It was on Friday, 2,000 years ago that Jesus was sentenced to death. After a long evening with his disciples and being arrested by the Jewish leadership, Jesus is delivered to the governor’s headquarters in the early morning, where the Jews accuse Him of treason (John 18:30.) Prior to these events, Jesus attracted large crowds because of His teachings and miracles, which caused the Jewish leadership to grow in their hatred of Him.

Jesus and His disciples are in the upper room, and tensions are high. Toward the end of John 13, Jesus has called out Judas as a traitor and Judas has left the room, Jesus has told the other eleven men that He must leave and they can’t go with Him, and Jesus has told Peter that very soon Peter will deny Him three times. After spending every day for the last three years with Jesus, giving up everything to follow Him, we can only imagine the pain and confusion these men must have experienced

As we commemorate Holy Week, we’ve been journeying together through some of the events that lead up to Christ’s death on the cross. We are now with Jesus as He arrived to the house of Simon the leper. Mary came to Jesus and brought an alabaster flask with very expensive ointment, and she poured it on His head. The response Mary received from the disciples was of indignance because they thought she was wasting her expensive ointment.

In Luke 20:1-8 we see a pivotal moment in the ministry of Jesus. Following Jesus’ miraculous healings, cleansing of the temple, and teaching of His salvation, the religious elite of the time demand of Him: “Tell us by what authority you do these things, or who it is that gave you this authority.” The motivation for their asking comes purely from a desire for power and money!

Starting holy week, Monday was likely the day Christ entered and cleansed the temple in Jerusalem. In today’s reading, and any reading for that matter, we need to understand the context. Jesus has just entered Jerusalem at the beginning of the week of Passover.