Amen! So be it!

I’ve been listening to this Matt Maher song a lot this week. In case you don’t have the time or inclination to listen to it, here are the lyrics:

I believe in the son

I believe in the risen one

I believe I overcome

By the power of his blood

Amen

Amen

I’m alive
I’m alive because he lives

Amen

Amen

Let my song join the one that never ends

Because he lives

I was dead in the grave

I was covered in sin and shame

I heard mercy call my name

He rolled the stone away

[Repeat chorus, chorus-y bridge, and then some more chorusing]

This simple song has been my prayer and my reflection during this Passion Week. Passion Week, or Holy Week, refers to the seven days from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. On Palm Sunday, Jesus enters into Jerusalem to shouts of “Hosanna!” On Maundy Thursday, Jesus celebrates the Passover with his disciples and is then betrayed and abandoned by them. On Good Friday, Jesus is paraded around Jerusalem to shouts of, “Crucify him!” And on Easter Sunday, Jesus the Christ rises victorious over the grave, having defeated death and all evil through his work on the cross.

I like the Matt Maher song because of the way the music builds, but also because I like the continued refrain of “Amen”. Loosely translated, “Amen” means “so be it”. There’s a lot of “so be it” during Holy Week.

Jesus enters Jerusalem amidst cries of “Hosanna! Save us!”

So be it.

Jesus breaks bread with his disciples and reveals what he and Judas already know: “One of you will betray me.”

So be it.

In the garden, after dinner, our Lord cries out in agony for another way, but it must be the cross.

So be it.

He is lead before the Sanhedrin, and the chief priests search for evidence against Jesus but can find none. So they spit on him and beat him. Out in the courtyard, Peter denies knowing Jesus. Peter disowns Jesus three times.

So be it.

Jesus is led before Pilate, who can find no reason to convict Jesus of any crimes. The crowds demand Jesus’ crucifixion. “Why?” Pilate asks. “What Crime has he committed?” The crowd’s response: “Crucify him!”

So be it.

From noon until three in the afternoon darkness covers the land. Christ, hanging on the cross, calls out to his father in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” and then gives up his life. The temple curtain tears in two, the earth quakes, rocks dissolve, and tombs break open. The Roman soldiers guarding the cross understand now. In terror they exclaim, “Surely he was the Son of God!”

Amen.

I was dead in the grave. I was covered in sin and shame. I heard mercy call my name. He rolled the stone away.

Three days later, an angel comes down from heaven to earth in a violent earthquake to announce the rising of Christ as King of all Kings and Lord of all Lords. Christ’s tomb has broken open and our salvation is won. His death spares us from death’s defeat. His new life promises us new life; a new heaven and a new earth, the Kingdom of God realized anew. I’m alive. I’m alive because he lives. Let my song join the one that never ends. Amen.

Amen. 

[Kristin vanEyk lives in Kentwood, MI and attends Encounter Church. Learn more about Encounter or listen to Sunday's message here.]