During Holy Week, we see that the Lord Jesus Christ, as described by the Prophet Isaiah was,
“despised and rejected by men, and we did not esteem Him” (Isaiah 53:3).
We see Him despised for our sake and follow Him, singing this immortal hymn,
“To You is the Power and Glory.”
In fact, the Lord did not only abandon His glory during the Holy Week, but He also sacrificed His dignity for our sake.
He became without Honour in His own country. They reproached Him saying,
“Is this not the carpenter’s son?” (Matthew 13:55).
For us He endured shame, insults and reproach! Being humble, the Lord sat and ate with tax-collectors and sinners, but they called Him a glutton and a winebibber. When He healed the sick, they accused Him of breaking the Sabbath, instead of understanding His teaching of abiding by the spirit and not by the letter of the Law. We see Him abused for our sake and we chant to Him the hymn,
“To You is the Power and Glory.”
We know, Lord, why they insulted You. They insulted You because You were not like them and Your humility exposed them. You did not behave like them for,
“all their works they do, to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments. They love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, ‘Rabbi, Rabbi’” (Matthew 3:5-7).
But You lived a modest and meek life by associating with the lowly and despised, eating with sinners and tax-collectors. You let the sinner woman touch You, the Samaritan woman converse with You, and the children come to You. You walked in poverty, with no title, no money and nowhere to lay Your head.
They refused to glorify You Lord, but You despised their earthly glory and said,
“I do not receive Glory from men” (John 5:41).
So You refused the earthly kingdom and glory. But we know Your true great glory in the heavens, and to You we say,
“To You is the Power, and the Glory”.
Their scorn did not decrease Your glory at all. They sold You for the price of a slave, thirty pieces of silver, and mockingly they put a purple robe on You and a crown of thorns upon Your Head. As for us, we follow You in Your passion saying,
“To You is the Power, the Glory, the Blessing and the Honour, forever Amen.”
H.H.Pope Shenouda III