| 'Nuts and Bolts' of Holy Week and Easter. Keeping ever in mind that we are dealing with the life and suffering and death of Jesus Christ, God made man, our Saviour, it is not disrespectful to deal with the realities - 'as was' - in as factual a way as possible. The people around him may well have accepted that he was someone special, but they had no clue of what we accept on faith and the 'normal' practices were carried out. We ought to know some of these facts if only to be able to appreciate the brutality of Our Lord's suffering which is so often softened and even glamorised by artistic and pious representations. If anything, it shows that God freely chose to use the things of this world, as they were common at that time, to bring about the Redemption. Just as he uses our natural surroundings, material things, our gifts and opportunities for our sanctification and salvation. Palm Sunday: marks the start of our Holy Week. For Our Lord and for the Jews it was the beginning of the week for celebrating the feast of Passover - an annual festival to mark the flight from Egypt into ( eventually, after the wanderings through the desert for forty years) the Promised Land. As the Gospels tell us, Jesus had arranged to go to Jerusalem for the feast. How much formal arrangement there may have been to make his entrance public and even triumphal is really unknown. It may well have been that he simply planned to go to Jerusalem, to the feast and - as he well knew - his passion and death and it just seemed a good idea at the time to get a means of transport to make it easier for him. The sort of friends he had would probably have been able to lend him a donkey far easier than a horse and chariot. But riding in on a donkey may have been very deliberate, a symbol of humility and unity with the people. If he had gone in on horseback it would have verged on the militant and arrogant. He was popular with the people, he had a following. Not just because of the miracles but also because of his preaching and the promise he held out of 'redemption'; although the raising of his friend Lazarus shortly before in a village very near Jerusalem must have attracted quite a crowd of curious onlookers. Many, no doubt, would have thought of Christ’s preaching and activities in a non-spiritual way; as a call to rebellion against and freedom from the Romans. Others saw the real meaning of Our Lord's preaching. But the crowds on this day probably just joined in the procession without any really clear realisation. There was a holiday atmosphere, here was a popular preacher, a prophet; as good a cause of celebration as any. The 'Alleluia' was a traditional shout of joy and triumph. There were very definite references to prophecies foretelling the coming of the Messiah. The waving of palms (which, of course, were just the ordinary vegetation growing wild) and carpeting of the way with cloaks etc was an exuberant sign of welcome and joy. To help us envisage the events of Holy Week and have some idea of the geography of the place and various sites mentioned in the Gospels:- see the map and note the comparatively short distances. Each square on the map is 1/4 ( one quarter) of a mile. Note that Calvary was just outside the old walls of the city. It seems more likely that Pontius Pilate lodged in the fortress (or tower) of Antonia when in Jerusalem; rather than the Palace of Herod. and that it was there, in the court (praetorium), that Pilate condemned Jesus. Certainly, the traditional 'Via Dolorosa' leads from there to Calvary We have no idea where Jesus stayed during this week. It may have been in the city or outside in one of the villages with some of his friends. All distances are quite short in comparison to our modern ideas of cities or large towns. Spy Wednesday in Holy Week is so called because the Gospel mentions that Judas went off to 'betray' Our Lord. This was a genuine enough betrayal but only in the sense of telling the authorities where and when it would be safe for them to arrest Jesus. Judas did not betray any confidential teaching, no secrets. All that, as Jesus himself says to those coming to seize him, was said in public for all to hear. In the past, however, whenever the Jews thought of arresting Our Lord they "were afraid of the people" as the Gospels have it. His teaching and personality, never mind the miracles, made him a popular hero in all kinds of ways and to have arrested him with a crowd of followers around him could well have caused a riot. Judas told the religious leaders where Jesus would be at a certain time and that he would, at the most, only have his handful of close followers around him. He knew that Our Lord would be likely to go to pray in some handy quiet place near the house where he was to eat the paschal meal. He agreed to lead the temple 'police' to the right place at the right time and to identify Our Lord by giving him a kiss, a friendly embrace. Palestine was under Roman occupation. The Romans had a Governor or Procurator - Pontius Pilate at this time - who normally stayed in the cooler and more pleasant coastal town of Caesaria but came into Jerusalem with his troops half expecting trouble ( and usually getting it) at the feast of the Passover. The Romans very wisely allowed the Jews to run their own internal affairs and only insisted on what was really important; things like raising sufficient taxes and the death penalty. The "leaders" of the people that the Gospels mention were, roughly, the Chief Priests: a bunch of hereditary 'nobles' who chose ( with Roman approval) the Chief Priest himself and ruled the Temple and, for good reasons as well as bad, were quislings, working with the Romans. They tended to keep aloof from ordinary, common people. The priests ' in the ranks' were, again, hereditary, but lived throughout the land and apart from symbolic and liturgical functions which they undertook in the Temple on a rota basis they had little influence. The Scribes were educated laymen who did the sort of civil service jobs and filled local government posts. They were often also Pharisees who were, in addition, steeped in the Scriptures and Jewish laws and traditions and were much more nationalistic and opposed to the Romans. They had the most influence on people because they interpreted Jewish traditions and set up rules of conduct. They were not, all them, as evil as the Gospels tend to paint them. But they did have power, often abused it, interpreted laws in selfish ways and claimed an authority they did not really have. People feared and respected them rather than loved them; but they were 'popular' because the people as a whole saw them as theirs and the only opposition to the arrogant and conquering power of Rome. Sadducees were usually priests but what set them apart was that they did not believe in the physical immortality of the body; they had serious doubts about the after-life, heaven and hell. Levites were those from the tribe of Levi and generally servants of the Temple; sort of Deacons who looked after the many aspects of the Temple in Jerusalem, from organising worship to keeping order, selling of sacrificial animals, keeping out heathens etc. They were assisted by Temple Guards - a kind of ‘special constables’ or private army of the High Priest(s) who were the local heavies, bouncers and enforcers as well as a very necessary local force to keep law and order. The Temple itself was the focal point of worship for the Jews and they would travel from far and wide to attend it, especially on important Jewish feastdays. Those Jews of the 'Diaspora' - living in effect in exile, the scattered ones, from outside Palestine and throughout the then known world - as well as more local inhabitants were expected to visit the Temple at least once in their lifetime to worship there. The Temple Our Lord saw was the one built by Herod the Great which was destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D. and of which not a stone would be left upon another, as Jesus foretold. (The 'wailing wall' is the only relic of it today). It was splendid and huge and the only place where orthodox Jews could offer sacrifice to the Lord. [ Samaritans were the heretics who claimed they could have their own temple – in Samaria]. It occupied a big part of the walled city of Jerusalem and was surrounded by the 'Court of the Gentiles ' into which any Tom, Dick or Harry could enter. The next section was for Jewish women, followed by a section for Jewish males and then the inner sanctum, the 'Holy of Holies' into which only priests could enter. Local worship and prayer was in synagogues on the sabbath day and conducted by teachers (rabbis) rather than priests. The Sabbath as such, day of rest, was calculated from sunset on our Friday to sunset on Saturday - a fact of some importance when it comes to the death and burial of Our Lord plus, it is worth remembering, that with no electricity, torches or other realistic artificial light, all useful activity tended to stop at sunset and get going again at dawn. The Sanhedrin was the highest court of law consisting of some 70 members of priests and nobility and under the presidency of the High Priest. It sat in the temple precinct and was as powerful as the king or Roman governor would allow it to be. It is generally agreed that in Our Lord's time this court was able to gather evidence in civil and religious cases, hear witnesses, pass sentence and only needed Roman confirmation if such a sentence was one of death ( more often than not by stoning; crucifixion tended to be a Roman penalty.) Pontius Pilate had been Procurator for Judea for some six or seven years - since AD 26 - and was responsible directly to the Imperial Legate of Syria. He had already shown his contempt for the Jews by bringing into the city images of the Emperor ( Jews were not allowed to have images, statues, pictures of people) and confiscating temple money to build an aqueduct. He tended to be a cruel man ( he lost his job in AD36 because of his special cruelty to the Samaritans) but also - in the picture painted in the Gospels - did have some sense of Roman justice. Overall, however, he was weak and probably confirmed the death sentence on Our Lord as much from fear of the threat that his Emperor would not approve of anyone claiming to be King of the Jews as from sheer indifference to what these Jews were doing. Maundy Thursday: now so called because of the first words of the Mass: 'Mandatum' - ( I give you a) command. It commemorates the paschal meal Jesus had with his disciples ( and possibly others such as Our Lady and other friends and relatives. There is nothing in the Gospels to make us restrict this meal to just Jesus and the Twelve. Never mind Leonardo de Vinci and his painting; it would have been far more natural to have had this meal with at least those who were also present at the crucifixion) in accordance with Jewish custom to celebrate the flight from Egypt. The Passover Meal. Now we talk of this as The Last Supper; but at the time it took the usual course of a Passover meal with the specifically unusual and unique bit: the institution of the Eucharist: " This is my body……..this is my blood …..do this in memory of me". It was - and is - customary for the Jews to organise this Passover meal very carefully mainly for the family but also with friends. It is quite likely that the Last Supper was shared by more than just Jesus and the Twelve. Why should Our Lady not have been there as well? Plus any of his friends. Such details are not important but for us to have some idea of what happened we have to realise that it was not, at the time, thought of as 'The Last Supper' in the way we now speak of it. The Passover meal consisted of special food - lamb, unleavened bread, special herbs and spices and wine - plus a reading from the account of the flight from Egypt and prayers of thanksgiving. It is still an occasion for Jews when they very much stress the importance of the family and the continued 'covenant' with God through the ages. It is a joyful but also a solemn meal and Our Lord used the structure and occasion to give a lesson in humility and love ( in the washing of feet) and to institute the Eucharist. The washing of feet had no place in the customary meal and was a surprise to those present ( as is seen in the initial reaction of poor old Peter). The 'words of consecration' and commandment to 'do this in memory of me' must have recalled very starkly the promise of the Eucharist given some time before in the Gospel of St. John. This also harked back to the 'old covenant' which this meal was celebrating and instituted the 'new covenant'. We tend to stress the Eucharist, the washing of feet as a symbol of charity, and the institution of the sacrificial Christian priesthood. [Incidentally we also see Judas slipping out to pass the word to the authorities.] The remembrance of the continuing covenant, agreement with God is mentioned much more during the Easter Vigil so as to link it with the new covenant as sealed with the death and resurrection. When the final prayers and psalms had been recited to end this formal but also very 'family friendly' meal, Jesus went out to pray. He took his closest disciples with him but, it seems, that anyone else who may have been at the meal stayed behind to do the washing up. Certainly, there was no crowd, no followers; if only because everybody was having a similar meal in their own homes. He went on a bit by himself to pray - into the Garden of Gethsemani - and experienced what we now call ' The Agony in the Garden'. This need not have been anything miraculous. It was certainly most unpleasant but there have been similar incidents through history when a person dreaded a great ordeal and had the knowledge and imagination to foresee the suffering. Our Lord knew he would suffer - pain, humiliation, contempt - and die on the cross in a way which, through his life, he must have seen being inflicted on others. Added to all this there was almost certainly the knowledge that all this suffering would be in vain for many, would be rejected through the ages and even denied by his friends at the time. The 'drops of blood' are more accurately described as beads of sweat which looked like blood. Fear and dread and the usual weakening effect of sweating in that way have been experienced and observed in cases of flogging of seamen and other cases where gross torture was imminent. Good Friday: called 'good' from our point of view since it brought about our redemption. Just as at the Easter Vigil the sin of Adam is called a 'happy fault' - in the sense that without it there would have been no need of redemption, no need of God becoming man, no Christ. The day can be said to start with sunset on Thursday according to the common reckoning of the time. Our Lord was arrested and taken off for interrogation by the Sanhedrin; at the High Priest's house - where people sat around the in the courtyard waiting for a verdict and where Peter did his triple denial. This was probably a sort of unofficial meeting of the Sanhedrin. To be followed, at daybreak, by the full meeting of the Council. [Annas and Caiphas were related by marriage; the High Priest should have been for life, but under the Romans they tended to change frequently but try to keep the position 'in the family'.] The interrogation was illegal according to Jewish law, since no sort of court was allowed to sit at night. This was followed by further breaches of law since at least two witnesses had to agree before a charge could be proved - and, as the Gospels tell us, no such witnesses, even false ones, could be found. Physical force such as striking the accused, was not allowed. The eventual appeal to the accused to say who and what he was and which made Our Lord claim that he was the Son of God and brought forth anguished cries of 'Blasphemy!' was also illegal – it was a ‘self accusation’ not allowed under the law. It was for blasphemy, however, that he was condemned to death at a full meeting of the Sanhedrin at crack of dawn; fair enough, since that was a capital offence under Jewish law. However, not only did this have to be confirmed by the Romans but, in Jewish law, there had to be a day's pause between sentencing and the execution. [It must have been somewhere at this point that Judas realised what he had started, returned the silver pieces and was rebuffed by the Jewish authorities. He went off, threw the money into the sanctuary of the temple and hanged himself { later, in the Acts of the Apostles, the gory detail is added that he fell - presumably the rope broke - and his body burst open!}. In due time the money was picked up and the decision was made to buy a plot of land as burial for strangers - fulfilling in a most accurate way an old prophecy made by Jeremiah.] To confirm the sentence Jesus was taken to Pilate; very early in the morning (which probably did not help Pilate's mood) and outside the actual palace since entering a pagan dwelling would have defiled the accusers so that they could not have celebrated the feast of the Passover from that Friday evening. Pilate, hearing that Our Lord was from Galilee, promptly passed the buck to Herod who also happened to be in Jerusalem for the festivities. He was a puppet king of the territory of Judea; by Roman appointment and under their protection but responsible for the behaviour of his subjects. Jesus did not even deign to reply to Herod's questions and was thus sent back to Pilate. To a Roman with his beliefs in gods and goddesses, the charge of blasphemy against a man who claimed to be the Son of God was rather excessive; even meaningless. Pilate was therefore not too impressed and told the Jews to do their own judging, according to their own law. They pointed out that they had already done this but needed confirmation of the death sentence. Partly because blasphemy cut little ice with Pilate and partly because of his contempt for these Jews and their religion, he more or less forced them to swallow their pride, change the charges against Our Lord to rebellion against the Emperor and proclaim that 'we have no king but Caesar'. It was for rebellion against the Romans - calling himself a king - that Jesus was condemned; not for blasphemy. Even then Pilate had serious doubts and did his symbolic washing of hands so that the blame would fall upon the Jews. Until then the best that Pilate would offer them as justice was that he would have the prisoner punished, scourged, and then let him go. This scourging would have been - and was - done under Roman law. The Jews allowed scourging but restricted it to 40 lashes ( and being scrupulous, stopped at 39). The Romans had no such limit; it would, in theory, stop short of death but was left up to the judgement of the man in charge; in practice the centurion who had been given the job of supervision. A man would be tied to a pillar or stake in a bowed position and the whip consisted of several strands of leather with either knots or bits of metal or the knuckle bones of a sheep tied into them at intervals to cause more damage. The first lash or two would open up the flesh and such damage would get progressively worse. Eventually a bucket of salt water would be dashed over the wounds and the punishment either brought to an end or continue to serve as a weakening process before crucifixion and death. With the death penalty now confirmed - crucifixion for a mere Jew; Roman citizens had the privilege of being beheaded - things took their normal course apart from the few specific tortures due to the 'kingship' claim and sentence. Jesus had already been dressed in some mock purple robe ( the colour of kings and emperors) and mocked. He was then crowned with thorns. This was no fancy plaited crown; it was a twig of local thorn with hard spikes of considerable length simply tied in a circle and rammed on his head with very painful and dire results. Crucifixions were not an uncommon sight and the procedure was simple. Crosses or uprights were set up outside the city walls, on a hillock so as to be in sight of the watching crowds. The condemned man carried his cross ( the 'cross-piece') for his own execution. This was no neatly carpentered cross as we see in pictures. It was the rough plank or beam which served as the cross section to be lifted up and slotted into the uprights already in place. The arms of the condemned man were tied to this and he was driven through the narrow streets of the city open to the derision and abuse of the crowds. If he fell or was tripped, there was no way he could save or soften his fall. Again, since the death sentence was a legal issue, it would not do for a man to die on the way. If things got too rough then help would be given him to carry the crossbar ( Simon of Cyrene - a visitor to the city either idly watching or, perhaps, joining in the fun). In spite of all this brutality which we find hard to envisage in this day and age, there were always some - usually women - who would try to alleviate the pain of the victim in what little way was possible. Thus the woman ( traditionally called Veronica - which means 'true image' or 'true icon') who wiped the face of Jesus. On reaching Golgotha - a slight rise vaguely in the shape of a skull, outside the city walls and the traditional place of execution and dumping of local rubbish - the arms of the victim would be nailed ( through the wrists, not in the palm since that would just allow the nail to tear through between the fingers) to the crosspiece and the rope probably left on as well. The beam would be winched up into a slot or block on the upright and the feet nailed with one large spike into this or a ledge to help take the weight. The person would then be left hanging there, watched and often abused by the crowd, under the supervision of the soldiers who had to make sure the sentence of death was carried out. Death could take up to 24 hours or more of agony. It came about not through loss of blood but either from shock or, more often, from asphyxiation. This was due to the slumping of the body and thus compressing the lungs and making breathing impossible eventually. For hours the victim would take the weight on his legs and suffer agony there, then slump until he needed the next breath. Thus, if the legs were to be broken ( as they were in the case of the two thieves) death would follow very quickly. Jesus died comparatively - in this context - quickly and his legs did not have to be broken. To make sure that he was dead, be able to confirm that the execution had taken place, a spear was casually but scientifically ( through practice) thrust into his side and into the heart. By the time the haggling with Pilate was finished, the scourging was inflicted and the agonisingly slow procession to the place of execution took place it was 12 noon. The wine mixed with gall offered to him before the crucifixion was an act of charity; it would dull the pain somewhat. It was customary for the personal effects of the condemned man - usually the clothes - to be shared among the soldiers. Thus Our Lord's robe, being all in one piece, was not cut up but won by throwing a dice. Our Lord hung on the cross for three hours. Speaking was difficult, to say the least; but he did speak. At his last cry of pain and even despair, misunderstood as a cry for help to Elias, he was offered a drink of rough wine, lifted up on a stick in a sponge. By this time it was 3.00 p.m. and the bodies could not be left on the cross over the sabbath. Before sunset permission had to be obtained to remove the bodies. After all, it had been a normal and legal execution and it was customary to have proof of death and then hand the body over to relatives and friends. Because time was short the burial had to be temporary and Jesus was taken to a nearby tomb to be left there until the proper rites could be performed early in the morning of Sunday, the day after the sabbath. Whatever the truth and reliability of the Shroud of Turin may be, the picture on it corresponds exactly and quite marvellously with all the details of the crucifixion which have been carefully and lovingly studied through the ages. The Shroud shows marks around the head and trickles of blood. It shows bruising on the shoulders from carrying the cross. It shows damage to the side and the marks of nails through the wrist and feet; there are marks on the body which would have been caused by scourging with whips, thongs, which had solid objects knotted into them. It even shows the hands with the thumb retracted into the palm - a natural result, apparently, of driving a spike through the wrist and thus affecting one of the nerves controlling the thumb. It also hints at a rather puzzling tradition that Jesus had a limp; that one leg was shorter than the other! [On the shroud there is a hint of this; but it could be explained by the fact that one foot was put on the other and a spike driven through both insteps. But very old eastern crucifixes show a cross with a footrest at an angle; not straight across. This could well be based on the Shroud picture which gave the impression of one leg being shorter than the other.] [The ‘authenticity’ of the Shroud, whether it is the piece of linen wrapped round Our Lord at his hasty funeral, can never be established and is not in any way the business of the teaching authority of the Church. It is not a matter of faith or morals. Scientifically it may be proved – or not – that the linen dates back to the time of Christ. It may be shown how the image came to be on the linen. It may even be proved that some artist in the middle ages painted it and the whole thing is a fraud. What remains is the extraordinary information it gives us that corresponds so exactly with the normal manner of crucifixions and the special details given in the Gospel accounts of Our Lord’s manner of suffering and death.] Permission to bring the whole execution to an end was obtained from Pilate. Proof of death was provided by the breaking of legs/spearing the side. The body of Jesus was given to those standing at the foot of the cross to be buried. Jews were, traditionally, buried or put into tombs hewn out of hillsides. One such tomb was available nearby, dusk was falling and the start of the sabbath very near. The body would have been laid on a strip of linen long enough to lay over the top as well. When time allowed [ at crack of dawn on Sunday, the 'third day' according to old reckoning of counting first and last day,] a more elaborate funeral would have taken place using more linen cloths as wrappers, with ointment and herbs and due religious ceremony. Sunset started the sabbath and all Our Lord's friends would naturally celebrate it in the usual but very unhappy way on this occasion. This corresponds to our Holy Saturday which is treated as a sort of 'dead' or empty day. There can be no Mass, no sort of services to mark the day. Until after sunset which marks the Day of Resurrection - Easter Sunday which starts with the Easter Vigil. This, in many ways, is like the celebration of the Passover in so far as there is the commemoration of the whole story of Creation and Redemption - the Fall, the saving of God's chosen people, the prophecies keeping alive the promise of salvation. The great difference is that this is all directed towards the new covenant - the redemption by Christ through his death and resurrection. The symbols used are new fire, the Paschal Candle which represents the light and life of Christ, the blessing of baptismal water giving new life, the whole joy and triumph of the Mass contrasting with the Masses through Lent. The friends of Jesus set off before dawn to perform the funeral rites. They timed it so that they would arrive at the tomb when there would be light to work by. The Gospels give various accounts of what happened and to whom - as seen from the experiences of various people. The one common factor is the empty tomb and the utter surprise and - eventually - joy of all the disciples and friends; even though they had been told he would rise from the dead, it never actually got through to them until it happened. Whole volumes have been written through the centuries about the details of the Resurrection: who was there first, when it happened, to whom Our Lord appeared and in what order, the nuts and bolts of the tomb and the stone which had been rolled away, the linen cloths. All this because - although we cheerfully take it on faith - those who want to deny the place of Christ in our salvation can best do so by casting doubts on the resurrection. Not only was this the final proof Our Lord said would confirm all his claims; it is also the most important promise to all of us that just as Christ rose from the dead, so will we have life everlasting and a resurrection. Which is why Easter (not Christmas or any other feast) is the most solemn and 'important' feast of the Church. Without the resurrection all our faith is in vain. For the children: according to various ages:- tell them about the real facts of life in Our Lord's time. Why he was in Jerusalem. The natural way he was greeted by the crowds with waving palms etc. How it was that Judas 'betrayed ' him. The reason for the 'Last Supper', the Paschal meal. Who was there, how they prepared for it, the sort of food they ate. The special event during that meal - institution of the Eucharist. Without undue brutality, tell them about methods of punishment under the Jewish/Roman law. Why Jesus was condemned first for blasphemy and then for civil rebellion. Who was this Pontius Pilate mentioned every Sunday at Mass in the Creed. Describe the scourging and mocking and the holiday crowds in the streets leading to the place of execution. Make the crucifixion real, the cross an ordinary instrument of execution, the friends mourning and suffering around the cross. The death, the hasty burial and the return on Sunday morning to complete the funeral. Tell them about the triumph of Easter and what the symbols - even if only the white vestments and flowers and cheerful hymns - all mean. Tell them about the New Covenant - the new agreement made by Christ that if we follow him to the best of our ability then we also will rise again. There is no need to go into gory details for the younger children so that they get nightmares. However, a certain amount of reality should be instilled into the whole of Holy Week and Easter, getting more detailed as children grow older, so that they grow in their awareness and at all times are very clear in their minds that these are not just stories. We are surrounded by posh and glamorised crucifixes, by highly artistic pictures of characters reclining in comfort at the Last Supper, of angels escorting a shining Christ rising from the dead. All very good and helpful - so long as we realise that Christ really suffered and really died in agony and that the tomb was genuinely empty and that this same Christ did come back to life - spent the next five weeks or so with his friends – as he had promised and that this resurrection proved his claims and is also a promise of our own eternal life, |
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