Isn’t Holy Week a little old-fashioned? To go to church extra times during the week, to sing songs that are slow and serious, and to spend time thinking about our sins… Doesn’t that seem old-fashioned? Haven’t we moved passed that as a society? Is there really a need to get together and talked about the mistakes we’ve made? Wouldn’t it be better to just think positive? There certainly are a lot of people who feel that way. Maybe those thoughts cross your mind too. Isn’t this Holy Week thing a little old-fashioned?
Here’s the thing: By making sin small, we make Jesus small. Do you understand what that’s saying? The less I think about my sin, the less I think about Jesus. I less I think I’ve sinned, the less I think I need Jesus. The smaller my sins seem to be, the smaller Jesus is, because if my sins are small, all I need is a little Savior to help me get rid of them. Isn’t that true?
I think we see the results of making sin small all around us—and in us. A society that has moved past sin has also moved past Jesus. A heart that has made sin small has also made Jesus small. May God forgive us for when that’s true of our hearts! This is why we need—why we want!—to spend time remembering our sins. Because it’s only when we remember our sins that we remember our Savior.
To confess our sins and trust in Jesus’ forgiveness isn’t old-fashioned, it’s at the heart of Christianity. Here’s how the Bible puts it: “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:8-9). Wow, Jesus is big. He’s the big Savior we need. God bless your Holy Week.
Upside-Down Savior 