Pastor’s Corner: “Passion Week “
Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. John 13:1
Passion Week, which is also known as Holy Week, starts on Palm Sunday and continues until Resurrection Sunday. It covers the major events of Jesus’ last days on earth before His crucifixion and resurrection. It is a great week to slow down and observe the last moments of Jesus’ life.
- What did Jesus do during His final week?
- What was He like?
- What was He teaching about?
- How were other people treating Him
Friday: “Beautiful Cross” Jesus’ Final Hours
While it is impossible to be certain about the exact timing of some events, I have assigned times to give a sense of the general flow of events.
Friday 12:05 AM Judas arrives with the soldiers to arrest Jesus (John 18:3)
Friday 12:06 AM Judas betrays Jesus with a kiss (Matthew 26:49)
Friday 12:10 AM A melee breaks out when Peter slices off the ear of Malchus, the high priest’s servant (John 18:10)
Friday 12:11 AM Jesus rebukes Peter: “Put your sword away!” (John 18:11)
Friday 12:12 AM Jesus heals Malchus’ ear (Luke 22:51)
Friday 12:25 AM All the disciples deserted him and ran away (Matthew 26:56)
Friday 12:27 AM A young man (prob Mark) leaves his linen clothes behind and runs away naked (Mark 14:51-52)
Friday 1 AM Jesus tried before Annas, father-in-law of Caiaphas (John 18:12-14)
Friday 1:10 AM A temple police officer strikes Jesus (John 18:22-23)
Friday 2 AM Jesus tried before Caiaphas, the high priest. (Matthew 26:57)
Friday 2:05 AM Peter warms himself by the fire in Caiaphas’ courtyard (Mark 14:54)
Friday 2:15 AM False witnesses tell lies about Jesus (Mark 14:55-59)
Friday 2:20 AM A servant girl identifies Peter as having been with Jesus. He denies it (Luke 22:56-57)
Friday 2:22 AM Jesus keeps silent before his accusers (Matthew 26:63)
Friday 2:33 AM When asked if he is Messiah, Jesus answers, “I am” (Mark 14:61-62)
Friday 2:34 AM Caiaphas accuses Jesus of blasphemy (Mark 14:63)
Friday 2:40 AM Peter again denies being with Jesus: “I don’t know what you’re talking about!” (Matthew 26:69-70)
Friday 2:50 AM Jesus blindfolded, spit upon, and severely beaten (Mark 14:65)
Friday 2:59 AM Peter denies Jesus a third time, with cursing and with an oath (Matthew 26:74)
Friday 3 AM The rooster crows and Peter remembers what Jesus had said (Matthew 26:74-75)
Friday 3:01 AM Bruised and beaten, Jesus enters the courtyard and looks at Peter. (Luke 22:61)
Friday 3:02 AM Peter leaves the courtyard, weeping bitterly (Luke 22:62)
Friday 5:25 AM The Sanhedrin meets to formally hand over Jesus to Pilate for the death sentence (Matthew 27:1)
Friday 6:15 AM Feeling remorse, Judas returns the 30 pieces of silver to the chief priests (Matthew 27:1-5)
Friday 6:20 AM Jesus’ first trial before Pilate, the Roman governor (Luke 23:1-7)
Friday 6:22 AM “Are you the King of the Jews?” (Luke 23:3)
Friday 6:23 AM Jesus answered, “Are you asking this on your own, or have others told you about me?” (John 18:34)
Friday 6:24 AM “Everyone on the side of truth listens to me” (John 18:37)
Friday 6:25 AM Pilate utters his most famous statement: “What is truth?” (John 18:38)
Friday 6:30 AM Pilate declares Jesus innocent: “I find no grounds for charging him.” (John 18:38)
Friday 6:37 AM Judas commits suicide by hanging himself (Matthew 27:5)
Friday 6:45 AM Jesus tried before Herod (Luke 23:6-12)
Friday 6:55 AM To mock him, Herod dresses Jesus in a brilliant robe and sends him back to Pilate (Luke 23:11)
Friday 7:05 AM Jesus tried before Pilate a second time (Mark 15:6-15)
Friday 7:10 AM Pilate’s wife warns him to leave Jesus alone because he is a righteous man (Matthew 27:19)
Friday 7:15 AM Pilate offers to release Jesus, but the crowd chooses Barabbas instead (Matthew 27:21)
Friday 7:16 AM “What should I do then with Jesus, who is called Messiah?” (Matthew 27:22)
Friday 7:17 AM The people cry out, “Crucify him!” (Matthew 27:23)
Friday 7:20 AM Pilate washes his hands, declaring, “I am innocent of this man’s blood” (Matthew 27:24) Friday 7:25 AM Barabbas is released (Matthew 27:25)
Friday 7:30 AM Jesus is flogged with a whip embedded with stone and pieces of metal (Mark 15:15)
Friday 7:35 AM “I offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard” (Isaiah 50:6)
Friday 7:45 AM “They dressed him in a purple robe, twisted together a crown of thorns, and put it on him” (Mark 15:17)
Friday 7:50 AM The soldiers shout, “Hail, King of the Jews!” (Matthew 27:29)
Friday 7:55 AM “They spat on him and took the staff and struck him repeatedly on the head” (Matthew 27:30)
Friday 7:57 AM “He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief” (Isaiah 53:3)
Friday 8 AM Jesus led away to be crucified (Mark 15:20)
Friday 8:05 AM Jesus begins the journey to Golgotha bearing his own cross (John 19:16)
Friday 8:15 AM The soldiers compel Simon of Cyrene to carry Jesus’ cross (Luke 23:26)
Friday 8:25 AM “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and your children” (Luke 23:28)
Friday 8:45 AM Jesus arrives at Golgotha, outside the city walls of Jerusalem (Mark 15:22)
Friday 8:50 AM Jesus refuses wine mixed with gall, a kind of anesthetic to dull the pain (Mark 15:23)
Friday 9 AM Stripped of his clothes, Jesus is crucified between two thieves (Matthew 27:35-38)
Friday 9:05 AM The soldier divided his clothes among themselves by casting lots (John 19:23-24)
Friday 9:30 AM An unruly mob gathers, shouting insults and daring Christ to come down from the cross (Mark 15:29-32)
Friday 9:45 AM “Father, forgive them, because they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34) Friday 10 AM The chief priests mock him: “He saved others, but he cannot save himself!” (Matthew 27:42)
Friday 10:45 AM One thief rebukes the other, saying Jesus is innocent but they are guilty (Luke 23:40-41)
Friday 10:46 AM The repentant thief cries out, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom!” (Luke 23:42)
Friday 10:47 AM Jesus replies, “Today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43)
Friday 11:30 AM Jesus tells Mary, “Woman, behold your son.” To John, “Son, behold your mother.” (John 19:26-27)
Friday 12 Noon Sudden Darkness comes over the whole land for 3 hours (Mark 15:33)
Friday 3 PM Jesus cried out, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46)
Friday 3:01 PM Jesus cried out, “I thirst!” (John 19:28)
Friday 3:02 PM Someone gives him wine mixed with vinegar to drink (Mark 15:36)
Friday, 3:05 PM Jesus cries out, “It is finished!” (John 19:30)
Friday 3:07 PM Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I entrust my spirit” (Luke 23:46)
Friday 3:08 PM Jesus dies: “Bowing his head, he gave up his spirit” (John 19:30)
Friday 3:09 PM The curtain in the temple is torn from top to bottom (Mark 15:38)
Friday 3:10 PM An earthquake shakes the region around Jerusalem (Matthew 27:51)
Friday 3:11 PM The centurion shouts, “Surely this was the Son of God!” (Matthew 27:54)
Friday 3:12 PM The women who follow Jesus watched all these things from afar off (Luke 23:48-49)
Friday 3:30 PM Dead saints are raised and appear to many in Jerusalem (Matthew 27:52-53)
Friday 3:45 PM The soldiers ask permission to break the legs of the crucified men, hastening their death (John 19:31)
Friday 3:50 PM They did not break Jesus’ legs because he was already dead (John 19:33)
Friday 3:55 PM When a soldier pierces Jesus’ side, blood and water come out (John 19:34)
Friday 4:15 PM Joseph of Arimathea asks Pilate for permission to take down the body of Jesus and bury Him (Mark 15:43)
Friday 4:20 PM Pilate is surprised Jesus is already dead (Mark 15:44-45)
Friday 4:35 PM Joseph takes Jesus’ body down from the cross (John 19:38-39)
Friday 5 PM Joseph and Nicodemus wrap Jesus’ corpse with linen cloth interspersed with 75 lbs of spices (John 19:4)
Friday 6 PM Jesus is buried in a borrowed tomb cut out of the rock, in a nearby garden (Luke 23:53)
Friday 6:10 PM Joseph rolls a stone across the entrance to the tomb (Matthew 27:60)
Friday 6:15 PM The women watch the burial, noting the location so they can return later to anoint the body (Mark 15:47)
Friday 7 PM Sundown Jesus is dead, buried, and alone in the garden tomb (Luke 23:56)
Friday night “By oppression and judgment he was taken away. Yet who of his generation protested?” (Isaiah 53:8a)
Friday night “He was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was punished” (Is 53:8b)
Friday night “He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death” (Isaiah 53:9a)
Friday night “Though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth” (Isaiah 53:9b)
In His Grace,
Pastor Hamilton