The Last Week of Jesus’ Life

All the Gospel records give a detailed account of the last week of the life of Jesus, leading up to his crucifixion. Each writer concentrates on certain incidents, picking up different aspects of the events of that last week. John in his gospel from chapters 12–17 records much of the discussion that took place on the night before Jesus’ crucifixion.

We will select just some of the incidents to comment upon. It is recommended that time be spent carefully reading through each of the Gospel accounts of these remarkable incidents (Matthew 21–28; Mark 11–16; Luke 19–24; John 12–21).

Jesus Journeys from Jericho to Jerusalem

Six days before the Passover, the day of his crucifixion, Jesus journeyed up from Jericho to Bethany, which was on the Mount of Olives on the east side of Jerusalem, and spent the evening at the home of his friends Mary, Martha and Lazarus (John 12:1–11). Their home became his base for the next few days as he walked about two kilometres from Bethany to Jerusalem and returned there in the evenings (Matthew 21:17). Several months earlier Lazarus had died and Jesus had raised him to life again (John 11).

Jesus Enters Jerusalem

Jesus enters Jerusalem riding upon a colt (Matthew 21:1–9)

The well-known event of Jesus entering Jerusalem upon a colt, the foal of an ass, took place the next day. This incident had been foretold in Zechariah 9:9: “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.”

As Jesus entered the city, the crowds who were making their way there for Passover cast their garments and branches of trees before him, crying out, “Hosanna [‘save now’]; Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord: Blessed be the kingdom of our father David, that cometh in the name of the Lord: Hosanna in the highest” (Mark 11:9–10). Luke adds that they said, “Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord” (Luke 19:38).

The great crowd, who accompanied Jesus as he entered the city, praised God using the very words of Psalm 118:25–26, and this angered the chief priests, scribes and Pharisees.

The people, however, saw Jesus as the one who

• came in God’s name

• would be King in Jerusalem

• would reign over the Kingdom of David

Although their timing was wrong, they understood that God had foretold that the son of David would re-establish the Kingdom of God on earth at Jerusalem.

Jesus Cleanses the Temple

On one of those days when Jesus entered Jerusalem, he went into the Temple and found there traders buying and selling animals for sacrifice, and also the money changers. As a great multitude had gathered for the Passover it was a lucrative time for the traders of animals and birds for sacrificial offerings, but Jesus recognised immediately that all this activity ignored the real reason for converging on Jerusalem, namely, to worship God in remembering the Passover deliverance. In one of his rare outbursts of anger, Jesus “began to cast out them that sold and bought in the Temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves”, saying, “Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer? but ye have made it a den of thieves” (Mark 11:15–17; cp Isaiah 56:7). The quotation from Isaiah anticipates the time in the age to come, when a great house of prayer and worship will be built in Jerusalem for all people (Isaiah 2:2–4; Zechariah 14:16–19).

The Jewish Leaders Plot to Kill Jesus

By what authority doest thou these things?

The chief priests and elders of the people were incensed by Jesus’ actions. Through their traditions they had formalised religion and turned it into a profitable business which supported their lifestyle. Peter later warned of where this would lead. “There shall be false teachers among you… and many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise [Greek emporion, ‘a place of trade’] of you” (2 Peter 2:1–3). The behaviour of the Pharisees has been repeated even amongst Christians down the ages, just as Peter foretold, and many religious leaders have been notorious for the way they have exploited the people and denied them access to the truth (cp Jesus’ words in Matthew 23:13).

This incident increased the hatred of the religious leaders against Jesus. They set their hearts to plot how to kill him, but their efforts failed until finally they found in Judas Iscariot a weakness for money, for he was a thief (John 12:6). They offered him thirty pieces of silver to betray Jesus to them, which he agreed to do. The details of these final days and the events that took place are found in Matthew 21–25.

The Olivet Prophecy

The Olivet prophecy (Luke 21; Matthew 24)

On leaving the Temple for the last time the disciples remarked on the beauty of the buildings. Jesus told them that the time was coming when not one stone of the Temple would be left upon another, for it would be completely destroyed. Astonished, they asked him when this would happen and how it would be accomplished.

Jesus then detailed the events that would lead up to the destruction of the city in AD 70 by the Roman army, followed by the scattering of the Jews among all nations (Luke 21:20–24). However he went on to tell his disciples that he would certainly come to establish the Kingdom, but though he had told them many times that he must first suffer and die, they could not comprehend what he meant. He did not want them to despair, but to be assured that he would come again. So he gave them clear signs that would herald his return to set up the Kingdom of God (Luke 21:25–36).

Among the signs listed he foretold of the moral collapse of society to such an evil state that it would parallel the wickedness of the days of Noah (Matthew 24:36–39). He also spoke of international tension that would bring distress and perplexity, times which would fill men with a sense of hopelessness for there would seem to be no way out (Luke 21:25). He concluded his warning with these words: “Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man” (Luke 21:36). All who wish to be found prepared and waiting for the return of the Lord Jesus Christ should read and consider these prophecies.

Adapted from “The Exploring the Bible Course” by David Evans