, it all happens quickly, and before we realize it, Holy Week will be over, and we will be singing Christ is Risen. Don’t delay in your repentance. Repent now, so you can celebrate later.