Holy Week

The central person in Christianity is Jesus Christ. Christianity is about Jesus. Jesus is the most influential person who ever lived. His impact on the world is profound. But at the same time, most people do not follow Jesus in any significant way. Christians believe that Jesus is the Son of God, very God himself, the Savior of the world. That makes Jesus a very important person. He is a person every other person should be curious to know. People can know Jesus by reading the Bible. Jesus is the main character in the Bible, even though he does not appear in the Bible until about two-thirds of the way in. But when we do get to Jesus, we find his story in the four gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. They all tell the story of the life of Jesus. The really interesting thing is that a significant part of each gospel is devoted to the last week of Jesus’ life. If you do the math, you’ll discover that about 29% of the book of Matthew is devoted to the last week, Mark devotes 37.5% to the last week, Luke about 23%, and John a whopping 40%. Seeing that Jesus lived 30-plus years, that is a huge amount of ink spilled in one week. The last week of Jesus’ life must be very important.

For centuries, many Christians have referred to the final week in Jesus’ life as Holy Week. It is the most sacred time of the year for many followers of Jesus. Holy Week covers the eight days from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. Jesus was born in Bethlehem near Jerusalem but was raised in the small village of Nazareth in Galilee. He spent most of his ministry in Galilee but often traveled to Jerusalem for many of the Jewish holy feasts. At the end of his life, he traveled to Jerusalem for the feast of Passover. It was during this final week at the feast that Jesus was arrested and crucified. How did that happen? How did it come about that things got to the point that Jesus was killed for political and religious reasons? The answer to this question is Holy Week. Therefore, telling the story about each day of Holy Week is important. We will give an overview of each of the eight days of Holy Week.

Palm Sunday: Jesus entered Jerusalem on Sunday for the Passover feast. Knowing what the week would mean and that the cross was his destiny, Jesus orchestrated the event of Palm Sunday, or the Triumphal Entry, as it is often called. He entered the city in such a way that it was clear that he was claiming to be the Messiah. He entered Jerusalem riding a donkey to the messianic accolades of the crowds, which was prophesied in the book of Zachariah. The story of Palm Sunday is found in Matthew 12:1-11, Mark 11:1-11, Luke 19:28-44 and John 21:12-19.

Monday: Though all four gospels give a chronology of the week, Mark gives the best chronology. From Mark, we learned what happened on Monday. The other gospels do not separate the days as clearly as Mark does. During Passover week, the population of Jerusalem would swell by a factor of about ten. The city was packed without enough room for everyone to lodge. Jesus and his disciples were staying in the village of Bethany, a short distance from Jerusalem. They probably stayed at the house of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. On Monday morning, while he made the trip from Bethany to Jerusalem, Jesus encountered a fig tree in leaf with no fruit. Strangely, Jesus’ reaction to the situation was to curse the tree. Entering the city of Jerusalem, he went to the temple. There, he made a whip, and with righteous anger, he drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple courts, turning over their tables. These events had great prophetic significance for the people of Israel who would that week reject and kill their Messiah. Their hardness of heart brought upon them the judgment of God. The events of Monday are found in Matthew 11:12-22, Mark 11:12-19 and Luke 19:45-48.

Tuesday: Tuesday was a busy day. It was also a turning point in the events that led to the cross. It was a day of controversy. The Jewish religious leaders questioned Jesus’ authority to do what he did in the temple. The temple was their domain, and they resented Jesus acting as if he owned it. Jesus told the people parables directed at the religious leaders. Jesus was bringing an indictment against them for rejecting him and for failing to shepherd the people. Matthew gives the full list of parables Jesus told that day. Attempting to gain the upper hand, the chief priests and the Pharisees tried to trap Jesus in his words by asking leading questions. Jesus turned all their questions back on them, showing them to be blind guides. Jesus then turned the tables on them by asking them a question they could not answer concerning how the Christ (Messiah) could be David’s son and his Lord at the same time. Jesus then pronounced seven woes upon the religious leaders. A woe is a prophetic pronouncement of judgment.

As Jesus and his disciples were leaving the temple, one of the disciples made a comment on the grandeur of the temple complex. At that point, Jesus gave them a teaching called the Olivet Discourse. This teaching was about the coming judgment on Israel by the Romans, which occurred in 70 AD, and the judgment of God in the last days. He then told the disciples parables related to the end times. All the important events of Tuesday are found in Matthew 21:23-25:46, Mark 11:20-13:37, and Luke 20:2-21:38.

Wednesday: After all the controversy on Tuesday, Wednesday is a pivotal day. Jesus taught in the temple on Wednesday. He taught every day in the temple according to Luke 19:47. But the main events of Wednesday were the religious leaders’ plot to kill Jesus (Mark 14:1-2). They had desired to kill Jesus for some time, but after the events of the last few days, their desire to dispose of him became more desperate and intense. They found a way to carry out their plot when, on that same day, Judas went to them to betray Jesus into their hands (Matthew 26:14-16; Mark 14:10-11 Luke 22:1-6).

Thursday: Jesus again taught in the temple on Thursday, but the most significant thing that occurred that day was the preparation for the Passover. “And on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrificed the Passover lamb, his disciples said to him, “Where will you have us go and prepare for you to eat the Passover” (Mark 14:12). Passover was just one day in length, and the feast of Unleavened Bread was celebrated for a full week. It was customary, according to the law of Moses, for the Passover lamb to be sacrificed and the Passover meal to be celebrated at sundown, which began the new day according to the Jewish reckoning of time. Jesus had made arrangements to use an upper room in the city of Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover with his disciples. Jesus sent two disciples there to make the necessary preparations for the meal.

Good Friday: That evening, as Friday began, Jesus ate the Passover meal with his disciples. During the meal, Jesus transformed part of the Passover ritual into the Lord’s Supper, where the bread represented the body of Jesus and the cup represented his blood given for us (Matthew 26:20-35; Mark 14:17-31; Luke 22:14-38). After the meal, Jesus gets up from his place and washes his disciple’s feet (John 13:1-20). This symbolic act was looking to the cross, but it also was an object lesson on humble service in the body of Christ.

After Jesus washed the disciple’s feet, Judas left the upper room to go and betray Jesus into the hands of the religious authorities. At that time, Jesus began a lengthy teaching, which many call the upper room discourse (John 13:31-17:26). In this teaching, Jesus explained to his disciples what would soon happen that night and the next few days. Jesus also gives a detailed teaching on the ministry of the Holy Spirit. The upper room discourse ends in chapter 17 with Jesus’ high priestly prayer. He prays first for himself concerning what is coming up in the crucifixion and the resurrection; he then prays for his disciples and, lastly, for all who will believe in him in the future. This prayer is an amazing and powerful prayer.

Jesus and his disciples leave the upper room and travel across the Kidron Valley to the Mount of Olives, where they enter the garden of Gethsemane. Jesus prays in the garden with his disciples who have a hard time staying awake (Matthew 26:36-46; Mark 14:32-42; Luke 22:39-46). The garden must have been a favorite place for Jesus to pray because Judas knew the place and brought a crowd of soldiers and temple officials there to arrest Jesus. At the garden, Judas betrays Jesus with a kiss, and Jesus allows the temple authorities to take him into custody (Matthew 26:47-56; Mark 14:43-52; Luke 22:47-53; John 18:1-11).

Then, those who arrested Jesus took him for two sets of trials. First, there are the Jewish trials before Annas, a former high priest and the father-in-law of the current high priest, then to Caiaphas, the current high priest, and finally before the Jewish council called the Sanhedrin. It was during these trials that Peter denied Jesus three times. Second, there are the Roman trials. The council then took Jesus to Pilate, the Roman governor, to have him put to death. When Pilate learns that Jesus is from Galilee, he sends him to Herod, who has jurisdiction in Galilee. Herod and his soldiers mocked Jesus and sent him back to Pilate. Pilate could find no wrongdoing in Jesus and wanted to release him, but the chief priests were so insistent, that Pilate capitulated and delivered Jesus to be crucified.

The Roman soldiers took Jesus to a hill outside the city of Jerusalem called Golgotha. There that crucified him between two criminals (Matthew 27:32-56; Mark 15:21-41; Luke 23:26-49; John 19:16-37). Jesus suffered all these things to be the lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world. God judged sin on Jesus rather than on us. “He who knew no sin became sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

After Jesus was dead, a wealthy man, who was a member of the Jewish council named Joseph of Arimathea, asked Pilate for the body and buried Jesus in his own tomb. He was assisted by Nicodemus, another rich man who was also a member of the Jewish council. They did this quickly because it was the day of Preparation, and the Sabbath was beginning (Luke 23: 50-53; John 19: 38-42). A detail of soldiers were posted at the tomb to secure it so that nothing would happen to the body (Matthew 27:62-66).

Saturday: A group of women who were followers of Jesus followed Joseph and Nicodemus to the tomb to find out where they put Jesus. When they saw the tomb where Jesus was buried, they returned to where they were staying and prepared spices and ointments for Jesus’s body. Since the Sabbath was beginning, they rested all that day (Luke 23:54-56).

Resurrection Sunday: Early on the next morning, which was Sunday, the women went to the tomb. They knew where it was located because they had been there the day before to find its location. When they arrived at the tomb, they discovered that it was empty. They encountered two angels at the tomb who said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise” (Luke 24:5-7). The women ran to tell Peter and John who ran to the tomb and also found it empty. Later that morning, the resurrected Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene and to the other women. He also appeared to the disciples without Thomas. A week later, he appeared to all the disciples, including Thomas, who confessed that Jesus was his Lord and God. Over the next forty days, Jesus appeared to many people, many times in groups, large and small. There was no doubt in any of their minds that Jesus was alive. He had been resurrected indeed! The grave could not hold him!

Conclusion: Holy Week is a significant event in the life of Jesus and in human history. It is through Holy Week that we make our way to the cross. The cross is the place where God atones for our sins. Jesus bore our sins in his body on the tree. And it is the cross that leads to the resurrection. Through the cross and the resurrection, Jesus defeats sin, death, and Satan. As we celebrate Holy Week, it is a time to reflect on all that God did for us in Jesus. We can meditate on all the details that had to fall into place for salvation to be accomplished. And in Holy Week, we can see the tender loving care of our Good Shepherd.