Refocused Through the Ups and Downs of Holy Week

Luke 24:13–49

Holy Week has a way of holding both beauty and burden in the same breath. It begins with celebration, winds through betrayal and grief, and somehow carries us all the way to resurrection. It is a week of sharp contrasts, where hope and heartbreak seem to walk side by side. And if we are honest, that rhythm is not just in the story of Jesus. It shows up in our own lives too.

This year, as we have prepared for Holy Week together as a church, we have felt that tension in very real ways. There have been frustrations we did not plan for. The HVAC units in the Sanctuary not working when we needed them most. Internet outages at the worst possible times. Roadway construction making it harder for people to even reach our church. Each one, on its own, is manageable. But together, they can feel overwhelming. They interrupt plans. They test patience. They remind us how little control we actually have. And yet, in the middle of it all, Holy Week still comes.

In Luke 24, we meet two disciples walking on the road to Emmaus. They are living in the “down” of the story. Jesus has been crucified. Their hopes feel shattered. They are confused, discouraged, and trying to make sense of everything that has happened. “We had hoped…” they say. Those three words carry so much weight. They had hoped for something different. They had hoped for clarity, for victory, for things to turn out another way.

And then, in the middle of their walking, in the middle of their confusion, Jesus comes alongside them. They do not recognize him at first. Not until later. Not until the breaking of the bread. But he is there, walking with them through their disappointment.That is the quiet promise of this Holy Week for us.

In the ups and the downs
In the smooth moments and the frustrating ones
In the things that go according to plan and the things that fall apart

Christ is still walking with us.

It would be easy to let the inconveniences distract us. To let the broken systems and construction delays define the week. To feel like something important has been diminished because everything is not “just right.” But the truth is, the first Holy Week was anything but “just right.”

It was messy.
It was uncertain.
It was filled with confusion, fear, and grief.

And still, resurrection came. That is what Jesus reveals to the disciples on the Emmaus road. He opens the scriptures. He reframes their story. He shows them that even the suffering, even the loss, was not the end. It was part of a larger story of redemption. And when their eyes are finally opened, they say, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road?” That is what I pray for us this week.

Not that everything works perfectly.
Not that every inconvenience disappears.
But that in the middle of it all, our hearts would burn within us.

That we would recognize Christ walking with us.
That we would see beyond the frustrations to the deeper reality of God at work.
That we would remember that this story does not end in struggle.

Because Easter is coming.

No broken HVAC unit can stop it.
No internet outage can delay it.
No road construction can block it.

The tomb will be empty.
Hope will rise again.
And we will gather, not because everything went smoothly, but because Christ is risen.

This Holy Week, may we walk the road honestly. May we acknowledge the ups and the downs. But may we also trust that, like those first disciples, we are not walking alone. And when Easter morning comes, may our eyes be opened, our hearts be burning, and our voices ready to proclaim with joy: Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!

In God’s grip,

Pastor Chuck Church