by Phil Wickham
While being in the midst of Holy Week and with Easter right around the corner, it’s only appropriate that the next song we review would be a song that’s about the story of Holy Week. Holy Week being the week from Palm Sunday leading up to Easter morning. During this past week as I was looking for a song to review I was thinking on how we were building in energy in the songs we were reviewing and I found myself conflicted by this particular review… How could anything (excluding the birth of Jesus) be more exciting than The Resurrection of Jesus Christ?
“He knew well what it would take
To free us all from sin and grave”
I took time to reflect on the things Jesus did during Holy Week and how this was arguably the week that He consecrated Christianity the most. The week of Holy Week starts off with Palm Sunday. This is where Jesus had a crowd that followed Him through Jerusalem shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” in praise of Jesus. After that, on Holy Monday, He took to the temples and ran out the money changers who were conducting business there; this is also where Jesus was known to flip tables over. Holy Tuesday was when He preached at the Mount of Olives and used a fig tree to teach a lesson about having faith in God. Following that, on Maundy Thursday he taught his disciples the prayer, “The Our Father,” and gave them the first Holy Communion during The Last Supper where Jesus broke bread with all of His followers who were there and blessed it and then took the wine and blessed it, too. Then, finally, after being betrayed and arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, it was Good Friday when Pontius Pilate had Jesus crucified. After Jesus died, He was placed into the tomb until He was found to be resurrected on Easter Sunday morning by the women who went to the tomb and met an angel there who asked them, “Why do you search for the living amongst the dead?”
“Friday’s good ’cause Sunday is coming
Don’t lose hope ’cause Sunday is coming”
During my search for a song to review for April, I found the song, “Sunday Is Coming” by Phil Wickham, a song which captures the story of Holy Week, perfectly. The song starts out in a way that transitions nicely from our last review of “Sacred Silence” by Tom Booth, during which we reflected on what Lent means to us and the 40 days leading up to Easter. “Sunday Is Coming” by Phil Wickham starts out by introducing us to Jesus, calling him a perfect man that knew the price he had to pay. This is just before the song gives us a story from Maundy Thursday, when Jesus was betrayed by Judas in the Garden of Gethsemane, to how Jesus gave His life on The Cross in order to free us from sin. I enjoyed the way that the energy in the song builds with the story that Wickham beautifully sings while staying true to the text.
“Now Jesus reigns
Upon the throne
All Heaven sings
To Him alone”
May this powerfully optimistic song be the anthem for your last few days of Holy Week leading up to Easter, and maybe more importantly, let it serve as a reminder that when things seem like it might be over, Jesus could very well be making a way because Sunday Is Coming.
References:
“Easter Worship | Celebrate the Resurrection.” iHeart.
“Matthew 21 (NIV).” Bible Gateway.
PhilWickhamVEVO. “Phil Wickham – Sunday Is Coming (Official Music Video).” YouTube, 17 Mar. 2023.
“Sunday Is Coming.” Spotify, 18 Aug. 2023.
“Sunday Is Coming – Phil Wickham.” Worship Online, 5 Nov. 2020.