It started with Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey. His devoted followers were waving palm branches, and spreading them on the path before him. According to Wikipedia, the palm branch is a symbol of victory, triumph, peace, and eternal life originating in the ancient Near East and Mediterranean world.
What the crowds did not know that day was that Jesus was riding towards his death. His death would fulfill the plan that He had come to earth for thirty-three years earlier; the plan that included a trial, a scourging, and a crucifixion; the plan that He agreed to, to save humanity from the power of sin.
We know today as Palm Sunday, and the week to come as Holy week, but after Easter it will be remembered as the week that was. Happy Sunday.
Today is known as Maundy Thursday…the Thursday before Easter, observed in the Christian Church as a commemoration of the Last Supper, the last meal Jesus shared with his disciples before his death.
Maundy also means “commandment”, and at that last meal, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” John 13:34
And that is what Jesus was/is all about…Love…not only in this Holy week but always.
In Christianity the week leading up to Easter Sunday is Holy Week, beginning with Palm Sunday which was last Sunday.
On that day, Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey to shouts of acclamation from adoring crowds. However, there was also a crowd who hated Jesus and whose leader had him arrested to stand before Pontius Pilate, a Roman governor under the emperor of Tiberius in the 1st century.
Pilate could find no wrong in the man sent to him to be crucified, and didn’t know what to do with him. But to save his own position, he caved in to the demands of the angry mob and ordered his crucifixion, a horrible death, the capital punishment of the day.
In his sermon on Palm Sunday, our Pastor made a profound statement…”you and I need to decide what we are going to do with Jesus.”
It’s a decision we all have to make sooner or later…no escaping it. I know what I have done with Him. How about you?
The deed was done. Jesus was dead. No one knew what was to come.
Luke 23:50-56 New International Version (NIV)
The Burial of Jesus
50 Now there was a man named Joseph, a member of the Council, a good and upright man,51 who had not consented to their decision and action. He came from the Judean town of Arimathea, and he himself was waiting for the kingdom of God.52 Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body.53 Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen cloth and placed it in a tomb cut in the rock, one in which no one had yet been laid.54 It was Preparation Day, and the Sabbath was about to begin.
55 The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how his body was laid in it.56 Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment.
Mary watched as her beloved son died on the cross…a mother’s worst nightmare…the death of her child.
Luke 23:26, 32-49 New International Version (NIV)
The Crucifixion of Jesus
26 As the soldiers led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene,who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus.
32 Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed.33 When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left.34 Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”[b] And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.
35 The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him.They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.”
36 The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar37 and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.”
38 There was a written notice above him, which read: this is the king of the jews.
39 One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”
40 But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence?41 We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”
42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.[c]”
43 Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
The Death of Jesus
44 It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon,45 for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two.46 Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.”[d] When he had said this, he breathed his last.
47 The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, “Surely this was a righteous man.”48 When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts and went away.49 But all those who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.
Before Jesus was betrayed by Judas, He gathered his disciples together for one last time before his death.
Luke 22:14-23 New International Version (NIV)
14 When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table.15 And he said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.16 For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God.”
17 After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, “Take this and divide it among you.18 For I tell you I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”
19 And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”
20 In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.[a]21 But the hand of him who is going to betray me is with mine on the table.22 The Son of Man will go as it has been decreed. But woe to that man who betrays him!”23 They began to question among themselves which of them it might be who would do this.
For thirty pieces of silver Judas Iscariot helped send Jesus to the cross, and then hung himself for this dastardly deed.
Luke 22New International Version (NIV)
Judas Agrees to Betray Jesus
22 Now the Festival of Unleavened Bread, called the Passover, was approaching,2 and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were looking for some way to get rid of Jesus, for they were afraid of the people.3 Then Satan entered Judas, called Iscariot, one of the Twelve.4 And Judas went to the chief priests and the officers of the temple guard and discussed with them how he might betray Jesus.5 They were delighted and agreed to give him money.6 He consented, and watched for an opportunity to hand Jesus over to them when no crowd was present.
With a few days left to live Jesus continues to preach and teach.
Luke 20:9-16 New International Version (NIV)
The Parable of the Tenants
9 He went on to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard, rented it to some farmers and went away for a long time.10 At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants so they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed.11 He sent another servant, but that one also they beat and treated shamefully and sent away empty-handed.12 He sent still a third, and they wounded him and threw him out.
13 “Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my son, whom I love; perhaps they will respect him.’
14 “But when the tenants saw him, they talked the matter over. ‘This is the heir,’ they said. ‘Let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’15 So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
“What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them?16 He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others.”
When the people heard this, they said, “God forbid!”
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My Precious Life 