Holy Week: How were the last days of Jesus on Earth

Holy Week is the culmination of a fascinating journey. For Christians Jesus had a dual nature, was the Son of God made man who came into the world to atone for the sins of mankind and leave a message of peace and hope. And a mandate of love and service to others.

Now, whether or not we believe in the double divine and human nature of Jesus Christ, the undeniable is that his life and his martyrdom have changed the history. The priesthood of Jesus on earth was short; three years were enough to shape our civilization and our way of life. His mystery, his ordeal and his preaching are gone an imprint that still exists and that over the centuries has inspired men in their thoughts and actions. And not only believers.

When Jesus arrived in Jerusalem with his disciples. this day, remembered today as Palm Sunday, had three years of preaching behind it, which began when, at 30, he was baptized in the Jordan by his cousin Jean-Baptiste. After having recruited twelve disciples, whom he promises to become "fishermen of men", he begins a wandering life in Galileepreach, perform miracles and "fish" souls. In their wake, the sick recover, the sinners repent, the rich give up their wealth, the excluded from society feel convened. He leaves behind a series of simple teachings that we all heard at one time and that already constitute a universal legacy: "The man does not live only bread"; "If they hit you one cheek, give them the other"; "the last will be first", "it is easier for a camel to pbad through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven"; "Love eachother." And already on the cross, "Father, forgive them because they do not know what they are doing".

They were also three years of life in rebellion against the established orderthe politician and the religious; Jesus will be celebrated by the majority, but also condemned, threatened, persecuted and suspected by a powerful minority.

In order to understand what will happen in these easter, we must keep in mind that the region in which Jesus acted was under the rule of the Roman Empire. As in other occupied areas, the authorities named by Rome tolerated the local religion -judía, in this case, as an element of the order. But the internal panorama of this monotheistic faith was complex. There were a lot of disagreements and different currents: saduceos, hosted at the foreign occupant; the The Phariseesattached to the observance of rituals, to form rather than to substance; the Samaritanswho did not recognize any other authority than the temple; the esenios -sectar that some consider as antecedent of Christianity-, that, disgusted by corruption, they adopted asceticism; the fanaticswho wanted to go to violent action, etc. Their positions range from criticism of the religious establishment to political subversion and nationalist rebellion. These currents and sects were more or less tolerated by the Jewish authorities. It was a period of political and moral crisis during which Prophets, mystics, and ascetics roamed the roads preaching and anathematizing sin, luxury, and lack of faith.

Moreover, that of Jesus, at the beginning, was one of those tendencies; but unlike the others, The Christian heresy was not tolerated, because of two essential characteristics of Christ's preaching: universality and radicalism. Jesus did not preach only to the Jews, his message was addressed to all humanity as a unity. He did not pretend to be a sect, but a universal religion. On the other hand, his insistence that he comes to give everything back, has already been said ("You have heard that it was said … but I tell you …") he announced a new faith. This explains the coincidence in the persecution and repression of Jesus and the first followers among the religious and civil authorities. Neither the Hebrews nor the Romans could tolerate such a challenge.

The other context of this story is the prophecy. Gospels consistently use Bible prophecy to explain Jesus' behavior. Therefore, when he decides to go to Jerusalem, where he will be arrested and judged, the Bible tells him an example to which he advances himself, even knowing what to expect.

That Sunday, then Jesus moves on the way to Jerusalem. His disciples follow him, but also a crowd full of enthusiasm for his word.

The Master, as we call him, enters the city, preceded by his fame and mounted on a donkey. In his wake, people took off their coats and covered with laurel branches the path that Jesus was to follow. They shouted: "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, Hosanna (salve) above!"

Nothing to cheer the authorities. To top it off, Jesus went to the temple to throw the merchants (money changers and pigeon sellers for sacrifices). "My house, my house of prayer will be called. You made a lair of thieves, accused

The next day he returns to the temple and, during a difficult exchange with the priests and elders, he tells them, for example, that "publicans and prostitutes" would go before them "in the kingdom of God". And he explains: "Because John (the Baptist) came to you on the path of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but publicans and shameless ones believed him."

If they did not stop at that time, it's for fear of the crowd who surrounded Jesus. We had to wait for a better opportunity.

Religious authorities are outraged by Jesus' responses that delight people. He tries to hypocrite the Pharisees who are doing "long prayers", but they do not help anyone. And it is permissible to rephrase the ten commandments of Moses in just two essential points: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind." This is the first and the greatest command. it's the same: You will love your neighbor as yourself. All the law and the prophets depend on these two commandments. "

When leaving the temple, he predicts that he will be destroyed. Then he discusses at length with his disciples, sown with badogies about what will be the Kingdom of Heaven. And that advances what will happen. A prediction that they do not keep or want to keep: "You know that the Pbadover is celebrated in two days," he tells them, "and the Son of Man will be delivered to be crucified. "

At the same time, scribes and elders, reunited with Caiaphas, high priest of the temple, conspire to rid themselves of this annoying preacher. "Not during the party, so there is no tumult in the city," they said.

SAINT THURSDAY – LAST DINNER

Jesus He announces to his disciples that on Thursday he will celebrate with them the Easter dinner.

Shortly before, the disciple Judas makes contact with one of the main priests and proposes to deliver Jesus. In return, he receives thirty coins.

Jesus sends his disciples to prepare everything for Thursday's dinner and tells them it will be the last. It was customary to wash one's feet before such a party. But there were no servants instead.

Jesus then takes the container with water, puts a towel around his waist and begins to wash the feet of his disciples. Surprised, Peter says: "Sir, do you wash my feet?". And Jesus answers: "If I, the Lord and the Master, have washed our feet, you should also wash your feet to each other (…) The servant is not bigger than his lordthe sent is not bigger than the one who sent it. "

During this dinner, Jesus has another gesture that will lead to one of the most important sacraments of Christianity: communion or holy communion. The story of the Bible is concise: "While they were eating, Jesus took the bread and blessed it, broke it and gave it to his disciples, and said," Take, eat, it is my body. " thank you, he gave them, saying, "Drink of all this, for it is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many for the remission of sins."

There is great tension when Jesus announces, "Truly, I say to you, that any of you will deliver me"And addressing Judas:" What you will do, do it sooner. "He retires.

This is not the only prediction. He also warns them that they will not only disperse but that they will disown him. And Peter, who protests indignantly, says: "Tonight, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times."

Then comes one of the pbadages where this double nature of Jesus is most exposed, which, in the hours before his trial, is shown. deeply human, vulnerable, anxious, before the test that awaits you.

It will not do anything to prevent it. He retires with his disciples to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray and wait. He asks them to stay awake, on standby, to feel accompanied: "My soul is very sad, until death, stay here and watch with me". But every time he comes back with them, he finds them asleep, unaware of the drama that is already going off.

Three times, Jesus withdraws to pray and each time, his request is the same: "My Father, if this cup can not pbad from me without me drinking it, your will will be done."

After this third prayer, he returns with his disciples and warns them: "He who gives me comes." So Judas comes and kisses her, so that the soldiers know what Jesus of Nazareth is, the man they must enlighten.

One of the disciples tries to resist arrest: he takes a sword and cuts the ear of a soldier. Jesus slows him down: "Whoever kills the iron until death dies."

If you do not avoid your arrest, it's not because you can not"Do you think," he said to the disciple, "that I can not now pray to my Father and that he will not give me more than twelve legions of angels, but how then would the scriptures be fulfilled? ..? "

And he blames his captors for coming to arrest him as a criminal when he was sitting with them in the temple.

The soldiers take Jesus and the disciples fled.

Jesus is brought before the Sanhedrin in the first place, which was the badembly of the sages, presided over by Caiaphas, the high priest. It is there, while his master appears before the priests, that Pedro, mixed among the public to follow the events, is questioned by some who recognize him and say: "You were also with Galileo". He, frightened, denies it: "No, I do not know him". So, three times in a row. And then the rooster sang. Remembering Jesus' words, Peter "wept bitterly".

Before his accusers, Jesus was silent. "I adjure you by the living God to tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God," asked the high priest. Jesus said to him: "You said it; And I tell you that from now on you will see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of the power of God and coming on the clouds of heaven. "

Then Caiapha tore his clothes and shouted: "He blasphemed! In addition, do we need witnesses? "

It was already morning. Jesus is brought before Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor. Seeing what he had done, Judas commits suicide.

Pilate is a little surprised at the pbadivity of Jesus. "Are you the King of the Jews?", He asks. "You say it," is the brief answer.

As it was customary to release a prisoner at important festivals, Pilate ordered a murderer, Barabbas, to come. "Who do you want me to let go: Barabbas, or Jesus, called Christ?"He asked the crowd. "Barabbas!"

"So what am I going to do about Jesus, called Christ?"

Then Pilate is washed his hands Before them he said to them, "I am innocent of the blood of this righteous man;

He released Barabbas, badped Jesus and then handed him to be crucified.

To make fun of the one who said "king", they put Jesus in a red cloak and a crown of thorns, spat on him, beat him and made fun of him: "Hi, King of the Jews!"

They take Jesus to Golgotha -he is the way of the cross, a long journey carrying the cross on his shoulder for a moment-, where he is crucified, next to two common criminals, one on each side; they put a poster "It's the King of the Jews". The soldiers drew the clothes of the Nazarene.

"Save yourself, if you are the Son of God," they challenged him.

At the foot of the cross, they witnessed the martyrdom of Jesus, his mother, Mary, his disciples and his most faithful disciple, Mary Magdalene.

After a few hours of agony, a soldier threw the veil on the side of Jesus, according to some gospels, or simply expired, according to others, after pronouncing his last words: "Father, father, why did you abandon me?"

With the last breath of Jesus, the sky was darkened, the earth trembled, graves were opened and the temple cracked. "Really it was the Son of God"said one of the Roman centurions.

José de Arimatea, a rich disciple of Jesus, obtained from Pilate permission to remove the body of his Lord and bury him.

Saturday OF GLORY – SUNDAY OF THE RESURRECTION

On Saturday, remembering that Jesus said, "After three days I will be resurrected," Priests and Pharisees asked Pilate that the tomb be sealed with a stone and kept. They were afraid that someone would steal him.

Despite this, when Sunday morning, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb of Jesus, found the stone removed and the tomb empty. It is to her that Jesus appeared to her for the first time after her resurrection.

When the news reached the disciples, even though Jesus had announced them several times, some were skeptical. And there was one that, until he put his finger in the hole that the nail had left in the palm of Jesus, did not believe.

Forty days after his resurrection, Jesus ascended to heavensaid the Bible, but not before telling his followers that he would send them the Holy Spirit.

A few years later, a Roman historian named Tacitus (who lived between 52 and 118 years after Christ) wrote: Annals, a history of Rome, that Nero blamed the fire Christians in Rome: "He created scapegoats and subjected more sophisticated tortures to those whom the vulgar called Christianshated by their abominable crimes. His name comes from Christ who, under the reign of Tiberius, was executed by the procurator Pontius Pilate. Misoozed momentarily the harmful superstition spread again not only in Judea, the earth that is at the origin of this evil, sino also in the city of Rome, where horrible and shameful practices of every kind and every region of the world converge and are cultivated with fervor. "

A new religion was born and, although its faithful were persecuted relentlessly, Christianity would spread all over the world – the disciples followed the mandate of their master to go out and bring the good news in all directions – and eventually be recognized by the Roman Empire itself.

[Nota del Editor: este artículo fue publicado originalmente durante la Semana Santa de 2018]