Holy Week: Why We Know So Much About the Last Week of Jesus’ Life
How We Know and Why We Can Trust the Amazing Story of the Passion of the Lord
Introduction:
When we read the four Gospels — Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John — it can sometimes feel like we encounter four different narratives of Jesus’ life and ministry. However, the first three Gospels, known as the Synoptic Gospels (meaning “seen together”), share a remarkable unity when it comes to the last week of Jesus’ life. This agreement is significant because it provides a solid foundation for understanding the events of Holy Week. It also offers insights into the early Christian community's beliefs, practices, and historical roots.
The Fourteen Events:
The Synoptic Gospels all agree on fourteen key events that occurred during Jesus’ last week:
1. The Triumphal Entry
2. The cleansing of the Temple
3. Jesus teaching in the Temple
4. The Olivet Discourse
5. The plot to kill Jesus
6. The preparation for the Passover
7. The Last Supper
8. The prediction of Peter’s denial
9. The prayer in Gethsemane
10. The betrayal and arrest of Jesus
11. The trials of Jesus
12. The crucifixion and death of Jesus
13. The burial of Jesus
14. The resurrection of Jesus
While some details and the order of events may vary, these core elements form the shared foundation of the passion narrative in the Synoptic Gospels.
(John's Gospel takes a different approach than the Synoptic accounts. While the Synoptic accounts focus on the sequence of events, John's Gospel highlights fewer events and provides an analysis of their importance.)
Seven Implications of Fourteen Common Events:
In other words, we know the events of Holy Week with certainty. These are all steeped in tradition and lore, but it is clear that everything we read about actually happened! But so what? What does this mean? Here are seven implications of having such an agreement on the basic facts of the week.
1. Early Church Agreement:
The consistency among the Synoptic Gospels suggests that these accounts were widely accepted and circulated in the early Christian community. This agreement indicates that the passion narrative was a central part of the early church’s teaching and preaching.
2. Passion Narrative as a Unique Book:
The cohesiveness of the passion narrative has led some scholars to propose that it may have existed as a separate tradition before being incorporated into the Gospels. This theory suggests that the last week of Jesus’ life was so important to the early church that it was preserved and transmitted as a distinct unit.
3. Pre-existing Stories:
The consistency among the Synoptic Gospels points to the likelihood that the passion narrative was among the earliest traditions transmitted by the early church, predating the composition of the Gospels themselves. This implies that the events of Jesus’ last week were central to the faith and teaching of the earliest Christians.
4. Theological Significance:
The prominence given to Jesus’ last week and passion in all three Synoptic Gospels highlights the centrality of these events for the early Christian understanding of salvation and redemption. The death and resurrection of Jesus were not mere historical facts but were understood as the pivotal moments in God’s plan to reconcile humanity to himself.
5. Historical Reliability:
The agreement among the Synoptic accounts suggests that they are rooted in historical events and eyewitness testimony rather than being purely legendary or mythical. While the Gospels are not mere history books, the consistency of the passion narratives provides a strong basis for believing that they reflect actual events.
6. Liturgical Importance:
The common material in the passion narratives likely formed the basis for early Christian worship and commemoration. The accounts of Jesus’ last supper, crucifixion, and resurrection were probably used in the early church’s liturgical practices, such as the celebration of the Lord’s Supper and the observance of Holy Week.
7. Fulfillment of Scripture:
The consistency among the Synoptic Gospels reinforces the early Christian belief that Jesus’ passion was the climax of God’s redemptive plan, as revealed in the Old Testament prophecies and scriptural patterns. The Gospel writers often highlight how Jesus’ suffering and death fulfilled the scriptures, demonstrating the continuity between God’s promises to Israel and their ultimate realization in Christ.
Conclusion:
The remarkable agreement among the Synoptic Gospels’ accounts of Jesus’ last week provides a solid foundation for understanding these pivotal events. It offers us insight into the beliefs, practices, and historical roots of the early Christian community, showing us what they held in common. Moreover, it underscores the theological and liturgical significance of Jesus’ passion for the Gospel writers and the early church.
We can trust what we know, and we know a great deal about the last week of Jesus life and what’s more, we can trust what we know.
