One of the most rewarding things I have ever done with students is to help them walk through the last week of Jesus life. In my last few years of working with students this has been a priority and a highlight. In that last week of His life - Jesus experienced a range of emotion - from the anger in the temple to the tears over Jerusalem; from the intimacy of being with friends in Bethany to the agony of the Garden with sleeping disciples; from the passion of praying for His friends to the amazing love of giving His mother to the beloved disciple - it was a profound, full and mysterious time.

I have approached it in a few different ways - by making stations for students to physically walk through the week (with props that coincide with the event and directions about things to discuss, pray about and/or practice). Another approach is creating a more corporate experience of reading different episodes from the last week of Jesus’ life interspersed with appropriate songs, prayers, and worship elements (washing feet, passing the peace, communion, lighting of candles, etc.). By the way Sonlife has a great resource for helping students walk through this week, called: Journey to the Cross. (Oh, did I mention they are currently giving it away as a free download!)

I would strongly encourage you to consider ways that you can help “immerse” your students into this powerful time. Help them encounter the emotion, the importance and the message of the last seven days of Jesus life. A beginning might be to isolate 5 or 6 episodes that speak to you - and then help create an evening that helps your students actively engage with those important stories in a meaningful fashion.

I am sure many of you have done this sort of thing. Maybe you can share some of your better ideas for observing Holy Week with your students providing all of us with some good ideas for next year.