Following Along with the Events of Holy Week

– March 29, 2021

The events of Holy Week, culminating in Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday, are events that not only changed our lives as believers, but events that literally changed the world. For us, then, this week is a week of supreme importance and the events that took place in this week in the life of Christ are worth our reflection.

Below you will find an outline of the events of Holy Week (beginning with yesterday, Palm Sunday), along with a reading schedule to help you follow along throughout the week. Let me encourage you to make time this week to read along daily with the events of that day and take few moments each day to reflect on why Christ came.

Then, join us at our Good Friday service this Friday at 6:30 p.m. in the Sanctuary, where together we’ll remember Christ’s crucifixion for our sins through taking communion, singing hymns, and reading the Scriptures together.

And all of this, of course, is leading to our celebration of the Resurrection on Sunday morning. I hope you not only can make it to one of our Easter services, but also that you’re able to invite someone to join us!

The Events of Holy Week

Palm Sunday | The Triumphal Entry

  • Read Mark 11:1–11

Monday | Jesus curses the fig tree and clears the temple

  • Read Mark 11:12–19

Tuesday | Return to the fig tree, temple debates and teachings, and the Olivet discourse

  • Read Mark 11:20–13:37

Wednesday | Enemies plan to kill Jesus and a worshiper anoints Jesus

  • Read Matthew 26:3–16

Maundy Thursday | The Passover is celebrated (The Last Supper), the Upper Room discourse, Judas’s betrayal and Peter’s denial predicted, and Jesus prays in Gethsemane

  • Read Matthew 26:17–46
  • Note: “Maundy” comes from the Latin for “command”; this Thursday is the day that we remember Jesus’s “New Commandment” to “love one another, just as I have loved you” (John 13:34). If you have time, read through the Upper Room Discourse in John 13:1–17:26.

Good Friday | Jesus is betrayed (after midnight?), arrested, and tried before the Sanhedrin, Pilate, and Herod, and Jesus is crucified and buried

  • Read Mark 14:43–15:47

Holy Saturday | Jesus is in the tomb

  • This is a day of silence, as the followers of Jesus waited on the Sabbath before going to the tomb with the spices the following day (see Mark 16:1). Holy Saturday is a day to remember and reflect on the truth that Jesus really did die in our place—”he was buried” (1 Corinthians 15:4a). Use this time to reflect on what God did for you in giving his Son, and what Christ did for you in laying down his life, as a way to prepare your heart for worship on Resurrection Sunday.

Resurrection Sunday | The Resurrection of Jesus Christ

  • Read Luke 24:1–53

Note: This list was adapted from the article “Harmony of the Events of Holy Week” in the ESV Study Bible

Bert Watts has served since December 2016 as the Senior Pastor at Mountain Creek Baptist Church, where he has been on staff since 2012.