Passion Week

About AD 31

Each day begins at even (Leviticus 23:32). Buried as the Preparation ended, risen as the weekly sabbath ended, with the high day between (John 19:31): three days and three nights (Matthew 12:40).

From His coming to Bethany to the empty tomb, day by day as the Gospels tell it. The days are those of the first month: “In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the LORD’S passover” (Leviticus 23:5). He was crucified on Wednesday, the fourteenth, “the preparation of the passover” (John 19:14), and buried before the high day began; He rose at the end of the weekly sabbath, “three days and three nights” later (Matthew 12:40). A day began at evening, “from even unto even” (Leviticus 23:32), so the Last Supper, on Tuesday evening, was already the fourteenth.

Difficult Passages: How was Christ three days and three nights in the heart of the earth?

Friday, the 9th

  1. Jesus Comes to Bethany
    “six days before the passover” John 12:1
    John

Saturday, the 10th · The Sabbath

  1. A Supper at Bethany; Mary Anoints His Feet
    John

Sunday, the 11th

  1. The Triumphal Entry
    “On the next day” John 12:12
    Matthew, Mark, Luke, John
  2. He Casts Out Them That Sold in the Temple
    Matthew, Luke
  3. Certain Greeks Would See Jesus
    John
  4. Evening
    He Goes Out unto Bethany
    “now the eventide was come” Mark 11:11
    Matthew, Mark

Monday, the 12th

  1. The Fig Tree Cursed
    “on the morrow” Mark 11:12
    Matthew, Mark
  2. He Cleanses the Temple Again
    Mark
  3. Evening
    He Goes Out of the City
    “when even was come” Mark 11:19
    Mark

Tuesday, the 13th

  1. Morning
    The Fig Tree Dried Up from the Roots
    “in the morning” Mark 11:20
    Matthew, Mark
  2. Questioned in the Temple
    “they come again to Jerusalem” Mark 11:27
    Matthew, Mark, Luke
  3. On the Mount of Olives: The Signs of His Coming
    Matthew, Mark, Luke
  4. The Council Consults to Kill Him
    “after two days is the feast of the passover” Matthew 26:2
    Matthew, Mark, Luke
  5. Anointed in the House of Simon the Leper
    Matthew, Mark
  6. Judas Covenants to Betray Him
    Matthew, Mark, Luke
  7. Evening
    The Passover Made Ready
    “the first day of unleavened bread, when they killed the passover” Mark 14:12
    Matthew, Mark, Luke
  8. Evening
    The Last Supper
    “in the evening he cometh with the twelve” Mark 14:17
    Matthew, Mark, Luke, John
  9. Night
    Gethsemane; He Is Betrayed and Taken
    Matthew, Mark, Luke, John
  10. Night
    Before Annas and Caiaphas; Peter Denies Him
    Matthew, Mark, Luke, John

Wednesday, the 14th · The Preparation

“it was the preparation of the passover” John 19:14

  1. Morning
    Before the Council; Delivered to Pilate
    “as soon as it was day” Luke 22:66
    Matthew, Mark, Luke
  2. Judas Hangs Himself
    Matthew
  3. Morning
    Before Pilate and Herod
    “about the sixth hour” John 19:14
    Matthew, Mark, Luke, John
  4. The third hour
    The Crucifixion
    “it was the third hour, and they crucified him” Mark 15:25
    Matthew, Mark, Luke, John
  5. The sixth hour
    Darkness over All the Land
    “there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour” Luke 23:44
    Matthew, Mark, Luke
  6. The ninth hour
    He Gives Up the Ghost
    “at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice” Mark 15:34
    Matthew, Mark, Luke, John
  7. Evening
    He Is Buried
    “when the even was come, because it was the preparation” Mark 15:42
    Matthew, Mark, Luke, John

Thursday, the 15th · The High Day

“that sabbath day was an high day” John 19:31

  1. The Sepulchre Sealed
    “the next day, that followed the day of the preparation” Matthew 27:62
    Matthew

Friday, the 16th

  1. The Women Buy Sweet Spices
    “when the sabbath was past” Mark 16:1
    Mark, Luke

Saturday, the 17th · The Sabbath

“rested the sabbath day according to the commandment” Luke 23:56

  1. At its end
    He Rises from the Dead
    “three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” Matthew 12:40
    Matthew, Mark, Luke

Sunday, the 18th · The First Day of the Week

“The first day of the week” John 20:1

  1. Very early
    The Women Find the Sepulchre Empty
    “as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week” Matthew 28:1
    Matthew, Mark, Luke, John
  2. Early
    He Appears to Mary Magdalene
    “he appeared first to Mary Magdalene” Mark 16:9
    Mark, John
  3. The Watch Is Paid to Lie
    Matthew
  4. Toward evening
    On the Road to Emmaus
    “two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus” Luke 24:13
    Mark, Luke
  5. Evening
    He Stands in the Midst of the Disciples
    “the same day at evening, being the first day of the week” John 20:19
    Mark, Luke, John