As any devotee of the original Star Wars trilogy can confirm, it is impossible to watch just one of the three films and understand the whole story.
It’s fair to say that even though there are three distinct films, the original Star Wars trilogy tells one unified and complete story. Indeed, the series creator George Lucas envisions them as episodes in a three-part serial drama. They are dramatic acts in one play.
Missing even one of the installments leaves a huge gaping hole in understanding the full arc of the narrative, and it robs the conclusion of all its emotional punch.
The same can be said of the three primary services of Holy Week — Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Easter Vigil. Like the original Star Wars series, these worship services are a trilogy, distinct episodes or acts in a three-part drama telling a single, unified story of salvation. In fact, Christian tradition bears the analogy out; historically, it has considered these three services in just this way as a trilogy called the Paschal Triduum.
They are considered one unified worship service spanning three days with all the emotional highs and lows witnessed in all the world’s greatest tragedies and triumphs in literature and history. Attending just one of the episodes is worthwhile, to be sure, but as with all great stories, missing out on one of the ‘acts’ can transform the story’s conclusion from an exclamation point into a shrug.
Take Star Wars. You can’t simply watch the original installment and be done with the series. Though it introduces the heroes, the conflict, and the villain, the fate of the galaxy still hangs in the balance and evil still lurks in the shadows. Likewise, were you to stop at Empire Strikes Back, you might get the sense that all hope is lost, as our heroes suffer a stunning defeat and their group fractures. And if you were only to watch Return of the Jedi, you would get all the joy and celebration of the triumph of good-over-evil but it would be a wan light without having endured the Stygian murk of the entire series.
In the same way, there is something to be said for having your feet washed on Maundy Thursday, being reminded of God’s love and model of servanthood for us and celebrating the institution of the Last Supper in the Last Eucharist before Easter day. And then just as we are feeling nourished by this holy meal, the Holy Table is stripped of everything, the last candle is extinguished, and we depart in solemn silence, knowing there’s more to the story to come.
Returning on Good Friday, we experience the seeming defeat of God and the death of our Lord. The Empire (the Roman one) literally strikes back, executing Jesus on a cross. We remember how the male disciples fractured and dispersed and it is the only day of the liturgical year in which we are forbidden from celebrating the Eucharist, and if we really give ourselves over to the story, we leave the church building feeling a little fractured, wondering and reflecting on the ways in which we so often experience the hopelessness of Good Friday in a world rife with evil.
And finally, early on Sunday, during the Easter Vigil we gather in that same darkness and we kindle the Easter fire, lighting up the night with our prayers. And with the jangle of bells and the eruption of brightness, we proclaim the return of our Lord from death, resurrected to life.
Over the course of the three-day drama, this holy trilogy is at times chilling and at others gives chills. We go from joy and hope to sorrow and despair to elation and triumph — everything in between.
And while I love Star Wars, probably more than most, for my soul, this Holy Week Trilogy, the Paschal Triduum, really is the greatest story ever told.
The Rev. David Henson 