“It has been said of Mark’s gospel that it is a passion narrative with an extended introduction.[1] The same could be said of all the Gospels. In each account, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John introduce Jesus of Nazareth as the long-awaited Messiah of Israel. In various ways, they display his divine power and human personality. Yet, with each Evangelist, the focus of their Gospels turns to the final and climactic week of his life, the days leading up to Christ’s execution and his miraculous resurrection from the dead.”
I (David) wrote those words in 2018 as an introduction to a 40-Day Devotional Reading Guide for the book The Final Days of Jesus, written by Andreas Köstenberger and Justin Taylor. Six years later that guide is still available, and more importantly, so is the book The Final Days of Jesus.
This month Crossway has graciously offered Christ Over All readers a free digital download of the book. And even though this offer comes after this year’s celebration of Holy Week, the meditations on Jesus’s final days on earth remain edifying and important. Indeed, having a working knowledge of the events leading up to the cross is something all Christians should know. For without such knowledge, our understanding of the cross is impoverished, as is our worship of the triune God.
As thus, we share the following chart from The Final Days of Jesus. This Scripture Guide summarizes everything that happened during holy week and it harmonizes the Gospels in chronological order so that you can get a mental map of the steps Jesus took as he went to the cross. All month long, you will want to keep this guide handy as Christ Over All focuses on the cross of Christ. And more, you will want to keep The Final Days of Jesus in your collection of digital resources so that when Holy Week rolls around again, you will be able to see and understand all that Jesus did to secure our salvation.
1. Martin Kähler, The So-called Historical Jesus and the Historic, Biblical Christ (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1964), 80n11.
Sunday
| Jesus enters Jerusalem | Matt. 21:1–11; Mark 11:1–10; Luke 19:29–44; John 12:12–19 |
| Jesus predicts his death | John 12:20–36 |
| Jesus visits the temple | Matt. 21:14–17; Mark 11:11 |
Monday
| Jesus curses a fig tree | Matt. 21:18–19; Mark 11:12–14 |
| Jesus cleanses the temple | Matt. 21:12–13; Mark 11:15–18; Luke 19:45–48 |
Tuesday
| The lesson from the fig tree | Matt. 21:20–22; Mark 11:20–26 |
| Jesus teaches and engages in controversies in the temple | Matt. 21:23–23:39; Mark 11:27–12:44; Luke 20:1–21:4 |
| Jesus predicts the future | Matt. 24–25; Mark 13:1–37; Luke 21:5–36 |
Wednesday[2]
| Jesus continues his daily teaching in the temple complex | Luke 21:37–38 |
| The Sanhedrin plots to kill Jesus | Matt. 26:3–5; Mark 14:1–2; Luke 22:1–2 |
2. We don’t really know for sure that either of these events occurred on Wednesday. This is just one possible option.
Thursday
| Jesus instructs his disciples Peter and John to secure a large upper room in a house in Jerusalem and to prepare for the Passover meal | Matt. 26:17–19; Mark 14:12–16; Luke 22:7–13 |
| In the evening Jesus eats the Passover meal with the Twelve, tells them of the coming betrayal, and institutes the Lord’s Supper | Matt. 26:20–29; Mark 14:17–23; Luke 22:14–30 |
| During supper Jesus washes the disciples’ feet, interacts with them, and delivers the Upper Room Discourse (Farewell Discourse) | John 13:1–17:26 |
| Jesus and the disciples sing a hymn together, then depart to the Mount of Olives | Matt. 26:30; Mark 14:26; Luke 22:39 |
| Jesus predicts Peter’s denials | Matt. 26:31–35; Mark 14:27–31; Luke 22:31–34 |
| Jesus issues final practical commands about supplies and provisions | Luke 22:35–38 |
| Jesus and the disciples go to Gethsemane, where he struggles in prayer and they struggle to stay awake late into the night | Matt. 26:36–46; Mark 14:32–42; Luke 22:40–46 |
Friday
| Jesus is betrayed by Judas and arrested by the authorities (perhaps after midnight, early Friday morning) | Matt. 26:47–56; Mark 14:43–52; Luke 22:47–53; John 18:2–12 |
| Jesus has an informal hearing before Annas (former high priest and Caiaphas’s father-in-law) | Matt. 26:57, 59–68; Mark 14:53, 55–65; Luke 22:63–71 |
| As predicted, Peter denies Jesus and the rooster crows | Matt. 26:58, 69–75; Mark 14:54, 66–72; Luke 22:54b–62; John 18:15–18, 25–27 |
| After sunrise on Friday the final consultation of the full Sanhedrin condemns Jesus to death and sends him to Pontius Pilate | Matt. 27:1–2; Mark 15:1 |
| Judas changes his mind, returns the silver, and hangs himself | Matt. 27:3–10 |
| Pilate questions Jesus and sends him to Herod Antipas | Matt. 27:11–14; Mark 15:2–5; Luke 23:1–7; John 18:28–38 |
| Herod questions Jesus and sends him back to Pilate | Luke 23:8–12 |
| Jesus appears before Pilate a second time and is condemned to die | Matt. 27:15–26; Mark 15:6–15; Luke 23:13–25; John 18:38b–19:16 |
| Jesus is mocked and marched to Golgotha | Matt. 27:27–34; Mark 15:16–23; Luke 23:26–49; John 19:17 |
| Jesus is crucified between two thieves | Matt. 27:35–44; Mark 15:24–32; Luke 23:33–43; John 19:18–27 |
| Jesus breathes his last | Matt. 27:45–56; Mark 15:33–41; Luke 23:44–49; John 19:28–37 |
| Joseph of Arimathea buries Jesus in a new tomb | Matt. 27:57–61; Mark 15:42–47; Luke 23:50–56; John 19:38–42 |
Saturday
| The chief priests and Pharisees place guards at the tomb with Pilate’s permission | Matt. 27:62–66 |
Sunday
| Some women discover the empty tomb and are instructed by angels | Matt. 28:1–7; Mark 16:1–7; Luke 24:1–7; John 20:1 |
| The women, fearful and joyful, leave the garden and tell the disciples | Matt. 28:8–10; Luke 24:8–11; John 20:2 |
| Peter and John rush to the tomb based upon Mary Magdalene’s report and discover it empty | Luke 24:12; John 20:3–10 |
| Mary returns to the tomb and encounters Jesus | John 20:11–18 |
| Jesus appears to Cleopas and a friend on the road to Emmaus | Luke 24:13–35 |
| That evening Jesus appears to the Eleven (minus Thomas) in a house in Jerusalem | Luke 24:36–43; John 20:19–23 |
Later Appearances of Jesus and the Ascension
| Jesus appears to the Eleven (including Thomas) | John 20:24–31 |
| Jesus appears to some at the Sea of Galilee | John 21 |
| The Great Commission | Matt. 28:16–20 (see also Luke 24:45–49; John 20:21–23; Acts 1:8) |
| The ascension | Luke 24:50–53; Acts 1:9–11 |
[Editor’s note: Content taken from The Final Days of Jesus: The Most Important Week of the Most Important Person Who Ever Lived by Andreas Köstenberger and Justin Taylor, ©2014. Used by permission of Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.]
