9 Holy Week Lessons for Handling Hard TimesSample

This week marks the beginning of what we call “The Passion of The Christ.” That word, “passion,” is a fantastic one, with all sorts of meaning.

As Jesus entered Jerusalem on a colt, the crowds passionately worshiped him (see Luke 19:28 and following). The religious authorities (religious folks always had trouble with Jesus…and often still do) passionately rebuked him and called on him to silence the crowd. Then Jesus passionately bemoaned Jerusalem. He passionately cleansed the Temple.

It was a week kicked off by a lot of passion.

But ultimately, the true passion of the week came from another meaning of the word.

Passion has a root word, passio, in Latin. It literally means, “suffering.” Jesus entered this week knowing it was going to be a week of suffering. And yet, he entered it with resolution.

Throughout his earthly life, Jesus mentioned his coming suffering. But the verse I’ve chosen for today describes action that takes place long before Palm Sunday. I think it’s actually the crux of Luke’s gospel. The turning point.

In the ninth chapter of Luke, just after a really high moment, the story turns. Jesus has just been transfigured and revealed as divine to his disciples. It’s arguably the biggest moment of the story thus far. The disciples wanted to build a monument to remember the event. But what did Jesus do?

He set his face toward Jerusalem. He focused on his coming passion and suffering. The word in the Greek that Luke uses could easily be translated to, “he resolutely focused his attention” on the suffering that is coming. Even though it was a long way off.

Too often in my life, I’ve celebrated the high points without preparing for the low. I imagine this might be true for you, too.

Here’s a sad truth about living in a broken world: You are either suffering now, or you are about to be.

One lesson I’m learning from Jesus lately is to go ahead and set my face on the hard times. To prepare for them now. People have asked me if Adrienne’s cancer is terminal. My answer has changed. Now, I just say, “I’m terminal. So are you.”

Suffering will come in your life, and perhaps the best way to deal with that is to turn your face toward it long before it comes to you. That doesn’t mean to be a “Debbie downer.” Rather, it means preparing, and upping your endurance for hard things.

Jesus prepared by praying a lot more in the back half of Luke than he did in the first half. He prepared by doing hard things on the way to his Hardest Thing: the cross.

Not to equate Tom Brady with Jesus, but I’ve been fascinated by a speech he gave at his induction into the Patriots Hall of Fame.

He was asked if he would encourage his kids to play football, and he said yes. Why? “Because it’s hard.”

He went on, “It’s hard when you’re young to wake up in the offseason at 6 a.m. to go train and workout, knowing that all your friends are sleeping in and eating pancakes. It’s hard when you’re on your way to practice, weighed down with all your gear, and it’s 90 degrees out, and all the other kids are at the pool or at the beach, and your body is already completely exhausted from workouts and two-a-days. It’s hard to throw, catch, block, and tackle, and hit kids when they’re way bigger and way more developed than you, only to go home that night, bruised and battered and strained, but knowing you have to show up again the next day for just the chance to try again.”

“But understand this,” he continued. “Life is hard. No matter who you are, there are bumps and hits and bruises along the way. And my advice is to prepare yourself because football lessons teach us that success and achievement come from overcoming adversity, and that team accomplishment far exceeds anyone’s individual goals. To be successful at anything, the truth is you don’t have to be special. You just have to be what most people aren’t. Consistent, determined, and willing to work for it. No shortcuts.”

As we enter the week of the Passion of the Christ, I would point you to one other meaning of the world passio.

Patience.

Patience is a virtue for sure. But it’s a virtue forged through suffering and doing hard things. Have you set your face toward the hard things? Could you start doing some hard things to prepare for your suffering?

That’s exactly what Jesus did as he prepared for the cross long before Palm Sunday. It’s what I’m trying to do now.

Go do some hard things. Set your face resolutely toward them. It will prepare you for life; it will make the hard parts easier to face, and make the good times all the more worth living.

Prayer:

Lord, help me set my face toward hard things. Help me develop patience. And help me learn from Jesus so that I’m ready for the hard days ahead in my journey.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.