The Week That Was

Spirituality Column #71
March 18, 2008
Current! In Carmel (IN) newspaper

The Week That Was
By Bob Walters

Leading up to the first Easter ...

After he raised Lazarus from the dead in Bethany near Jerusalem, the chief priests plotted to kill Jesus who withdrew to a desert village (John 11:45-54).

A week later Jesus arrived back in Bethany and a dinner was given in his honor. The guests included Lazarus, whose sister Mary poured expensive perfume on Jesus’ feet – his anointing for burial. Judas said it was a waste of perfume. Jesus said, “You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me” (John 12:1-7).

The next day Jesus arrived in Jerusalem on a donkey. Palm fronds were placed on his path and the day has since been called Palm Sunday. (John 12:12-15).

Monday Jesus overturned the tables of the moneychangers in the temple, and healed the blind and the lame there, further infuriating the chief priests. Each night Jesus went back to Bethany and the Mount of Olives (Matthew 21:12-17, Mark 11:12-19, Luke 19:45-48).

Tuesday Jesus withered a fig tree for not producing fruit (Matthew 21:18-21) and the chief priests questioned Jesus as to the source of his authority (Mark 11:27-33). Jesus taught immense lessons in the temple on both Tuesday and Wednesday (Matthew 21:28 to 25:46).

Matthew and Mark say Jesus’ anointing in Bethany was Tuesday night, two days before the feast of the Passover. It was likely Wednesday when Judas agreed to betray Jesus.

Thursday brought the Last Supper and the first communion of the bread and wine, the body and blood of Christ. Now known as Maundy Thursday, “Maundy” comes from the root word meaning “mandate” or command.” We are commanded to love each other (John 13:34-35) and to remember Christ in communion (Matthew 26:17-30).

Thursday night Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives (Matthew 36-55, John 17), and Friday was arrested, beaten, found faultless by Pilate, ridiculed, beaten again, crucified, declared dead and buried.

Saturday ... was Christ in hell, in the tomb or already in heaven? Everyone has an opinion; nobody is exactly sure.

On Easter Sunday? The tomb of our death and sin was empty, and our hope of eternal life assured. Christ is Risen Indeed.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) prays, "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”  BTW, there is some possiblity that the Last Supper was actually Wednesday evening because Jewish days started at sundown, not sunrise.  Our Wednesday evening today would have been the start of Thursday in biblical Jerusalem.