Holy Wednesday - 2026

 

Now when Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, a woman came up to him with an alabaster flask of very expensive ointment, and she poured it on his head as he reclined at table. And when the disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, “Why this waste? For this could have been sold for a large sum and given to the poor.” But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a beautiful thing to me. For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me. In pouring this ointment on my body, she has done it to prepare me for burial. Truly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her.” Then one of the twelve, whose name was Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, “What will you give me if I deliver him over to you?” And they paid him thirty pieces of silver. And from that moment he sought an opportunity to betray him. (Matthew 26:6–16 ESV).

 

Holy Wednesday remembers the day when both faithful Mary and treacherous Judas prepare Jesus to die. After an increasingly public string of challenges to both Rome and the temple system, the religious elite believe that Jesus is a threat to their kingdom and religion (cf. John 11:48). If Jesus is not killed, they believe Rome will come, take what little power they have left, and destroy their temple (cf. John 11:50; Matthew 26:3-4). Believing it’s better for one man to die than for a whole nation to be lost, the religious elite make their final plans to kill Jesus.

 

Meanwhile, a woman named Mary takes a jar of perfume valued at 300 pieces of silver (or a year’s salary), cracks it open, pours it over Jesus’ head and feet, and rubs it into his skin with her hair (cf. John 12:3). It’s not only lavish but socially awkward and humiliating. Horrified, Judas speaks up for the disciples. He calls Mary’s display wasteful and argues the perfume should have been sold and spent on the poor (cf. John 12:4-5; Matthew 26:8-9). But Jesus quiets Judas and tells the disciples Mary is doing the right thing. He says: “You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me” (v. 11).

 

Jesus isn’t dismissing care for the poor with this statement, he’s highlighting the value of what he has come to do. Like the religious elite have said, the only way to save God’s people is if he is killed. Mary understands that Jesus must die, so she embalms him in advance. To her, it’s no “waste” to offer her most precious possession if it prepares Jesus for the burial that will save God’s people (Matthew 26:12). But Judas realizes Jesus is no longer useful to him. So, he sneaks away and tells the religious elite he will betray Jesus for a tenth of what Mary poured out (vv. 14-15).

 

Strangely, everyone in this story is preparing for Jesus to die. The religious elite offer a bribe to more easily capture Jesus. Judas betrays Jesus for another month’s expenses. And Mary prepares him to be laid in a tomb. Even more strangely, everybody believes Jesus must die in order to save them. Judas thought Jesus’ death would save his financial status. The religious elite thought Jesus’ death would prevent Rome from breathing more heavily down their necks. But Holy Wednesday is good news because Jesus announces that his death will save God’s people not from Rome or poverty, but from death itself (cf. John 11:51-52).

 

Holy Tuesday - 2026

 

And as he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!” And Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.” (Mark 13:1–2 ESV).

 

On Tuesday of Passion Week Jesus returns to Jerusalem from Bethany. According to most scholars this is when Jesus was issued various challenges by the Pharisees and Sadducees over subjects such as marriage in heaven, paying taxes to Caesar, and the source of His authority (cf. Matthew 21:23-23:39; Mark 11:27-12:44; Luke 20:1-21:4). It is also the day Jesus commented on the widow’s donation (cf. Mark 12; Luke 21) and was approached by believing Greeks (cf. John 12:20–36). Additionally, we see the most direct and scathing judgement that Jesus spoke over the Pharisees. They have been called His seven “woes” (cf. Matthew 23:13–36). In the evening He delivered the Olivet Discourse (cf. Matthew 24-25; Mark 13; Luke 21:5–36).

 

It is the latter of these that we will focus our attention on today. Our reading is taken from the beginning of Mark’s account of the vast teaching. One of the disciples turned and looked at the magnificent temple structure, which was truly one of the wonders of the ancient world. Still in amazement at this building, which he had probably seen hundreds of times, he said to Jesus: “Look at that. Isn’t that something?” He directed the gaze of Jesus not to the temple built by Solomon in the Old Testament, which was destroyed, but to the temple that was being rebuilt by Herod the Great. The construction of this temple by Herod had begun fifty years before this occasion. It still was not finished. The image attached is a rendering from Scripture and Josephus developed by The Temple Institute in Israel.

 

To give you some idea of the Herodian temple, the outer court measured five hundred by three hundred yards. The outer court was five football fields by three football fields. The temple itself took up thirty-five acres of ground. Herod was known throughout the world for his incredible construction products and for the development of what have been called “Herodian stones.” Josephus tells us that some of the stones making up the temple were sixty feet long. We are talking about one stone: sixty feet long, eleven feet high, eight feet deep, each one weighing over a million pounds. Some historians of antiquity said the temple of Herod in Jerusalem looked like a mountain of marble decorated with gold. The disciples were looking at the temple, standing in awe of what seemed to be an impregnable structure that nothing imaginable could destroy. As the disciples were in awe at this magnificent edifice, Jesus said: “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone shall be left upon another, that shall not be thrown down” (v. 2). In other words: “Do you see those sixty by eight by eleven feet stones that weigh one million pounds? They’re going to be crushed into dust.” Oh… and they were in 70 AD.

 

Let me telescope for a moment. Jesus said: “Three things are going to happen: one, the temple is going to be destroyed; two, Jerusalem is going to be destroyed; three, I’ll be coming on the clouds of glory at the end of the age.” The first question out of the disciples’ mouths is, “Well when will that be?”

 

Jesus did not give them a specific answer to that question; and, we still don’t have the answer to that question. Many have tried to understand the fullness of Jesus’ description of “the times and season.” However, no one has that answer fully. What we do know is that the three days of the cross, burial, and resurrection a new Temple was being constructed. This is the reason Jesus instructed His disciples to be vigilant:

 

“But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come. It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to stay awake. Therefore stay awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning—lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake.” (Mark 13:32–37 ESV).

 

Are you awake… or have you been lulled into sleep? Awaken… your Savior is indeed coming again!

 

Holy Monday - 2026

 

And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.” And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant, and they said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes; have you never read, “‘Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise’?” And leaving them, he went out of the city to Bethany and lodged there. (Matthew 21:12–17 ESV).

 

Monday of Holy Week begins with Jesus asserting His authority in the temple. If Jerusalem was a beehive, with His triumphal entry the day before, Jesus hit it with a stick. You could hear the buzz grow as the anger within the religious leadership got organized. With that kingly arrival on Sunday, Jesus had made a strong declaration about His authority over all the conventions of man. Now He ratches up the tension, this time to declare the failure of His own people to live up to the covenantal mandate God had given them to be a blessing to the world (vv. 12-13).

 

Much of what the Gospels tell us about Monday centers on the theme of Jesus’ authority—both over the created world and in His right to pass judgment upon it. Everything Jesus did He did with authority. So when He woke His disciples Monday saying He wanted go back into Jerusalem to teach in the temple, as risky as it sounded, it wasn’t surprising. But everyone sensed something stirring, as if Jesus had rounded a corner and His end was coming fast.

 

When Jesus saw the commotion, commerce, and chaos going on in the temple, He was indignant. The way the Sanhedrin led Israel was not how God’s people were supposed to be led. The temple was a sacred space, and worship was a holy matter. The propriety and dignity of approaching the presence of God had found an advocate in this visiting rabbi. And so, on the Monday before His crucifixion, Jesus went into the temple and overturned the money changers’ tables (cf. Mark 11:15-19).

 

This was not the first time Jesus had done this. He had cleared the temple like this once earlier, back before anyone knew His name. Then He had warned the merchants to remove the money-changers’ tables and stop making His Father’s house into a den of thieves (John 2:13-17). If the first time Jesus cleared the temple served as a warning; this time it served as a judgment. This was not an eruption of sudden anger. Jesus saw nothing on that Monday He hadn’t seen many other times. He had even stood in this very place as recently as the day before, so nothing He saw came as a surprise. Jesus simply did what He planned to do.

 

Jesus’ provocative actions in overturning the money changers’ tables spoke to His deep concern for the way God’s people had traded the work of loving God for a religion of economy. And ever since, He remains involved in the provocative work of overturning idolatrous hearts, calling us back to the dignity and sanctity for which we were intended. A. W. Tozer said:

 

Most church people play at religion, as they play at their games! Religion itself, is the one game most universally played. The Church has its "fields" and "rules" and its "equipment" for playing the game of religion. It has its devotees, both laymen and professionals, who support the game with their money and encourage it with their presence—but who are no different in life or character from many who take no interest in religion at all! As an athlete uses a ball—so do many of us use religious words. We throw them swiftly across the field—and learn to handle them with dexterity and grace. We gain as our reward, the applause of those who have enjoyed the game. In the secular games which people play, there are no moral benefits. They simply are a pleasant activity which changes nothing, and settles nothing of any importance. Sadly, it is much the same in the game of religion. After the pleasant meeting, no one is basically any different from what he had been before!

 

Jesus’ message that day was the same as the Prophet Malachi:

 

Oh that there were one among you who would shut the doors, that you might not kindle fire on my altar in vain! I have no pleasure in you, says the LORD of hosts, and I will not accept an offering from your hand. (Malachi 1:10 ESV)

 

Perhaps this is our most important thought to ponder this day!

Palm Sunday - 2026

 

Now when they drew near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately as you enter it you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it. If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord has need of it and will send it back here immediately.’” And they went away and found a colt tied at a door outside in the street, and they untied it. And some of those standing there said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” And they told them what Jesus had said, and they let them go. And they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it, and he sat on it. And many spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut from the fields. And those who went before and those who followed were shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!” (Mark 11:1–10 ESV).

 

Today is the day that begins Easter Week for most Christian churches in the world. It is most often called Palm Sunday as it calls forth the memory of the spreading of palm branches along the road that Jesus came into Jerusalem on for the last time before His crucifixion. It is a remarkable event. The Prince of Peace enters the "City of Peace" (Jerusalem’s literal translation) as the people cheer, "Hosanna!," which means, "Save!" However, it is unlikely they knew what was really happening. Their "Hosanna!" will become "Crucify him!" by the end of the week. Also of interest are the two disciples Jesus sent to get the colt. I wonder if they were honored to do this for Jesus? Their obedience challenges us to be obedient disciples.

 

Neither then nor now does Jesus need cheerleaders and crowds waving branches and throwing cloaks to carpet the way for Him. James Russell (J. R.) Miller was a prolific 19th-century American Presbyterian pastor, editor, and author who wrote over 60 books and numerous pamphlets focused on practical Christian living, devotionals, and home life. Known for a smooth, encouraging writing style, his work emphasized character building, daily kindness, and spiritual optimism. He was born on March 20, 1840, near Frankfort Springs, Pennsylvania. He attended Westminster College and served as a pastor in Pennsylvania and Illinois. He died in Philadelphia on July 2, 1912. In a short sermon He said:

 

“Shallowness of life is too common a fault. It is not a large proportion of beginnings of good, which grows into maturity. There are too many people who are always eager to accept any new truth that is brought to them—but who do nothing with it, make nothing of it, do not assimilate it in their life— and therefore soon lose it. Many begin to build, and are not able to finish. Countless readers read part of the first volume of great books, and never get any farther. In certain popular schools and lecture courses, the first enrolment falls off fifty percent before the close. If all who begin to learn music or art persevered unto the end—how full the world would be of music and of beauty! If all fine beginnings of character ripened into perfection—how good we all would be!” (J. R. Miller, Shallow Lives)

 

I pray the beginning of this week will lead us to a deeper level of unquestioning obedience to will and purpose God has given us to travel in our lives!

 

Making Our Way to the Cross - Pt 12

 

And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him. (Colossians 2:13–15 ESV).

 

Today is the last devotional of our present series. Tomorrow I’ll be using the events of Passion Week to take us to Easter Sunday. It would be a mistake on my part to fail to mention the utter defeat of death and the devil that Jesus accomplished in His death. John Stott was often referred to as the “closest thing to an evangelical pope” died in July, 2011, at the age of 96. Over the course of his long life he made an enduring mark on the Protestant and Evangelical world. Perhaps his greatest book was The Cross of Christ. I highly recommend it, though it is not a mere weekend read. In it he said:

 

“It would be hard to exaggerate the magnitude of the changes that have taken place as a result of the cross, both in God and in us, especially God’s dealings with us and in our relations with him. Truly, when Christ died and was raised from death, a new day dawned, a new age began.” (John Stott, The Cross of Christ).

 

Turning to the Puritans we can see that they viewed the defeat of Satan at the cross not merely as a symbolic victory, but as a definitive, legal, and cosmic event that shattered the devil’s dominion over humanity. They believed that while Satan remained active, his power to condemn believers was nullified at Calvary, rendering him a "disarmed" and "defeated foe". In our reading today Puritans emphasized that Christ used the cross to cancel the "certificate of debt"—the record of humanity’s sins—nailing it to the cross and removing Satan’s legal grounds for accusation (v. 15).

 

They also taught the disarming of the “Principalities.” This is the expression used to describe that Christ stripped Satan and his demons of their weapons, publicly shaming them by turning his own death into their defeat. Additionally, while rejecting the idea that a ransom was paid to Satan (as he had no lawful right to us), they believed Christ paid the penalty for sin to Divine Justice, which broke the bondage in which Satan held humanity. Through his death and resurrection, Christ paralyzed the power of the devil, who used the fear of death to enslave people.

 

For us today, since Satan has no rightful dominion over a believer's life, we can fight temptations and fear with the assurance that the ultimate conflict has already been won. This is how we may stand firm against this defeated enemy. Of course, there is a battle; however, the outcome is secure. Victory is ours in Christ and His work on the cross. A frequently used quote by an anonymous author says it well:

 

“The Devil whispered in my ear: ‘You’re not strong enough to withstand the storm.’ I whispered back: ‘I am the storm.’”

 

That is true because of Jesus’ work on the Cross!

Making Our Way to Calvary - Pt 11

 

After these things Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took away his body. Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds in weight. So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. So because of the Jewish day of Preparation, since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there. (John 19:38–42 ESV).

 

The details of John’s account are incredible. It would be so easy for him to have hurriedly moved passed these verses in favor of the account of the resurrection. Because the Holy Spirit was inspiring his work, we ought to give attention to it also. Notice he mentions the location of the tomb: “Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid” (v. 41). While there is some disagreement as to the location of this garden among archaeologists and theologians, the two most prominently accepted places are in the Church of the Ascension and the garden near Gordon’s Calvary in Jerusalem. I have visited both places and tend to agree that it is most likely in the church, though the other location is much more beautiful a setting. John Calvin gives us an incredible insight into these details:

 

In the first place, it did not happen by accident, but by an undoubted providence of God, that the body of Christ was buried in a new sepulchre; for although he died as all other men die, still, as he was to be the first-born from the dead, (Colossians 1:18,) and the first-fruits of them that rise, (1 Corinthians 15:20) he had a new sepulcher, in which no person had ever been laid True, Nicodemus and Joseph had a different object in view; for, in consequence of the short time that now remained till sunset, which was the commencement of the Sabbath, they looked to the convenience of the place, but, contrary to their intention God provided for his own Son a sepulchre which had not yet been used. The good men are merely gratified by the place being near at hand, that they might not violate the Sabbath; but God offers them what they did not seek, that the burial of his Son might have some token to distinguish him from the rank of other men. The local situation served also to prove the truth of his resurrection, and to throw no small light on the narrative which is contained in the following chapter. (Calvin’s Commentary on John)

 

It always astounds me how God’s complete plan, while often unknown by men, is revealed in time in all of its perfection. While Jesus enduring the shameful death of crucifixion making the atonement for our sins, He would be buried in the extravagance of the new tomb of the garden. The death that came into humanity in the original garden through Adam and Eve is now replaced with forgiveness and restoration as Jesus goes into this new garden. Soon we will see the glory of the temporary nature of His stay in that place!

 

Making Our Way to Calvary - Pt 10

After these things Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took away his body. Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds in weight. So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. So because of the Jewish day of Preparation, since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there. (John 19:38–42 ESV).

 

According to our reading, upon hearing of Jesus' death, this secret disciple of Jesus (Joseph of Arimathea) "… asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him permission" (v. 38).  Joseph immediately purchased a linen shroud and proceeded to Golgotha to take the body of Jesus down from the cross. There, Joseph and Nicodemus took the body and bound it in linen cloths with the spices (myrrh and aloes) that Nicodemus had brought (cf. Luke 23:55-56). We also see that the women "who had come with him from Galilee" prepared the spices and ointments. This attention to the body of Jesus was more than what was typically done. It is significant that it gives credence to the death of Jesus. Some have proffered that Jesus was merely unconscious and the herds and spices combined with the coolness of the tomb revived him. None of this could be true. What was done to the body of Jesus would not have happened had multiple people not made sure He was truly dead. The disciples then conveyed the prepared corpse to a man-made cave hewn from rock in a garden nearby. The Gospel of Matthew alone suggests that this was Joseph's own tomb. The burial was undertaken speedily, "for the Sabbath was drawing on". Of course, this necessitated the visitation to the tomb later by the women.

 

But what should this part of the story mean to us? The answer centers around the identity of Joseph of Arimathea. John gives us the answer in his gospel account (cf. John 19.38): Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jews. He was one of those described in John 12.42-3: “…many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not confess their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; for they loved praise from men more than praise from God.” Calvin had something to say about Joseph’s part in the burial:

 

 

If Joseph summoned up his confidence when Christ hung dead on the cross, in his holy desire to do him honor, and we today, after his resurrection from the dead, have not at least the same flourishing zeal for his glory in our hearts—then woe to our idle ways!

 

Can we shrink from the privilege of telling others this great news of redemption? If those who feared so much found their way to tell it, we must be as courageous in sharing our faith! Jesus died for us, was buried, and rose on the third day to proves His work of grace!