The below Bible study on Jesus’ last week takes an overview at the most important events of Jesus’ earthly life. These free inductive notes are intended as supplement to your own study, not a replacement. Feel free to copy, print, or share them. These notes can be helpful for individual study of the Word or for small group Bible studies. We hope your understanding of God’s Word is deeper from them.
Verse by Verse Bible Study of Jesus’ Last Week
 I.           Saturday The Anointing
Jn 12:1-11
1 Jesus, therefore, six days before the Passover, came to Bethany where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead.
·  They had just come from Ephraim which was 20 km from Jerusalem. Bethany was just over 3km and He was approaching Jerusalem for the last week of His life.
·  Jn 11:53-54
53 So from that day on they planned together to kill Him.
54 Therefore Jesus no longer continued to walk publicly among the Jews, but went away from there to the country near the wilderness, into a city called Ephraim; and there He stayed with the disciples.
2 So they made Him a supper there, and Martha was serving; but Lazarus was one of those reclining at the table with Him.
3 Mary then took a pound of very costly perfume of pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped His feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.
·  This was a very gracious and humble act by Mary who was one of His most devoted followers.
·  The reaction
·  Jn 12:4-6
4 But Judas Iscariot, one of His disciples, who was intending to betray Him, said,
5 “Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and given to poor people?”
6 Now he said this, not because he was concerned about the poor, but because he was a thief, and as he had the money box, he used to pilfer what was put into it.
o      Why was Judas upset at this woman’s act? It wasn’t because he didn’t care for Jesus, likely he did. It was because he cared more about money than he did about Jesus.
Mt 6:24
24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth. So Judas made his decision. He was going to serve wealth.
·       7 Therefore Jesus said, “Let her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of My burial.
    II.           Sunday                         Large Crowd goes to See Jesus and Lazarus Â
9 The large crowd of the Jews then learned that He was there; and they came, not for Jesus’ sake only, but that they might also see Lazarus, whom He raised from the dead.
10 But the chief priests planned to put Lazarus to death also;
11 because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and were believing in Jesus.
·       If you have ever been jealous when someone had something you wish you had, maybe you’ve passed off the jealousy as something that was not very important, but jealousy is actually quite destructive. We see in these verses that it was jealousy that motivated the chief priests and Pharisees to not only seek Jesus’ life, but they planned to put Lazarus to death also. People were following after Jesus because He had brought Lazarus back from the dead.
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 III.           (Sunday)Monday        The Triumphal Entry  (Coronation of King Jesus)
·  Jesus predicted in detail His upcoming death as they were approaching Jerusalem
·  Mt 20:18-19
18 “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem; and the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn Him to death,
19 and will hand Him over to the Gentiles to mock and scourge and crucify Him, and on the third day He will be raised up.”
·  Zec 9:10
9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; He is just and endowed with salvation, Humble, and mounted on a donkey, Even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
o    Zechariah gave this prophecy 500 years earlier.
·  Lk 19:28-31
After He had said these things, He was going on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.
29 When He approached Bethphage and Bethany, near the mount that is called Olivet, He sent two of the disciples,
30 saying, “Go into the village ahead of you; there, as you enter, you will find a colt tied on which no one yet has ever sat; untie it and bring it here.
31 “If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ you shall say, ‘The Lord has need of it.'”
o    This prophecy was given perhaps only 5 minutes before it was fulfilled in detail
·  Lk 19:32-35
32 So those who were sent went away and found it just as He had told them.
33 As they were untying the colt , its owners said to them, “Why are you untying the colt ?”
34 They said, “The Lord has need of it.”
35 They brought it to Jesus, and they threw their coats on the colt and put Jesus on it.
·  Mt 21:8-9
8 Most of the crowd spread their coats in the road, and others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them in the road.
9 The crowds going ahead of Him, and those who followed, were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David; BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD; Hosanna in the highest!“
·  Jesus is given the highest praise here and is recognized as the Messiah! The triumphal entry is in affect the coronation celebration of King Jesus!
·  These folks however, were merely superficial followers. They wanted Jesus only on their own terms, not on His! They wanted Him to immediately set up His kingdom on earth and overthrow the hated Romans. When it was popular to follow Jesus, they would, but they weren’t about to devote themselves to Him and sacrifice to be His followers! In only five days, many of these same people would be shouting for his crucifixion. Don’t be a mere professor of Jesus Christ and follow Him only if it is easy, popular, and convenient for your schedule. I can tell you with 100% confidence that Jesus does not want that kind of follower. OK, then, what’s it take to be a true follower?
o    Mt 16:24
24 Then Jesus said to His disciples , “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.
What two things?
o    Jn 8:31
So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine;
When?
o    Jn 15:8
8 “My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples .
What’s the proof?
No, don’t be like these people who hailed Him on Monday and nailed Him on Friday! Don’t be a fickle follower of Jesus Christ, be a true follower of HIs!
1.   Deny yourself
2.   Obey the Lord in any an every circumstance, no matter how difficult!
3.   Continue for the long term. The Christian life is a marathon, not a sprint!
4.   Do these simple things. Then your life will be fruitful for the Lord which will be the proof that you are His true disciple!
 IV.           (Monday)/Tuesday     Cleanses the Temple
·  Some view Jesus as not just meek, but weak. They see Him as kind of one dimensional. He is kind, loving, merciful, gracious forgiving and so forth. But don’t forget Jesus is God. He also fully embodies the characteristics of justice, wrath, and vengeance. Turn to:
·  Mt 21:12-14
12 And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves.
13 And He said to them, “It is written, ‘MY HOUSE SHALL BE CALLED A HOUSE OF PRAYER’; but you are making it a ROBBERS’ DEN.”
14 And the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them.
o    Why was all this buying and selling taking place?
Dt 14:22-26
22 “You shall surely tithe all the produce from what you sow, which comes out of the field every year.
23 “You shall eat in the presence of the LORD your God, at the place where He chooses to establish His name, the tithe of your grain, your new wine, your oil, and the firstborn of your herd and your flock, so that you may learn to fear the LORD your God always.
24 “If the distance is so great for you that you are not able to bring the tithe, since the place where the LORD your God chooses to set His name is too far away from you when the LORD your God blesses you,
25Â then you shall exchange it for money, and bind the money in your hand and go to the place which the LORD your God chooses.
26 “You may spend the money for whatever your heart desires: for oxen, or sheep, or wine, or strong drink, or whatever your heart desires; and there you shall eat in the presence of the LORD your God and rejoice, you and your household.
·        The closer to the temple these sellers could locate, the more convenient it would be for these buyer, the more likely they could get the sale, and the more profit they could make. There’s no closer place to the temple than being in the temple, so that’s where these seller’s congregated.
·        The problem was Jesus thought the temple should be a place for worship rather than a marketplace!
·        Knowing He wouldn’t be around much longer, He decided to clean things up before He left!
  V.           (Tuesday)/Wednesday     His Authority Questioned,  Teaching in the Temple
·  Mt 21:23-27
When He entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to Him while He was teaching, and said, “By what authority are You doing these things, and who gave You this authority?“
24 Jesus said to them, “I will also ask you one thing, which if you tell Me, I will also tell you by what authority I do these things.
25 “The baptism of John was from what source, from heaven or from men?” And they began reasoning among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say to us, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’
26 “But if we say, ‘From men,’ we fear the people; for they all regard John as a prophet.”
27 And answering Jesus, they said, “We do not know.” He also said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.
·  Mt 21:28-23:39 Jesus teaches extensively about His Second Coming in parables and speaks forthrightly about the Pharisees and Sadducees.
o    The two sons
o    The wicked vinedressers
o    The wedding feast
o    The fig tree
o    The ten virgins
o    The talents
 VI.           Wednesday Evening Mount of Olives Discourse, Judas’ Bargain
·  Mt 24-25 Jesus teaches the disciples in depth about His second coming.
·  Mt 26:14-16
14 Then one of the twelve, named Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests
15 and said, “What are you willing to give me to betray Him to you?” And they weighed out thirty pieces of silver to him.
16 From then on he began looking for a good opportunity to betray Jesus.
Scripture gives no indication that Judas had any malice toward Jesus. No, it wasn’t a hatred for Jesus that motivated him to betray Jesus. It was a simple monetary transaction for him.
·  All of sin’s promises are temporary and empty. You see just a few short verses later, a matter of hours, how those 30 pieces of silver lost their attraction to Judas and gave him no pleasure,
Mt 27:3-5
3 Then when Judas, who had betrayed Him, saw that He had been condemned, he felt remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders,
4 saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” But they said, “What is that to us? See to that yourself!”  Even Judas, the one who betrayed Jesus realized His innocence!
5 And he threw the pieces of silver into the temple sanctuary and departed; and he went away and hanged himself.
Friends, sin is just like this in yours and my lives also. It’s always very appealing up front. Its attraction will fade though and leave in its wake, despair and destruction. We have to make a choice because, like Judas, we can’t serve both God and wealth. Don’t choose Satan’s empty promise that will only disappoint and bring destruction. Make the right choice! Commit your life to serving the Lord.
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