03/30/2026
Some things to consider each day of "Passion Week."
Passion Week – Monday (Mark 11:15-18): The day after Palm Sunday Jesus cleanses the temple for the second time. The religious leaders of the day had allowed money changers to set up in the Gentiles Court of the Temple so that they could profit from the exchange rate on giving from Roman currency to Jewish. Also, they were allowing the sale of animals for the sacrifices. For this purpose - if your lamb wasn’t quite pure enough (blemished), they (for a small fee) could get you one that was pure. In other words, it had been turned into what could be called “scammer central.” And definitely showed disrespect for God.
After Jesus cleaned house, He said, “…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 11:17).
On this Warren Wiersbe noted, “The court of the Gentiles should have been a place for praying, but it was instead a place for preying and paying.”
On our part, maybe we should consider how we worship the Lord. How is our prayer life? Are we just making a show and going through the motions, or do we genuinely make time to spend and speak to the Lord? Let us not waste God’s love and time with weak and phony intentions. Take time with God today, thank Him for what Jesus did on the cross on this coming “Good Friday.” Amen.
Passion Week – Tuesday (Matthew 21:23- Matthew 23): It was a day of controversy. There were many events. Just a to name a few; the religious leaders challenged Jesus’ authority, the Pharisees and Herodians question whether or not to give tribute to Caesar, the Sadducees reject the concept of resurrection. And, the lawyer’s question of what is the greatest commandment.
In every question, Jesus shut them down by the Scripture they thought they knew so well to where they had no response. However, let us focus on the question of the greatest commandment. Jesus response was this,
Matthew 23:37-40: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”
Jesus summed up the whole intent of the law with that statement. It is indisputable! If we ever wonder what the absolute basics of the faith are, this is it! Knowing that God sent His one and only Son to pay the price for the sin that kept us from being in the merciful, loving presence of the one, true, holy Father in Heaven should create a response from us that is to truly love God with every fiber of our being. And, because of His love, we return that love and share that love with those in our sphere of influence. Everybody needs Jesus.
This day, let us ask ourselves what is the focus of our love? Is it in material things, power, physical pleasure, or the one who saved our souls? Let us get our priority straight, let us be able to honestly proclaim we love the Lord God with all our heart, soul, and mind…AND, our neighbor as ourselves. Amen.
Passion Week – Wednesday: Often known as a silent day, there appears to be no record in the gospels concerning this day. There are some theologians who believe Jesus was in Bethany with the 12 in the protection and company of His friend Lazarus. They may have been preparing for the for the Passover feast for the next day. And, more than likely, for Jesus, preparing for what is to come.
What is to come, Jesus’ betrayal by a friend, abandonment by His closest friends, falsely arrested, falsely accused, mocked, spit on, beat, scourged, and crucified for the sins of mankind.
Today, we may want to consider those things and what they mean for us. We have been given grace, and salvation. Jesus took the pain, the punishment, the abandonment. Jesus paid it all, all to Him we owe. Let us spend the day in much prayer and thanksgiving for what we have received. Praise Him – Praise Him – Praise Him – All Glory to God!!!…Amen!
Passion Week – Thursday (The Last Meal): Following the “silent day”, this day was a busy day.
Peter and John are sent to prepare for the Passover meal (Luke 22:7-13). Jesus eats one last meal with His disciples, He washes the disciple’s feet, Judas is dismissed and betrays the Lord, Jesus gives some final instruction (John 13). Then, they leave for the garden of Gethsemane where Jesus would be arrested, His followers abandon Him, and He taken to the house of the high priest where the false arrest, false trial, and humiliation takes place (Matthew 26).
In the midst of knowing the pain and agony that is coming, Jesus has some final instruction for His disciples that we all need to take note of. There is some “don’ts” in the word of God, but there are far more “dos.” The most important for the church is how we represent the mighty God we serve. Jesus gave the disciples a new command, which still stands for us in the church today.
John 13:34-35, “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”
Jesus is about to lay down His life for the sin of all the “whosoevers.” That meant his disciples, friends, and all of us who accept His salvation. As John 15:13, says, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”
Jesus tells them and us this, because he is about to die on the cross, be raised on the third day, and then ascend to be at the right hand of the Father until His glorious return. He has called us to be His hands and feet, to show the world that there are grace, mercy, and love with God!
Therefore, we must show love to one another so they will know whose we are and who we serve, and why we have life more abundantly. The church must take up the position of loving one another. We must not look like the rest of the world that just tolerates and even hates those not like them. As, the worship hymn goes, “And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love, yes, they'll know we are Christians by our love.”
Today, let us examine our own hearts. Let us follow the command of Jesus and love one another so the whole world will know Jesus is the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6).
Passion Week (Good Friday): A day of trials, denial, and the death of Jesus. The gospels tell us that early that morning Jesus is taken before Annas who is looking for accusation, taken before Caiaphas, and then at dawn to face the Sanhedrin… All false accusation, and all illegal. It is at that moment Peter, a friend and heavy hitter for the team, denies knowing Jesus for the third time. Then Jesus is taken before Pilate, then Herod, then Pilate again. It is of no avail.
To make matters worse, Jesus is taken and scourged, as the city that just last week cried out Hosanna in the highest is crying out crucify Him! Jesus is mocked, crowned with thorns and carries His own cross to Calvary. At 9:00 am Jesus is crucified. Each gospel focuses on the last words He said on the cross. There are seven.
1. “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34).
2. “Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43).
3. “26 When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son! 27 Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home” (John 19:26-27).
4. “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me” (Matthew 27:46)?
5. “…I thirst” (John 19:28).
6. “…It is finished” (John 19:30).
7. “…Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit:” (Luke 23:46).
It is at 3:00 pm Jesus dies on the cross. The veil is torn, rocks are rent, the dead rise and go into the city. The guard pierces Jesus’ side. The Lamb was slain…
In His last moments on the earth, in the flesh and dying on that cross, Jesus still calls on the Father for forgiveness for others. He promises the thief on the cross that he will be with Jesus, that day, in paradise. And, gives up the ghost, trusting the Father.
It is at that moment, “it is finished”, the price for sin was paid. Jesus was taken and buried in a brand new, un-used tomb. But take heart, do not fear. NEVER FEAR! We serve a living God! Sunday is coming, and it will be glorious. Amen!
