Welcome to our page of HOLY WEEK readings to accompany the posters in our notice board outside church.
The story of Holy Week and Easter is recorded in all four gospels in the New Testament section of the Bible.
Each Gospel writer puts a different emphasis on different parts.
If you want to read the complete accounts, you will find the references at the foot of this page…but here we have simply selected various accounts to accompany our twelve posters.
Poster 1 (Sunday – Wednesday)
The Triumphant Entry into Jerusalem (Palm Sunday) (John 12, 12-19)
12 The next day the large crowd that had come to the Passover Festival heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. 13 So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, shouting, “Praise God! God bless him who comes in the name of the Lord! God bless the King of Israel!”
14 Jesus found a donkey and rode on it, just as the scripture says,
15 “Do not be afraid, city of Zion!
Here comes your king,
riding on a young donkey.”
16 His disciples did not understand this at the time; but when Jesus had been raised to glory, they remembered that the scripture said this about him and that they had done this for him.
17 The people who had been with Jesus when he called Lazarus out of the grave and raised him from death had reported what had happened. 18 That was why the crowd met him—because they heard that he had performed this miracle. 19 The Pharisees then said to one another, “You see, we are not succeeding at all! Look, the whole world is following him!”
Poster 2 (Sunday – Wednesday)
Jesus Goes to the Temple (John 2, 13-22)
13 It was almost time for the Passover Festival, so Jesus went to Jerusalem. 14 There in the Temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and pigeons, and also the moneychangers sitting at their tables. 15 So he made a whip from cords and drove all the animals out of the Temple, both the sheep and the cattle; he overturned the tables of the moneychangers and scattered their coins; 16 and he ordered those who sold the pigeons, “Take them out of here! Stop making my Father's house a marketplace!” 17 His disciples remembered that the scripture says, “My devotion to your house, O God, burns in me like a fire.”
18 The Jewish authorities came back at him with a question, “What miracle can you perform to show us that you have the right to do this?”
19 Jesus answered, “Tear down this Temple, and in three days I will build it again.”
20 “Are you going to build it again in three days?” they asked him. “It has taken forty-six years to build this Temple!”
21 But the temple Jesus was speaking about was his body. 22 So when he was raised from death, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the scripture and what Jesus had said.
Poster 3 (Sunday – Wednesday)
Jesus Washes His Disciples' Feet (John 13, 1-7)
13 It was now the day before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. He had always loved those in the world who were his own, and he loved them to the very end.
2 Jesus and his disciples were at supper. The Devil had already put into the heart of Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, the thought of betraying Jesus.[a] 3 Jesus knew that the Father had given him complete power; he knew that he had come from God and was going to God. 4 So he rose from the table, took off his outer garment, and tied a towel around his waist. 5 Then he poured some water into a washbasin and began to wash the disciples' feet and dry them with the towel around his waist. 6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Are you going to wash my feet, Lord?”
7 Jesus answered him, “You do not understand now what I am doing, but you will understand later.”
8 Peter declared, “Never at any time will you wash my feet!”
“If I do not wash your feet,” Jesus answered, “you will no longer be my disciple.”
9 Simon Peter answered, “Lord, do not wash only my feet, then! Wash my hands and head, too!”
10 Jesus said, “Those who have taken a bath are completely clean and do not have to wash themselves, except for their feet.[b] All of you are clean—all except one.” (11 Jesus already knew who was going to betray him; that is why he said, “All of you, except one, are clean.”)
12 After Jesus had washed their feet, he put his outer garment back on and returned to his place at the table. “Do you understand what I have just done to you?” he asked. 13 “You call me Teacher and Lord, and it is right that you do so, because that is what I am. 14 I, your Lord and Teacher, have just washed your feet. You, then, should wash one another's feet. 15 I have set an example for you, so that you will do just what I have done for you. 16 I am telling you the truth: no slaves are greater than their master, and no messengers are greater than the one who sent them. 17 Now that you know this truth, how happy you will be if you put it into practice!
Poster 4 (Thursday)
The Last Supper (Luke 22, 14-23)
14 When the hour came, Jesus took his place at the table with the apostles. 15 He said to them, “I have wanted so much to eat this Passover meal with you before I suffer! 16 For I tell you, I will never eat it until it is given its full meaning in the Kingdom of God.”
17 Then Jesus took a cup, gave thanks to God, and said, “Take this and share it among yourselves. 18 I tell you that from now on I will not drink this wine until the Kingdom of God comes.”
19 Then he took a piece of bread, gave thanks to God, broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in memory of me.” 20 In the same way, he gave them the cup after the supper, saying, “This cup is God's new covenant sealed with my blood, which is poured out for you.[a]
21 “But, look! The one who betrays me is here at the table with me! 22 The Son of Man will die as God has decided, but how terrible for that man who betrays him!”
23 Then they began to ask among themselves which one of them it could be who was going to do this.
Poster 5 (Thursday)
Jesus Prays in Gethsemane (Luke 22, 39-46)
39 Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him. 40 On reaching the place, he said to them, “Pray that you will not fall into temptation.” 41 He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, 42 “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” 43 An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. 44 And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.
45 When he rose from prayer and went back to the disciples, he found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow. 46 “Why are you sleeping?” he asked them. “Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.”
Poster 6 (Thursday)
Jesus is Arrested (Luke 22, 47-53)
47 While he was still speaking a crowd came up, and the man who was called Judas, one of the Twelve, was leading them. He approached Jesus to kiss him, 48 but Jesus asked him, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?”
49 When Jesus’ followers saw what was going to happen, they said, “Lord, should we strike with our swords?” 50 And one of them struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear.
51 But Jesus answered, “No more of this!” And he touched the man’s ear and healed him.
52 Then Jesus said to the chief priests, the officers of the temple guard, and the elders, who had come for him, “Am I leading a rebellion, that you have come with swords and clubs? 53 Every day I was with you in the temple courts, and you did not lay a hand on me. But this is your hour—when darkness reigns.”
Poster 7 (Friday)
Jesus carries his cross (John 19, 16-17)
16 Then Pilate handed Jesus over to them to be crucified.
So they took charge of Jesus. 17 He went out, carrying his cross, and came to “The Place of the Skull,” as it is called. (In Hebrew it is called “Golgotha.”)
Poster 8 (Friday)
Jesus is crucified (John 19, 18-37)
18 There they crucified him; and they also crucified two other men, one on each side, with Jesus between them. 19 Pilate wrote a notice and had it put on the cross. “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews,” is what he wrote. 20 Many people read it, because the place where Jesus was crucified was not far from the city. The notice was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek. 21 The chief priests said to Pilate, “Do not write ‘The King of the Jews,’ but rather, ‘This man said, I am the King of the Jews.’”
22 Pilate answered, “What I have written stays written.”
23 After the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier. They also took the robe, which was made of one piece of woven cloth without any seams in it. 24 The soldiers said to one another, “Let's not tear it; let's throw dice to see who will get it.” This happened in order to make the scripture come true:
“They divided my clothes among themselves
and gambled for my robe.”
And this is what the soldiers did.
25 Standing close to Jesus' cross were his mother, his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Cleopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 Jesus saw his mother and the disciple he loved standing there; so he said to his mother, “He is your son.”
27 Then he said to the disciple, “She is your mother.” From that time the disciple took her to live in his home.
28 Jesus knew that by now everything had been completed; and in order to make the scripture come true, he said, “I am thirsty.”
29 A bowl was there, full of cheap wine; so a sponge was soaked in the wine, put on a stalk of hyssop, and lifted up to his lips. 30 Jesus drank the wine and said, “It is finished!”
Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
31 Then the Jewish authorities asked Pilate to allow them to break the legs of the men who had been crucified, and to take the bodies down from the crosses. They requested this because it was Friday, and they did not want the bodies to stay on the crosses on the Sabbath, since the coming Sabbath was especially holy. 32 So the soldiers went and broke the legs of the first man and then of the other man who had been crucified with Jesus. 33 But when they came to Jesus, they saw that he was already dead, so they did not break his legs. 34 One of the soldiers, however, plunged his spear into Jesus' side, and at once blood and water poured out. (35 The one who saw this happen has spoken of it, so that you also may believe. What he said is true, and he knows that he speaks the truth.) 36 This was done to make the scripture come true: “Not one of his bones will be broken.” 37 And there is another scripture that says, “People will look at him whom they pierced.”
Poster 9 (Friday)
The Burial of Jesus (John 19, 38-42)
38 After this, Joseph, who was from the town of Arimathea, asked Pilate if he could take Jesus' body. (Joseph was a follower of Jesus, but in secret, because he was afraid of the Jewish authorities.) Pilate told him he could have the body, so Joseph went and took it away. 39 Nicodemus, who at first had gone to see Jesus at night, went with Joseph, taking with him about one hundred pounds of spices, a mixture of myrrh and aloes. 40 The two men took Jesus' body and wrapped it in linen cloths with the spices according to the Jewish custom of preparing a body for burial. 41 There was a garden in the place where Jesus had been put to death, and in it there was a new tomb where no one had ever been buried. 42 Since it was the day before the Sabbath and because the tomb was close by, they placed Jesus' body there.
Poster 10 (Sunday)
Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene (John 20, 11-18)
11 Mary stood crying outside the tomb. While she was still crying, she bent over and looked in the tomb 12 and saw two angels there dressed in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been, one at the head and the other at the feet. 13 “Woman, why are you crying?” they asked her.
She answered, “They have taken my Lord away, and I do not know where they have put him!”
14 Then she turned around and saw Jesus standing there; but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15 “Woman, why are you crying?” Jesus asked her. “Who is it that you are looking for?”
She thought he was the gardener, so she said to him, “If you took him away, sir, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and get him.”
16 Jesus said to her, “Mary!”
She turned toward him and said in Hebrew, “Rabboni!” (This means “Teacher.”)
17 “Do not hold on to me,” Jesus told her, “because I have not yet gone back up to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them that I am returning to him who is my Father and their Father, my God and their God.”
18 So Mary Magdalene went and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord and related to them what he had told her.
Poster 11 (Sunday)
Jesus Appears to His Disciples (John 20, 19-22)
19 It was late that Sunday evening, and the disciples were gathered together behind locked doors, because they were afraid of the Jewish authorities. Then Jesus came and stood among them. “Peace be with you,” he said. 20 After saying this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples were filled with joy at seeing the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father sent me, so I send you.” 22 Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive people's sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
Poster 12 (Sunday)
The Walk to Emmaus (Luke 24, 13-35)
13 On that same day two of Jesus' followers were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, 14 and they were talking to each other about all the things that had happened. 15 As they talked and discussed, Jesus himself drew near and walked along with them; 16 they saw him, but somehow did not recognize him. 17 Jesus said to them, “What are you talking about to each other, as you walk along?”
They stood still, with sad faces. 18 One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you the only visitor in Jerusalem who doesn't know the things that have been happening there these last few days?”
19 “What things?” he asked.
“The things that happened to Jesus of Nazareth,” they answered. “This man was a prophet and was considered by God and by all the people to be powerful in everything he said and did. 20 Our chief priests and rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and he was crucified. 21 And we had hoped that he would be the one who was going to set Israel free! Besides all that, this is now the third day since it happened. 22 Some of the women of our group surprised us; they went at dawn to the tomb, 23 but could not find his body. They came back saying they had seen a vision of angels who told them that he is alive. 24 Some of our group went to the tomb and found it exactly as the women had said, but they did not see him.”
25 Then Jesus said to them, “How foolish you are, how slow you are to believe everything the prophets said! 26 Was it not necessary for the Messiah to suffer these things and then to enter his glory?” 27 And Jesus explained to them what was said about himself in all the Scriptures, beginning with the books of Moses and the writings of all the prophets.
28 As they came near the village to which they were going, Jesus acted as if he were going farther; 29 but they held him back, saying, “Stay with us; the day is almost over and it is getting dark.” So he went in to stay with them. 30 He sat down to eat with them, took the bread, and said the blessing; then he broke the bread and gave it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, but he disappeared from their sight. 32 They said to each other, “Wasn't it like a fire burning in us when he talked to us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?”
33 They got up at once and went back to Jerusalem, where they found the eleven disciples gathered together with the others 34 and saying, “The Lord is risen indeed! He has appeared to Simon!”
35 The two then explained to them what had happened on the road, and how they had recognized the Lord when he broke the bread.
THE COMPLETE STORY
Matthew 26-28
Reading these three chapters will take you from Jesus’ time in the garden of Gethsemane through the end of the Gospel story as written by the apostle, Matthew. Matthew gives details to the behaviours of various key characters of the time, including Judas and Pilate. Matthew was definitely a people-watcher. Matthew concludes his book with Jesus’ ascension and final promise. Don’t miss the reassuring declaration in the last verse of the last chapter of the book:
And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.
Mark 15-16
The apostle, Mark, provides a straightforward account of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. In two chapters, he relays his view directly and precisely. It is interesting how he ends his narrative with the proof of the confirmation that Jesus was more than a man. The next to last verse explains how Jesus ascended to heaven and then Mark closes with “the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.”
Luke 22-24
Luke chapter 22 begins with Judas agreeing to betray Jesus. Luke’s personal account of the Gospel story is very detailed and reveals his attention to the physical process of the crucifixion. While there are only three chapters to Luke’s account, each chapter contains more verses than either Matthew’s or Mark’s account. As a doctor, Luke provided insight enhanced by the skills of his profession. Two small phrases at the end of Luke’s gospel explain his depth of emotion “with great joy” and “praising God.”
John 17-20
John calls himself the disciple whom Jesus loved. His writing is more extensive from the garden of Gethsemane to the ascension of Jesus to heaven than any other gospel writer. It is interesting that he provides the conversations between the people. Words were important to John; his outline of Jesus’ prayer before entering the garden of Gethsemane is beautiful. He is the only writer of the four Gospels who was actually present in the garden to hear the prayer spoken by Jesus. John often notes the Old Testament prophecies fulfilled in his gospel writing and he concludes chapter 20 with a fascinating statement:
Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
That little phrase “which are not recorded in this book” is intriguing, because in chapter 21, he further gives more detail on what Jesus did before the ascension…. more than any other disciple. And his final conclusion to his gospel account?
Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.
John’s love for his master is so evident in these words.