"What good does faith do me now?" I remember thinking that when Jesus was arrested and tried that first Maundy Thursday. "If a good man like Jesus has to go through all this, what kind of a just God is there? Maybe the unbelievers are right."

My name is Matthew. I have come back to tell you about the week you have come to call holy. I was a tax collector before I became an apostle. Everything was going so well until that Thursday of the longest weekend in the world. When it dawned that Thursday in holy week, we had no idea what we were in for.

Thursday

Jesus celebrated Passover with us, instituting a new covenant by telling us that we were receiving his Body and his Blood. Then he did something very strange. He predicted that we would deny him. "Not me," said Peter. "Even if all the rest deny…