The Last Week: Betrayal, Trial, and Cross

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The Gospels give a remarkable proportion of their space to the last week, because it is the climax of the story.

Palm Sunday and the Temple

Jesus entered Jerusalem riding a donkey, fulfilling Zechariah 9:9, while crowds cried "Hosanna to the Son of David" (Matthew 21:1-9). He drove the money-changers from the Temple: "It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves" (Matthew 21:13). In the following days he faced a series of traps set by Pharisees, Sadducees, and Herodians. Asked about taxes, he answered: "Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's" (Matthew 22:21).

The Last Supper

At the Passover meal, Jesus instituted a new remembrance: "And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you" (Luke 22:19-20). Judas Iscariot left to betray him for thirty pieces of silver (Matthew 26:14-16).

Gethsemane and Arrest

In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed in anguish: "Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done" (Luke 22:42). Judas arrived with soldiers and identified Jesus with a kiss. The disciples fled.

The Trials

Jesus was tried first before the Jewish council. The high priest put the question directly: "I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven" (Matthew 26:63-64). The council declared this blasphemy and condemned him.

Because the Jews could not carry out executions, they brought Jesus to Pontius Pilate. Jesus told him: "My kingdom is not of this world" (John 18:36), and, "To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice" (John 18:37). Pilate asked, "What is truth?" (John 18:38) and found no fault in him (Luke 23:4), yet, afraid of the crowd, he gave him up to be crucified [11].

The Cross

Roman crucifixion was one of the most brutal forms of execution ever devised. Jesus was scourged, mocked with a crown of thorns, and led to Golgotha, "the place of a skull." From the cross he spoke seven times:

When he died, the Gospels report that darkness covered the land and the veil of the Temple was torn in two (Matthew 27:45, 51). The Roman centurion who watched exclaimed: "Truly this was the Son of God" (Matthew 27:54). A rich man, Joseph of Arimathea, asked for the body and laid it in his own new tomb (Matthew 27:57-60).

The Meaning

The New Testament interprets the cross as the center of God's plan: "For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God" (1 Peter 3:18). "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8).

CHAPTER 12