DAY 7: JESUS’ BURIAL
Scripture Passage: John 19:38-42

 

HOLY WEEK TIMELINE:

ON SATURDAY:
• PILATE ORDERED GUARDS POSTED AT THE TOMB (MATTHEW 27:62-66).

 

Have you ever lost something so important to you would have done anything just to get it back? The blanket or stuffed animal you carried with you everywhere you went when you were a child? A piece of jewelry someone special gave to you? A family heirloom that might not look like much but means the world to you? Your phone?

 

Remember how desperate you were to find it? Normally whenever we lose something like that, we experience a range of thoughts and feelings. We try to convince ourselves it’s not lost at all as we diligently search for it everywhere
we can think to look. When our searching proves fruitless, we get more and more frustrated, even angry at our lack of success. We try to make deals with anyone around us who might help. We might even try to make a bargain with God if somehow what we’re looking for will all of a sudden reappear. We get sad and upset, and perhaps we cry or sit around moping, not knowing what to do next. At some point, we resign ourselves to the fact that what we seek is lost to us, quite possibly forever, and we’re left wondering just how to move on.

 

All those thoughts and feelings? That’s what we call grief. The more important something is to us, or the more we love it, the deeper we feel grief. That becomes even more true when what we’ve lost is something, or rather someone, we love. A pet. A friend. A family member.

 

Whenever we experience a loss like that, we come to intimately know the feeling that takes up residence deep down in our hearts, a feeling that is both empty and heavy. When we step out our doors, that feeling leaves us dumbstruck that the world around us still spins on its axis, and people can still go about their everyday lives.

 

That’s the same feeling Jesus’ followers woke up with the day after Jesus’ death.

 

Read John 19:38-42. That evening before, Joseph of Arimathea went to Pilate, the Roman governor, and asked if he could bury Jesus’ body. Joseph was part of the group of religious leaders who had brought Jesus to trial, but he was secretly a follower of Christ and didn’t agree with what they were doing to Him. He was joined by Nicodemus, another religious leader who had visited Jesus earlier in His ministry. They packed Jesus’ body with ointments and spices in honor and to fight the indignities of decomposition. They then wrapped the body and placed it in a tomb in a garden where no other body had been laid. They had to do this fairly quickly because the Jewish Sabbath began at sundown on Friday, and burials were forbidden on the Sabbath.

 

Imagine, then, what it was like for them that next day, the Sabbath, a day of rest. It brings to mind everyone staying in their homes, lounging about, perhaps spending some time in quiet prayer. We might picture empty streets and shuttered shops. But that wasn’t the case.

 

Remember, that day was no ordinary Sabbath. It was the one following the Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and the city of Jerusalem was bursting at the seams with people in town for the celebration.

 

On that Sabbath day, many of them would have gone to the Temple to worship. There would have been a hustle and bustle about the streets. A constant din of noise would have been heard throughout the city, drowning out any hope for quiet. There would have been songs. There would have been laughter. There would have been children playing. And through this all, Jesus’ followers would have been grieving, wondering how the world could go on when its creator lay in His grave.

 

For any who would have managed to overcome their grief or even seek some relief from it by visiting the Temple for themselves, they would have been greeted by another sound: the bleating of lambs offered for sacrifice. That must have robbed them of any relief since they alone knew that the true Lamb of God had already been sacrificed just hours before, and there was no longer any need for others.

 

On that Saturday, they must not have been able to know any joy during their grief, but that would have been the last Saturday after Good Friday for that to be true. On the very next day, they’d know joy like never before, and it’s the same joy we all can know today.

 

THINK ABOUT IT:
As a follower of Jesus, how do you think you would have felt on the Saturday after Jesus’ death while He lay buried in the tomb?
What does it mean for Jesus to be the perfect sacrifice?
How does our faith in Jesus enable us to have joy at all times, even during deep grief?

DAY 6: THE CRUCIFIXION
Scripture Passage: Mark 15:6-39

 

HOLY WEEK TIMELINE:

ON GOOD FRIDAY:
• THE SANHEDRIN PUT JESUS ON TRIAL (LUKE 22:66-71).
• PETER DENIED CHRIST (MATTHEW 26:69-75).
• PILATE SENT JESUS TO HEROD (LUKE 23:1-12).
• THE CROWD CHOSE TO FREE BARABBAS (MATTHEW 27:15-23).
• PILATE DELIVERED JESUS TO BE CRUCIFIED (JOHN 19:1-16).
• THE SOLDIERS CRUCIFIED JESUS (LUKE 23:32-38).
• JESUS DIED (MATTHEW 27:45-56).
• JESUS WAS BURIED IN THE TOMB (JOHN 19:38-42).

 

Chances are you have a cross somewhere nearby right now. It might be hanging on the wall or sitting on a bookshelf. Maybe it’s in a picture or painting or a piece of jewelry you’re wearing. If you can see it right now, I want you to look at it for a moment; if you can’t see one, close your eyes and picture a cross.

 

For the vast majority of us, the cross we’re looking at or picturing has one thing in common: Jesus isn’t there. We don’t see Him on the cross. And rightfully so. The cross wasn’t the end of the story. As we like to say, “Sunday’s coming.”

 

But for six hours on the Friday that we call good, Jesus was there, on a very real cross, and what He experienced were agony and anguish. It was suffering. Only, His suffering began before He even got there.

 

Read Mark 15:6-39. After Pontius Pilate gave the people a choice between releasing Jesus and the murderous rebel Barabbas, they chose Barabbas. So, then, Pilate, mister “I wash my hands of this,” decided crucifixion wasn’t going to be enough; he needed to have Jesus scourged first. And this “scourging” wasn’t some slap on the wrist. It wasn’t a spanking. It was a beating with a whip that would often end up killing the person before any other type of punishment could be carried out.

 

But it didn’t stop there for Jesus. Pay attention to what follows. A whole company, about 600 hardened Roman soldiers, stripped Jesus of His clothes and paraded Him around in fake royal garments. They forced a crown of thorns on His head. They mocked Him. They beat Him with a stick. They spit on Him. They ridiculed Him. They forced Him to carry His cross until He physically couldn’t any longer.

 

Only then did they crucify Jesus. They drove nails through His hands and feet and raised Him between two criminals. And after all this, everyone who was there, even some of those dying beside Him, continued to mock, insult, and make fun of Him.

 

Yes, Jesus suffered. But He didn’t just experience physical suffering and emotional suffering. The greatest pain He suffered was spiritual.

 

Throughout all of the abuse Jesus endured, neither Mark nor any of the other Gospel writers recorded one moment of Him screaming in agony or cursing those who tortured Him. But, after He hung there on that cross for six hours, enduring excruciating pain and struggling for every breath, Jesus finally broke His silence.

 

Christ cried out, quoting Psalm 22, “my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” If you read the rest of that psalm, you’ll notice that like the psalmist, Jesus was also surrounded by mocking enemies and facing certain death. Like the psalmist, Jesus was abandoned by His friends, family, and in Jesus’ case, His followers. To make things worse, Jesus was even abandoned by the Father. At that moment, Jesus was completely and utterly alone.

 

But it had to be this way.

 

Jesus alone is God who took on flesh. Jesus alone faced every temptation and trouble in this world, yet knew no sin. Jesus alone could bear our sin, every wrong thing you’ve ever done, every wrong thought I’ve ever conceived, every disobedience and rebellion committed throughout all time. He alone could suffer in our place. He alone could pay the penalty we owed. He alone could die for us.

 

Why in this moment alone did Jesus cry out “my God” instead of “Father”? Because at that moment, God the Son had become the sinner’s sacrifice. In turn, God the Father saw not His Son but the sin of the world – my sin and your sin – and in His holiness, He turned away and left Him to die.

 

Jesus died alone on that cross so you and I might live together with God in fellowship with Him. He suffered so we may be saved. And that’s what makes this Friday so good.

 

THINK ABOUT IT:
Jesus is often referred to as a “man of sorrows” (Isaiah 53:3). How does it affect your understanding of who He is to also see Him as a man of suffering?

 

Read Psalm 22. In what ways do you see Christ reflected in the verses of this psalm?

 

Though perhaps not to the same extent, we also know what it’s like to suffer or feel like we’re surrounded by trouble. How does it help you to face those situations knowing Jesus is intimately familiar with the same things?

DAY 5: JESUS’ TRIAL & PETER’S DENIAL
Scripture Passage: Matthew 26:57-75

 

HOLY WEEK TIMELINE:

ON MAUNDY THURSDAY:
• JESUS CELEBRATED PASSOVER WITH HIS DISCIPLES (LUKE 22:7-16).
– He washed His Disciples’ feet (John 13:1-20).
– He foretold His betrayal (Matthew 26:20-25).
– He promised the Holy Spirit (John 14:15-31).
– Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane at the Mount of Olives (Matthew 26:36-46; Luke 22:39-46; John 17:1-26).
•JUDAS BETRAYED JESUS (LUKE 22:47-48).
•THE CHIEF PRIESTS, SCRIBES, AND ELDERS ARRESTED JESUS (MATTHEW 26:47-56).
•THE DISCIPLES FLED (MARK 14:50)

 

“It wasn’t me.” Those three little words have to be one of the earliest excuses we learn to tell. Almost from the moment we can talk, whenever we’re confronted about something wrong we’ve done, we quickly offer up that lie in an attempt to keep ourselves out of trouble. In Matthew 26, we find Peter, one of Jesus’ closest disciples, offering essentially the same excuse he would have made when he was caught causing trouble as a toddler.

 

Read Matthew 26:57-75. After Jesus’ arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane, those who captured Him took Him to Caiaphas, the high priest, to be tried for His supposed crimes. The authorities in this first trial had no real power to carry out any sentencing, but they could determine just what accusations they would be able to bring before those who did.

 

As Jesus was taken away, most of the other disciples scattered to the wind, but not Peter. He went along. Granted, he didn’t stay right by Jesus’ side, but he followed at a distance. At that point, it seems he at least still had some of the guts and grit he showed when he drew his sword in defense of Jesus when they came for Him. Once they arrived at the trial, Peter didn’t go inside even though he wanted to know how things would go. So, he stayed out in the courtyard where he could still hear and observe everything that took place.

 

What happened inside was a joke. The religious leaders, supposed men of God, had done their best to find people to lie about Jesus. Evidently, they found some, but none whose accusations would stick. Two others did come forward with a twisted version of something Jesus had said about rebuilding the temple after three days following its destruction (John 2:19). That was all it took.

 

Throughout it all, Jesus remained silent until directly questioned whether or not He was the Christ, the Son of God. When He confessed that He was, the religious leaders knew they had Him. There was only one conclusion to draw. To claim to be God was to commit blasphemy, an egregious sin, and a curse toward God. The only way He could be innocent would be for Jesus to actually be the Son of God (which, of course, He was even though none of them believed it). So, there was only one possible punishment befitting such a crime: death.

 

Meanwhile, there’s Peter in the courtyard. He’s just heard that very pronouncement for himself. Knowing his Savior was surely to die, it appears some of his bravado left him. We can see this in what happened next. First, a servant girl recognizes Peter as one of Jesus’ followers. Then, another servant girl also accuses him of being someone that was also seen around town with Jesus. Finally, some of the crowd gathered around for the spectacle of the trial heard in Peter’s accent that he was an out-of-towner and came from the same region where Jesus did.

 

Peter gave the same excuse each of the three times, some version of “it wasn’t me.” At first, he simply said he didn’t understand. Then Peter directly denied even knowing Jesus, which he did once again, adding some cursing to boot. At that moment, a rooster crowed, and Peter knew.

 

What did Peter know? He knew he had done what Jesus had warned him he would do. “This very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times” (Matthew 26:34). What could Peter do then except weep over his failure? He’d been caught, and no excuse could make it otherwise.

 

We often like to give Peter a hard time. After all, it seems like throughout the gospel stories, he’s consistently putting his foot in his mouth. However, we need to give Peter a break, not because he was innocent but because he was guilty. He was guilty just as every man, woman, and child that night at that trial were guilty, all but Christ, Himself. They were guilty, just as we all are.

 

The good news is this: though innocent, Jesus’ death made a way for us all to know forgiveness, no matter what we’ve done, no matter how guilty we are.

 

THINK ABOUT IT:
What are ways followers of Jesus continue to deny Him sometimes today?
Why is Jesus’ innocence so significant?
What risk is there for you in confessing your worst sins to Christ and asking for His forgiveness?

DAY 4: THE HIGH PRIESTLY PRAYER
Scripture Passage: John 17:1-26

 

HOLY WEEK TIMELINE:

ON WEDNESDAY:
• THE CHIEF PRIESTS AND SCRIBES PLOTTED TO KILL JESUS (LUKE 22:1-6).
• JUDAS ISCARIOT AGREED TO BETRAY JESUS FOR THIRTY PIECES OF SILVER (MATTHEW 26:14-16).

 

We don’t always appreciate how amazing prayer really is. On the one hand, it’s quite simple. After all, it’s just having a conversation with God. On the other hand, though, prayer is one of the most astounding things in the world. After all, IT’S HAVING A CONVERSATION WITH GOD. The all-powerful, all-knowing Creator of the universe allows us to talk with Him. Not only that, He actually invites us to talk with Him. He wants to spend that time with us. So, shouldn’t we take advantage of that opportunity and spend as much time in prayer as possible?

 

It’s easy to answer “yes,” because we readily see that we should do that. But in reality, most of us don’t. There are probably several reasons for that, but one is that we don’t realize how essential it is for our lives. One way we know the importance of prayer is that we see it in Jesus’ own life.

 

Throughout His time on Earth, Jesus repeatedly and regularly withdrew from the crowds and took time out of His busy schedule being the Messiah to spend time in prayer. Think about that for a moment. Jesus prayed. He talked with God the Father. Jesus is God the Son. So, when Jesus prayed, it was God talking with God. Did the Son and the Father really need to spend that much time together talking? The answer is obviously yes because Jesus did it so much. It was essential to His life and should be for ours as well.

 

The Gospel writers didn’t record for us much of what Jesus said in these prayers, but that makes sense. Often no one else was there to hear them. But in John 17, right after He finished celebrating the Passover with His disciples, Jesus prayed. This prayer is the longest prayer of His recorded in all of Scripture.

 

Read John 17:1-26. Jesus offered this prayer, knowing full well He was about to face His death. He prayed these words to God the Father in His disciples’ presence so they could hear them. In these words, we’re given a unique insight into what was on Jesus’ mind as He prepared to die, and He intended for us to hear them.

 

First, Jesus asked the Father to use Him for the work He had sent Jesus to do. Jesus knew eternal life was only possible through faith in Him, but that life could also only be granted if He first paid the penalty of death owed for our sin. That was the reason He came. That was the work God the Father had given Him to do, but He would need the Father’s help to follow through with it and see it finished.

 

Second, Jesus prayed for His disciples. He had already done so much in the lives of all those who followed Him. He had taught them and revealed to them all that God the Father had given Him. Now, He was preparing to leave them, and He knew that wouldn’t be easy for them. He knew the world would hate them because it had hated Him. He had guarded them against much of that hatred during His time with them, but since He would be physically leaving Earth, they would have to face that hatred head-on. They would also need the Father’s help and His Word to continue to faithfully follow all that Jesus had taught them and to see their purpose fulfilled in the world.

 

Third, Jesus prayed for you. Yes, you. in John 17:20, He prayed, “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word.” If you have put your faith in Jesus Christ, it’s because you heard about it through the witness of Jesus’ disciples who spread His gospel and wrote it down in the Scriptures. That means you’re one of the ones who believed in Him through their word. So, right there, on the night before He died, surrounded by Matthew and Peter and James and John and the rest, Jesus prayed for you. He asked the Father to unite us, you and I, together with them and with Him in the love of God.

 

As Jesus prepared to endure the cross, you were on His mind. Just a little while later, Jesus would be in the Garden of Gethsemane, and He would be praying again. In that prayer, He would ask God if there was any other way to accomplish His work other than dying, but ultimately said, “not my will, but yours, be done” (Luke 22:42). Jesus’ prayer expressed His willingness to obey God no matter what, even if it meant suffering and dying, because it’s what the Father wanted and what you and I needed.

 

THINK ABOUT IT:
How important is prayer for you?
What are some ways you can increase your commitment to prayer?
What’s currently on your mind you need to discuss with God in prayer?

DAY 3: THE LAST SUPPER
Scripture Passage: Luke 22:14-20

 

HOLY WEEK TIMELINE:

ON TUESDAY:
• JESUS GAVE HIS DISCIPLES THE LESSON OF THE FIG TREE (MARK 11:20-26).
• HE TAUGHT MANY PARABLES (MATTHEW 21:28-22:14, 25:1-46).
• HE CHALLENGED THE SCRIBES AND PHARISEES (MATTHEW 23:1-36).
• JESUS LAMENTED OVER JERUSALEM (MATTHEW 23:37-39).
• HE REVEALED THE GREATEST COMMANDMENT (MARK 12:28-34).
• JESUS FORETOLD THE END OF THE WORLD AND HIS RETURN (MARK 13:1-37).

 

There are a lot of special days we celebrate each year. Christmas. Thanksgiving. Valentine’s Day. Independence Day. Memorial Day. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Our birthdays. And, of course, Easter. Every now and then, something so monumental happens on one of these days that it changes every other time we celebrate it in the future.

 

Maybe it’s getting an especially incredible gift for Christmas, or it could be the year you had the most epic party for your birthday. It might be a vacation to Disney World you took one summer for July 4th, or finally getting a date with that special someone for Valentine’s. It could be anything, but whatever it is, it changes how you think about that day from there on out. Each year when that day rolls around again, you’re instantly reminded of what happened that one time before.

 

That has to be what it was like for all of Jesus’ disciples after they celebrated Passover with Him one last time before His death on the cross.

 

You see, for the Jewish people, Passover was like a combination of a lot of our holidays. It was like Christmas because it reminded them that God sent someone to rescue them from their captivity. It was like Easter because it reminded them of the new lease on life God had given them. It was like Independence Day because it commemorated their freedom from slavery. It was like Martin Luther King, Jr. Day because of Moses’s role in leading them to the Promised Land. It was like Memorial Day because they remembered all those who had died because they didn’t have the blood of a lamb on their doorposts. It was like Thanksgiving because of the gratitude God’s people had toward Him for all He had done. And it was like Valentine’s Day because God had done all He did for His people because of His great love for them.

 

So, Passover was a really big deal, and Jesus and His disciples had most likely all been looking forward to celebrating it together, again. However, no other Passover celebration would be the same after this last one because Jesus changed it completely.

 

Read Luke 22:14-20. The special meal that is part of Passover is called a seder, and the seder is full of symbolism meant to help the people remember the Exodus story when God delivered them out of slavery in Egypt. However, Jesus knew that what most plagued not only the Jewish people, but all people, was their slavery to sin. The whole reason He had come to this earth was so that all might have the chance to find freedom in Him. So, He took various elements of the Passover meal to help His disciples see just what it was He was about to do.

 

The bread used in the seder was unleavened, which means it didn’t have any yeast to make it rise. So, rather than being soft and fluffy, this bread was flat and crispy. During the meal, the unleavened bread would be broken and shared among everyone at the table to remind them of God’s provision for His people while they wandered in the wilderness. Jesus took this bread and broke it and shared it with His disciples, but told them, “This is my body, which is given for you.” In doing this, He showed that He was God’s ultimate provision. We have all wandered in the wilderness of our sin, unable to make our way back to God, yet God had not forgotten us. He provided the way to Him through Jesus.

 

Jesus and His disciples would have drunk from four different cups of wine during the seder. After breaking the bread, Jesus would have given them the third cup, which is known as the Cup of Redemption. Redemption means paying off a debt that is owed. When Jesus identified the wine as His blood poured out for them, He was telling His disciples that His death would pay the debt they, and we all, owed for our sin.

 

With His broken body and His shed blood, Jesus took the place of the Passover lamb and provided the way for all who would believe to be saved from certain death as a result of our sin. We all need to remember this, and more than once a year around Easter. That’s why Jesus used His last supper to establish the Lord’s Supper. Even though most of us do not celebrate Passover, we continue to reflect upon all He has done for us when we eat the bread and drink the cup in remembrance of Him.

 

THINK ABOUT IT:
How does the way your church celebrates the Lord’s Supper help you remember what Jesus has done for you?
Why is it so essential to ensure we have times to remember?
In what ways is Jesus like the Passover lamb?