Jesus’ final week in Jerusalem began on Sunday as he was welcomed with joy and praise from the people; on Friday he was crucified.
As he rode into the city on a donkey, people put palm branches in his path as they might for a king, and shouted, “Hosanna!” It was a Hebrew expression meaning “Save!” which became an exclamation of praise. He briefly visited in the city and in the Temple, but as the sun sank low on the horizon, he went with his disciples to Bethany, to the home of Mary, Martha and Lazarus.
The next day, Monday, he came back to town and into the Temple, where he drove out the animals, merchants and money changers, declaring it a house of prayer, in spite of their having made it a “den of thieves.”
On Tuesday he returned to teach about the final judgment and the end of the world, fearlessly denouncing the Scribes and Pharisees as religious hypocrites, unfit to be leaders, clean on the outside and filthy within. With this blunt language, he knowingly ensured his arrest, trials and crucifixion.
When Wednesday came,the religious leaders in Jerusalem were busily conspiring to put Jesus to death, and at Bethany, in the home of Simon, whom Jesus had healed of leprosy, Jesus was anointed for his burial with costly perfume by Mary of Bethany.
On Thursday evening, Jesus observed the Passover with his disciples, washing their feet to teach humility and leading the first observance of “The Lord’s Supper.” Continuing to teach them, he went to Gethsemane, where he agonized in prayer before being arrested by Temple guards.
In the pre-dawn hours of Friday he was taken to the first of seven separate trials until the sentence of death by the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate. At 9:00 a.m. on Friday he was nailed to a cross, and at 3:00 p.m. he died. His body was taken down by loving hands and placed in a tomb. The Roman authorities rolled a great stone in front of the tomb to make sure it was sealed. As the Sabbath began at sundown Friday, Jesus was buried. On Saturday, his body lay in the tomb. He was dead and buried. The religious leaders went home satisfied.
“That’s that!” they sighed.
But Sunday was coming..
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