Here are some more drawings depicting the events in the life of Jesus during his last Passover week. They were done a few years ago for the Generations of Grace Sunday school curriculum.
The religious leaders of the day really did not care for Christ. According to Matthew 23, Jesus taught at the temple and openly confronted the scribes and Pharisees calling them out on their hypocrisy. Later in Matthew 26:3-5, the Jewish religious leaders plotted to kill Christ:
“Then assembled together the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders of the people, unto the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas, And consulted that they might take Jesus by subtilty, and kill him. But they said, ‘Not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar among the people.'”
They didn’t wish to garner ill will among the people by taking Jesus down on day of the Passover celebration, but their opportunity would come soon enough.
Enter Judas Iscariot – whether or not you are familiar with the Bible, Judas is probably a familiar figure. Not too many children today are named “Judas” because his name is synonymous with “traitor”. He was one of Jesus’ twelve disciples who had been in constant contact with the Son of God seeing His practice AND His preaching. Judas covertly went to the priests in Matthew 26:15 and said, “What will ye give me, and I will deliver Him unto you?” The priests hired him for thirty pieces of silver with the agreement that Judas would betray Christ to them. They had their inside man.
The Last Supper, as it is so commonly called (probably because of Leonardo da Vinci’s famous painting) was actually Jesus and His disciples celebrating the traditional Jewish Passover feast. Jesus knew He was going to be crucified as that was His purpose. As the Son of God, He was the perfect sacrificial “lamb” that would die for the sins of mankind, and He was okay with that – and He knew that Judas would betray Him. Christ says in Matthew 26:24-25:
“‘The Son of man goeth as it is written of him: but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! it had been good for that man if he had not been born.’ Then Judas, which betrayed him, answered and said, ‘Master, is it I?’ He said unto him, ‘Thou hast said.'”
After dinner, Christ took Peter, James and John with Him to the garden of Gethsemane (Matthew 26:36-46) where He asked them to stay behind and be a watch while He went on a little further to pray. His prayer to God was filled with such agony. He didn’t fear physical pain, nor the actions of man. Jesus was about to experience the full cup of divine wrath for the sins of mankind. And His disciples couldn’t stay awake as He had asked them to.
Not long after this prayer to God, Judas “came, and with him a great multitude with swords and staves, from the chief priests and elders of the people.” (Matthew 26:47) Judas had told the fellas with him that the one he kissed was the one they could arrest (v. 48). As he did so, you can almost hear the snear in his voice when in verse 49 Judas says, “Hail, master,” then kissed Jesus. This moment holds such historic resonance even today as it is the origin of our saying “the kiss of death”.
Come back tomorrow – Good Friday, to see and read more about the significance of this week in the life, death, and life again of Christ.