Easter Week – The Events and Stories behind
Easter Week begins on Palm Sunday, which is the Sunday before Easter Sunday, and ends on Easter Sunday. There are three important days during this week. Palm Sunday is the day people took Jesus through the streets like a king, spreading palm branches on the roads for him to walk on. Maundy Thursday is when Jesus, knowing he was about to be killed, had a special meal with his disciples (The Last Supper), and was arrested later that night. Good Friday is the day Jesus was crucified (nailed by his hands and feet to an upright wooden cross, where he was left hanging till he died). On Sunday Jesus rose from the dead, this is Easter Sunday.
After the Last Supper, Jesus knew the time of his death was at hand. He was troubled and afraid and went to a nearby garden called Gethsemane to pray. If Jesus is God why was he afraid, you may rightly ask. Jesus lived his humanity to the full experiencing every human emotion, as we’ve said earlier. In this instance he showed us it is normal to fear suffering and pain. The difference between Jesus and us is the way he prayed when he faced this challenge. He didn’t ask God to stop it, as we do, he didn’t ask God to make it easier for him, as we do, he didn’t remind God he is a good person living a good life and so shouldn’t suffer. Instead he begged God for strength and ended his prayer with the words, “Not my will but yours be done”.
While he was praying, Judas who was one of his disciples came with a crowd, walked up to him and kissed him on the cheek. This was to identify that Jesus was the person they were looking for. Judas was paid thirty silver coins to do this. The crowd arrested Jesus. His followers ran away in fear. The crowd took Jesus to a trial held by the Jewish religious leaders who said he should die because he claimed to be the Son of God.
The next day, Good Friday, they took Jesus to Pontius Pilate and told him that Jesus should die. Pilate finally agreed and the soldiers led him away, gave him a heavy wooden cross to carry up a hill to the place where the worst criminals were crucified, called Golgotha. When Jesus was crucified, his body was pulled downwards by his nailed feet and airflow to his lungs was restricted, killing him in three hours. He was taken down from the cross and buried in a tomb. Pilate ordered two Roman guards to guard the tomb and a huge stone to be rolled against its entrance, so that no one could steal Jesus’ body. Jesus’ friends left feeling very sad.
That was because they did not know what was going to happen next.
Early on Sunday morning (Easter Sunday) some of Jesus’ friends went to the tomb to finalise his burial rites according to Jewish custom. To their surprise, the stone was rolled aside, the guards had vanished and the tomb was empty!! They stared at the tomb in disbelief and at that moment an angel appeared to them and told them Jesus had risen from the dead. They recalled Jesus telling them that he would return to life after three days, if he was killed. This was a life changing moment, because for the first time they accepted that Jesus was who he claimed to be. He was the Son of God, and not just another Jewish Rabbi.
They ran to tell others, and on the way, met Jesus himself but didn’t recognize him till he spoke. Jesus knew his disciples and followers would find it hard to grasp his resurrection because they ran away in fright when the Roman guards took him to be executed. He did things to reassure them that the person they were seeing was truly him – the same person that had died on the cross. He walked with them, ate with them, showed them the wounds on his hands and feet and when one of them (Thomas) was still struggling to believe, he allowed him to touch his wounds.
Their joy at seeing him return to life could not be contained and they quickly went around sharing the good news. This time they were not afraid of Roman persecution as they knew that this little boy who was born in a stable and had grown up among them was divine. They finally understood God’s complete control over life and death and they accepted that Jesus was the Son of God and he alone was worthy of their worship.