Holy Week | Family Devotional
Below is a short devotional for you to do with your family for each day of Holy Week: Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter Sunday. If you scroll to the bottom there are also three age-appropriate activities that go along with the devotional.
May the peace of the Lord be with you this weekend and you experience the gift of Christ the king in your hearts and the abundant grace and forgiveness that was afforded to you through the life of Jesus and his death on the cross.
This week is Holy Week, which is the week that the Church celebrates the final moments of Jesus’s life, His death on the cross, and His resurrection. Each day of the week has its own set of Bible readings that are typically observed by the Church. Feel free to go through each of these at your own pace, one a day or all in one sitting; it’s up to you.
Maundy Thursday | Read John 13:1-17, 31b-35
We’re jumping in this week with Maundy Thursday. Maundy is an old word that is derived from the Latin word mandatum, which translates to mandate. This title was adopted by the Church due to the mandate that Jesus gave to His disciples in John 13:34-35. Let’s take a deeper look at Jesus’s new commandment and talk about its gravitas in light of the context in which Jesus gave it.
“I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35, NRSV).
This commandment was given during Jesus and the disciples’ final moments together before the crucifixion. This scene, the last communion in the upper room, has been a prominent part of the Christian story and has been rendered time and again by artists throughout history. The focus of the upper room is typically on the communion meal wherein Jesus instructed His disciples to reenact their time together as a reminder of the lessons that Jesus had taught them and the sacrifice that Jesus made to save us from our sin. Communion is important and should be conducted in our churches regularly as a part of our worship. But, as is seen in our reading for today, communion is only part of the story. The first thing to note is that this whole evening was conducted with Jesus’s betrayer Judas involved. This is important because it shapes the way that we understand Jesus’s actions. Second, in addition to sharing in the communion meal, Jesus washed the feet of the disciples, which was a gesture that was reserved for the socially elite and was usually conducted by the socially ignored.
When the foot washing and the communion meal are considered together, a picture of the love that Jesus is mandating becomes clear. Loving others is built on service and sacrifice. This love is abundant, generous, humble, and ultimately selfless. Finally, it is a love that extends to all people, friends and enemies alike. It is only when we break down social divides and extend the love of Jesus to all people that the Church will be known as a group of people who are doing the work of Jesus Christ.
Reflection Question: Who do you need to serve or sacrifice for to love better? How do you see Jesus’s mandate playing out in your life?
Family Connection: Ask your kids if they know what Maundy Thursday is and if they know what Maundy means. Then share with them Jesus’s mandate from John 13:34-35 and talk about what kind of love Jesus was getting at through His examples of foot washing and communion.
Good Friday | Read Isaiah 52:13-53:12
Good Friday is the day that the global Church commemorates Jesus Christ’s death on the cross. We remember the pain and suffering that Jesus endured for us and the moment that Jesus took on the weight of all of humanity’s sin––past, present, and future––so that we could once again be in relationship with God.
Whenever I read Isaiah 52-53, I can’t help but marvel at its poignant and timeless portrayal of Christ’s sacrifice. Bible scholars conclude that the prophecy written down by Isaiah was recorded more than 700 years before Christ was born. It’s one of those things that just goes to show that God had been at work and involved in the world for a long time and will be forevermore. There are two things from Isaiah that I want to highlight.
First, all throughout this passage, we hear echoes of the truths we have talked about during Lent. Mainly that Jesus was afflicted with the same infirmities and walked through the same struggles as we do. Even in being buried, God could relate with us because of the way that Jesus was treated like a criminal, yet was placed in a rich man’s tomb (53:9). The fact that Jesus’s life connected the human situation with God and rekindled our relationship is essential to the whole story of Christ.
Second, it is important for us all to remember that the way Christ’s life ended was always part of God’s plan (53:10). Christ’s life ended in pain so that we could be spared from it. God acted purposefully in and through Christ’s life so that we were no longer identified by our transgression but rather our heritage as children of God.
Reflection Question: Take a moment to sit and reflect on Christ’s final hours and the gift that was given undeservedly on our behalf. If you’d like to reread the crucifixion, you can find it in John 19:17-37.
Family Connection: Pray this prayer over your family, “Lord Jesus, thank you for dying on the cross for our sins. Thank you for suffering on our behalf and thank you for providing a way for us to be in relationship with God once again. Help us to remember the sacrifice you made and help us to live out your mandate well as we love all of God’s children. We love you, Jesus! Amen.”
Holy Saturday | Read Psalm 31:1-4, 15-16
Holy Saturday is often filled with a hopeful waiting. While we retrospectively know what Easter Sunday will bring, on Holy Saturday we remember what it must have been like for Jesus’s followers to seek refuge in God as they mourned the loss of their friend. We wait in anticipation knowing that God must be working. We just have to wait to see how.
Our passage for today focuses on seeking refuge and protection. Its message is most poignant when we imagine Jesus’s followers sitting in a room mourning together. Unsure of what God was doing, they sought refuge through singing and lament. In this time, they were most likely unsure of what to do next. Some were probably feeling guilty for the actions that had transpired the day before, and all were most likely fearing for their lives due to the political unrest. Words like those found in vs. 15, “My times are in your hand; deliver me from the hand of my enemies and persecutors,” come to new light when we consider what the disciples must have been feeling.
Psalm 31 is also a psalm about deliverance. In reciting it together, even this many millennia later, we commemorate Jesus’s victory over death. It was on Holy Saturday that Jesus sought out the souls of those who were living in eternal separation from God and offered them deliverance. Shattering the gates of Hell and overcoming the evil one’s hold on humanity, Jesus broke the power of sin, providing mercy and grace to all who would accept it––past, present, and future.
Finally, Psalm 31 is filled with hope. In declaring God as our strength, refuge, and deliverer, we are reminded that God loved us so much that Jesus was sent to make things right and to bring us back into the fold of God’s family. Like Jesus’s followers, anxiously yet hopefully waiting to see what God is up to next, we too remember on Holy Saturday that even when we can’t see how things are going to turn out, we can confidently declare the victory of Jesus and rest in knowing that He is and will always be our advocate.
Reflection Question: On Holy Saturday we celebrate Jesus Christ’s victory over brokenness and sin. Reflect on a place in your life that you have seen victory and a place where you still need Christ to reign victorious.
Family Connection: Explain to your kids the significance of Holy Saturday and share 2-3 ways that you have seen God be the victor in your life or in their life.
Easter Sunday | Read Acts 10:34-43
On Easter Sunday we celebrate Jesus’s resurrection. The resurrection is such a powerful image because it is the victorious declaration that death has been overcome and we now have the opportunity to experience new life. Because Jesus is victorious over the brokenness in our life, we are afforded a fresh start. This new life provides weightlessness, a shedding of attributes and characteristics that have been stealing joy from us and those impacted by our actions. Through Christ’s actions, we are given a fresh start and the opportunity to grow in and be transformed by our relationship with God. This is something to be celebrated and shared.
In our text today, Peter and Cornelius are doing just that: sharing the good news of what God has done through Jesus. In this text specifically, they are sharing this news with Gentiles, non-Jewish people, which is important to consider because no identifiable characteristic, attribute, or action disqualifies someone from God’s forgiveness. Our Acts passage reminds us that God’s deliverance and the promise of new life is for everyone, and, as Christians, we are called to share that truth with the world around us. But how? Recall Jesus’s mandate in John 13; we do this through the way we love. Notice that in Acts 10:42, we are called to testify to what God has done in our lives and preach that it has been accomplished through Jesus. But the way that Christ is made known is through our actions of love, through serving and sacrificing for others.
Reflection Question: If we hold Jesus’s mandate in tension with the way we testify to God’s goodness, it shifts the way we think about sharing the good news of Easter. How can you testify to the work that God has done in your life through actions of love?
Family Connection: Talk with your kids about your excitement over Easter and what it means to you. Then come up with one tangible way to share this great news through an action of love towards someone outside of your family in the coming week.
If you enjoyed this devotional, check out some of our other resources by clicking on a link below:
Activities:
Share Love | bible memory
Age Range: All | Supplies: None | Big Idea: Jesus died and rose again.
This week we’ve been talking about Holy week and the miracle of the empty tomb. Help your family to remember this remarkable moment by reciting this memory verse together each day and learning the hand motions listed below. If your little one can’t talk, put them on your lap and do the motions together as you recite the verse.
But the angel said to the women,“Do not be afraid;
(Wag finger)
I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified.
(touch middle finger to palm of opposite hand)
He is not here; for he has been raised,
(Shake head and raise hands up into the sky)
Matthew 28:5-6
Inspire Awe |craft
Age Range: 4+ | Supplies: Activity Page, egg carton, 12 plastic eggs, one of each of the items listed in the handout, scissors| Big Idea: Learning the story of Holy Week.
This week we have been talking about Holy week and this activity will help our kids learn and retell the story of Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection.
Instructions:
Start off by laying all of the items from the handout out on the table and filling your egg carton with empty eggs
Then starting with slip one, read the Bible verse and ask your kids which of the items represents what was mentioned in the story.
Then clip out the bible verse and add it, along with the item, into egg one.
Repeat for the rest of the eggs.
Once finished, ask if any of your kids want to tell the story of Jesus using the eggs.
Keep in an accessible place so that your family can share the story of Jesus with friends when they come over.
Go Deep | washing feet
Age Range: 10 + | Supplies: large pot or tub, water, and a towel | Big Idea: We are called to love others like Jesus loves us
As we saw in our first reading for this week, Jesus washed the feet of His disciples as an act of service and love. For our activity this week, take some time to wash the feet of your family members to help them remember the way that Jesus loved.
Instructions
Start with reading John 13:1-17, 31b-35. Then if you haven’t had an opportunity to “share” with your kids and family, do that now.
Next, simply tell them that you are going to wash their feet.
This may be a bit awkward, there might even be a fair amount of giggling, but after you have washed and toweled each person’s feet, tell them that you love them and that God loves them.
Then, once everyone’s feet have been washed, ask them how it felt. Maybe it just tickled a bit or maybe it impacted them in some way.
Explain that what Jesus did was at least as odd as you washing your families feet, if not more because it would have been a much dirtier job and it was often done by servants.
Then reread the mandate in John 13:34-35 and ask your family how this has changed the way they think about loving others.
Finally, talk about serving one another as a way of showing God’s love.