Holy Wednesday, also known as Spy Wednesday, falls on the Wednesday of Holy Week, which is the week leading up to Easter Sunday in Christianity. In the Christian liturgical calendar, the Holy Week marks the beginning of the events leading to the death and resurrection of Jesus, which is commemorated on Good Friday.
Starting from Palm Sunday, followed by Holy Monday and Tuesday, Holy Wednesday or Spy Wednesday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday, the week culminates with Easter Sunday. This year, the Holy Wednesday or Spy Wednesday will be commemorated on March 27, 2024.
According to the Gospel of Matthew, the name “Spy Wednesday” is associated with the day when Judas Iscariot, one of Jesus’ disciples, made a pact with the Jewish authorities to betray Jesus. Judas agreed to kiss Jesus and identify him to the authorities in exchange for thirty pieces of silver. The term “spy” refers to Judas,’ who covertly plotted against Jesus Christ and betrayed him to the Jewish authorities.
Holy Wednesday is also associated with the story of a woman who anointed Jesus’ feet with expensive oil. The act is seen as a foreshadowing of Jesus’ impending burial and death. This happened six days before the Passover at the house of Simon the Leper in Bethany, as per the Gospel of John.
Holy Wednesday 2024: Significance
Holy Wednesday is observed as a day of sorrow and fasting in some Christian traditions, as well as a time to reflect on the events leading up to Jesus’ death and resurrection. On Spy Wednesday, usually ‘Tenebrae’ a Holy Week service is conducted. This event is commemorated with a gradual dousing of candles on a Tenebrae hearse and readings related to the Passion of Jesus are taken up on this day.
Holy Wednesday 2024: Inspiring Quotes & Messages
- “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” –John 15:13
- “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” –Mark 10:45
- “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” –2 Corinthians 5:21
- Do not let your hearts be troubled. You Believe In God, Believe Also In Me- John 14:1
- “Sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything.” – 2 Corinthians 6:10
- “He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness.” – 1 Peter 2:24
- “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” – Matthew 21:9
- “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” – Psalm 51:17
- “And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.” – Mark 15:33
- “And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” – Philippians 2:8
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