Holy Week commemorates the Passion of Jesus Christ from Palm Sunday through Holy Saturday. It includes Maundy Thursday which emphasizes foot washing and communion, Good Friday which commemorates the crucifixion, and Holy Saturday representing Christ in the tomb. Easter Sunday celebrates Christ's resurrection, which is central to the Christian message as outlined in the Apostles' Creed.

1. HOLY WEEK
2017
Brett Provance

2. Holy Week
 Palm Sunday through the
evening of Holy Saturday
 Commemorates the
Passion of Jesus Christ
 Latin passio; cognate to
Greek pathos
The bread, the wine and the ΙΧΘΥΣ

3. Maundy Thursday
 Traceable to the fourth century
 Emphasis in the Gospel of John on Thursday of Holy
Week:
 Foot washing and the New Commandment to love one another
(Latin mandatum; John 13:4-5, 34), from which we get
“Maundy”

4. Emphasis of the Synoptic Gospels on Thursday of Holy Week: Communion
 The Lord’s Supper established
 Thus, Communion (Eucharist) is often
celebrated this day
 Greek eucharistia = “thanksgiving”: verb
form at 1 Corinthians 11:24: “And when
he had given thanks . . . ”; cf. Mark 14:23
All ancient representations of the Christian communal meal (the
refrigerium) include an image(s) of a fish. There is often a
symbolic merging of the Agape (Jude 12), the Lord’s Supper, and
the Loaves and Fish (cf. Mark 6:41; 8:6-8)

5. Good Friday
 The atoning death of Jesus Christ
for the sins of the world (John
1:29, 36); the Good Shepherd
laying his life down for the sheep
(John 10:11)
 Christ is the Paschal (Passover)
Lamb (cf. 1 Corinthians 5:7; Mark
14:12; Revelation 5:6)
 Passover (Pesach), celebrated by
people of the Jewish faith
 Good Friday among Christians is
recognized by fasting

6. Holy Saturday
 No events until the night
 = Christ in the tomb
Matthew 12:40; cf. Jonah 2:1
The Jonah theme is greatly popular in
the catacomb art. Note that the sea
creature is not a whale. The resting
Jonah form is taken from that of
Endymion in classical art.

7. The Paschal Vigil
 Begins Saturday night
 vigil = night watch
 Ancient set of rituals (from the
2nd century), now rediscovered
in the Western Church
 Concludes with the Baptism of
Christian initiates
 And their first Communion
The baptistery of the Dura-Europos House Church (Syria), the
earliest verifiable Christian church (3rd century AD). The picture of
the women at the tomb of Jesus relates the believer’s baptism
with dying and rising with Christ (cf. Romans 6:3-5)

8. Easter Sunday
 The morning Jesus rose from the
dead (Mark 16; Matthew 28; Luke 24;
John 20; 1 Corinthians 15:5-6)
 Part of the Gospel message: Romans
1:3-4; 6:9; Acts 2:23-24; 4:33; 10:39-
41; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4

9.  All this encapsulated in The
Apostles’ Creed
 Based on the baptismal creed of the
ancient Roman Christians
 Latin credo = “I believe”

10. The Apostles’ Creed
 I believe in God the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and
earth,
 And in Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son, Our Lord,
 Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
 And born of the Virgin Mary.
 He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
 Was crucified, died and was buried.
 He descended into Hell (Greek Hades).
 The third day He rose again from the dead,
 Ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God the
Father Almighty.
 From there He shall come to judge the living and the dead.
 I believe in the Holy Spirit,
 The holy catholic [= “universal”] church,
 The communion of saints,
 The forgiveness of sins,
 The resurrection of the body,
 And the life everlasting. Amen.

11. ΙΧΘΥΣ
 Greek word for “fish”
 Ancient Christian confessional
acrostic for Jesus:
Ι = Jesus (Iēsous)
Χ = Christ (Christos)
ΘΥ = Son of God (Theou Huios)
Σ = Savior (Sōtēr)
The word appears in
ancient Christian funerary
settings, as do images of fish.
“ΙΧΘΥΣ, the Living One”