This week in Christianity is what is known as Holy Week, the last week of Jesus’ earthly life, the week when he entered Jerusalem, cleansed the temple, gave the Olivet Discourse, had the Passover/Last Supper meal, was betrayed by Judas Iscariot, stood before Pilate, was crucified, buried, and raised bodily on the third day–all in precise fulfillment of covenantal promises made by God in the Bible.

Why is that so important? First, God has entered history. This world is not without empirical eyewitness testimony of God’s nature and existence. Jesus has made God known. “[Jesus] has made him [God] known” (John 1:18). As Francis Schaeffer put it, He [God) Is There and He Is Not Silent.

Second, in a world dead in trespasses and sins, God has come to save sinners. When Paul wrote to Timothy, he (Paul) phrased it this way: “The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost” (1 Timothy 1:15).

Third, what we sinners do when faced with the holiness of God in the face of Christ is definitive. What do I mean? Simple: Who do you say Jesus is? C.S. Lewis’ way of putting it was this: Jesus was either a liar, a lunatic, or the Lord.

Even hardened unbelievers admit that Jesus was sinless, that he was not a liar. Even Pilate said, ” . . . I find no guilt in him” (John 19:6). Jesus was not a liar. And he wasn’t crazy or a lunatic, either. He told the truth about people and they hated him for it. He told the truth about God and most people hated him for it. He told the truth about judgment and the narrow way of salvation versus the broad way of destruction, and the masses hated him for it. Jesus was and is Lord. That’s why Holy Week matters for you.

It’s because Jesus is real. He’s not some conjured spirit of happy-clappy spirituality. No, he is the author of life (Acts 3:15).

He entered the world in humility (Philippians 2:1-8) but he is now exalted because he triumphed over death and sin by way of his resurrection (1 Corinthians 15).

Holy Week matters, you see, because history matters, because truth matters.

Why do you think revisionists labor to not teach history nowadays? It’s because the world’s system hates the truth. They want to manufacture robots who cannot think but can only parrot propaganda and platitudes with which they are programmed.

But Holy Week was a real week in Jerusalem, Israel, just over 2,000 years ago. And Jesus really did enter the city mounted on a donkey (Matthew 21:1-5). He really did overturn tables, confront hypocrites, preach judgment and grace, cleanse the temple, and weep over the city. These things really happened. It matters.

And Jesus really was kissed by a false brother and betrayed for money. And Jesus really did wash the disciples’ feet. And Jesus really did come to save sinners. It all matters.

Holy Week does not save. Observances and liturgies do not save. But Jesus does. But we must come to him in repentance and faith to be forgiven and redeemed and made right with God. The storm of God’s grace in Jesus Christ is good news, folks, but it means dealing with the truth. And if there is one epithet that encapsulates Jesus, it is that one word: truth. That’s why Holy Week matters for you. Because it bears witness to the truth.