Holy week in Chartres (1): Entering

The final week of Jesus’s ministry and life on earth was filled with both connection and challenge. Images from the twelfth century Passion (and Resurrection) Window in the Chartres Cathedral can assist us in meditating on the meaning of Holy Week–for Christ, for His disciples, and for us.

The Passion Window 1145-1155

Jesus spoke openly about his coming death, but his disciples didn’t understand.

See Matthew 26:1 & Mark 9:31-32 Below

As you enter this Holy Week, do you, like the first disciples, find yourself holding on to God’s story (note the books in their hands) with interest

Disciple closest to Jesus

with questions you don’t quite know how to articulate,

Middle Disciple

with concern,

Disciple farthest from Jesus

or some combination of these and other internal states? What do you want to say to Jesus? Take time, take heart, take courage, and connect with God with your mind, your heart, and your whole embodied self.

Palm Sunday procession entering Chartres Cathedral through the West Portal

Scriptural Touchstones:

When Jesus had finished saying all these things, he said to his disciples, 2 “You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.” Matthew 26:1 NRSV

[Jesus] was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again.” But they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him. Mark 9:31-32

Related Posts:

Holy Week In Chartres (Remembered): Palm Sunday

Holy Week in Chartres: Palm Sunday