Passion Week – The Event that Foreshadowed What Was to Come

Wednesday of that last week is not identified in the Gospels, and so we don’t know what Jesus was doing that day.  He may have been spending quiet time with His Father, preparing for what was to come.  We do know that He spent much of that week at the home of His good friends, Mary, Martha, and Lazarus.

Approximately six months earlier, Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead; however, he was not the first person to be raised.  The Old Testament mentions at least two, and Jesus raised others as well.  However, all the others had only been dead a short while.  Lazarus had been in the tomb for four days when Jesus called him to “come out!” That was a miracle unlike any of the others that Jesus had performed.

That miracle not only caught the attention of the people but also the Religious Leaders.  Their discontent with Jesus was already evident, but this event took their concern to a new level, prompting the high priest to say, “You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish” (John 11:50 NIV84). So, the plot to kill Jesus grew more intense.

As the Passover approached, Jesus returned to the home of His friends, who gave a dinner in His honor.  Then, Mary, Lazarus’s sister, anointed Him with oil, an act that Jesus indicated was in preparation for His burial. 

Time was running out for Jesus, but Jesus was not the only one being threatened.  When the people realized Jesus was at Lazarus’s home, many of them showed up, not just to see Jesus, but also to see Lazarus. That’s when the Leaders’ plot expanded to include Lazarus.  They didn’t realize that the miracle of Lazarus’s resurrection was a foreshadowing of what was to come, but they knew that allowing either of these men to live could bring trouble, as more people were drawn to Jesus. 

Read: John 11:1 – 12:11

Food for Thought:

• How do you think Jesus spent that Wednesday before His crucifixion?  When you are facing a difficult decision or unpleasant circumstances, how do you prepare?

• Why do you think the raising of Lazarus created more interest than Jesus’ other miracles?  Why was it significant that he was in the tomb for four days?

• Why were the Religious Leaders determined to kill Lazarus as well as Jesus? 

For one fictional perspective on the raising of Lazarus, read Chapters 11, 12 & 13 of The Shepherd’s Quest, by Elaine C. Duncan, available on Amazon.