There are some days which seem different than others. For American people, The Fourth of July is such a day. Memorial Day is such a day, too, with its parades and speeches. Labor Day means the end of summer. Thanksgiving is a day in which we often have a gathering and a good meal. Christmas Day is one in which the culture stops and perhaps is peaceful for a few hours. Perhaps your birthday is a special day for you, or your anniversary, or the day in which you graduated from school. There are other days which seem to be weightier than others. September 11 and December 7 are two such days. If you’ve lost someone dear to you, those days are often remembered.

This year, there are three days which have special meaning in the Christian year which culminate in the Festival of Easter. They are called “The Three Days” and are Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday. Although they fall from sundown on April 1 and go thru sundown on Easter Day (sundown on April 1 - sundown on April 2 is one day, and so on), they are called “The Three Days.” As people of faith we commemorate these three special days leading up to the celebration of Easter. They are Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday, and according to tradition they are called the Triduum. Triduum is a Latin word that refers to the three days from sundown on Holy Thursday (Maundy Thursday) to sundown on Easter Sunday. Triduum is pronounced tree do ‘em. Now you know a fancy word that you can use to impress your family and friends. Maundy Thursday is the day in which Jesus shared the Passover meal with his disciples. Jesus changed that meal into something else, something which we still celebrate today. It is called The Last Supper or Communion. Maundy Thursday is also the day in which we remember Jesus gathering with his disciples in the garden. It was there that Jesus was betrayed by Judas, and delivered into the hands of his enemies. Good Friday is the day in which Jesus is nailed to the cross and crucified. Good Friday is the day on which Jesus died. Good Friday is the day on which the body of Jesus is taken down, quickly and improperly anointed and prepared for burial, and placed in a borrowed tomb.
Holy Saturday is the day in which Jesus’ disciples were in shock and mourning, for their Lord and friend was dead, buried, and in a tomb. We remember all of these days because they add special meaning to what God did for us at Easter.
Relief carving placed outside of the location of the home of Caiaphas, the High Priest in Jerusalem. Photo by The Rev. Dr. Keith C. Alderman.

I’ve included two photos in this article. The first photo is one which I took in the place, the dungeon in which Jesus was kept as he was awaiting trial. The dungeon is an oblong hole carved out of the solid limestone. You get a sense of the proportions and scale of it from the size of the people in the photograph. At the top of the dungeon is the place where they threw Jesus (and anyone else) in. The dungeon was deep enough that even if a person stood on the shoulders of another, they could not get out. Jesus was in a dungeon and sometimes we feel as if we have been in something like that, too.
People in our mostly secular culture don’t remember or celebrate The Three Days much any more. Many churches are mostly empty during the services. This year, I invite you to remember again (or perhaps for the first time) the trials that Jesus went through because they have something very important to say about our lives and to our souls. If you’ve been betrayed, Jesus was there first. If you’ve ever felt lonely, Jesus is there to meet you because he’s traveled that road before. If you have felt forgotten and abandoned, Jesus knows what it is like because he’s been there. If you’ve been beaten or tortured, Jesus knows all about that from firsthand experience. If you’ve been hung out to ridicule and scorn, Jesus has been there, too. He has told us “Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account” (Mt. 5:11). The Three Days can teach us that we need not travel our difficult days by ourselves. God has been there first, and wants us to know that if we call on God’s name, we are never alone.
Faithfully,

Rev. Keith