silent Saturday-lessons I’ve learned about Holy Week

The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so, he [Jesus] got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him. (John 13:2-5)

Have you ever had to serve someone you knew was going to betray you?

What about washing the feet of someone you loved deeply who you knew was going to hurt you and deny ever knowing you?

What about washing anyone’s feet for that matter?

There’s something about feet that isn’t appealing to me in general, let alone washing the feet of another, and to know it was someone who would deny knowing me, or even worse, betray me for thirty pieces of silver, are you serious?

But that is exactly what Jesus did the night of The Last Supper. Knowing Peter would deny Him three times, and Judas would betray Him, Jesus served them both.

The last week of Jesus’ earthly life is known as Holy Week or Passion Week, and there is great significance, and many lessons to be gleaned from those precious days and hours before His death on the cross. I cannot even begin to do it all justice, but here I humbly offer some lessons I can take away from Holy week.

“The week between Palm Sunday and the Resurrection is the most detailed, event filled sequence in all of the Gospels. (Andy Rau-Calvin College)

Holy week begins on Palm Sunday- as Jesus entered Jerusalem on the back of a donkey, He was greeted with crowds waving palm branches and crying Hosanna! (Hosanna is a statement or exclamation of praise.) Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.

So, they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” (John 12:13)

(Ironically enough, these same people, these same crowds greeting and praising Jesus on Palm Sunday will be the very same people shouting, “Crucify him!” just a few days later.)

Did you catch that earlier part?

Christ rode into Jerusalem…on a donkey?

The Savior of the world, The Messiah, rode into Jerusalem on a donkey?

Lesson #1. Christ was fulfilling scripture and claiming His rightful place as Messiah. Every Jew would know Zechariah’s messianic prophecy.

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. (Zechariah 9:9)

Lesson #2. Jesus rode a donkey to symbolize peace. In the ancient Middle Eastern world, leaders rode horses if they rode to war, but donkeys if they came in peace.

Holy Monday-This day set up the events which happened on Maundy Thursday. Jesus overturned the tables in the temple and drove out buyers and sellers.

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.” (Mark 11:17)

In doing so, He criticized the religious leaders who allowed it and His teachings rebuked them overtly by telling people to beware of corrupt leaders. His parables and teachings criticized the leaders which made them angry, and they began to plot for a way to arrest and kill Jesus.

Lesson #3. God’s house is Holy. That is not to be taken lightly.

Lesson #4. Religious leaders are human. They can mislead and we must know God’s word and not put our trust solely in humans.

Holy Tuesday-Jesus continued teaching in Jerusalem and continued telling the disciples that he would be crucified in two days. The religious leaders had been concerned about Jesus before this, but his actions on Holy Monday and Holy Tuesday clinched it: they wanted him dead.

Lesson #5. Jesus never wasted a moment of His brief time on earth to minister and teach. He is our example that lifespan, the time we are here, whether brief or long, is about how we spend that time. Jesus’ ministry was short, but His impact resounds through the ages.

Holy Wednesday- Jesus had been preaching all throughout Holy Week and His followers were growing. The chief priests were furious and nervous about him and were plotting to arrest Jesus to have him killed. Satan uses Judas’ greed to entice him. Judas decides to betray Jesus for the mere price of a slave, thirty pieces of silver, although the act doesn’t occur for another day the plan is set in motion.

Now the Festival of Unleavened Bread, called the Passover, was approaching, and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were looking for some way to get rid of Jesus, for they were afraid of the people. Then Satan entered Judas, called Iscariot, one of the Twelve. (Luke 22:1-3)
Then one of the twelve disciples—the one named Judas Iscariot—went to the chief priests and asked, “What will you give me if I betray Jesus to you?” They counted out thirty silver coins and gave them to him. From then on Judas was looking for a good chance to hand Jesus over to them. ( Matthew 26:14-16)

Betrayal is to give over to an enemy…to be unfaithful, to betray our trust…to tell in violation of a trust, to betray a secret, of a friend or someone you love. Betrayal is personal. What causes someone to betray another? Excessive ambition, greed, lust, or passion.

Lesson #6. Like the chief priests, pride and self-righteousness can overtake anyone and blind your ability to see beyond your own judgements.

Lesson #7.Satan can and does use our weaknesses against us, but it still boils down to our choice, our decision to act or not.

photo by Francesco Alberti @frensisalberti

Lesson #8. Jesus knows and understands betrayal. He experienced being betrayed by someone He loved and trusted.

Lesson #9. Jesus knew Judas was going to betray Him and yet Jesus washed Judas’ feet. Jesus humbled himself and served Judas in spite of knowing what was to come.

Jesus’ attitude of servanthood was in direct contrast to that of the disciples, who had recently been arguing among themselves as to which of them was the greatest. It never occurred to them to wash one another’s feet. There was no servant present to do this task. Imagine their shock when Jesus stooped to this lowly task. When Jesus did this he told the disciples and us, “I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you.” (John 13:15)

Lesson #10. Jesus had a healthy understanding of who He was and where He came from. He knew His Heavenly Father had sent Him. He knew His purpose and He knew that He was completely loved by the Father.

Lesson #11. Most people who have betrayed someone they love, feel plagued by feelings of guilt, sadness, shame, or remorse. Your own capacity to hurt a loved one may also damage your own self-esteem and identity as we will see in more details on Maundy, or Holy Thursday.

Holy or Maundy Thursday-This day is packed with lessons and yet is not often really fully recognized. This day marks the Last Supper that Jesus shares with His disciples where He foretells His death, who will betray Him and who will deny Him, His demonstration of servanthood by the washing of the disciples feet, His betrayal by His disciple Judas, and His arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Maundy Thursday commemorates the Last Supper, which Christians consider the establishment of the Lord's supper or communion. It is described in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 22. At the Last Supper with his disciples, Jesus breaks bread, saying, "This is my body," and pours wine, saying, "This is my blood." He then asks the disciples to "Do this in remembrance of me."

Maundy is derived from the Latin word for "command," and refers to Jesus' commandment to the disciples on that day…

“My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.” (John 15:12)

The sum of the gospel was given on Maundy Thursday.

Lesson #12. Jesus was a disrupter. He did not come to keep the status quo. He was sent to disrupt the old way of doing things. At the Last Supper, Jesus and His disciples were obeying God’s original command to the Jews to remember the Passover, which celebrated God’s rescuing His people out of slavery in Egypt. But now, Jesus was offering a “new” command, to remember His broken body and His shed blood because in Christ’s death, death and the grave are defeated.

“The new commandment to love others is able only through the sacrifice of Jesus. We can know and experience the forgiveness of sins and the full love of God through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Jesus loved his enemies to the point of death, and we are called to show the same level of love to everyone. God loved us while we were yet sinners (Romans 5:8) and the gift of salvation calls us forward to do likewise.”
“As Jesus washed the disciples' feet on Maundy Thursday, he set into motion what would be completed on Easter Sunday. His sacrificial example calls for us to love as he has loved us.”
(#8, paraphrased and quoted from what-is-maundy-thursday-5-things-christians-need-to-know)

Lesson #13. Jesus retreated to the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus withdrew from everyone. He needed time alone, in prayer with God, His Father. He knelt in agony, prayer, and in complete surrender. Jesus prayed.

Lesson #14. Jesus knows agony. He can relate to our pain as he agonized over what He was about to face on the cross, yet he prayed more fervently in agony, so great that his sweat fell to the ground like drops of blood.

This is the evening, after the Last Supper, that Judas left to find the guards and to lead them to arrest Jesus. Everyone else went to the Garden of Gethsemane with Jesus, and Jesus asked them to keep watch while he left them to pray, but they fell asleep.

Judas led the guards to Jesus in the garden, betrayed Him with a kiss, and as prophesized, Jesus was arrested. Peter tried to defend Jesus by cutting off the ear of one of the guards, but Jesus stopped him and healed the guard.

The disciples deserted Him and ran away.

Lesson #15. Even though Jesus knew what the disciples would do, the choices the disciples would make that would hurt Him, and the fear they would feel over faith, He still loved them.

That night, Jesus was accused of blasphemy by The High Priest Caiaphas, and he condemned Jesus to death. During this time, as Jesus said would happen, Peter denied even knowing Jesus.

Then Peter remembered the word that Jesus had spoken: “Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly. (Matthew 26:75)

Jesus was led before multiple “judges” and tried, and eventually condemned to death.

Good Friday-This day commemorates Jesus’ trial before Pontius Pilot, His sentence to death, His torture, and His crucifixion and burial. Calling it “good” seems so strange, but it’s “good” because it’s Holy Friday. This is the most somber day for Christians because it’s the day we give our attention to the agony, death and burial of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Many of the people waving palms branches and yelling Hosana on Sunday as Jesus road into Jerusalem on a donkey were the very ones now yelling “crucify him!” They were the very ones spitting on Jesus, cursing at Him, and mocking Him.

On this day, Judas hangs himself. When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders. 4 “I have sinned,” he said, “for I have betrayed innocent blood.” What is that to us?” they replied. “That’s your responsibility.” So, Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself. (Matthew 27:3-5)

Lesson #16. Peter wept over his denial of Jesus. Judas hanged himself over his betrayal. Peter felt shame because deep down he knew who Jesus was, but he chose fear over faith. Judas did not believe Jesus was the Messiah and he chose greed over belief, but then felt guilt over betraying an innocent man.

At 9am Jesus was hung on the cross. (Mark 15:25)

Jesus was on the cross for six hours until His death at 3pm.

It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last. (Luke 23:44-46)

Lesson #17.Jesus was obedient to His Father’s will, clear up to His excruciating abuse and death on the cross. He knew what was ahead, he knew He was an innocent man, He knew we needed a Savior, and He was willing to die for us.

Before sundown, Jesus was removed from the cross and placed in a borrowed tomb.

Silent Saturday- “Take a guard,” Pilate answered. “Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.” So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard. (Matthew 27: 65-66)

Lesson #18. All the years of the prophecies of a Messiah who would be born of a virgin, and one day die for all mankind, but on the third day arise from the dead to overcome sin and death were about to be realized.

Lesson #19 & 20. God is The God of the impossible. God is an intentional God. His word is true, and He always keeps His promises.

Saturday was silent
Surely it was through
But since when has impossible
Ever stopped You
Friday's disappointment
Is Sunday's empty tomb
Since when has impossible
Ever stopped You

This is the sound of dry bones rattling
This is the praise, make a dead man walk again
Open the grave, I'm coming out
I'm gonna live, gonna live again
This is the sound of dry bones rattling, yeah

Songwriters: Brandon Lake / Chris Brown / Steven Furtick

Materials Referenced:

what-happened-on-monday-of-holy-week , Step-by-Step-with-Jesus-A-Holy-Week-Timeline-Study, holy-week-explained , holy-week-timeline, what-is-holy-week