Jesus Christ's Last Week of Mortal Ministry

Day 1

Jesus rode through the gates of Jerusalem while securing a donkey and a colt. The multitude that knew him to be “the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee” placed palm branches in his way and greeted him with a hosanna shout: “Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.” He went to the temple and took note of what he saw, then retired to Bethany for the night.

Day 2

Jesus went early the next morning to the temple and challenged the Jewish religious leadership. Those who were on the outer court area of the temple were people trading and making money exchange from foreign currency. Jesus challenged their leadership by asking: Was the temple to be a place of worship of God or a pursuit of gain? He cleared the temple courts, and doing so said, “It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.” Jesus returned to Bethany that evening.
 
Day 3

The issue at the temple the day before raised issue of authority, and the priests did not want to let the incident pass. When Jesus came back to the temple that day, the priests challenged him: “By what authority doest thou these things? And who gave thee this authority?” Jesus responded with a series of parables that offended the religious leaders of the Jews. After being challenged by the scribes and Pharisees, Jesus openly denounced them and condemned them as hypocrites.

Jesus no longer taught the public after the incident, and only taught the Twelve.

The Jewish leaders saw that Jesus had gained the upper hand in their confrontation and discussed how they might bring about Jesus’ death. Because Jesus had become very popular with the Jewish people, they thought of how they could bring about an arrest without provoking crowd reaction. Because He was popular with the Jews, Jewish leaders needed to figure out a way to arrest Christ before the Passover to avoid a riot. However, Jesus’ own disciples offered to betray him.

Day 4

Jesus already knew of the plot, and spend the fourth day outside the city, perhaps at Bethany. There is not much record of what happened on the fourth day, as the record of the gospel writers is silent over the proceedings of this day.

Day 5
 

Jesus had a Passover meal in a home privately reserved for him and the Twelve. After the meal, Jesus introduced a new ordinance, the sacrament, which signify His atoning sacrifice. He then prophesied of his death and who would betray him.

Jesus offered his great intercessory prayer after some instructions, then with the eleven, Jesus led them outside the walls of Gethsemane. He then took with him Peter, James and John further into the garden of Gethsemane, where he then left them to pray by himself. He then pled with his Heavenly Father to “let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.” (Matthew 26:39). The pain did not pass and he then suffered “the pain of all men” (D&C 18:11), which caused him to bleed at every pore, due to the extereme agony that he felt.

After a while, Jesus returned to his apostles and notified them that his betrayer was close. Judas approached Jesus to seize him, and was then brought to an illegal trial that night. 


Day 6

Not only did the Jewish leaders want Jesus to be put to death, they also wanted to discredit him before his own people. The leaders arranged to have Jesus charged with two crimes. The first one was blasphemy, a capital offense under Jewish law. By saying he was the Son of God, was evidence enough to charge him with this crime. Jewish leaders knew this would discredit him before the Jews, but they knew they could not carry out the death penalty. They had to find a political indictment against Jesus, and they charged him with sedition against the state, because he claimed to be a “king of the Jews.” Pilate found Jesus guiltless of the charge, but Jewish leaders hand incited the crowed to “destroy Jesus.” (Matthew 27:20. Fearing a demonstrationg, Pilate gave in the to the uproar to crucify Jesus, and then pronounced the death sentence.

Jesus was executed by the brutal roman practice of crucifixion. He eventually voluntarily gave up his spirit that after noon. The next day was the Passover, and the Jewish leaders hated the idea that a man should remain on the cross on the Sabbath, especially the paschal Sabbath. Jesus’ body was removed before nightfall from the cross and buried

Day 7

This was the Jewish Sabbath, and Jesus’ body remained in the tomb, but in spirit he ministered in the realm of departed spirits.

Day of the Resurrection 




Jesus was risen and was seen again by many witnesses. On the first day of the week, the most memorable Sunday in history, Jesus emerged from the tomb, and first appeared before Mary.

Earthly & Heavenly Rewards

The young man did not want to give up his possessions. “But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful; for he had great possessions.” (Matthew 19:22)

In Matthew 6:19-24, we learn that the treasures in heaven are much more valuable than the treasures here on earth. In verse 24, I took the “other” master as earthly riches that people are obsessed with. If we choose to follow God, we do not care as much for the riches here on the earth. But if we care more about the earthly riches, we care less about God and are unwilling to serve him.

If we choose to follow the Savior and make the sacrifices needed to follow him, we will be blessed with eternal life.

It’s easy to get wrapped up in the everyday riches of the world, especially because it is in front of us right now. Eternal life does not come until after we die, therefore it is harder to see the eternal perspective. I believe one thing I could do to put the Lord first in my life is to give myself reminders that I need to put the Lord first in my life. Ways I can be doing this is putting pictures of the Savior in my home, and the temple. I think one of the most convenient things I have right now is the LDS scriptures application on my phone, and everyday it reminds me to read the scriptures. Since I have my phone on me all the time, what better way to have a friendly reminder like the scriptures. We just need constant everyday reminders to help us remember the eternal perspective.

Matthew 20:1-16

The hour the laborers were hired	How much the man agreed to pay	Hours worked	How much they were actually paid
One	Penny a day	11 hours	A Penny
Third	Whatsoever is right	9 hours	A Penny
Sixth	Whatsoever is right	6 hours	A Penny
Ninth	Whatsoever is right	3 hours	A Penny
Eleventh	Whatsoever is right	1 hour	A Penny

What we learn from this parable is that it doesn’t matter how long you’ve served, it’s the effort that was put into it. The Lord wants you to serve because we want to, not because we have been forced to do it. Serving is not always easy, I know because I have such a hard time serving others. The main reason it’s hard for me to serve others is because I feel like I just simply don’t have the time to do it. But, if we are willing to serve others, the Lord will bless us for our efforts, and will provide us the means and the time to accomplish the tasks that we need to get done.

Being a Disciple of Jesus Christ

What it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ and what the Savior taught about counting the costs of following Him.

• A disciple is one who is willing to give freely of anything he has.
• A disciple is someone who will provide the service of companionship and appreciation.
• A disciple does not seek the riches of the earth, but of the kingdom of Heaven.
• A disciple is one who is willing to give up all that he has to follow Christ.
• The lesson taught in the parable is that God blesses us with the things we need on his own time. The reason why God may not grant us gifts right away is because he wants us to learn from the experience, as well as fervently ask him for his help.

What teaching would you like to apply to more fully in your life?

I think the teaching I’d like to apply more fully in my life would be to seek the kingdom of Heaven, more than earthly riches. It’s easy to get wrapped up in the world, and forget what is more important in this life. We are here to be tested of our faith and obedience, and if we comply we will receive one of the greatest blessings of all—eternal life. By apply this teaching to my life, there are some things I realize I need to accomplish. Those are reading the scriptures more diligently, and actually studying them, since I struggle to do it. The scriptures contain so much information, and it’s there for our own good. We learn from the prophets that once lived, and we learn from the mistakes of those who have sinned. The scriptures are there to help give us knowledge, and we are able to learn what is needed and expected of us. I know that if I read the scriptures more, I’ll be less likely to seek the riches of the world.

What is required to be a disciple of Jesus Christ?

• It is more important to seek the riches from the Kingdom of Heaven, then earthly riches (Luke 14:33)
• We need to repent in order to be saved, and trust in the Lord. (Omni 1:36)
• We owe our Heavenly Father much, and in order to repay him for the debt that we owe, we can serve others. (Mosiah 2:34)
• We need to remember what is more important in this life, and that is the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is more important than anything in this world. (Matthew 13:44-46)

The Savior Healed a Young Man

1. Matthew 17:14-21

The three things the things the Savior said were needed for the disciples to heal the man were:

• To have faith
• To pray
• To fast

2. These are the things required in order for miracles to happen:

3 Nephi 18:20

·      We need to ask Heavenly Father for the things that we need.

Doctrine and Covenants 50:29

·      We need to be worthy, and forgiven of our sins.

Doctrine and Covenants 42:48

·      We need to have faith, and know that he will bless us with the things that we need.

Even though Heavenly Father knows our needs, He wants us to come unto Him and ask Him. He wants to feel needed, and that’s why He asks us to ask Him for anything we need. If we ask, we will receive the things that we are in need of.

The Feeding of the Multitudes

	Matthew 14:14-21	Matthew 15:32-38
How many people were present?	5,000 Men besides women and children	4,000 Men besides women and children
What did they need?	Food	Food
What were they able to offer in an effort to meet what need?	Five loaves, and two fishes	Seven loaves and few little fishes.
What words or phrases describe the Savior’s feeling toward the multitudes in their time of need?	(14:14) “He  was moved with compassion toward them” (14:16) “They need not depart”	(15:32) “I have compassion on the multitude” (15:32) “I will not sent them away fasting, lest they faint in the way”
What words or phrases describe what the Savior was able to provide for the multitudes?	(14:20)  “And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full”	(15:27) “And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets full”

(Romans 3:23) No matter how perfect we strive to be, we are all sinners. However, because of the atonement, we are able to have the chance to repent and return to live with our Father in Heaven again. We are insufficient in the fact that we are in need of Christ and the atonement. There is no possible way that we could’ve returned to live with our Father again if it weren’t for Christ. It is because of the atonement we have the chance to be forgiven and saved.

(Ether 12:27) If we come unto Christ, we will be forgiven of our sins. We cannot simply live this life on our own; we need the help of our Savior. Like the scripture says, “I give unto men weakness that they may be humble… for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.” We are given weaknesses so that we realize we need the help from Christ. He is always there for us, and wants us to look to him for help whenever we need it.