On Sunday, after spending time in Jericho with Zacchaeus and those that came to his house, Jesus and His disciples traveled toward Jerusalem as far as the Mount of Olives. He then told two of His disciples to go to the nearby village and when they entered they would find a colt that had never been ridden and bring it to Him. If anyone asks why you are taking the colt, He said to tell them that the Lord has need of it.
When they brought the colt to Jesus, they put their garments on the colt and set Jesus on it. As the colt moved forward, they began to lay their garments on the ground before them. Coming down from the mount, multitudes of disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice. They were waving palm branches and yelling: “Saying, Blessed is the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest.” Luke 19:38
About 500 years before this event, Zechariah the prophet foretold the happening: Zechariah 9:9 “Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”
Some of the Pharisees in the crowd asked Jesus to tell His disciples to stop. They were afraid they would stir up the crowd to riot. Jesus answered them, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.” Luke 19:40 Then Luke records that the Lord wept as He entered Jerusalem for He saw that soon the enemies would tear it all down and no stone would be left.
On Monday, He entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling birds and animals for the sacrifices of sin and exchanging different types of money. It wasn’t the selling that was the problem, it was the dishonesty that existed in the sales and the money exchange.“My house shall be a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of robbers.” Luke 19: 46
On Tuesday, the Lord and disciples returned to Jerusalem and He was teaching daily in the temple while the chief priests and scribes were trying to find a reason to destroy Him, but they did not find anything they could do because the people were hanging onto all of the words that He spoke.
As He spoke to the crowds, Matthew recorded this: Matthew 23:24-33 “Blind guides!... For you are like whitewashed tombs—beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with dead people’s bones and all sorts of impurity. Outwardly you look like righteous people, but inwardly your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness…Snakes! Sons of vipers! How will you escape the judgment of hell?”
The scribes and chief priests were afraid that the people would come after them if they perceived His parable was about them. So, they watched Jesus and sent out spies to see if they could catch Him doing something they could turn over to the courts. By the way, it was on this day that Judas Iscariot agreed with the Sanhedrin, the rabbinical court of Israel, to betray Jesus. Matthew 26:14-16
Finally, the Pharisees, the scribes, and the elders came to him and asked Him by what authority do you speak these things, and who gave you that authority? Jesus answered them with a question: “Was the baptism of John from heaven or from man?
Now, they got their heads together and decided that if they said heaven, then He would ask them why they didn’t believe him, and if they said man, then the people would stone them because the people believed John’s message. So, they said they didn’t know. Jesus answered them back: “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”
On Wednesday, we do not have specifics only that He may have rested in Bethany probably at the home of Lazarus, Mary, and Martha getting ready for Passover the next day.
On Thursday, Jesus washed His disciples’ feet in preparation to share in the Passover. This act was a humble example of how His followers should love one another. Then the Lord served the Passover meal or the Last Supper to His disciples.
Luke 22:15,16 “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the Kingdom of God.”
Luke 22:19-20 “And He took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ And likewise, the cup after they had eaten, saying, ‘This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.”
After the meal, Jesus and the disciples left the Upper Room and went to the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus prayed in anguish to God the Father. Luke 22:44 “And being in an agony He prayed more earnestly: and His sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.”
It was that night in Gethsemane, that Jesus was betrayed by Judas Iscariot and arrested by the Sanhedrin. He was taken to the house of Caiaphas, the High Priest where the full council was assembled to make their claim against Jesus.
On Friday, early that morning Peter denied Jesus three times. Also, it was Friday morning when Judas hanged himself for what he had done.
Before Christ was hung on the cross, He was mocked and made fun of as the “King of the Jews” and they placed the crown of thorns on His head and made Him carry His cross through the streets of Jerusalem and up to Golgotha, or the Mount of Skulls. He was beaten beyond recognition and bruised and spit upon and mocked, yet he was silent. Christ was nailed on a cross between two thieves. One of the thieves believed that Christ was who He claimed to be: The Son of God. Because of that, Jesus told him that he would be in paradise with Him that very night.
“Woman behold thy son! Behold thy mother! John 19:26-27
“My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” Mark 14:34
“I thirst.” John 19:28
“It is finished.” John 19:30
“Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” Luke 23:46
“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Luke 23:34
Jesus drew His last breath at the ninth hour (3 p.m.) and at 6 p.m. He was taken down and placed in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea.
“Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds in weight. So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews.” John 19:39-40 Both Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus were members of the Sanhedrin court that had denounced Jesus to death. They were afraid to come out publicly to declare their belief in Jesus but cared for Him after He died.
I do not want to leave the Holy Week with Jesus in the tomb because a glorious event takes place on the first day of the week. Without this day of resurrection, there would be no hope. The Bible from Genesis to Revelations tells of the coming of a Savior who will crush the head of satan and give eternal life to those who believe in Him. He took upon Himself the sins of all the people, past, present, and future. It was the sacrifice that was acceptable to God for the remission of our sins.
When He arose on Sunday morning, the first day of the week, the work was finished: atonement, redemption, reconciliation, and salvation.
When Mary Magdalene and another Mary came to the tomb that morning, they found it empty. The stone had been rolled away and an angel of the Lord told them not to be afraid because Jesus had risen. As the women left to tell the disciples, Jesus met them on the road.
“Then Jesus said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.’ While the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests’ everything that had happened. When the chief priest had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, telling them, ‘You are to say His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.” Matthew 28; 10-13
When they saw Him, they worshipped Him, but one known as Thomas doubted and needed to see the nail-scarred hands.
“Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely, I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20