Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Progressive Christian
It’s Not The Blood; It’s the Betrayal: Holy Week Reflections

It’s Not The Blood; It’s the Betrayal: Holy Week Reflections

Last updated on: March 28, 2018 at 9:30 am by Christy Thomas

It’s Not The Blood; It’s the Betrayal: Holy Week Reflections 2018-03-28T09:30:33-05:00 Christy Thomas

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Holy week is about the forgiveness of betrayal.

We don’t need the cross; we do need the betrayal and the response to the betrayal. Few of us face public execution; all of us will be wounded over and over again by the multiple betrayals we all endure.

Remember, Jesus said, “Father, forgive them for they don’t know what they do.”

Who has experienced betrayal this year?

Well, Equifax handed over the personal and financial information on over 140,000,000 people to hackers. For years to come, those hackers will sell it to those who will use your information, stored on a system Equifax knew was not safe, to steal your identity, take out credit in your name, and destroy your financial life.

Facebook happily pocketed the profit after selling massive amounts of private information on you and your friends so members of one mega-rich family could use it in any way possible to ensure victory for their preferred candidate.

Elected politicians promised one thing and delivered another; leaders of various entertainment, political, religious and business fields were exposed as sleazy sexual predators; our children became terrified to go to school because they don’t know when the next assault rifle, legal for private citizens ONLY in the USA, would mow them down; banks insisted you buy products you didn’t need and pharmaceutical companies sent prices soaring on essential drugs, costing pennies to manufacture, that manage chronic and debilitating illnesses.

Our friends turned into “frenemies” with their gossip and backstabbing; we fought with our siblings and spouses; our children disappointed us and we disappointed our parents; the weeds just kept coming up. As has the temperature. We betrayed the earth; the earth is betraying us.

Finally, we all betrayed God. From the beginning of recorded history, we’ve shoved a collective fist into the face of God and said, “Thanks but no thanks. I’ll go my own way.”

We’re still doing it. It’s called the human condition. It’s just too hard to love God and love our neighbors in a way that we treat them the way we ourselves want to be treated. More comfortable to live self-centered and pretend we have no responsibility to the rest of the world or even to our true selves. Too bad, God.

Betrayal sits as the centerpiece of the week Christians often call “Holy Week,” the time leading to Easter Sunday.

Jesus, riding in triumphantly on Palm Sunday, ends up disappointing, i.e., betraying, his followers by not immediately claiming the crown as the triumphant King of Israel who will free them from their oppressors. In turn, Jesus gets the kiss of betrayal by one of his intimate friends. The crowds, many of whom may have been healed or fed by his hands, call for his execution by crucifixion.

Nonetheless, the week is not about the cross. There’s nothing special about that particular symbol, other than at that time and at that place, it meant “executed by the powers of the day.”

If this had happened in another time, another place, hangmen would have done the dirty work, or lackeys with dull knives would have drawn and quartered him, or pyromaniacs would have gleefully lit the straw around the stake, or people armed with rifles would have taken aim and fired, or a prison official would have flipped the switch that powered the chair, or a medical technician would have injected fatal drugs that might, or might not, have worked.

It’s not the cross or the blood that dripped or any of the gore surrounding this common method of ridding oneself of one’s perceived enemies that matter.

No: it is about the forgiveness of the betrayal from which such horrors spring.

We don’t need the cross; we do need the betrayal. More, we need the response to the betrayal.

Few of us will face public execution; all of us will be wounded over and over again multiple betrayals.

But Jesus said, “Father, forgive them for they don’t know what they do.”

We might read those words like this:

“Holy God, set ‘em free. They are doing the best they can and we both know it.”

Or this:

“Abba, don’t hold it against them—we both know they are a bundle of ignorant sheep wandering around the wilderness, afraid of their shadows and the unknown. They’re doing the best they can even if it isn’t very good.”

Or even this:

“Yep, they are cruel and ignorant and far worse than animals in their treatment of others. Even so, they are capable of the best, the noblest and most self-sacrificing of acts. Once more, let us set them free from their bondage so they might again get the needed fresh start.”

When we quit focusing on blood and start focusing on the forgiveness of our many betrayals, the joy and light of Easter Sunday permeate our souls. The grave of death and decay could not contain Jesus. It will not contain us when we, too, move to release those who betray us—including ourselves.

No longer is it, “I hope my enemies burn in hell” but it is, “May Your Holy Grace wash over them.”

No longer, “I will NEVER forgive that person and hope the worst for them,” but now, “It’s not my job to take vengeance on anyone; it is my job to offer aid to those who need it, whether I think they deserve goodness or not.”

No longer, “Those nasty idiots. I hate them,” but now, “May I learn to love those who hate me, and turn blessing upon those who revile me.”

The forgiveness of betrayal is what leads to the Resurrection of Easter: it sets us free to live.

Forgiveness to the betrayals of our lives opens the doors to the center of God’s heart, for that is what we find there: forgiveness of our betrayals.

Resentment and bitterness keep us in our graves. There we watch our souls decay under their wretched, unrelenting weight. But when we follow Jesus to that moment of death, when we feel utterly deserted and alone, when we suffer unimaginably, and then when we say, “I forgive,” the massive gravestone rolls away and we walk out, healed and whole, the stench of death gone.

That’s Easter. That’s what Holy Week is about. May our many resurrections follow in the pattern of the Holy Resurrection.

Our chains have fallen off. Let us rise and follow Jesus!

Photo credit: Exirel on VisualHunt.com / CC BY-NC

Previous Post

March 14, 2018

Trump, Stormy, and the Lord's Anointed: The Thoughtful Pastor Speaks

Next Post

March 28, 2018 What I Learned From Reading the Newspapers Today

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category " obedience abortion accommodation accountability administration adolescence Advent advice an ordinary death anxiety apology apportionments Ash Wednesday ask thoughtfulpastor baptism betrayal Bible bondage calling certainty change character charity children Christianity Christmas church church as garden clergy clergy credentials closure comfort compassion competition compromise Confirmation conservation conservative conspiracy theories consumer conversion coronavirua corruption courage covenant cultural context death Deconstruction discipleship discord divorce doctrine doing good drugs dysfunctional Easter Easter; Resurrection education election entertainment envy escape evaluation evil exclusive church exercise faith faithfulness family fasting fear feast featured film review finances first world problem food forgiveness fundamentalist garden gay marriage General Conference generosity giving thanks GLBT glory good government grace guilt habit happy harmony hateful acts healing health health care heaven hell hello/goodbye heresy hidden agenda holiness homelessness homosexuality humility hymn hypocrisy Imago Dei In training inclusive church indulgence injustice innocents insurance intolerance itinerancy joy Justice kindness Kingdom of Heave kingdom of heaven language laughter laundry lawsuit leadership Lent LGBTQ liberal life Little Things Matter longform meandering thoughts memories mercy metaphor metrics miracle misfortunes morality Mormon Muslim mystery worship natural disasters New Category Name nutrients older adults oppression pain Paleo paperwork partnered pastor peace pension pharmaceutical placebo politics poverty prayer privilege public schools questions quiet racism rain reason reconciliation religion repentance requirements rescue respect rest resurrection retirement Sabbath sacrament sacred salvation same-sex marriage sanctuary schism schooling science SCOTUS secrecy separation of church and state sexism sexuality short cuts silence sin sleep soil spiritual journey stillness suffering surgery sustainable church teacher technology thank you theology therapy thinking tolerance TOS trust truth Uncategorized welcome Why Easter? wisdom women worship

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 December 2025 October 2025 September 2025 July 2025 June 2025 March 2025 February 2025 December 2024 November 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 April 2024 March 2024 January 2024 December 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 October 2022 September 2022 July 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 October 2021 July 2021 June 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 January 2020 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 July 2007 March 2007

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz