Passion Week— Thursday

The day has finally arrived. Thursday would bring the longest twenty-four hours of Jesus’ life. On Wednesday, the preparations were made, and on Thursday at Sundown, millions of Jews in Jerusalem would observe the Passover Meal. 

Passover began at sundown on Thursday, and it is with the start of this meal, the longest day of Jesus’ life. 

In Matthew 26:17-19 Jesus is finalizing the preparations Thursday afternoon, and by evening Jesus, His disciples and family are in the upper room. It is here Jesus institutes the Lord’s Supper (Matthew 26:26-29). Matthew’s account focuses only on the details of the meal, with Jesus speaking of a new covenant made in His body and blood. Matthew also includes details of Judas’ soon betrayal. Matthew then jumps quickly to the latter parts of the evening, where Jesus departs the upper room, takes the eleven disciples, and goes to the Gethsemane. It is here Judas will find Jesus as hand him over to the officers of the chief priests.

John’s account spends much more time on the events of Thursday evening. In John 13:1-17:26, much more time is spent on the direct conversations between Jesus and the twelve. Jesus warns them of what will come in the next few hours, but promises their sorrow will turn to joy. John 17 includes once of the most powerful prayers in the Bible. Here in the garden, Jesus prays for you and me. Those who have yet not been born, but will come to faith in the risen Savior. It is a powerful moment and shows Jesus’ love for His people.

Going forward, remembering how the Jewish days works, Passover goes through sundown the next day. Over the next hours, Jesus will go before an unlawful trial (Matt. 26:57-68) and the chief priest will falsely accuse Jesus of blaspheme against God. The Jews will mock and beat Jesus, and when they are satisfied, knowing they cannot simply kill Jesus, they deliver him over to Pilate.

Our Friday contains much of Jesus’ Thursday. Looking forward to Good Friday, we see the long and sorrowful day Jesus has had. He spend the day with His disciples in preparation of the Passover Meal,  the upper room discourse where Jesus says many things to the ones He loves before He is gone, the short trip out of the city, across the Kidron Valley and up the Mount of Olives to a special place called Gethsemane—there he would pray and wait for the betrayer. It is here, the beginning of the hardest part of His mission begins. The marker of the beginning of the end is with a kiss (Matt.26:49).

Today, reflect on this last full day Jesus has with His disciples and family. This would be the last intimate moment and peace until after His excruciating death and victorious resurrection. Consider the burden Jesus carries, as Thursday approached and he knows that if he wavers even for a moment, all hope of redemption is lost. But Scripture testifies to the obedience of Jesus and His determination to finish the mission, no matter the cost. 

Why did Jesus endure the suffering, mocking, and ridicule? He did it for you and me and all those who would believe in Him. God’s love for His people is displayed in His Son Jesus, and through the cross of Christ, He makes sorrow turn to joy and defeat into victory. May Jesus Christ be praised. 

Passion Week— Wednesday

The day before Passover, Wednesday contains more behind the scenes planning and less direct teaching. It is on Wednesday we have the gospels speaking to the chief priests’ plot to kill Jesus & Judas’ plans to betray Him. Wednesday is also the day we find Jesus’ disciples preparing the upper room for Passover and the Last Supper.

In Luke 22:1-13, we find Wednesday’s events spilling over into Thursday. It would have a busy day for the disciples and the entire city. Markets would have been filled with locals, pilgrims and those from surrounding areas. During Passover, Jerusalem was a bustling city full of life and energy. It would be in this city God would reveal His ultimate plan for the redemption of mankind.  

One of the themes we see throughout the gospels is the Jewish leadership’s hatred for Jesus. Jesus was everything they wanted to be. He was popular with the people, He taught in a way that was captivating, He had power to do things that no one else could do. Jealousy and hatred fueled the flames over the past years and now the chief priest were going to act. 

Luke’s account in chapter 22 speaks to the plotting of the Sanhedrin and immediately includes Judas Iscariot. One of the twelve would betray Jesus into the hands of sinners and lead to his eventual death. For someone reading the gospel story for the first time, it is no doubt a shock. Judas was one who ate, traveled, and witnessed the coming of the Kingdom of God through his Master—and yet jealousy and greed gave way to his heart. Luke’s account speaks to Satan’s involvement in the betrayal, connecting Luke’s previous point in the temptation of Jesus, 

13And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time.
— Luke 4:13 (ESV)

This “opportune time” was now, and Satan in all of his cleverness, used one of the Twelve in his plan to defeat the Son of God. 

But one thing is very clear in all of the gospel accounts, Jesus is aware of what is going on around Him and is in complete control. 

1When Jesus had finished all these sayings, he said to his disciples, 2“You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.”
— Matthew 26:1–2 (ESV)

Jesus is in control. He knows His time has come. He knows He will be betrayed. He knows it is by one of His own. He knows He will die. Thursday’s intimate meal in the Upper Room proves all this to be true. 

For us today reflecting on all the events of Passion Week, we see the devotion of Jesus and His obedience to His Father’s plan for redemption. He knows there is only one way to restore creation to its pre-fall state. He knows there is only one way to redeem mankind. He know the only way is the cross. And so he presses on. With the enemies gathering outside the gates, and a betrayer in the camp, all that is left is a final meal with his faithful (but often at times oblivious) disciples. All that is left is for the sacrifice to be made and the final enemy defeated. 

Jesus is worthy to be praised, not only for His sacrifice on the cross, but also for His willingness to go as far as needed to save us from sin and restore our relationship with God. May Jesus Christ be praised.

Passion Week— Tuesday

Tuesday morning we find Jesus returning to Jerusalem and making a point to go straight to the Temple. There Jesus is met with the crowd and also the chief priests. Here they try to trap Jesus in questions about His authority, taxes, and the resurrection of the dead. 

The Gospel of Matthew devotes an enormous of content to the Tuesday of Passion Week. Matthew 21:20-25:46 covers Jesus’ defense of the chief priest’s questions, many parables, teachings on taxes, the great commandment, the second coming, and much more. 

Tuesday was a full day for Jesus. Even after the excitement created in the Temple yesterday, Tuesday no doubt left Jesus tired exhausted. There is also the fact that Friday is now a day closer and Jesus is ever-aware of this. Preparations are being made. The upper room is to be reserved, food is to be prepared, and betrayal plotted.  

Jesus teaches through many parables on Tuesday, one of them being familiar to most,

28“What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’29And he answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he changed his mind and went. 30And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but did not go. 31Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you. 32For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him. — Matthew 21:28–32 (ESV)

In these parables, Jesus is confronting the crowd and the chief priests with the reality they have created. It was assumed, the chief priests, Pharisees, and other religious leadership would be welcomed first into God’s embrace for all the works they have done. But Jesus had come to set them straight. Self-righteousness and piety had corrupted the relationship between God and Israel. That is why we see Paul in Galatians speaking to Jesus coming at the “fullness of time.” Israel needed to be saved from their own leadership.

Jesus tells all who are listening on Tuesday in the temple, using the two sons as the illustration, it is better to delay and still come, than never to come at all. Jesus came to save sinners, tax collectors, and prostitutes. But the best option is not mentioned, even though Jesus knows this. What is better than saying “I will not come” but come later, or “I will go sir” but never come at all? The best option is when we hear the good news of the gospel and see who Jesus is, we run to Him, love Him, and never look back. 

In the Parable of the Tenants , we have Jesus speaking about his death. The Kingdom of God is like man who builds a vineyard and putting his servants in charge he leaves for another country. When it is the season for harvest, the servants kill all the vineyard owner sends—even his own son. How will the owner of the vineyard respond?

Unknowing to them, the crowd seals their own fate, 

Matthew 21:41 (ESV)41They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.”

 The Passion of Christ was always part of God’s plan. Jesus was always the one who would come and set right creation and restore the relationship between God and His people. Disciple and correction was needed. Jesus knows His Father’s plan and is obedient, even when all others sent were killed. Jesus even speaks to the vineyard being taken away and given to another people—even the crowds reach this logical conclusion.

All of the parables and teachings on Tuesday, from the Temple to the Mt. of Olives are part of a larger picture being painted by Matthew as he reflects on all that he heard and saw. Looking back, no doubt Matthew wrote in detail all he could remember, because he knew what Jesus was doing. He was preparing His disciples, and later those who would read His words for His death, resurrection, and second coming. 

Take time today, go back and read Matthew’s account of Tuesday. What are the moments that standout to you?

Do you get angry at the blindness of the crowds and the plotting of the chief priests? Does the words of Jesus on the second coming worry you?

Have you considered, as Jesus teaches openly with the crowds and privately with His disciples—in the back of His mind is the cross? Such a thought should near break us. That is our Savior. The one who presses on for the sake of His people.

For us as the reader, we can find hope and encouragement in the days leading up to Jesus’ death. He is in absolute control of history. God’s plan is not changed by men and women and their success and failure. God’s plan was for His Son to die on the cross to atone for the sins of his people, rise from the dead never to die again and return, fully and absolutely ushering in the Kingdom of God. May Jesus Christ be praised. 

Passion Week—Monday

This devotion is part of a series for our church as we wait in anticipation for Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday. Considering reading the passages associated with the day of Passion Week.

 Monday— Jesus Curses the Fig Tree & Clears the Temple

The Monday following Palm Sunday is marked with actions of Jesus, not yet seen by the disciples, both of which seemly leave them confused with what just happened. After the Triumphal Entry and the crowds that followed Jesus from Galilee for Passover correctly recognized Jesus for who he is—the King of Israel. In the days following Sunday, Jesus will actively work to complete His Father’s plan for atonement and also speak encouragement into the lives of his disciples.

Monday morning, we find Jesus and His disciples returning to Jerusalem from Bethany. In Matthew 21:18-22 we find Jesus confronting a fig tree on the side of the street and cursing it—effectively ending any chance it would bear fruit again. 

Why does Jesus curse a fig tree? What did the fig tree ever do to deserve such a curse? Those are the kinds of questions that come to my mind. But as we know from reading the life and actions of Jesus, He does everything for a reason. The curse and his actions have greater meaning than we know. For the disciples, they surely didn’t understand. It would take the next day for Jesus to explain the entire meaning of the curse. The tree represents faithless Israel—and the heart of the nation, Jerusalem. Both are beautiful in appearance, bloom in such a way that causes the traveler to stop and behold its beauty, but when time comes to show its fruit, it has none. Because of that, Jesus curses the tree to show His disciples and later us how God responds to those who are faithless and claim to have faith, but bare no fruit. 

How do we respond to such an event?

Jesus demands we do something with the faith He has given us. Action is required. If we do not do something with the life God has given us, and if we live as Israel in the time of Jesus, than we should not be surprised when God intervenes in our life with curse, punishment, or discipline. The beauty of Jesus and his sacrifice should bring about a change in our lives and unstoppable desire to serve Him and His people. We were made for more than the curse and the curse is not our destiny.

But Monday doesn’t end there. We find Jesus in Mark 11:15-19 entering the Temple and driving out all the merchants. To understand why Jesus did this we need to understand the background.

This was Passover Week. Thursday night, along with Jesus and His disciples, millions of Jews would be celebrating Passover. Many of them had come hundreds of miles, much farther in distance than even Jesus and His disciples. To put this in modern terms, this was the “Super Bowl” of festivals in the Jewish calendar. All of these people would be sacrificing in the Temple leading up to Passover. Many of these people were poor and simply because of the great distance traveled, animals for sacrifice and goods for the week could not be carried. Therefore they needed someone to provide these goods. This is where we see the evil and Jesus stepping in to correct the situation.

The money changers and merchants were taking advantage of the people no doubt. They were set up in the Temple, and Jesus had a problem with both. This would have been quite a scene for everyone involved. Within the whole event, Jesus takes the opportunity to teach.

17And he was teaching them and saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.” — Mark 11:17 (ESV)

In Jesus’ mind, the religious establishment had allowed these merchants to take advantage of the people, thus creating a “den of robbers” in His Father’s House.

Reflecting on this moment of Passion Week, we see this only furthering the anger and blood lust of the chief priests and scribes. They already hated Jesus, and now He embarrassed them in front of their people.          All of this is part of Jesus’ plan and journey to the cross. This event will be another accusation used by the chief priests in the unlawful trial early Friday morning. After these events, Jesus returns to Bethany with His disciples. For us, we look on Monday and see it as one day leading up to the crucifixion and eventual resurrection. Going forward, each day will increase in content recorded by the gospel authors, as well as the tension between Jesus and the Jewish leadership.