Today marks the beginning of the end of Jesus’ work on earth. As Jesus and His disciples ascended towards Jerusalem, a large crowd had gathered around them in anticipation of what was to come. Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead a few days before and it seems the news of this great miracle was the talk of the crowds. Entering Jerusalem, Jesus is riding on the unbroken colt of a donkey; His actions were intentionally symbolic. Almost 500 years earlier, Zechariah 9:9 prophesied of this very day! The prophet said that the future king of Israel would come into Jerusalem on the unbroken colt of a donkey. Some recognized the significance of the event and they lay down their robes and palm branches (this is why we refer to this day at Palm Sunday) to form a royal red carpet.  Furthermore, those same crowds begin to chant a few lines from Psalm 118, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!”  

The religious leaders are completely taken back by the whole event and instead of responding with joy and excitement, they respond with jealousy: “we are gaining nothing, look, the world has gone after him” (Jn.19:19). Some Greeks, who were among the Passover pilgrims in Jerusalem, come to Philip to ask him about Jesus. Jesus responds to them by predicting His death and describing it as the very purpose for which He has come into the world. But many were confused. The Jews were looking for a king to be inaugurated, a king to lead them in the overthrow of the Roman government. Instead, Jesus was talking about His upcoming death. The crowds look for a Messiah who would rescue them politically and nationally as a people, but Jesus had come with a more important mission: He had come to save them spiritually. Remember, these same crowds who are chanting, “Hosanna!” on Sunday are chanting “Crucify Him” on Friday.
 
Before heading back to Bethany for the evening, Jesus makes an initial visit into the temple complex and heals the blind and the lame. He will come back to the temple tomorrow, but His actions will be drastically different as He calls out the corruption of the religious establishment.

Jesus had already made initial contact with some of His followers in Jerusalem to secure a place in which they would share in the Passover meal. Some scholars believe that Jesus’ arrangement of the meal location was done secretly so as to prevent Judas’ betrayal plot from interrupting the meal. Sometime during the meal, Jesus gets up and washes the disciples’ feet, even Judas’ feet. Jesus knew that Judas had already planned to betray Him (Jn.13:11) but He still proceeds to wash his feet – that is the epitome of love. After the foot washing, Jesus makes a public declaration that there is a traitor at the table; the disciples are a bit confused about what Jesus meant but Judas understands and promptly leaves the group to commence his actions of betrayal. As Jesus and His disciples continue the Passover meal, Jesus abruptly introduced a completely new explanation of the symbolism of bread and wine. These two elements now become part of our present-day observance of the Lord’s supper (communion) as we remember His body and blood that were given as a sin sacrifice for all humanity.  

As the night continues on, Jesus gives his follower some additional instructions because He knows that the time of His death is quickly approaching. These instructions are collected into a body of material that we often call the Upper Room Discourse. We can thank the Apostle John as he is the only Gospel writer that includes this material (John 14-17). Toward the end of this discourse, Jesus offers up a prayer for His disciples (Jn.17:6-19) because He knows that these same disciples that are sitting at the table will fail in the face of persecution that very night. Specifically, He singles out Peter, saying that before the rooster crows Peter will have denied Jesus three times. Of course, Peter vehemently denies that this would ever happen, assuring the Lord that he would follow Him to prison, even to death.  

The night is late and Jesus and His disciples head to the Garden of Gethsemane. The time for teaching and instruction is over and the time for sorrow and distress is here. Jesus instructs the disciples to sit in a certain location while He takes Peter, James, and John with Him a little further to pray. Jesus pours out His heart to the Father, asking Him if there is any other way in which redemption can happen that would not include the cross.  He knows that He is about to bear God’s judgment as a sin sacrifice for all the world.  Nevertheless, He knows that the Father’s will is by way of the cross and He willingly submits Himself to the Father’s plan. Taking a break from His time of prayer with the Father, Jesus finds His disciples fast asleep. The only source of human support and help during the hardest moment of His life was sleeping away. Yet even in this shocking moment of the disciple’s carelessness, Jesus is more concerned for their welfare than His own – He knows that they too must pray so that they can be equipped to face the difficulties that lie ahead (Matt.26:41).

Early Friday morning Judas bring a group to arrest Jesus. The group was made up of chief priests, Pharisees, and some Roman soldiers.  Jesus steps forward and asks the group who they are here for, and when they answer, “Jesus of Nazareth,” Jesus replies, “I am HE.”  When Jesus spoke these words (reminiscent of the phrase “I AM” in Exodus 3:14), the power behind those words caused the soldiers to retreat back and fall to the ground! Jesus permits the soldiers to arrest Him so long as they don’t arrest his followers. However, Peter does briefly resist by cutting off the right ear of the high priest’s servant; Jesus miraculously heals the ear and tells Peter that He must follow the Father’s plan. At this point, all the disciples flee the scene leaving Jesus deserted and alone.

Now that Jesus has been arrested the religious leaders want to try Him for His crime. Within the next few hours, Jesus is tried six different times: the first three trials are before Jewish leadership, the second three trials are before Roman officials. All six trials are expedited because the religious leaders wanted to arrive at the death sentence before the news of Jesus’s arrest gets out among the people. Also, they needed the death sentence to be carried out before the Sabbath Day, which started Friday evening. The sixth and final trial takes place before Pilate. He renders his decision on the basis of expediency rather than truth or justice; he firmly believes Jesus to be an innocent man but he also fears a riot and wants to satisfy the crowds who are yelling, “crucify Him!” The Apostle John notes that this final verdict came about the sixth hour (close to noon), which was the time that lambs would be slain for the Sabbath dinner of Passover week – Jesus is the Lamb of God who would take away the sins of the world!

Jesus begins His journey to Golgotha by carrying His cross. At some point along the way, Roman soldiers force a man named, Simon of Cyrene, to carry Jesus’ cross because He is too weak. The site of Jesus’ crucifixion was outside of the city in keeping with the Jewish law requirement for executions (Heb.13:12). None of the Gospel authors provide any details concerning the actual crucifixion; they simply note the fact that it happened. Jesus’ enemies continue to mock Him to the very end...“He saved others, but He cannot save Himself...” But the irony here is that if Jesus had come down from the cross, He would have saved Himself but not others. Jesus hung on the cross for about six hours, dying at the ninth hour (around 3 pm). Jesus’ death caused the curtain of the temple to be torn from top to bottom; this signifies that God’s people will now have direct access to God because of Jesus’ sacrifice. Jesus was taken off the cross before sundown and placed in a tomb provided by Joseph of Arimathea (Nicodemus assisted with the burial of the body). Two women, Mary Magdalene and Mary (the mother of Joses) observe Jesus’ burial location. They believe His body has not been sufficiently prepared because of the hasty nature of his burial; they plan to return after the Sabbath with additional spices and ointments.

Resurrection Day is finally here! The story of Jesus is not over yet and the world is about to be turned upside down! Near the early dawn hours of Sunday (perhaps at sunrise), a group of women heads to the tomb (looking at all four Gospels accounts we can gather up a complete list). It’s hard to be precise at this juncture in the narrative but it seems that as this group of women arrived at the burial site, they noticed that the stone had been rolled away. Mary Magdalene immediately leaves to run back and tell the disciples what has happened. The rest of the women continue toward the tomb and are greeted by an angel who tells them the Good News, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for He is risen...” (Matt.28:5). The angel tells the group to go and spread the news to the disciples that Jesus has risen and that He will meet them in Galilee. By the way, women were the first eyewitnesses of the events on Resurrection morning, not the male disciples!

Peter and John rush to the tomb based on Mary Magdalene’s report and find it empty.  Peter enters first, followed by John. The presence of the linen cloths and the folded napkin point to a supernatural resurrection indeed. If grave robbers had taken Jesus’ body, the tomb would have been turned over; and grave robbers would not have left behind the cloths and spices. John specifically recounts how the sight of the linen cloths and face cloth caused him to believe (Jn.20:8). Peter and John head back to their homes as Mary Magdalene comes back to the tomb.  However, her spirit of sorrow and mourning is drastically altered as she encounters the resurrected Christ.

After Jesus’ resurrection appearance to Mary Magdalene, Jesus then appears to two disciples who are traveling back to Emmaus from Jerusalem. During their walk back they are discussing the weeks’ events, trying to make sense of everything, while Jesus appears beside them. Jesus curiously asks them about the events and they reveal their disbelief. This does not sit well with Jesus and he rebukes them: have you not read the Old Testament?  And Jesus proceeds to go on a history tour of the Old Testament showing these two disciples how it all points to Him! Eventually, these two disciples finally recognize Who is with them but its too late as Jesus vanishes. They are so excited about what had happened that they immediately traveled back to Jerusalem to tell the disciples. As they are in the process of recounting their story, Jesus appears to all those in the Upper Room, the only one of the eleven who is not present is Thomas. In the coming days, Jesus would appear to all the disciples again, this time Thomas would be present and He would be able to touch the hands and feet of Jesus.