Holy Week

Holy Week • Sermon • Submitted 2 months ago • Presented 2 months ago

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Introduction

Today (the Sunday before Easter) is Palm Sunday, the official start of Holy Week. Holy Week remembers the final week of Christ’s life on earth before His resurrection. It is also the end of Lent, which is the 40 days before Easter in the Church calendar. Holy Week was also the week in which the Lord Jesus fulfilled many prophecies. Today I want to take a look at each day in Holy Week and study what it represents and why it is celebrated and commemorated.

Palm Sunday

English Standard Version Chapter 19

28 And when he had said these things, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. 29 When he drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount that is called Olivet, he sent two of the disciples, 30 saying, “Go into the village in front of you, where on entering you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever yet sat. Untie it and bring it here. 31 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ you shall say this: ‘The Lord has need of it.’ ” 32 So those who were sent went away and found it just as he had told them. 33 And as they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying the colt?” 34 And they said, “The Lord has need of it.” 35 And they brought it to Jesus, and throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. 36 And as he rode along, they spread their cloaks on the road. 37 As he was drawing near—already on the way down the Mount of Olives—the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, 38 saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” 39 And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” 40 He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.”

1. The final week of our Lord’s life began in a celebratory way. Jesus entered Jerusalem on the back of a colt, and the people believed Him to be king.

2. The previous 3 years of Christ’s ministry had all led to this moment. He had spent most of it “hiding” and forbidding people to talk about Him. But now the whole country knew who He was. But while they believed the King was coming to be crowned, Jesus knew He was going to the cross.

3. The fact that Jesus chose to ride in on a colt was a clear fulfilment of Zechariah 9:9 “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

4. The people clearly recognized this sign and knew what it meant. This is why they began celebrating and worshipping Jesus. But they didn’t just sing any old song, they sang Psalm 118:26 “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! We bless you from the house of the Lord.”

a. It was very much understood that the “he” is the King - hence why the people slightly changed the words to accommodate this. It also shows who they believed Jesus was, the King!

5. The name Palm Sunday comes from John’s description that the people brought palm branches to the parade. John 12:13 “So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!””

a. Palm branches symbolized victory, peace, and eternal life. They were regularly used in the presence of kings. They were used in the OT for various celebrations (including the feast of Tabernacles, in the Temple, ect.) and they were also used in other cultures such as the Greeks and Romans.

b. This isn’t the only time John mentions the use of palm branches. He describes a similar scene, but on a cosmic scale, in Revelation 7:9 “After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands,”

c. This shows that even though we weren’t at the first Palm Sunday celebration, all believers have the opportunity to participate in the celebration of the King both now and for eternity.

6. The part of this celebration that raised the most eyebrows (especially among the leaders) was that the people were worshipping Jesus!

a. To them, this was blasphemous. And honestly, if Jesus isn’t God then they were right! And so they actually ask Jesus to make them stop.

b. But Jesus doesn’t stop them. Instead he says, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.”

c. Man, I wish the people had just been quiet for a moment to see what would have happened! I wonder if the disciples were like, “Everyone be quiet for just a second! Let’s see nature worship Him, too!”

7. Despite this celebratory and triumphal entry, it would take less than a week for the tides to turn. On Sunday the people worshipped Jesus, and on Friday they crucified Him.

Holy Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday

The first three days of Holy Week don’t necessarily have a special “name”, bu they were important nonetheless. During these days he regularly went into the Temple to teach, and then at night would return to Bethany and spend time with Mary, Martha, and Lazarus.

On Monday (Mark 11:12-19 and related), Jesus taught on the kingdom and cleared out the Temple. He also cursed the fig tree while entering Jerusalem that day.

A couple of prophecies were fulfilled here including

Jeremiah 7:11 “Has this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I myself have seen it, declares the Lord.”

The children were praising Jesus (which angered the leaders) and Jesus quotes to them Psalm 8:2 “Out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have [prepared praise].” (Matthew is quoting the Greek OT, and so our Psalm 8:2 is a little different, but the meaning is the same).

On Tuesday, the Lord returned to Jerusalem and the disciples saw that the fig tree he had cursed had withered (Mark 11:20-25). On this day (Matthew 21:23-23:29) , four primary events happened:

The Lord taught the people parables about the kingdom.

Different groups tried to trap Jesus, as the plot to kill him was already under way.

First the chief priests challenged His authority.

Then the Pharisees asked Him about paying taxes.

Then the Sadducees asked Him a question about the resurrection.

Finally, a lawyer stepped forward to simply ask Him, “What is the greatest commandment?” To which the Lord answered in Matthew 22:37–40 “And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.””

At the end of all these “traps” which Jesus easily escaped, He then gives them a strong sermon composed of the “seven woes” in judgement against them.

Matthew tells us that one final event occurred as Jesus and his disciples headed home for the night: a sermon on the end times (Matthew 24-25).

After this, Jesus returned to Bethany. Holy Wednesday is generally considered a day of rest for the Lord before his passion.

It is also sometimes called “Spy Wednesday” because it is usually considered when the plot to kill Jesus was really hatched and Judas agreed to betray Him. (Mark 14:1-2, 10-11)

It was on this day that the Lord was anointed by a woman while He was at the house of Simon the Leper (Mark 14:3-9)

Maundy Thursday

The Thursday of Holy Day is one of the more well-known days of the week. This is where the events leading up to the Passion really began to take shape.

The term Maundy comes from the Latin word that means “commandment” and it comes from the new commandment Jesus gave his disciples during the night according to John 13:34–35 “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.””

On Maundy Thursday, the Lord celebrated the Last Supper (Passover) with his disciples on the night before His death, just hours before His betrayal.

It was here that He instituted the Lord’s Supper, or communion. He also predicted that both Judas and Peter would betray Him (although He leaves Judas unnamed).

John also tells us that Jesus washed the feet of the disciples during this event, illustrating true servanthood and encouraging His disciples to also serve one another.

After the Last Supper, the Gospels tell us that Jesus and the disciples returned to the Mount of Olives where Jesus went out to pray. Because this was a Jewish holiday, there would have been hundreds, if not thousands, of people camping out on the Mount (which explains why the priests needed Judas to identify Him).

Jesus prayed by himself on several occasions during this time, especially asking that His Father remove the cup, but that His will be done. Luke tells us that Jesus sweat blood. John elaborates more on the prayers Jesus prayed by relaying the “high priestly prayer” in John 17.

Finally, the night ended with the betrayal of Jesus by Judas. Peter tried to defend Jesus by attacking a servant (and cutting off his ear), but Jesus put a stop to that. Interestingly, only John tells us that this disciple was Peter.

Good Friday

After His arrest, Jesus was led off to a kangaroo court for a trial that started the “darkest day” in history: the death of the Author of Life.

First, Jesus is brought before the high priest who interrogates and mocks him. Eventually he declares that the Lord has committed blasphemy and deserves to die. Matthew 26:63–66 “But Jesus remained silent. And the high priest said to him, “I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.” Jesus said to him, “You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.” Then the high priest tore his robes and said, “He has uttered blasphemy. What further witnesses do we need? You have now heard his blasphemy. What is your judgment?” They answered, “He deserves death.””

But the Jews weren’t legally allowed to execute people, and so they took Jesus to the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate. Pilate cares very little about Jesus, but quickly realizes that He’s innocent.

At first, Pilate tried to avoid the trial altogether by sending Jesus to Herod, but Herod only mocks him before sending Him back. (Luke 23:6-12)

Pilate becomes increasingly frustrated by the situation. John records that Jesus and Pilate had a very interesting conversation (John 18:28-40). This is one of my favorite conversations that Jesus had with someone.

Eventually Pilate tries to cut a deal with the people by showing them their foolishness: he gives them the choice to release Jesus or Barabbas who was a thief, murderer, and insurrectionist. To Pilate’s surprise, they picked Barabbas.

Finally Pilate washed his hands of the matter and had Jesus crucified. He did this because of a dream his wife had, and because he didn’t want the people to revolt.

The key moment of this whole trial I think came in John 19:14–16 “Now it was the day of Preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, “Behold your King!” They cried out, “Away with him, away with him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.” So he delivered him over to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus,”

When the people declared, “We have no king but Caesar.” this was reminiscent of when they rejected God as their king and asked Samuel for an earthly king. Here, once again, they did the same thing.

Meanwhile, while all of these events took place, Peter did in fact deny Jesus three times and Judas killed himself. All of the other disciples (except for John) had fled.

The Lord Jesus was flogged and tortured before being led off to be crucified as the Place of the Skull outside of Jerusalem where he was crucified alongside two criminals.

So much happened during this event, it’s hard to summarize it all here. Many prophecies were fulfilled (Psalm 22:18, Psalm 69:21 among others).

Nature reacted (darkened sky, earthquake, temple curtain torn, dead rising)

The Lord was pierced after his death and out came blood and water.

The centurions declared, “Surely this was the Son of God!”

But most importantly, sin was forgiven. And the stage was being set for death to be defeated. Amen!

After His death, the Lord was buried in the tomb of a man named Joseph of Arimathea. All hope seemed lost.

Holy Saturday

No events are recorded for what happened on this day, which was a special Sabbath for the Jewish people. We do know that a Roman guard was set to guard Christ’s tomb.

It isn’t hard to imagine what the disciples were doing. Panicking. Mourning. In shock. Everything they had just experienced for the past three years just came to a grisly and graphic end.

On Saturday, there was no hope. There was no Easter. Not only did the man they thought was the Messiah just get murdered, but they knew that if they were found they would probably be next.

Easter Sunday

Matthew 28:5–6 “But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay.”

When a new day dawned, this wasn’t just an ordinary Sunday. This was the beginning of a new epoch of human history. As the women first discovered, the Lord Jesus conquered death and rose from the grave!

Angels declared this. The women saw the empty tomb. They told the disciples who also went and saw that it was empty. Even the soldiers had to be paid off to hide their testimony!

But it wasn’t just an empty tomb that they all found: throughout the day (and days after) the Lord Jesus himself appeared to the disciples at different times showing himself to be very much alive.

Jesus summed up their lack of faith in this discussion on the road to Emmaus: Luke 24:25–26 “And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?””

In the span of just three days, the world experienced the darkest day which was followed by the greatest day! And it is the day we ought to celebrate every Sunday (and every day!), but especially once a year on Easter Sunday.

Our whole faith rises and falls on the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Praise be to God that He is alive forevermore!

Revelation 1:17–19 “But [Jesus] laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.”

Conclusion

As we enter into Holy Week, I hope that you will spend some time meditating on the events that are described to us in Scripture. Pray and reflect on what they mean, and ask the Holy Spirit to show you something maybe you’ve never noticed before. And as we approach Easter, let us reflect on our own lives and the redemption we so desperately needed, the sin that nailed Christ to the cross. And then let us celebrate his victory over sin and death for us.

Bonus: Why isn’t Easter on the same day every year?

Easter Sunday is always the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal (Spring) equinox. Seems complicated doesn’t it? It’s also tied to the Ash Wednesday, which (excluding Sundays) is 40 days before Easter.

Some people may think this is strange because the Gospels tell us that Jesus died during the Jewish Passover which is always a set date (Nisan 14 in the Hebrew calendar).

Determining when Easter should be celebrated was actually a contentious issue in the early Church.

The Church at Antioch (and Asia Minor in general), which we know from Acts became a major pillar in the early Church, did celebrate Easter during Passover. In fact, they claimed that this tradition had been passed down to them from the apostles and were adamant about following it.

On the other hand, the other major pillar of the Church (besides Rome) was in Alexandria, Egypt. It was these Christians who seemingly wanted to make sure Easter always fell on a Sunday (and maybe trying to differentiate themselves from the Jews). So they developed the current system.

This became a pretty divisive issue, even though the Alexandrian method was more popular and eventually became the dominant method across Christianity. This was all but confirmed by the Council of Nicea in the late 300s, and it has been pretty settled since.

The Antioch Church continued to celebrate on Passover however, leading to the Pope to try and excommunicate them! Cooler and wiser heads prevailed, with church leaders telling the Pope, “It’s annoying, but not that big of a deal. Just let them do it.”

Ever since then, the vast majority of Christianity has used the “Alexandrian” method to determine when to celebrate Easter. The Orthodox Church uses the same method, but they use a different calendar (Julian vs Gregorian), which means their celebration of Easter is often much later than ours.