We've just completed our Holy Week lessons with our Judah Bible Curriculum outline.  I debated doing them early, but we went for it and I'm glad!  Here are a few of the highlights we covered:

• Jesus' triumphant entry was through the Sheep Gate--not the Kingly Gate. 
• Jesus said that if the people did not cry out in Hallelujah, then the very rocks would cry out.  That could possibly refer to, or correlate with, the earthquake at the time of His death.
• Jesus spoke to the Jews in His lament as the end of Him being just for the Jew--from then on, He was for all men and the Jew, too, would have to acknowledge Him as Savior and Lord.
• A character study on mockery was appropriate.  We carefully considered it then (His suffering) and how it happens now regarding Jesus.  Also, how we can keep from allowing this sin in our lives.  
• We also talked about crowd behavior and how people will often follow the loudest, whether they speak the truth or not.
• The counsel of Pharisees seemed evil for what they did.  We talked about Joseph of Arimethea and that his being on the counsel did not make him bad because he was right with God.
• We covered the cross (God's plan of redemption) and the resurrection (the conquering of death)which you can read about in my earlier post.
• The walk to Emmaus was an awesome lesson as we brought back to mind lessons of Manna in the wilderness and how Jesus is the Bread of Life.  We saw how He was only revealed to the two men upon the breaking of the bread.  We also went over communion for the first time and really examined the importance of remembrance.  This has also been a ongoing theme for us throughout this year's lessons with JBC.  Son will now take communion with us.

We made a Holy Week timeline for son's notebook.  This was a good visual.  Then, we watched the Passion of the Christ together (the cut version).  It's very powerful and overwhelming.  I'm not sure that we made the right decision to let him watch (he cried, of course) but, we covered him with prayer that God would use it to help make real what he knows.  I don't believe that I'll let him watch it again for two or three years.  It is not a movie I would like to see (or have my kids see) on a regular basis, though it does have a purpose and place. 

We still have to cover Pentecost. 

You may have noticed that I do not refer to Holy Week as Easter.  We have decided as a family to not use the term which is not only not Biblical, but also has origins from p*gan worship (Astarte [sp?] The worship of N*mrod's "rebirth" through his son, etc.)  For the first time, we will have no bunnies or eggs or baskets (also originating with N*mrod's wife's pag*n worship).  This is harder on the Mama to adjust to, than the kids!

We will celebrate, for the first time, a Shepherd's Supper on Wednesday of Holy Week, to remember the Last Supper that Jesus shared with the disciples.  We will have a time of communion and reflection.