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LIVING THE CHRISTLIFE

WAYNE BARRETT

APRIL 15, 2026

Holy Week

The Week that Changed the World

pt. 4

Day(s) Events (selected) Scripture

Palm Sunday This will be the focus of this Sunday,

and so not as much attention will be

given to it this evening.

Matt. 21:1-11; Mk. 11:1-10; Lk. 19:28-40; Jn.

12:12-15

Mon-Tue Many teachings and events

Holy Wednesday Jesus predicts his suffering

Supper in Bethany at the house of

Simon the leper

The plot to kill Jesus is finalized

Matt. 26:1-2

Matt. 26:6-13; Mk 14:3-9; Jn 12:1-6

Matt. 26:3-5,14-16; Mk 14:1-2,10-11; Lk.

22:1-6; Jn. 12:9-11

Maundy Thursday

Passover, or Feast

of Unleavened

Bread

Place prepared for Last Supper

Judas revealed as the betrayer

Jesus washes the apostles’ feet—and

institutes servanthood as a model

Jesus blesses the bread and cup—and

institutes the Lord’s Supper

Jesus’ words to Peter

Jesus’ vast teachings, including his

High Priestly Prayer

The departure to the Mount of Olives,

then to Gethsemane

Jesus’ prayer in Gethsemane

The betrayal of Jesus

Matt. 26:17-19; Mk 14:12-16; Lk. 22:7-13

Matt. 26:20-25; Mk. 14:17-21; Lk. 22:21-23;

Jn. 13:2,18,21-30

Jn. 13:1,3-17

Matt. 26:26-29; Mk 14:22-25; Luke 22:14-20

Matt. 26:33-35; Mk 14:29-31; Luke 22:31-34;

Jn 13:36-38

John 14-17

Matt 26:30-32; Mk 14:26-28;Lk 22:35-39;

Jn 18:1

Matt. 26:36-46; Mk 14:32-42; Lk 22:39-46

Matt. 26:47-56; Mk 14:43-52; Lk 22:47-53;

Jn 18:2-11

Good Friday Jesus in custody and before the council

Peter denies Jesus

Jesus before Pilate

Judas hangs himself

Jesus is mocked

The crucifixion of Jesus

The death of Jesus

The side of Jesus is pierced

Jesus is buried

Matt. 26:57-68; Mk. 14:53, 55-65; Lk. 22:63-

71; Jn 18:12-14, 19-24

Matt. 26:69-75; Mk. 14:66-72; Lk. 22:54-62;

Jn. 18:15-18, 25-27

Matt 27:1-2, 11-26; Mk. 15:1-15; Lk. 23:1-25;

Jn. 18:28-40, 19:6-16a

Matt. 27:3-10; Acts 1:15-20

Matt. 27:27-31; Mk. 15:16-20; Jn. 19:1-5

Matt 27:32-44; Mk. 15:21-32; Lk. 23:26-43;

Jn. 19:16b-27

Matt. 27:45-56; Mk. 15:33-41; Lk. 23:44-49;

Jn. 19:28-30

Jn 19:31-37

Matt. 27:57-61; Mk. 15:42-47; Lk. 23:50-56a;

Jn. 19:38-42

Saturday

The Sabbath

Passover

The chief priests and Pharisees continue

to scheme with Pilate

The disciples rested

Matt 27:62-66

Luke 23:56b

Resurrection Day

Sunday

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Jesus is mocked

27 Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor's headquarters, and they gathered the

whole battalion before him. 28 And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, 29 and twisting

together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before

him, they mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 30 And they spit on him and took the reed and

struck him on the head. 31 And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his

own clothes on him and led him away to crucify him..—Matt. 27:27-31

16 And the soldiers led him away inside the palace (that is, the governor's headquarters), and they called

together the whole battalion. 17 And they clothed him in a purple cloak, and twisting together a crown of

thorns, they put it on him. 18 And they began to salute him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 19 And they were

striking his head with a reed and spitting on him and kneeling down in homage to him. 20 And when they

had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. And they led

him out to crucify him.—Mark 15:16-20

15 Then Pilate took Jesus and flogged him. 2 And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put

it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe. 3 They came up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!”

and struck him with their hands. 4 Pilate went out again and said to them, “See, I am bringing him out to

you that you may know that I find no guilt in him.” 5 So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns

and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Behold the man!”—Jn 19:1-5

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“headquarters” – Praetorium

“battalion” – cohort - a tenth of a Roman legion, usually about 600 men [ESV]

MATTHEW

We watch in horror and in grief and in awe—what Jesus subjected himself to and what God allowed.

This is Roman cruelty in full swing—the entire cohort

They soldiers had no idea about Jesus, no connection with him—except that he had proclaimed himself

(so they had no doubt been told) King of the Jews. That’s all they needed for a fun time of cruelty

with this Jew

Ridicule, infliction of pain, utter contempt—reinforcing who is really in charge of things, and that would

be Rome!

They represent a response to Christ that is still very much present in the world

After having their fun, they put his own clothes back on him to lead him to his crucifixion

MARK

refers to his robe as purple, rather than scarlet

JOHN

Only John lets us know that, before Jesus was put back into his own clothes, Pilate brought him out for

public ridicule, with his infamous “Behold, the man!”

Perhaps Pilate thought that this would satisfy the crowd; it did not.

The crucifixion of Jesus

32 As they went out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. They compelled this man to carry his

cross. 33 And when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull), 34 they offered

him wine to drink, mixed with gall, but when he tasted it, he would not drink it. 35 And when they had

crucified him, they divided his garments among them by casting lots. 36 Then they sat down and kept

watch over him there. 37 And over his head they put the charge against him, which read, “This is Jesus,

the King of the Jews.” 38 Then two robbers were crucified with him, one on the right and one on the left.

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39 And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads 40 and saying, “You who would destroy

the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the

cross.” 41 So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying, 42 “He saved others;

he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will

believe in him. 43 He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, ‘I am the Son

of God.’” 44 And the robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way.—Matthew

27:32-44

21 And they compelled a passerby, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of

Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross. 22 And they brought him to the place called Golgotha (which

means Place of a Skull). 23 And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. 24 And

they crucified him and divided his garments among them, casting lots for them, to decide what each

should take. 25 And it was the third hour when they crucified him. 26 And the inscription of the charge

against him read, “The King of the Jews.” 27 And with him they crucified two robbers, one on his right

and one on his left.a 29 And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, “Aha!

You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, 30 save yourself, and come down from

the cross!” 31 So also the chief priests with the scribes mocked him to one another, saying, “He saved

others; he cannot save himself. 32 Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that

we may see and believe.” Those who were crucified with him also reviled him.—Mark 15:21-32

26 And as they led him away, they seized one Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country,

and laid on him the cross, to carry it behind Jesus. 27 And there followed him a great multitude of the

people and of women who were mourning and lamenting for him. 28 But turning to them Jesus said,

“Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. 29 For

behold, the days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bore

and the breasts that never nursed!’ 30 Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to

the hills, ‘Cover us.’ 31 For if they do these things when the wood is green, what will happen when it is

dry?” 32 Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. 33 And when they

came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right

and one on his left. 34 And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they

cast lots to divide his garments. 35 And the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at him,

saying, “He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!” 36 The

soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine 37 and saying, “If you are the King of

the Jews, save yourself!” 38 There was also an inscription over him,b “This is the King of the Jews.”

39 One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself

and us!” 40 But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same

sentence of condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds;

but this man has done nothing wrong.” 42 And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your

kingdom.” 43 And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”—Luke

23:26-43

So they took Jesus, 17 and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of a Skull,

which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. 18 There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either

side, and Jesus between them. 19 Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, “Jesus of

Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” 20 Many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was

crucified was near the city, and it was written in Aramaic, in Latin, and in Greek. 21 So the chief priests

of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but rather, ‘This man said, I am King

of the Jews.’” 22 Pilate answered, “What I have written I have written.” 23 When the soldiers had

a Some manuscripts insert verse 28: And the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “He was numbered with the transgressors”

[ESV]

b Some manuscripts add in letters of Greek and Latin and Hebrew [ESV]

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crucified Jesus, they took his garments and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier; also

his tunic.c But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom, 24 so they said to one

another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be.” This was to fulfill the Scripture

which says, “They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.” So the

soldiers did these things, 25 but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother's sister,

Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he

loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” 27 Then he said to the

disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.—John

19:16b-27

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MATTHEW

“gall” – cholé, "gall or bile, i.e. (by analogy) poison or an anodyne (wormwood, poppy, etc.)”

(Strong’s). A general term, a bitter herb. Jesus refused it—probably due to the narcotic effect.

“charge” – aitia – accusation, reason, crime, fault. A board (a titulus), with the person’s name

and crime was typically place above their head on the cross. It was carried, by the

condemned or by a soldier, as a part of the public procession to the execution site.

The “crime” Jesus had committed, placed there with irony by Pilate, was that he was “The King

of the Jews.” Albeit this irony, it was Pilate, nonetheless, who had Jesus crucified.

All were mocking Jesus—with specificity, “rubbing his face” in his words.

Even the robbers joined in

MARK

Simon, introduced as a “passerby” who was “coming in from the country.” Very detailed

information.

This may have been his introduction to Jesus.

“the father of Alexander and Rufus”—These men were, at least to Mark, so well-known that

no further explanation is needed

The are other Alexanders mentioned in the New Testament—none seem to be this

Alexander

“Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord; also his mother, who has been a mother to me as

well.”—Romans 16:13

“myrrh”—sometimes offered in mercy to those being crucified to dull their pain and senses

the “Christ” – Messiah

LUKE

vv 27-31 – the mourners, and Jesus’ words to them, only appear here

cf. Luke 19:41-44; Matthew 23:37-39

“Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’”, quoting Hosea

10:8—a passage about judgment upon Israel

v 31 – “For if they do these things …”

“Green wood is hard to burn and so is used for the innocent. …Dry wood kindles easily and is a

symbol for the guilty. This common proverb has various applications. Here the point is that if

they can put Jesus to death, being who he is, what will happen to Jerusalem when its day of

judgment comes?” (Robertson)

v 34 – “Father, forgive them …”

22 “If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have had sin, but now they have no

excuse for their sin. 23 Whoever hates me hates my Father also. 24 If I had not done among

them the works that no one else did, they would not have had sin, but now they have seen

and hated both me and my Father. 25 But the word that is written in their Law must be

fulfilled: ‘They hated me without a cause.’”—John 15:22-25

c Greek chiton, a long garment worn under the cloak next to the skin [ESV]

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vv 39-43—The “thief on the cross”

Initially, both thieves reviled him, but one of the thieves later repented—perhaps especially

convicted by Jesus’ prayer for his persecutors

v 42 – A prayer both of repentance and of faith (“when you come into your kingdom”—as Jesus

was dying next to him on a cross)

v 43 – “Truly [Amen] I say to you, today … with me … paradise.

JOHN

vv 20-22

Details about the sign over the cross—and the Jews’ objection to it

Pilate refused to change it … perhaps feeling now that he had really stood up to him. A pretty

small rebuke, with Jesus hanging on a cross.

Details about the tunic—even Jesus’ clothes were taken away by persecutors

Details about the women at the foot of the cross, and about entrusting the care of his mother to

John

(It can only be assumed that Joseph had passed away—probably before Jesus entered his public

ministry.)