Walk Through Holy Week
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Alright church, I want us to do something a little different today. It’s a special day as we begin what is commonly called “Holy Week”. This is the last week of Jesus’ life on earth— Today being Palm Sunday, the day we remember Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, and this and all of the events that come after are racing us towards Jesus’ death on Friday night and His Resurrection on Sunday morning. Today we are going to participate in the Lord’s Supper, this happened on the Thursday night of that week, and I want us to see the events that surround this monumental moment in history. To do that, we are going to take a slow walk through several major events and just get a good understanding of what all actually went on during the most important week in all of history.
My goal in doing this is not s
I want to do something a little different today. I want us to take a walk. A walk through what is commonly called “Holy Week”. Holy Week begins on Palm Sunday… this is the day we recognize Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem… and ends on the next Sunday which is the day He rose from the grave. So, today our worship time will peak as we celebrate the Lord’s Supper together which happened on the Thursday of that week. But what all happened leading up to this pivotal moment in history? What were the events of the most important week of our history?
If you read the Psalms, you’ll see a word set out to the side “selah”. 71 times throughout the book the different authors of these songs give direction to the readers/singers to take a moment to give measure to the words sang.
But you, O Lord, are a shield about me,
my glory, and the lifter of my head.
I cried aloud to the Lord,
and he answered me from his holy hill. Selah
Today, my hope is that as we cover the events in the last few days of Jesus’ life leading up to His death that the Scriptures will lead us to having our own selah moments… where we’ll measure these truths in the balances and have our hearts impacted in a major way. Again, this is the most important week in the history of the world. Salvation being accomplished depends on Christ’s effectiveness to accomplish His mission this very week. Let’s take our time here this morning and be filled with a fresh understanding of His faithfulness to us.
Let’s Pray…
Palm Sunday—
saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”
And as he rode along, they spread their cloaks on the road. 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, saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”
Luke 19:3
What a powerful moment??!! As Jesus is riding into Jerusalem, the people lay their cloaks on the ground before Him along with palm tree branches creating the tapestry of endearment that, in their mind, officially welcomed Him into His powerful Messianic role as ruler.
But it’s a moment of great tension. The Pharisees cringed as they heard the people cry out to their Messiah. This “Blessed is the King” chant wasn’t just a catchy phrase to jump on board with. The Pharisees recognized that this phrase was reserved for the Savior of Israel! But they didn’t believe He was... so all they could imagine was the chaos this was going to create with Rome. They tell Jesus to make them stop! This is not going to be good! His response—“If they don’t cry out to me… the very stones will.”
But the tension is even greater when you see that these cries of “Blessed is the King” are not to the Savior provided but the one they have manufactured in their own mind. The Messiah they wanted to was going to overthrow the Roman government. They wanted another exodus… but this time an exodus that expelled the Gentiles. When their hopes and dreams are crushed by seeing a battered and bloodied Jesus they no longer say, “Blessed is He…” but rather, “Crucify Him!” Jesus looks over Jerusalem and weeps because He knows the moment of adoration He is currently experiencing will soon turn into bloodthirsty demands for death.
Monday—
In the morning, as he was returning to the city, he became hungry. And seeing a fig tree by the wayside, he went to it and found nothing on it but only leaves. And he said to it, “May no fruit ever come from you again!” And the fig tree withered at once.
When the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, “How did the fig tree wither at once?”
I can almost imagine the disciple’s faces when they see Jesus immediately condemn a tree because it didn’t have any fruit… The wonder in seeing it wither before their eyes and the confusion of why Jesus did it!
If only they had spiritual eyes to see the spiritual truth Jesus was teaching. The Jewish church had everything needed to make an outward show—the Temple, the priesthood, the daily service, the yearly feasts, the Old Testament Scriptures… Like the fig tree, it was full of outward signs of health but when looked at closely it was empty with no fruit. No grace, love, humility, holiness…
It’s a terrifying warning!! Everything outwardly may say you want to be like Jesus but when it comes down to actually having fruit that proves… there is none.
Monday Afternoon—
And they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. And he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. And 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.”
Imagine the city of Jerusalem packed as people gather from all over to celebrate the Passover. Vendors set up in front of the Temple to do two things—exchange foreign currency at a terribly high rate and to sell pigeons to be offered up as sacrifices that had ridiculous high prices. Jesus sees it and reacts with a holy anger by turning over the tables and quoting two Old Testament Passages jammed together ( and )
“My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations, but you have made it a den of robbers.”
The issue here is the incompatibility of what was going on at the Temple and the purpose that God originally had for this place. Isaiah’s end-times vision saw the Temple being the place where the Covenant of God would be kept, foreigners would join themselves with the one true God of Israel, and outcasts brought in. But instead of it being a place of redemption, it was a place you could turn an incredible profit. There was no room for the Gentile.
All this leads us to the terribly relevant question—How well does our worship model the prophetic vision of the new creation? This is all supposed to be a foretaste of what’s to come… the question is by being in this room in this moment… Can you taste it?
Tuesday—
And they came again to Jerusalem. And as he was walking in the temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came to him,
Tuesday was a long day. They’ve experienced some pretty significant events. After the Temple cleansing, they went back to Bethany to sleep. We can be sure that as they walked back to Jerusalem that Tuesday morning that everyone had the events of yesterday on their mind. No more so than the religious leaders whose hatred only grew episode by episode. Jesus was ready to start teaching again that morning, but He was quickly presented with question after question in hopes to trap Him in some type of religious dilemma that would discredit His voice and scatter His following.
The chief priests, Pharisees, Sadducees, and even some lawyers give it their best shot to try and trip the Son of God up. He answers every question in such a way that they having nothing to say in return and it amazes the crowd listening in. But then it gets insanely tense! If you read Matthew’s account in chapter 23, it’s almost as if Jesus turns his back to the religious leaders and speaks solely to the crowd and His disciples. And He launches into a full blown verbal attack that reveals the truth behind who these religious leaders really are—White-washed tombs with dead bones inside. All looking pretty outwardly but in reality dead.
The conflict has finally boiled over… Jesus will either assume power and lead the Jews in this massive revolt against the Romans… or He dies. Which brings us to Wednesday…
Spy Wednesday—
And in comparison to the previous three days… it’s really quiet, but it is quiet for a purpose. You see it’s on this day when all the pieces come together so that the greatest sin in all of history can take place--- Murdering the Christ.
Caiaphas, the high priest, and two groups that are usually at odds with each other—the Sadducees and Pharisees—are in the plot together to see Jesus dead. Judas enters to scene. And all 4 Gospel accounts point us to the same event that brings us to the darkest moment in history.
Mary, the sister of Martha, takes a very expensive ointment and pours it over Jesus.
gives us the response of Judas to this act of worship.
But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said, “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it.
You see Judas had been on this trajectory of sin for a long time. I’m sure it started with a thought—“you know… I do a lot of work! I deserve a little something extra.” And he, overtime, just became hardened to the truth of who Jesus is even though he lived in His presence and under His teaching for three YEARS!!
Wednesday Evening—
Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went to the chief priests in order to betray him to them. And when they heard it, they were glad and promised to give him money. And he sought an opportunity to betray him.
Judas left that exchange with Jesus over the ointment sickened at the lost opportunity to refresh the money sack so he would have a little to skim off the top. So much so, he makes about 2 mile trek from Bethany to Jerusalem late that evening to play let’s make a deal with the religious leaders. Mark makes mention that they promised him the money… leading us to believe that Judas negotiated the life of Jesus. 30 pieces of silver serves as the main character of this scene.
Judas couldn’t believe the waste of money was not only not rebuked but that it was applauded by Jesus—she has done a beautiful thing to me.
To the dollar, he could tell you what the ointment was worth as it rolled down the head of Jesus and into His beard… but there was a total inability to place an accurate value on Jesus.
J.C. Ryle comments on this passag
Thursday—
Matthew 26:
Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”
And when the hour came, he reclined at table, and the apostles with him. And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.
Jesus knew very well what was before Him. His arrest, His trial and scourging, and ultimately His crucifixion… none of it took Him by surprise. Knowing that, how gracious of an act it was to spend some of His last moments on earth giving us one of the greatest blessings we have as Christians today— The Lord’s Supper.
What we are about to participate in as Christians— this was given to us by Jesus so that we can continually remember Christ’s death. That we can hold the bread and the cup in our hand… so that we can take it in ourselves and have a tangible reminder that
- Christ’s Body and His Blood is the only atonement for sin.
- This is where life is imparted to the believer’s soul
- This is where, when we are weak, our fellowship with Christ can be renewed.
- This is where we publically declare our guilt and need for a Savior
My prayer is in this moment, your repentance will be deepened, your faith increased, hope brightened, and love enlarged.
***PRAY***
***TAKE COMMUNION***