This is Jesus’ first time returning to Jerusalem after resurrecting Lazarus from the dead. By this time, most of the people in the city knew about His miracle of raising Lazarus back to life. Jesus orders the disciples to fetch Him a colt to ride into the city, which fulfills the prophecy in Zechariah 9:9.  As Jesus enters the city, He is greeted with cloaks and palm branches spread out on the ground. The people cry out “Hosanna to the Son of David… Hosanna in the highest!” This is His triumphal entry. The Messiah has come.

As if Jesus’ kingly entry into Jerusalem wasn’t enough to turn heads, He shows up at the temple and declares it “a den of robbers” rather than a house of prayer. Money-changers had set up tables selling pigeons and other animals for sacrifice in the temple. Jesus sought to cleanse His Father’s house. This draws the attention of the chief priests and scribes who are threatened by His authority. From the moment Jesus entered the city, His authority has been established for all to see, as well as the threat He poses to the status quo.

Jesus’ assault on the temple for impiety brings Him directly into conflict with the appointed leadership. On this day, there are a series of confrontations between Jesus and various groups of religious leaders. These accounts are too numerous to recall here. Tuesday marks Jesus’ last day of public teaching before He is crucified. The chief priests and scribes begin to actively seek ways to arrest and kill Him in secret.

On this day, tensions rise along with the anger of those who oppose the Son of God. Yet, in all of this, Christ shows His unflinching resolve as He boldly carries on. At the home of Simon, the leaper, Mary anoints Jesus’ head and feet with a bottle of perfume that’s worth a year’s salary. While this is happening, Judas Iscariot goes to the chief priests with the intention to betray the Son of God for thirty pieces of silver.

A lot occurs on this day. Jesus enjoys the Passover with the disciples where He washes their feet, institutes the Lord’s Supper, and announces that one of them will betray Christ and the others will abandon Him. After dinner, Jesus and the remaining disciples go to the garden of Gethsemane to pray, but also to wait. His patience brings Him face-to-face with Judas and a host of soldiers who arrest Him. Jesus, however, goes of His own free will because He seeks to do His Father’s will.

The chief priests and Sanhedrin call for a secret trial late at night where Jesus is severely beaten, and eventually orders Him to be executed by means of crucifixion. Even though the Roman official, Pontius Pilate, finds no fault in Him; he gives in to the hostility of the angry mob aligned against Jesus. Those who witness His death at the hands of Rome lose hope that He is their great deliverer from Roman oppression. He told the disciples that the Son of Man must suffer many things and will rise three days later (Mark 8:31), but how could they fully grasp that this is what He meant?

 By His shed blood, the Son of Man was providing a pathway for all “who believe in Him will not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

On this day, God’s people wait and pray as they wrestle with their grief and confusion. Little is known about this day. Yesterday He was crucified, tomorrow He rises from the grave, but today is the day He lies buried in the tomb. The chief priests and Pharisees gather because they remember the words of Jesus regarding His resurrection. So, they place guards at the tomb thinking this will prevent the disciples from stealing His body. Little do they know, their fears are about to be realized. Meanwhile, the disciples are waiting on the Lord with fearful anticipation.

The tomb is empty because HE IS RISEN! Jesus’ victory over death is not a loud proclamation for all to behold, but a quiet promise made manifest by our Lord and Savior. Jesus reveals himself to the women and eventually the eleven disciples. This silent victory reverberates throughout all time. No one took Jesus’ life. He laid it down. He is the atoning work necessary for us to have eternal life. HE IS RISEN, HE IS RISEN INDEED!!