Holy Week begins with Palm Sunday, the day we remember Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. As Jesus and His disciples approached the town of Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jerusalem came into view. Jesus began His journey there, knowing what lay ahead.

On Monday, Jesus returned to the Temple in Jerusalem, stopping on the way to curse a fig tree that hadn’t produced any fruit. He arrived at the Temple, a place supposed to be a place of worship, holy and sacred.

Today is remembered as Maundy Thursday, the last day that Jesus spent with His disciples before His death. ‘Maundy’ is derived from the Latin word for ‘command’, because on this day Jesus gave His disciples a new commandment: “that you love one another, just as I have loved you” (John 13.34).

By Wednesday, Jesus had caused such a stir in Jerusalem that the chief priests were indignant and wanted Jesus dead. But they couldn’t kill Him in public, afraid that it would cause a riot for Jesus was so popular amongst the crowds.

Following betrayal, arrest, desertion, false trials, beatings and mockery, Jesus was made to carry His cross to Golgotha, ‘the place of the skull’, where He was crucified alongside criminals. The Son of God suffered one of the cruelest methods of torture mankind has ever devised.

Holy Saturday is the only full day in history where the body of the crucified Son of God lay dead and buried in the grave. It was the Sabbath and the streets lay in stillness and silence, a different world to the noise and chaos of the days before.

It wasn’t just Jews who had travelled to Jerusalem for the Passover Festival, there were Greeks among them worshipping. These were likely Gentile Greeks who had joined the Jewish pilgrims to Jerusalem, interested in the Jewish faith but not willing to commit to the Jewish Law in its entirety.

Today is Easter Sunday, the culmination of Holy Week, the most important event in our faith. Today we remember the day that death itself was defeated when Jesus rose from the dead. Early in the morning, the women went to the tomb to anoint Jesus’ body with spices.