A Guide to Holy Week

Holy Week (also called Passion Week) celebrates and commemorates the week leading up to the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus - the central event of our faith. It's a time to reflect, commit ourselves, and give thanks.

Here is a guide to help you intentionally walk through the week so that the historical facts and doctrinal truths leave a lasting mark on your life.

Take time over the next nine days to read the passages, meditate on them, and pray.

Day 1: Palm Sunday

Event: Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem.

Passages: Zechariah 9:9; Matthew 21:1-11; Luke 19:28-48

Reflect: “In Christ’s God-to-humanity relation, he is a prophet; in his humanity-to-God, he is a priest; in his headship over all humanity, he is a king.” -Herman Bavinck

Prayer: Pray that we would submit to Jesus’ sovereign rule.

Day 2: Holy Monday

Event: Jesus cleanses the temple.

Passages: Isaiah 53:1-12; Lamentations 1:1-22; Matthew 21:12-22

Reflect: “Bread has one quality, water another, raiment another, physic another; but none has all in itself as Christ has: he is bread to the hungry, water to the thirsty, a garment to the naked, healing to the wounded; and whatever a soul can desire is found in him.” -John Flavel

Prayer: Pray that we would delight in Christ rather than possessions, riches, and everything this world offers.

Day 3: Holy Tuesday

Event: Jesus teaches in the temple courts

Passages: Matthew 21:23 to 23:39

Reflect: “Without the gospel, we are useless and vain; without the gospel, we are not Christians; without the gospel, all riches are poverty; wisdom is folly before God; strength is weakness; all human righteousness is condemned. But, by the knowledge of the gospel, we are made children of God; brothers of Jesus Christ; members of the fellowship of the saints; inhabitants of the kingdom of heaven; heirs of God with Jesus Christ, by whom the poor are made rich, the feeble powerful, fools wise, sinners are justified, the afflicted are consoled, doubters are confirmed, slaves are made free.” -John Calvin

Prayer: Pray that we would hear, understand, and be shaped by Jesus’ teachings.

Day 5: Spy Wednesday

Event: Judas agrees to betray Jesus

Passages: Psalm 22:1-31; Matthew 26:1-16

Reflect: “Christ adds not one drop of blood to God’s heart, only draws it out; he broaches it and makes it flow forth.” -Thomas Goodwin

Prayer: Pray that we would not fall into temptation or the snares of Satan

Day 6: Maundy Thursday

Event: Jesus institutes Communion at the Lord’s Supper

Passages: John 13:1-35; Luke 22:31-62

Reflect: “When Adam was asleep, a rib was drawn from him and Eve was created; so also while the Lord slept on the cross, his side was transfixed with a spear, and the sacraments flowed forth, whence the church was born. For the church, the Lord’s bride, was created from his side, as Eve was created from the side of Adam.” -Augustine of Hippo

Prayer: Pray that we would experience the fullness of what it means to be Christ’s bride.

Day 7: Good Friday

Event: Jesus sacrifices Himself for sin.

Passages: Luke 22:63 to 23:49; Romans 5:6-11; Hebrews 10:1-18

Reflect: “That we might not die, Christ died; that we might not be cursed, Jesus was cursed and fastened to the tree; that we might be received, he was rejected; that we might be approved, he was despised; and that we might live forever, he bowed his head and gave up the ghost.” -Charles Spurgeon

“Christ died to prove God’s love is an ocean without bottom or shore.” -Jonathan Edwards

Prayer: Praise God for His boundless love and mercy to us through Jesus’ sacrificial death.

Day 8: Holy Saturday

Event: Jesus’ body lies silent in the tomb

Passages: Acts 2:24-36

Reflect: To give us Christ is more than if God had given us all the world. God can make more worlds, but he has no more Christs to bestow; it is such a golden mine that angels cannot dig to the bottom.” -Thomas Watson

Prayer: Praise God for His power in raising Jesus from the dead.

Day 9: Resurrection Sunday

Event: Jesus is raised from the dead by the power of God

Passages: Luke 24:1-49; 1 Corinthians 15:1-58

Reflect: “Christ’s death is the Christian’s life. Christ’s cross is the Christian’s title to heaven. Christ ‘lifted up’ and put to shame on Calvary is the ladder by which Christians ‘enter into the holiest,’ and are at length landed in glory.” -J.C. Ryle

Prayer: Praise God for the certainty of eternal life, and for giving us hope through the resurrection.