The Final Week

Easter is the season we remember the death of Jesus and celebrate his resurrection from the grave!  This year I felt the need to understand His final week, what He did and why He did it.

Being a Gentile and not a Jew I have little knowledge of the traditions of the Jews for Passover.  I know the Passover story and that the Jewish people have honored and celebrated their exile from Egypt for centuries.  I was not aware of all of the traditions and rituals performed.  This is a brief summery of the week long Passover Festival.  This year, 2022, the Jewish Passover begins today, April 14th and lasts until April 23rd. Back in the time of Jesus and with the Jewish calendar being different from the modern calendar,  when he entered Jerusalem riding on a donkey colt  it has been determined by going back on the Jewish calendar that it most likely a Monday.  Christianity today calls it Palm Sunday and celebrate it the week before Easter Sunday. Regardless of the actual day of our calendar week, on the day Jesus rode into the city in April 33 AD it was the day the Jewish people would have chosen their unblemished, sacrificial Passover lamb which would be killed for the Passover meal 4 days later.  Jewish tradition was the sacrificial lamb would be seen for 4 days prior to it's killing.  Jesus came into Jerusalem on the specific day as the Jewish sacrificial lamb but they did not understand this. 

Luke 19:41-42 As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes.

For the next 3 days after His entrance into the city He went in and cleared the temple of the money changers and taught in the temple.  He was openly showing Himself exactly the way the Jewish people were instructed to show their lamb of choice for the Passover sacrifice.  No one at the time understood the actions and timing as they aligned with Jewish Passover traditions.  Each evening He left Jerusalem and spent the night with friends outside of the city until Thursday night.  

The night of the Passover meal, the Last Supper as Christians call it, was on Thursday night and after that meal they went to the Garden of Gethsemane where Judas betrayed Him.  The arrest and trials took place during the night because the Jewish Sabbath would begin the next day, Friday, at sundown.  The Jews were not allowed to do anything during the Sabbath so the religious leaders were on a time crunch to do their evil deed of killing Jesus.  Sundown was coming so the push was on.  The crucifixion took place on Friday which is why Christians honor Good Friday.  Late Friday afternoon after His death and  before sundown they placed Him in the tomb. On the third day He rose from the grave and showed Himself to the women and apostles. 

He was alive.