We are quickly coming to the end of “Holy Week.” But that’s not all. We are also coming to the end of each of the four Gospels. And we are also coming to the end of Jesus’ life on this earth. Tomorrow morning, He will be nailed to a cross where He will hang for approximately 6 hours, from 9am to 3pm. This will not happen by mistake or because someone lost control or things got out of hand. This will happen because this was the plan the whole time, from eternity past. Thursday is crucial is getting everything ready for what is to come. I’m sure most of us can sense it as we read our Bibles. Every word…every movement…calls for our attention. Before Jesus can face the cross, He will have to endure Thursday…for His suffering will actually begin Thursday evening. All four Gospels make significant contributions to our understanding of events. John’s Gospel gives us, perhaps, the most detail. Much like Tuesday, there is too much for me to “replay” in a blog. I will, once again, do my best to offer a summary.

While you and I are thinking about the cross, we must remember the Jews of Jesus’ day were thinking only of the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Jesus, too, had plans to observe the Passover with His disciples. That’s how Thursday’s actions begin in Scripture…with Jesus instructing Peter and John to secure a large upper room in a house in Jerusalem and make the proper preparations to observe Passover (Matt 26:17-19, Mark 14:12-16, Luke 22:7-13). They think the Passover is the priority. Jesus has other plans and will soon make things evident once they are gathered in the upper room.

In what was probably one of the greatest object lessons ever witnessed, Jesus began the night, once they assembled, by kneeling and washing the disciples’ feet (John 13:5). Most of us are very familiar with this amazing story. As they ate the Passover meal on Thursday evening, Jesus will take the opportunity to do a couple of very important things. First of all, He will identify His betrayer. We noted yesterday that Judas agreed to betray Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. The chief priests were already in the midst of conspiring a plan when Judas offered his services. After the meal, Jesus wasted no time in bringing up the subject. In Matt 26:20-25, Jesus plainly says, “…one of you will betray me.” Matthew comments that the group of disciples were sorrowful over the announcement. In John’s account of the same event, he says that Jesus was “troubled.” The heaviness in the air must have been intense indeed. John says Jesus dipped a morsel of bread and handed it to Judas and said, “What you are going to do, do quickly” (John 13:27). After Judas receives the morsel of bread, he immediately leaves…and John closes out the section with the haunting words, “And it was night” (John 13:30b).

But Jesus wasn’t finished with things in the upper room. He went on to institute what you and I would know as the Lord’s Supper…an ordinance for the church to always observe. With bread representing his body and wine representing his blood, Jesus asks his disciples to always remember what He was about to do for them and us. When we observe the Lord’s Supper, or communion, in our churches today, it is because we believe Jesus asked His followers to do this…so we would stay grounded in the Gospel. The disciples are still uncertain about what is coming…but Jesus knows fully well that His death is imminent.

What follows is a lengthy discourse that is commonly referred to as the Upper Room Discourse, or the Farewell Discourse. This private, intimate time with disciples is precious. Jesus knows the plan to take His life is underway. Again, every syllable demands attention. You can find this discourse in John 13:1-17:26. It’s interesting to note how much room John gives the Upper Room in his Gospel. We are blessed by God’s plan to have this. It is a solemn moment we are given privy to.

Matthew, Mark, and Luke all say Jesus and His disciples sang a hymn together before they left the upper room. From there, they made their way to the Mount of Olives. It would be here Jesus would give them some specifics of what would soon come to pass. He told them in Matt 26:31 that they all would fall away because of Him…that very night. Of course, they all denied that could happen. Peter was the most vocal. With his zealous spirit intact, he voices his loyalty to Christ…saying even if all the others abandon Him…he never would. It is here, at this moment, Peter’s life would change forever. Jesus would deliver a solemn word to Peter that seemed utterly outrageous. He told Peter that before the rooster crows, Peter would deny Him 3 times…deny even knowing who Jesus was (Matt 26:34). It was perhaps the one time Peter was convinced that Jesus was truly wrong.

After this heartbreaking moment, Luke tells us that Jesus would give some final practical commands about supplies and provisions (Luke 22:35-38). Following these comments…Jesus and his disciples would make their way to Gethsemane…to a garden…where Jesus would pray in agony…as the disciples would struggle to even stay awake. Little did they know that Judas was on his way to that very garden with the chief priests and soldiers in tow. It is in Gethsemane that Jesus began to sweat drops of blood. The pressure on Him was such we could not possibly understand. His prayers that night will stick with you for a lifetime if you really took the time to read them. He prayed, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will” (Matt 26:39). Matthew tells us Jesus prayed this prayer 3 different times.

After the third time, Jesus returns to His disciples…just as Judas and his band of evil men, whose only intention was to see that Jesus died, showed up. That story is typically attributed to the early hours of Friday morning. All of the things we have looked at this week have built up to this moment. The moment has come. The blog tomorrow will take us from Gethsemane…to Golgotha. The cross awaits.