April 15, 2025 • 13 mins
In this Holy Week reflection, James invites listeners to journey day by day through the final week of Jesus’ life, connecting each moment to the places we might find ourselves—paradox, disruption, extravagant love, service, suffering, or silent waiting. Rather than rushing ahead to Easter, we are encouraged to pause and ask, “Where am I in the story this year?” With honesty and tenderness, this episode becomes an invitation to be present with whatever is stirring in our hearts during this sacred time. As always, we are reminded that we are infinitely precious and unconditionally loved.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Intro (00:00):
Welcome to the infinitely precious podcast produced by
(00:03):
infinitely precious LLC. Yourhost is James Henry. Remember,
you are infinitely precious andunconditionally loved for the
gift you already are.
James (00:12):
Hello, beloved. It's me, James, and this is another
opportunity for us to reflecttogether, to think about things.
As you know, I usually see whatis arising in me, what seems
pertinent to the times we findourselves in, or perhaps tie it
(00:34):
into something along the linesof our journey of faith and
where that is. You can alwayssuggest a topic if you'd like to
to me and I would love to hearsuggestions.
Infinitelypreciousllcgmail dotcom is a great way to reach me
(00:55):
for this which is a podcast andor a broadcast that goes out on
several social media platforms.
So I'm always interested in yourthoughts, your reflections and
anything I can do to perhapshelp you on this journey along
(01:15):
the way. And perhaps, you'resharing your reflections will do
the same for me. So, I encourageyou, email me if you wish. This
is for us as people who followthe path of Jesus what is
traditionally known as HolyWeek. We are in the Tuesday of
(01:37):
Holy Week.
Holy Week begins with this pastSunday which is Palm Passion
Sunday, focuses on the palms,the triumphal entry of Jesus
into Jerusalem. The weekdays endwith Good Friday and the
(01:59):
crucifixion. And then after aday of sort of silent waiting,
Easter morning is celebratesresurrection. So one of the
things that Holy Week can be forus is kind of a reflection of
where we are finding ourselvesin our journey of faith right
(02:20):
now. And you might say toyourself, well, that's isn't
that what Lent has been allabout?
Yes, yes it has. However, whenyou think about what happens in
Holy Week, there are veryspecific each of the days of the
(02:41):
week kind of representssomething that happened in that
final passion week that Jesuslived into. You may or may not
know this, but in the gospelwritings, Matthew, Mark, Luke
and John, the preponderance ofthe writing, while it talks a
lot about Jesus' life, a lot ofit gets focused on those that
(03:10):
last week, the passion week ofJesus. So I thought I might take
each of the days, mention whateach one of those days can
represent or has traditionallyrepresented in the church, and
invite you to kind of take sometime to reflect where you find
(03:30):
yourself in this particular HolyWeek. Now going back two days to
Palm Sunday, Palm PassionSunday, it's a day kind of a
paradox.
If you think about it, it's aday when there is a lot of
(03:51):
praise for Jesus but also amisunderstanding of what Jesus
is about. That triumphal entrycan be we think of it of course
as Jesus entering this passion.But in the first century, the
(04:12):
people who would have laid downpalms and received him as
royalty, if you will, wereanticipating that he would
overthrow the oppressive Romangovernment and get rid of them.
So there's all this praise andbeauty and glory to God while at
the same time a misunderstandingabout what Jesus is really all
(04:35):
about. He's not going to be thatkind of king.
So if you find yourself in aparadoxical place, a place of
being challenged to try tounderstand who God is for you in
your life right now, where Jesusfits in, how you can best
remember and live into whatJesus is calling you to be. If
(04:57):
you find yourself in thatparadox, then Palm Sunday hits
right home. Monday is the daywhen Jesus shows up, we tend to
commemorate when Jesus shows upat the temple in Matthew, Mark
and Luke and disrupts thecommerce that takes place in the
(05:18):
outer courts of the temple.Worship was tied up in making
sacrifice in that first centuryHebrew worship. And so there
were people who would have tocome in and exchange their Roman
coins for temple coins so thatthey could then turn the temple
(05:41):
coins into purchases of items tobe sacrificed all the way from
doves up to lambs, etc.
That were sold there in theouter court. And as you might
imagine, for those who werewealthy enough, it was not a big
deal to make those purchases,but if you had traveled a great
(06:03):
distance and were trying toreconcile with God, Jesus saw
that as a place people were heldback from truly experiencing
what God was calling them to beand do. So there is the
disruption and cleansing. Whatneeds overturning in your life
(06:26):
might be the question thatMonday of Holy Week asks you.
What needs overturning?
Tuesday, there is a teaching andtension in Holy Week. You know,
listening in the midst of risingresistance. In your life, you
(06:48):
know, I don't know what's goingon and what you might be trying
to release or work through, butyour life feels disrupted. And
that is what sort of the Tuesdayof Holy Week looks like. There
is Jesus teaching and thetension that Jesus teaching is
(07:13):
raising for the religiousleaders, and the religious
leaders are looking for a way toget Jesus, we are told over and
over again because they feellike he is a threat for a
variety of reasons that he is athreat.
And as such, that he's teachingabout love and hope and all
(07:33):
sorts of other kinds of thingsand behind the scenes people who
you would think would be on theside of those kinds of teachings
are looking for a way to get ridof this guy who is threatening
their way of life. Moving intoWednesday, perhaps you find
yourself in the place whereJesus is anointed and there's
(07:58):
kind of a fragrant, wastefulkind of love that happens where
Jesus is recognized and anointedand everyone's like, you know
that ointment was veryexpensive. It could have been
sold to feed the poor. And Jesusactually says that this woman
(08:20):
will be remembered, the one whoanointed him because she honored
me before face death. So maybeyou find yourself looking for
ways in a place in your life tobe very extravagant in loving?
Maybe that's the place you findyourself. How is the best way
(08:41):
for you to be extravagant inloving? Thursday we move into
the table, the towel. In thesynoptic Gospels, Matthew, Mark
and Luke, the focus is on thatLast Supper. A group of
disciples together, the peoplewho have followed him and been
(09:04):
on the road with him and who arefor many of them anyway about to
abandon, deny and betray him ashe faces the next as he faces
the uncertainty of the night.
And as he sits with them, thisis an intimate meal, a close
meal. At the table is the denieras well as the betrayer and the
(09:25):
abandoners as well. And maybeyou see that tense place of
being accepted at table knownfor who you are, loved for who
you are, accepted for who youare because Jesus sees all the
disciples that way in thatnight. It's also a reminder of
(09:45):
service. In the Gospel of John,the focus of that last meal is
the washing of feet where Jesuswashes the feet of the disciples
and that idea of the towel as arepresentative of service.
Are you looking for ways toserve? Are you at a place in
your life where you findyourself serving and feeling
(10:06):
called to serve and living intoservice? Are you looking for a
place at the table? Or have youfound that place at the table as
the disciples had? That's aquestion for Thursday.
Friday. Perhaps you findyourself suffering. Friday is
the day of the cross, thecrucifixion. We traditionally
(10:29):
call it Good Friday andoftentimes I grew up in a
church, the Protestant churchtraditionally skips a Good
Friday service. We move rightfrom Palm Sunday in the
celebration of Jesus entry,triumphal entry into Jerusalem
straight into Easter.
But I wonder if you are in aplace of suffering and struggle
(10:49):
in your life, if you might findyourself in a Good Friday place
because there is a place forthat. And suffering is a part of
being alive sometimes. Andsuffering is any time that
things aren't going as youexpected or anticipated.
Suffering, I mean it can be veryextreme, but it can also be as
(11:12):
simple as your expectations thatyou have attached to life not
working out the way you expectedit. And as such, it can be a
disruptive time.
And Good Friday is an invitationto sit with that, not to rush
through, but to sit with thesuffering you're going through
(11:33):
and recognizing it for what itis, for the suffering that it
is. Not that you welcome it andthink, wow, I'm so delighted
suffering, but it's aninvitation to be present in the
suffering, not to run away fromit. And Friday you might find
yourself in that place. Saturdayis the silence of grief and
(11:53):
waiting. And those are allpieces of this week.
Perhaps you find yourself ingrief. I recently was with a
family who lost unexpectedly afamily member and grief is very
real. It is very real. A coupleof weeks ago, it looked like my
dad could die at any moment andI was feeling a deep kind of
(12:17):
grief and maybe that's the timeof your life. Each one of those
days is an invitation to bepresent with where you are right
now.
So where are you in this HolyWeek story this year? Are you at
that paradox of praise and notfully figuring out where Jesus
(12:37):
fits in? Are you in thesuffering of Good Friday? Are
you in the disruption of tryingto figure out what needs to be
overturned in your life becauseyou've become complacent. I
don't know.
Where do you find yourself? Butit's worth taking a moment and
(13:00):
seeing where you are. This weekoffers that invitation and I
offer you that invitation. Ioffer myself that invitation
this week to seek to be present.Perhaps your prayer for this
week is Jesus walk with me, walkwith us this week.
(13:21):
Let us not turn away fromwhatever place we find ourselves
in life as we look at your lifeas a reflection of ours in many
ways. Remember always you areinfinitely precious and
unconditionally loved for thegift you already are. Until the
next time I wish you all thevery best.
Welcome to the infinitely precious podcast produced by
(00:03):
infinitely precious LLC. Yourhost is James Henry. Remember,
you are infinitely precious andunconditionally loved for the
gift you already are.
James (00:12):
Hello, beloved. It's me, James, and this is another
opportunity for us to reflecttogether, to think about things.
As you know, I usually see whatis arising in me, what seems
pertinent to the times we findourselves in, or perhaps tie it
(00:34):
into something along the linesof our journey of faith and
where that is. You can alwayssuggest a topic if you'd like to
to me and I would love to hearsuggestions.
Infinitelypreciousllcgmail dotcom is a great way to reach me
(00:55):
for this which is a podcast andor a broadcast that goes out on
several social media platforms.
So I'm always interested in yourthoughts, your reflections and
anything I can do to perhapshelp you on this journey along
(01:15):
the way. And perhaps, you'resharing your reflections will do
the same for me. So, I encourageyou, email me if you wish. This
is for us as people who followthe path of Jesus what is
traditionally known as HolyWeek. We are in the Tuesday of
(01:37):
Holy Week.
Holy Week begins with this pastSunday which is Palm Passion
Sunday, focuses on the palms,the triumphal entry of Jesus
into Jerusalem. The weekdays endwith Good Friday and the
(01:59):
crucifixion. And then after aday of sort of silent waiting,
Easter morning is celebratesresurrection. So one of the
things that Holy Week can be forus is kind of a reflection of
where we are finding ourselvesin our journey of faith right
(02:20):
now. And you might say toyourself, well, that's isn't
that what Lent has been allabout?
Yes, yes it has. However, whenyou think about what happens in
Holy Week, there are veryspecific each of the days of the
(02:41):
week kind of representssomething that happened in that
final passion week that Jesuslived into. You may or may not
know this, but in the gospelwritings, Matthew, Mark, Luke
and John, the preponderance ofthe writing, while it talks a
lot about Jesus' life, a lot ofit gets focused on those that
(03:10):
last week, the passion week ofJesus. So I thought I might take
each of the days, mention whateach one of those days can
represent or has traditionallyrepresented in the church, and
invite you to kind of take sometime to reflect where you find
(03:30):
yourself in this particular HolyWeek. Now going back two days to
Palm Sunday, Palm PassionSunday, it's a day kind of a
paradox.
If you think about it, it's aday when there is a lot of
(03:51):
praise for Jesus but also amisunderstanding of what Jesus
is about. That triumphal entrycan be we think of it of course
as Jesus entering this passion.But in the first century, the
(04:12):
people who would have laid downpalms and received him as
royalty, if you will, wereanticipating that he would
overthrow the oppressive Romangovernment and get rid of them.
So there's all this praise andbeauty and glory to God while at
the same time a misunderstandingabout what Jesus is really all
(04:35):
about. He's not going to be thatkind of king.
So if you find yourself in aparadoxical place, a place of
being challenged to try tounderstand who God is for you in
your life right now, where Jesusfits in, how you can best
remember and live into whatJesus is calling you to be. If
(04:57):
you find yourself in thatparadox, then Palm Sunday hits
right home. Monday is the daywhen Jesus shows up, we tend to
commemorate when Jesus shows upat the temple in Matthew, Mark
and Luke and disrupts thecommerce that takes place in the
(05:18):
outer courts of the temple.Worship was tied up in making
sacrifice in that first centuryHebrew worship. And so there
were people who would have tocome in and exchange their Roman
coins for temple coins so thatthey could then turn the temple
(05:41):
coins into purchases of items tobe sacrificed all the way from
doves up to lambs, etc.
That were sold there in theouter court. And as you might
imagine, for those who werewealthy enough, it was not a big
deal to make those purchases,but if you had traveled a great
(06:03):
distance and were trying toreconcile with God, Jesus saw
that as a place people were heldback from truly experiencing
what God was calling them to beand do. So there is the
disruption and cleansing. Whatneeds overturning in your life
(06:26):
might be the question thatMonday of Holy Week asks you.
What needs overturning?
Tuesday, there is a teaching andtension in Holy Week. You know,
listening in the midst of risingresistance. In your life, you
(06:48):
know, I don't know what's goingon and what you might be trying
to release or work through, butyour life feels disrupted. And
that is what sort of the Tuesdayof Holy Week looks like. There
is Jesus teaching and thetension that Jesus teaching is
(07:13):
raising for the religiousleaders, and the religious
leaders are looking for a way toget Jesus, we are told over and
over again because they feellike he is a threat for a
variety of reasons that he is athreat.
And as such, that he's teachingabout love and hope and all
(07:33):
sorts of other kinds of thingsand behind the scenes people who
you would think would be on theside of those kinds of teachings
are looking for a way to get ridof this guy who is threatening
their way of life. Moving intoWednesday, perhaps you find
yourself in the place whereJesus is anointed and there's
(07:58):
kind of a fragrant, wastefulkind of love that happens where
Jesus is recognized and anointedand everyone's like, you know
that ointment was veryexpensive. It could have been
sold to feed the poor. And Jesusactually says that this woman
(08:20):
will be remembered, the one whoanointed him because she honored
me before face death. So maybeyou find yourself looking for
ways in a place in your life tobe very extravagant in loving?
Maybe that's the place you findyourself. How is the best way
(08:41):
for you to be extravagant inloving? Thursday we move into
the table, the towel. In thesynoptic Gospels, Matthew, Mark
and Luke, the focus is on thatLast Supper. A group of
disciples together, the peoplewho have followed him and been
(09:04):
on the road with him and who arefor many of them anyway about to
abandon, deny and betray him ashe faces the next as he faces
the uncertainty of the night.
And as he sits with them, thisis an intimate meal, a close
meal. At the table is the denieras well as the betrayer and the
(09:25):
abandoners as well. And maybeyou see that tense place of
being accepted at table knownfor who you are, loved for who
you are, accepted for who youare because Jesus sees all the
disciples that way in thatnight. It's also a reminder of
(09:45):
service. In the Gospel of John,the focus of that last meal is
the washing of feet where Jesuswashes the feet of the disciples
and that idea of the towel as arepresentative of service.
Are you looking for ways toserve? Are you at a place in
your life where you findyourself serving and feeling
(10:06):
called to serve and living intoservice? Are you looking for a
place at the table? Or have youfound that place at the table as
the disciples had? That's aquestion for Thursday.
Friday. Perhaps you findyourself suffering. Friday is
the day of the cross, thecrucifixion. We traditionally
(10:29):
call it Good Friday andoftentimes I grew up in a
church, the Protestant churchtraditionally skips a Good
Friday service. We move rightfrom Palm Sunday in the
celebration of Jesus entry,triumphal entry into Jerusalem
straight into Easter.
But I wonder if you are in aplace of suffering and struggle
(10:49):
in your life, if you might findyourself in a Good Friday place
because there is a place forthat. And suffering is a part of
being alive sometimes. Andsuffering is any time that
things aren't going as youexpected or anticipated.
Suffering, I mean it can be veryextreme, but it can also be as
(11:12):
simple as your expectations thatyou have attached to life not
working out the way you expectedit. And as such, it can be a
disruptive time.
And Good Friday is an invitationto sit with that, not to rush
through, but to sit with thesuffering you're going through
(11:33):
and recognizing it for what itis, for the suffering that it
is. Not that you welcome it andthink, wow, I'm so delighted
suffering, but it's aninvitation to be present in the
suffering, not to run away fromit. And Friday you might find
yourself in that place. Saturdayis the silence of grief and
(11:53):
waiting. And those are allpieces of this week.
Perhaps you find yourself ingrief. I recently was with a
family who lost unexpectedly afamily member and grief is very
real. It is very real. A coupleof weeks ago, it looked like my
dad could die at any moment andI was feeling a deep kind of
(12:17):
grief and maybe that's the timeof your life. Each one of those
days is an invitation to bepresent with where you are right
now.
So where are you in this HolyWeek story this year? Are you at
that paradox of praise and notfully figuring out where Jesus
(12:37):
fits in? Are you in thesuffering of Good Friday? Are
you in the disruption of tryingto figure out what needs to be
overturned in your life becauseyou've become complacent. I
don't know.
Where do you find yourself? Butit's worth taking a moment and
(13:00):
seeing where you are. This weekoffers that invitation and I
offer you that invitation. Ioffer myself that invitation
this week to seek to be present.Perhaps your prayer for this
week is Jesus walk with me, walkwith us this week.
(13:21):
Let us not turn away fromwhatever place we find ourselves
in life as we look at your lifeas a reflection of ours in many
ways. Remember always you areinfinitely precious and
unconditionally loved for thegift you already are. Until the
next time I wish you all thevery best.
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