Holy Week
Thursday
Scripture References-
Preparation for Passover- Matthew 26:17-19 (Mark 14:12-16, Luke 22:7-13)
Jesus Washes Disciples’ Feet- John 13:1-20
The Lord’s Supper- Matthew 26:20-30 (Mark 14:22-26, Luke 22:14-20)
The Betrayer- Mark 14:17-21 (John 13:21-30)
Jesus Predicts Peter’s Denial- Matthew 26:31-35 (Mark 14:27-30, Luke 22:31-34, John 13:31-38)
Jesus Last Teachings to the Disciples- John 14:1-16:33
Gethsemane- Matthew 26:36-45 (Mark 14:32-42, Luke 22:39-46, John 17)
Jesus Arrested- Matthew 26:47-56 (Mark 14:43-51, Luke 22:47-53, John 18:1-11)
Jesus Before the Sanhedrin (Caiaphas)- Matthew 26:57-67 (Mark 14:53-65, John 18:12-14, 19-24)
Peter’s Denial- Matthew 26:69-75 (Mark 14:66-72, Luke 22:54-62, John 18: 15-18, 25-27
Passover was a very important feast for the Jews. Jesus made preparations to celebrate with His disciples. When they came together, Jesus first washed their feet. This was typically performed by a servant, but Jesus humbled Himself and performed this task to stress the importance of serving others. They then celebrated the Passover meal. Passover is when the Jewish people celebrate the night God freed them from slavery in Egypt. It is found in Exodus 1-15. On that night, they were told to kill a lamb and wipe its blood around the doorpost of their house, showing that inside the house was a family who loved God. The angel of death passed over every house that was marked that way. He didn’t punish them; He passed over their sin. Jewish people today still celebrate a Passover meal and remember God’s miracles that night. The Bible calls Jesus the Lamb of God. Jesus is the perfect lamb that takes away, or covers, our sin. When Jesus celebrated Passover with His disciples, He started a new tradition for His followers. He started what we call the Lord’s Supper. As Christians we do not have a full Passover meal, but we take the bread and wine to remember Jesus’ sacrifice for our sins. The wine represents His blood that He was going to shed on the cross the next day and the bread represents His body that would be broken for us. He tried to explain the new deliverance He was providing, but it set off a quarrel about who was the greatest among them. They seemed to understand so little and there was no time left to teach them. In John we see a much more detailed account of His teachings that night. He predicted His death, He promised He would send the Holy Spirit, He encouraged them to remain close to Him and He warned them that they would be hated for following Him.
This must have been a difficult evening knowing that Judas was going to betray Him and Peter would deny Him that very night. Peter vowed allegiance to Him even to death, but Jesus told him that he was going to deny Him three times before the rooster crowed in the morning. After dinner Jesus went to the Mount of Olives to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray with three of His disciples. He was greatly troubled because He knew He was going to die the next day. He asked God if there was another way to provide for our salvation, but instead of insisting on His own way, He willingly did what God had planned. He knew that there had to be punishment for sin so He chose to take that punishment Himself in our place. He paid the price for our sins and laid down His life to bring us into relationship with God.
While He was praying Judas came with the religious leaders and arrested Jesus. They took him to Caiaphas the chief priest who questioned Him and sentenced Him to death. Peter followed along and was outside the courtyard where he was asked if he was one of Jesus’ followers. Three times he denied knowing Jesus. When he heard the rooster crow he realized that what Jesus told him had come to pass.
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