Is It Okay For Christians to Observe Holy Week?

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There is the question of whether or not Christians should observe Holy Week.  Now this is another tough question considering that Holy Week and Lent are both observed by the Roman Catholic institution and so are Christmas and New Year.  This has also sparked a debate especially when the Puritans while they had sound soteriology and preaching, a lot of them made the serious mistake of genetic fallacy when it came to Christmas and Holy Week.

But here are a few interesting facts that you must know about Holy Week:

  • The Holy Week and the Passover happen on the same week.
    • Passover 2014 was on April 14, 2014 and ended in April 22, 2014.  Holy Week hit on April 18, 2014 which happened to be on the Passover week.
    • Good Friday and the start of the Passover this year will hit on April 3, 2015.  I view this as a sign of the times.
  • When Jesus was crucified it was during Passover Week.  So whether or not He was crucified on Thursday or a Friday is irrelevant.  What is important is that He died for the sins of man because no man can pay for their sins.

While the Bible commands that the Lord's supper is to be observed (1 Corinthians 11:23-36) to show the Lord Jesus' death until He returns.  However I do not see anything wrong with observing Holy Week as a special time to spend more time reflect on Christ's death and a soulwinning opportunity.  Charles Haddon Spurgeon preached a sermon on Good Friday in the Metropolitan Tabernacle called, "Christ Set Forth As A Propitiation".  Although he was a Puritan, he used Christmas and Holy Week as a time to preach the important messages behind them.  Holy Week can become a time to have a spiritual retreat from the daily life, not for the sake of sinning all year long but to strengthen one's spirits before living for Christ the whole year around.

Certainly, we can temporarily change our daily Bible reading routine during Christmas and Holy Week to further reflect on what was already done, to be grateful for the salvation that God gave us.  One good example is Ligonier Ministries has Holy Week sermons.  It would be okay to read on Jesus' triumphal entry in Jerusalem on Palm Sunday without the papal superstition of the palm leaves.  Then it would be wonderful indeed to have a Lord's Supper service on Holy Wednesday to commemorate the night Jesus was to be betrayed.  Good Friday would be nice to have a special service with a Good Friday on the finished work of Jesus on the cross, the time to double soulwinning and to sing hymns about the Blood of Jesus like "There is a Fountain", "Are You Washed in the Blood?", "Nothing But the Blood of Jesus", "Saved, Saved", "The Blood Will Never Lose Its Power", "He Will Take Your Sins Away" together with songs like "The Old Rugged Cross" and "At The Cross" to commemorate Christ's finished work.  

So here's what I can suggest... it's okay to observe Holy Week but not hypocritically (that is be good on Lent and Christmas but be bad for the rest of the year) and with the papal superstitions given by Rome.  While Rome has demanded its followers to abstain from meat during Lent, a hypocrisy warned in 1 Timothy 4:3.  Colossians 2:16 says that Christians should not let anyone judge them of what to eat and what not to eat in terms of spiritual matters within God's allowable Law.. unless of course if the doctor gives health advice.