Each of the four gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) recount the events that occur the week before Jesus’s death and resurrection, beginning with his entry into Jerusalem on the day we know as Palm Sunday and then culminating with the cross and empty tomb on Good Friday and Easter Sunday. While many of the events and details are the same in all four accounts, each account also features some unique details. These differences are not contradictory, but complementary, as one can see how they fit together historically. While we often seek to integrate the accounts to get a sense of what happened during Holy Week (as I did last year in two parts, one for Sunday-Wednesday and one for Thursday-Saturday), there can also be good value in examining the details included in a particular gospel to see the specific things that writer wanted to highlight and make clear. Since we have been looking at passages in the Gospel of Luke in our Lenten sermon series, I thought I would walk through Holy Week as described in the Gospel of Luke in this post.
Entrance Into Jerusalem (Luke 19:28-46)
While all four gospels describe Jesus entering Jerusalem on a colt, accompanied by his disciples and by shouts of acclamation, Luke notes that the people shouted, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven and glory in the highest heaven!” These words not only quote the Old Testament (Psalm 118:26) but also recall those spoken by the angels back at Jesus’s birth (Luke 2:14). A unique element in Luke is Jesus weeping over the fate of Jerusalem, as he states that the people there refuse to recognize the peace that comes that day (Luke 19:42) and the city will be destroyed (Luke 19:42-44). The fulfillment of those words would happen roughly 35 years later in 70 AD. Following those words is the description of Jesus driving out those who were selling animals in the temple (Luke 19:45-46).
Jesus’s Teaching In Jerusalem (Luke 20-21)
The next couple of chapters feature Jesus teaching in Jerusalem. This section begins by noting that Jesus was “preaching the gospel” (20:1), showing that his message is the gospel. Much of the teaching in this section also appears in Matthew and Mark and comes when the authorities try to trap Jesus, as they ask about the origin of his authority (Luke 20:1-8), whether to pay taxes to Caesar (Luke 20:20-26), and whose wife a woman would be at the resurrection (Luke 20:27-40); each time Jesus is able to escape their trap and speak words of truth. Jesus also tells a parable in this time that displays how the people reject him as the “beloved son” (Luke 20:9-19), asks them a question they can’t answer about the Messiah being the Son of David (Luke 20:41-44), and then warns them about the scribes who seek to gain power (Luke 20:45-48). That warning then leads to the commendation of a widow who gave two tiny coins, as her gift was greater than the larger amounts that people give out of their surplus (Luke 21:1-4). Jesus’s teachings here then move into a discussion of the destruction of the temple and his return (Luke 21:5-36). The concluding note in this section states that Jesus taught in the temple each day and then would go out to stay at the Mount of Olives (21:37-38), showing that Jesus was teaching on multiple days between his triumphant entry and his last meal with his disciples.
Final Supper And Arrest (Luke 22:1-71)
The account then shifts to discuss the plot that the religious leaders made against Jesus and Judas’s role in it (Luke 22:1-6). Luke explicitly states at this point that Satan enters into Judas’s heart to betray Jesus, showing that Satan has not left the scene after Jesus withstood his temptations in Luke 4 but is at work once again; this comment shows that there are spiritual forces at work in Jesus’s death. The disciples then get ready for a final meal with Jesus per his instructions (Luke 22:7-14). Luke’s Last Supper can be a bit confusing as Jesus first takes a cup and then bread and then another cup (Luke 22:15-20); we typically just think of this occasion as being bread and then the cup to establish communion. The reason for the extra cup is that this was a Passover meal that would have multiple cups.
Something else distinct about Luke’s account of this meal is that it is immediately followed by a statement about Judas’s betrayal (Luke 22:21-23) and then a dispute among the disciples about who is the greatest (Luke 22:24-30). Those details are included in places within the other gospels, so it could be that they are repeated here (and omitted because already said) or that Luke has chosen to arrange it this way (as ancient histories were not always in strict chronological order). There is another reference to Satan as Jesus tells Peter that Satan is trying to sift the disciples, but he has prayed for them (Luke 22:31-32), which causes Peter to state confidently that he would follow Jesus to death (Luke 22:33). Jesus tells Peter that it is not true, as he will deny him (Luke 22:34). There are then some difficult to understand statements about taking moneybags and swords now (Luke 22:35-38), which I don’t have time or space to unpack here.
Their location then shifts to the Mount of Olives for Jesus’s prayer to the Father that expresses his desire but submits to God’s will as well as Jesus’s instructions for the disciples to pray so that they will not fall into temptation (Luke 22:39-46). Jesus is then arrested (Luke 22:47-53). Unique elements in Luke’s description are the disciples asking if they should strike someone with the sword (they do so before Jesus answers) and Jesus healing the slave whose ear they cut off. Only in Luke do we see Jesus saying to those who arrest him, “But this is your hour —and the dominion of darkness” (Luke 22:53), further highlighting the spiritual dimension of these events.
Peter’s denial of Jesus comes next (Luke 22:54-63), with Luke alone noting that Jesus turned and looked at Peter after it happened (Luke 22:61).
Trials (Luke 22:64-23:25)
Jesus is then brought before the Sanhedrin. A unique element of Jesus’s trial before these leaders (Luke 22:64-71) is the words he spoke, “But he said to them, ‘If I do tell you, you will not believe’” (22:68); these words are a reminder that it is not that the leaders were deceived or confused but rather they refused to believe Jesus was who he said he was. When these leaders bring Jesus before the Roman official Pilate (23:1-5), Luke highlights how the Jewish officials charged Jesus with advocating another king other than Caesar (23:2) and stirring up the people (23:5), using Roman political charges against Jesus to try to have him killed.
Only in Luke do we see that Pilate then sends Jesus to Herod Antipas since Jesus was from Galilee (23:6-12). We find out that Herod and Pilate become friends (23:12) and both do not find any occasion against Jesus (23:13-16); Jesus’s innocence is thus emphasized even more in Luke. The people then ask for Barabbaas to be released instead of Jesus (23:17-23), whom Luke states was involved in a rebellion and murder (23:19), showing how different he was from Jesus. Luke also highlights the force of the crowd’s cry to crucify Jesus (Luke 23:23), leading to Pilate releasing Barabbas and sending Jesus to the cross (Luke 23:24-25).
The Cross (Luke 23:26-49)
Luke does not include reference to all the beatings and mockery that happens on Jesus’s way to the cross (you find those in Matthew and Mark), but he does note that Simon of Cyrene had to carry the cross for him (23:26). Luke recounts how a crowd followed Jesus, and Jesus lamented over the people and the destruction that awaits (Luke 23:27-31), recalling what happened after the Triumphant Entry; we see Jesus’s calm and compassion in the midst of these horrible events in special ways in Luke.
That compassion continues on the cross (Luke 23:32-43) in that Luke alone notes Jesus’s words asking to forgive those killing him for they do not know what they are doing (Luke 23:34) and then Jesus telling the criminal on the cross next to him that he would be in paradise in light of his belief in Jesus (Luke 23:39-43). Luke does not include Jesus’s words from Psalm 22 in crying out to God (see Matthew 27:46 and Mark 15:34), but rather has him commit his Spirit to God as he dies (Luke 23:44-46). Another minor difference is that Luke states that the temple curtain was torn in two before Jesus dies rather than after like in Matthew and Mark (Luke 23:45); once again, it is good to remember that ancient history did not always narrate things in strict chronology and could arrange events to make a particular point.
A centurion watches as Jesus dies, like in Matthew and Mark, but Luke notes that he declares Jesus’s innocence (Luke 23:47) and mentions multiple people mourning (Luke 23:48); people seem to recognize the injustice of the moment in a special way in Luke.
Burial (Luke 23:50-56)
Luke also notes how Jesus was buried by Joseph of Arimatha, but he tells us more about this man. In addition to being a member of the Sanhedrin (which Mark 15:43 also says), we are told that he disagreed with their actions and was a “good and righteous man.” Luke highlights that the tomb Joseph placed Jesus in was one that had not been used before (Luke 23:53, a detail also found in John 19:41). Like Mark, Luke also notes that there were women who saw where Jesus was buried, but Luke differs a bit in not offering their names and saying that they followed Joseph to the tomb. This detail is a good reminder that they did not go to the wrong tomb.
Resurrection (Luke 24)
Like the other gospels, Luke notes that women were the first witnesses to the empty tomb as they went with spices but, just as before, he does not offer their names here. However, he later clarifies that these women were Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James, along with other women (Luke 24:10); he alone includes Joanna on this list. Their purpose in going was to anoint Jesus’s body with spices (Luke 24:1), but they found the stone rolled away (Luke 24:2) but did not go inside because they were perplexed. Two men, whose appearance and attire (Luke 24:5) points to them being the angel described in Matthew 28:2, are at the tomb. A unique aspect of the angelic announcement in Luke is the way he reminds them of Jesus’s predictions of his death and resurrection (Luke 24:6), which Luke says that they then remembered (Luke 24:8). Another key detail in Luke is that the women go to tell the disciples (Luke 24:9) but that the disciples did not initially believe them (Luke 24:11); Peter had to go check it out himself and be amazed (Luke 24:12)
Luke also notes that Jesus appeared to individuals journeying to a village named Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35) and then later to the disciples (Luke 24:36-43), when he ate with them to prove that his body had risen since they had doubts. The Gospel also highlights things that Jesus taught after his resurrection, in particular that his death and resurrection fulfilled the things predicted in the Old Testament and that they were to preach repentance and forgiveness of sins to all nations (24:44-51). Since these words move right into the ascension, though, it is unclear if these words were specifically given on Easter Sunday or in the days to follow.
Reflecting on Luke’s Account of This Week
In addition to reminding us of all that happens in the course of the most important week in history, I think reading Luke’s account of it reminds us of a number of points. One is that Jesus was recognized by many as innocent even as he went to the cross. Second, he showed tremendous compassion in the midst of these trials and up until he died. Third, this was not just something that came about because of political or religious factors but also because Satan was at work in making it happen. Fourth, the words and actions of the disciples reminds us of the need for humility and prayerful dependence as well as the danger of pride or violence. Fifth, the lament over Jerusalem and words about its destruction point to the danger and judgment that comes upon rejecting Jesus as the Messiah, something that the leaders do willfully. Sixth, there is a stress in Jesus’s words after his resurrection that this all came about because it was God’s perfect plan and should lead to people from all nations hearing about it. And lastly, but certainly not least, the fact that this news was hard to believe but was confirmed and real and thus should be believed by us today as well.
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