The Last Week

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shalom-dodi
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The Last Week

Post by shalom-dodi » Tue Mar 27, 2018 6:02 pm

The last week of Jesus’ life on earth before Easter is interesting to consider. Since some churches celebrated Palm Sunday yesterday we are going to begin there and track what Jesus would have been doing during the time from that day until he was crucified.

A Chronological Look at How Jesus Spent his Last Week Leading up to Passover

by Jews for Jesus | Mar 9, 2011 https://jewsforjesus.org/publications/i ... -passover/

Jesus drew near to Jerusalem, arriving at Bethany six days before Passover John 11:55 55 Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves. 56 They were looking for Jesus and saying to one another as they stood in the temple, “What do you think? That he will not come to the feast at all?” 57 Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where he was, he should let them know, so that they might arrest him.

On Saturday. Jesus was anointed at Simon the leper’s house.John 12:1
Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2 So they gave a dinner for him there. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at table. 3 Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.  But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said, “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” 6 He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it. Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial. 8 For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me.

There is a slightly different version in Matthew:3 Matthew 26:6-13 6 Now when Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, a woman came up to him with an alabaster flask of very expensive ointment, and she poured it on his head as he reclined at table. 8 And when the disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, “Why this waste? 9 For this could have been sold for a large sum and given to the poor.” 10 But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a beautiful thing to me. 11 For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me. 12 In pouring this ointment on my body, she has done it to prepare me for burial. 13 Truly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her.”
Dodi Note: I have heard it taught that slight differences in eye witness accounts actually make the entire Bible more credible. Because the meaning is always the same, even when details vary. Which in our lives, two eyewitnesses would give slightly different versions. In fact it alerts the police to lying when every single detail is the exact same.

John 12:9-11 9 When the large crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus was there, they came, not only on account of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 10 So the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well, 11 because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus.


The next day… and this is a FUN day to ponder.
5 Jesus entered Jerusalem and visited the temple
John 12:12-19 The Triumphal Entry
12 The next day rthe large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. 13 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!” 14 And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written,
15  “Fear not, daughter of Zion;
behold, your king is coming,
sitting on a donkey’s colt!”
16 His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him
Dodi Note: The symbolism here is so rich, once you know. First of all there is Hebrew historical mention of royalty riding on a donkey. Second Palm branches symbolized victory. The Jews wanted a King to overthrow the Roman rulers. They got a King but he came in peace. One source explains it this way: Jesus enters Jerusalem riding a donkey rather than a horse which signifies the peacefull nature of his entry. People are expecting a king and surrender themselves to his authority by taking their cloaks off and laying it on the ground. The Palm branches signify the expectation of a military victory of their king over the occupying Romans. Jesus is entering Jerusalem to bring Peace and forgiveness to the world by taking the sin of the world upon Himself - a Spiritual King. People are seeking a worldly and physical king.

Then he returned to Bethany.
 And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” 11 And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”
Jesus Cleanses the Temple
12 And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. 13 He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.”
14 And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. 15 But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant, 16 and they said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes; have you never read,
 Out of the mouth of ninfants and nursing babies
you have prepared praise?”
17 And leaving them, he went out of the city to Bethany and lodged there.

This is fascinating if you know part of the history. Remember when Jesus was asked about taxes and he said render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s and unto God that which is God’s? And found a roman coin in a fish? Matthew 22:21
The temple tax could ONLY be paid with a temple tax coin. The taxes to Caesar could only be paid with Cearsar’s money, which bore his image btw. Anyhow the moneychangers were corrupt people make profit by charging more than the value of the temple coins. Isn’t that a fun fact? No wonder Jesus was angry.

It was Nisan 10, when the Passover lambs were selected. Likewise, the entry into Jerusalem was the day when Jesus presented himself as Israel’s Paschal Lamb.
Dodi Note: I LOVE this symbolism. Jesus entered Jersaleum on “Lamb Selection Day”. In order for the people to have a perfect spotless lamb to sacrifice on passover they had to buy it ahead of time. Then they kept it for 4 days…ell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household… Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the members of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight.
– Exodus 12:3, 6
Jesus is THE LAMB of GOD.
Let me share something with you: Jesus arrived in Bethany, a town on the Mount of Olives, on Friday, six days before the Passover. He stayed at the house of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus over the Sabbath. On Sunday, the first day of the week, Jesus left Bethany with his disciples and walked the short distance to Bethpage, another small village located on the slope of the Mount of Olives that faced Jerusalem. At that point Jesus got on a donkey and with his disciples behind him, he began to ride down the Mount of Olives towards the eastern entrances to the city of Jerusalem. The road into the city was extremely crowded that day as hundreds of thousands (if not millions, according to Josephus) of pilgrims were flocking into the city to begin the celebration of the Passover season. The Feast of Passover was the most important Jewish feast of the year and was one of the three pilgrimage feasts (Passover, Pentecost, and Sukkot) that every Jewish male was required to attend in Jerusalem. Jews came from all over the world to attend this celebration. Passover was actually coupled with the Feast of Unleavened Bread and First Fruits, and all were celebrated in succession.

According to Exodus 12:3, on the tenth day of the first month (Nisan), every man was to select a lamb that would be the right size for his household to eat. The lamb had to be a year old male, without blemish or defect. The family would then keep the lamb until the fourteenth day (Exodus 12:6) and then kill and eat the lamb that evening for the Passover Meal. The day that the Israelites picked the lamb for their families was known as Lamb Selection Day. It was a very festive day and would have been similar to us picking just the right size turkey for our Thanksgiving meal later in the week. All the pilgrims were anxiously making their way into the city to pick the lamb from the flocks that the Saducees had bred and raised for this occasion.
(One reason why so many people were there at the same time as Jesus)
On the very day that the entire nation of Israel was picking their special lamb, Jesus rode into Jerusalem to also celebrate Passover with his disciples. By coming into Jerusalem on Lamb Selection Day, Jesus was saying in an unbelievably symbolic way, ”I am going to be your Passover Lamb; the Lamb that will save you. Pick Me! I am going to be sacrificed for the sins of each one of you.”
How did we miss this fact that Jesus came into Jerusalem on Lamb Selection Day? The answer probably lies in the fact that we just don’t know the Old Testament very well and are not familiar with what was involved in the Passover celebration. The lamb was killed on the evening of the 14th, which would have been on Thursday in the story of Jesus’ last week. By counting backwards to the 10th , we see that in fact it was on Sunday that the Israelites would have picked their lamb. This was no coincidence that Jesus came on that day to say, “I am the Passover Lamb”!
The writers of the New Testament certainly got the message. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 5:7, “For Christ, our Passover Lamb has been sacrificed.” Hebrews 7:27 says, “He sacrificed for sins, once for all, when he offered himself”, and Hebrews 9:28, ”Christ was sacrificed to take away the sins of many people.” John the Baptizer said, ”Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” Peter, in 1 Peter 1:19 says, ”You were redeemed with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or spot.” In the book of Revelation twenty or more times it refers to Christ as the Lamb. Revelation 5:6 says, “Then I saw a lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne…”. Revelation 12:11 – ”They overcame by the blood of the Lamb…”
From Genesis (Genesis 22:8 – “God himself will provide a lamb”), to Revelation (Revelation 5:12 – “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain”), Christ is our Passover Lamb! And, just to make sure we got it, God sent his son into Jerusalem on the very day that the Jewish people had been picking their lamb for the past 1500 years!
What a God of detail and precision! The date and time had been fixed since the foundation of the world and everything was planned down to the last detail! Every dot was connected and every piece of the puzzle fit exactly. Although the crowds had hoped he was coming to be their warrior king, God had a much different battle plan. He sent his son, the King of the Universe, to humbly die as our Passover Lamb to save us from our sins. This is the season of Passover and Lamb Selection Day is here! What an excellent time to thank Him for His sacrifice!


On the way from Bethany to Jerusalem, Jesus cursed the fig tree

From about Tuesday till Wednesday of that week:
On the way to Jerusalem, the disciples saw the withered fig tree. At the temple in Jerusalem, Jesus’ authority and wisdom was questioned by some religious leaders. Matthew 21:20–22; Mark 11:20–26

That afternoon Jesus went to the Mount of Olives and delivered his discourse to those assembled.Matthew 21:23–23:39; Mark 11:27–12:44; Luke 20:1–21:4

Two additional things occurred on that day: (1) Jesus predicted that in two days he would be crucified at the time of the Passover;Matthew 26:1–5; Mark 14:1–2; Luke 22:1–2 and (2) Judas planned the betrayal of Jesus with some religious leaders. Matthew 26:14–16; Mark 14:10–11; Luke 22:3–6

On Thursday: Jesus and his disciples prepared the Passover lamb, and they had their seder meal together. Jesus shared heartfelt words with his disciples and offered an intercessory prayer in their behalf.

They arrived at the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus suffered in agony awaiting what was to come.Matthew 26:30–35; Mark 14:26–31; Luke 22:31–39; John 15:1–18:1

Later that night Jesus was betrayed and arrested. He was tried first by Annas and later by Caiaphas and other religious leaders. Matthew 26:46–56; Mark 14:43–52; Luke 22:47–53; John 18:2–12
Matthew 26:57–75; Mark 14:53–72; Luke 22:54–65; John 18:13–27

Friday
Early in the morning, Jesus was tried by the Sanhedrin, Pilate, Herod Antipas, and Pilate again. Matthew 27:1–30; Mark 15:1–19; Luke 22:66–23:25; John 18:28–19:16

He was led to the cross and crucified at 9 a.m. and died at 3 p.m. and was buried later that day. Jesus died at the time when the Passover lambs were being sacrificed. Matthew 27:31–60; Mark 15:20–46; Luke 23:26–54; John 19:16–42

Saturday
Jesus’ body was in the tomb during the Sabbath, and the Pharisees hired Roman guards to keep watch of the tomb. Dodi Note: Be very sure they guarded it carefully because if his body was stolen they would probably have been put to death.

Sunday
Christ was resurrected from the dead. His was the first of many resurrections to come, in which it was a type of first fruits offering. (First fruit offerings were made on the day after the Sabbath.)Matthew 28:1–15; Mark 16:1–13; Luke 24:1–35
Leviticus 23:9–14; 1 Corinthians 15:23


xxxxx if time


Triumphal entry: (Matthew 21:1–11, 14–17; Mark 11:1–11; Luke 19:29–44; John 12:12–19)— Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem the week before the crucifixion is the basis of what is known as Palm Sunday. The multitudes who greeted Him laid palm branches in the road for Him, but their worship of Him was short-lived. In just a few days, these same crowds would be calling for His death, shouting “Crucify him! Crucify him!” (Luke 23:20-21). But as He rode into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey’s colt—signifying His lowliness and humble state—He received the adoration of the crowd and their acknowledgement of His messianic claim. Even the little children welcomed Him, demonstrating that they knew what the Jewish leaders did not, that Jesus was the Messiah. Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem fulfilled the Old Testament prophecy of Zechariah repeated in John 12:15: “See, your king is coming, seated on a donkey's colt.”

Last Supper: (Matthew 26:1-30; Mark 14:12-26; Luke 22:7-38; John 13:1-38) – This poignant last meeting with His disciples, whom He loved, begins with an object lesson from Jesus. The disciples had been arguing about who among them was the greatest (Luke 22:24), displaying their distinctly ungodly perspective. Jesus quietly rose and began to wash their feet, a task normally performed by the lowest, most menial slave. By this simple act, He reminded them that His followers are those who serve one another, not those who expect to be served. He went on to explain that unless the Lamb of God cleanses a person’s sin, that person will never be clean: “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me” (John 13:8). During the Last Supper, Jesus also identifies the traitor, Judas, who would betray Him to the authorities and bring about His arrest. The disciples were saddened when Jesus said that one of them would betray Him and wondered which one it could be. They were still confused when Jesus confirmed that it was Judas, whom He instructed to leave and do quickly what he had to do. After Judas’ departure, Jesus instituted the New Covenant in His blood and gave a new command that those who follow Him are to love one another and live by the power of the Holy Spirit. We remember Jesus' giving of the New Covenant each time we enter into the Christian ordinance of communion, celebrating Christ’s body which was broken for us and His blood which was shed for us.

Arrest at Gethsemane: (Matthew 26:36-56; Mark 14:32-50; Luke 22:39-54; John 18:1-12) – After the Last Supper, Jesus led the disciples to the garden of Gethsemane, where several things took place. Jesus separated Himself from them in order to pray, asking them to watch and pray as well. But several times He returned to find them sleeping, overcome with fatigue and grief at the prospect of losing Him. As Jesus prayed, He asked the Father to remove the cup of wrath He was about to drink when God poured out on Him the punishment for the sins of the world. But, as in all things, Jesus submitted to the will of His Father and began to prepare for His death, strengthened by an angel sent to minister to Him in His last hours. Judas arrived with a multitude and identified Jesus with a kiss, and Jesus was arrested and taken to Caiaphas for the first of a series of mock trials.

Crucifixion and burial: (Matthew 27:27-66; Mark 15:16-47; Luke 23:26-56; John 19:17-42) – The death of Jesus on the cross was the culmination of His ministry on earth. It is the reason He was born as a man—to die for the sins of the world so that those who believe in Him would not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16-18). After being found innocent of all charges against Him, Jesus was nevertheless handed over to the Romans to be crucified. The events of that day are recorded as including His seven last sayings, the mocking and taunting by the soldiers and the crowd, the casting of lots among the soldiers for His clothing, and three hours of darkness. At the moment Jesus gave up His spirit, there was an earthquake and a resurrection of some of the believers who had died. At that moment, the huge, heavy curtain separating the Holy of Holies from the rest of the temple was torn from top to bottom, signifying that access to God was now open to all who believe in Jesus. The body of Jesus was taken down from the cross, laid in a borrowed tomb, and left until after the Sabbath.

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