Pratt: Celebrating Jesus' sacrifice during Holy Week

Today’s worldwide, malodorous political maneuverings give evidence daily to an ancient, but accurate, assessment of human misbehaviors described in our most ancient literature. The desire to rule the world is an ancient and on-going contest that has brought us to unimaginable ways to maim or kill one another.

According to biblical account, the contest begins in a heavenly war between God and the ambitious commander of God’s army of angels. His name is Lucifer, more commonly referred to as Satan.

When Satan’s ambition and judgment outran his commitment to the heavenly assignment, God fired him and allowed other angel warriors the choice to follow their former commander into rebellion.

Since “time” as we humanly measure did not exist, we cannot give dates on these happenings because they occur in the eternity of God’s presence. Meanwhile, we live by Creation’s clock of day and night, season to season and birth to death and offer of Eternity in Heaven, a place of beauty and joy beyond our wildest imaginations prepared for those who love and obey God.

Humanity began as the crown of creation on a sphere set at just the right place for survival of what God calls the crown of his Creation, mankind as described in the first book of the biblical story, Genesis.

Located in a garden of great beauty, the first human, Adam, was formed from the Earth by the hand of God. It was soon evident that Adam needed a partner, and God, the narrator says, created a woman and named her Eve. God walked and talked with them in the Garden of Eden. Again, there was no need for clocks or calendars in Eternity.

That is, until the pair decided to test God’s rules by disobeying his permission to eat the fruit of all the trees but one. It was a test of obedience that both failed, Eve the acting temptress and Adam, the willing disobedient partner.

Artists show the beautiful serpent who spoke to the pair as entwined around a branch of the forbidden tree, but the evil one arrived walking upright to speak his false words to Eve, whose curiosity was stronger than her commitment to God.

Eve hands half the fruit to Adam and they both eat of it with apparently little thought to the consequences. Read chapter three in the biblical book of Genesis to refresh your memory of what God told the pair. The serpent, who hosted Satan’s spirit, was condemned by God to crawl in the dirt forever.

Adam and Eve were locked out of the garden and sent to earn their living by labor, Adam in the fields and Eve in childbirth pain. No longer was the easy fruit of the garden available.

Why do I recall this ancient story of Creation when we will be in church celebrating Palm Sunday centuries later? Could it be that we not only have forgotten this story of human beginnings, but most importantly, the triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit? In all the darkness of the centuries since the Creation story, still loves and values humanity. Despite all human failures, he is willing to pay the ultimate price for our redemption.

The price is high, the beloved son offers to die to redeem humanity. That sacrificial event is observed during Holy Week, according to church traditions, beginning with Palm Sunday and the heralding of Jesus of Nazareth as the Son of the Trinity, who lived a perfect life on Earth, suffering as we do, yet without sinning. His perfection enables him to present himself as the sacrifice for our sins, offering redemption to all who will receive it.

Holy Week observances differs in tradition and number among Christian churches, but Holy Week climax includes remembrance of the Crucifixion Friday and on Easter Sunday, celebrates the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, the sacrificial lamb of perfection who pays our costly ransom. This year, I will be rereading the events of that time as described in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

Beth Pratt retired as religion editor from the Avalanche-Journal after 25 years. You can email her at beth.pratt@cheerful.com.

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Pratt: Celebrating Jesus' sacrifice during Holy Week