UNIT 3 - LESSON 2:

THE SIGNIFICANT EVENTS LEADING UP TO THE DEATH OF

JESUS CHRIST
I. Context
• Our experiences define who we are as persons -- our way of thinking, feeling, acting and
valuing.
• Human experience is always communal, it is something that is shared, it is often shared with
the people we love.
• We share the beauty of life through our relationship with others and the world.
• Jesus shared His life with His disciples and He treasured His experiences with them.
• On His last times, he shared the beauty of life He experienced with them nd asked them to
treasure and remember Him and all the lessons he taught them.
II. Inspired Word of God
1. The text recounts that Jesus and His twelve disciples had one final meal together before His
arrest.
○ The Last Supper was Seder.
▪ A special meal that is traditionally eaten by Jews in celebration of the Feast of
the Passover and Unleavened Bread.
2. Jesus sends some of his disciples to Jerusalem to prepare His last meal.
○ A feast that commemorates the Exodus of the Jews.
3. Jesus speaks the prayer of blessings and offers the disciples bread to eat saying:
○ It is His body.
4. He then offers them wine to drink saying:
○ It is His blood of the covenant.
○ The disciples must do it in remembrance of Him.
Life-Changing Highlights
1. He predicted that He will suffer soon and it will be His last meal.
2. He gave His disciples symbols of remembrance for His body and His blood sacrificed on
behalf of all mankind.
3. Jesus provided a very important principle for living a Christian life:
○ The greatest are those who serve others, not those who expect to be served.
* The celebration of the Eucharist is to not only share His mission but also His dedication and
destiny symbolized by the cross.
III. Church Teachings
PART 1
• “Jesus gave the highest expression of His free offering of Himself at the meal shared with the
twelve apostles on the night He was betrayed. Jesus transformed this Last Supper with the
apostles into the remembrance of His voluntary offering to the Father for the salvation of
people” - CCC (610)
• The key to the Supper is in the gestures of breaking bread, distributing it to His followers and
sharing the cup of wine with the words that accompany them.
• “ The institution of the Eucharist is the great prayer of Jesus and the Church.” - Benedict XVI
• “God loves to the end. He gives His life up for each one of us, and He is proud of this and
wants to do this because He has love; ‘love to the end.’ ” - Pope Francis
• The Last Supper was an act of service.
• The Eucharist is the fruit of the death of Jesus, The Eucharist recalls, renews, and always
signifies, and proclaims Jesus’ death.
• Loving “to the end” means therefore, for Christ, loving through death and beyond the barrier
of death: loving as far as the extremes of the Eucharist.
PART 2: SIGNIFICANT EVENTS
1. The Plot to Kill Jesus
• The Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke)
○ Show that the Jewish authorities were plotting to kill Jesus two days before the Passover.
2. Jesus is Anointed by a Woman
• Two days before the Passover, in the house of Simon the leper, an anonymous woman
anoints Jesus' head with an expensive ointment.
• Despite the complaints, Jesus praises the woman by saying that the anointing is a
preparation for His burial,
• Jesus' feet is anointed by Mary of Bethany that takes place in that house of Martha, Mary,
and Lazarus (John's Gospel).
• Judas Iscariot was mentioned to have complained about the waste but Jesus refers to it
again as a part of His upcoming burial.
• Luke mentioned an anointing story wherein an anonymous sinful woman anoints Jesus'
feet, and a Pharisee complained because He let a sinful woman to touch Him but He
spoke of love and forgiveness.
3. The Last Supper
• The Gospels recount that Jesus and his twelve disciples had one final meal together
before His arrest.
• Seder
○ "The Last Supper"
○ Special meal that is traditionally eaten by the Jews in celebration of the Feast of the
Passover or Unleavened Bread.
• Jesus sent some disciples to Jerusalem to prepare for His last meal.
○ A feast that commemorates the Exodus of the Jews.
• He spoke the prayer of blessings and offered bread to His disciples saying:
○ "This is my body."
• He then offered them wine to drink saying:
○ "This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out to many."
• Matthew stresses that Jesus fulfills the Scriptures by offering His body and blood.
• Jesus explicitly said that they must do it in remembrance of Him and predicted the
denial of Peter (Gospel of Luke).
• Jesus washed the feet of disciples and then told them that He has given them an
example and they must do what He had done to them.
Lessons:
• Washing of Feet
○ Elucidate the relation between Jesus and his disciples, the relation of his disciples
with one another in humble service and the mission of the disciples to the world, a
humble, self-sacrificing love.
• The Last Supper
○ He gave freely the highest expression of offering Himself at the meal He
shared with His disciples, the night He was betrayed.
○ He transformed the Last Supper into the remembrance of His voluntary
offering to the Father for the salvation of the people.
4. The Betrayal of Judas and The Arrest of Jesus
• Following the Last Supper, after the final part of the Jewish hymn sung at the end of the
Passover celebrations, Jesus and His disciples set out for the Garden of Gethsemane.
○ Olive grove at the foot of Mount of Olives.
• On the way to Gethsemane, Jesus solemnly predicted that His followers would desert
Him and Peter would even deny Him.
• Upon the arrival, Jesus withdrew for a prayer in which He accepted the destiny decreed
by His Heavenly Father,
• He admonished His disciples to pray that they might even escape the coming trial.
• A group arrived to arrest Jesus.
○An armed troop sent by the Temple authorities (Synoptic Gospels).
○Regular police force of the Temple accompanied by a Roman army under its
commanding officer (John's Gospel.)
• The arrest of Jesus begins with a dramatic and intense moment when Judas Iscariot
identified his former master with a kiss (Synoptic Gospels).\
○ It emphasizes that Jesus alone is the victim while His followers escape. ○ Signifies
the regular greeting of a disciple to his rabbinical master.
• Judas addresses Jesus as "Rabbi".
• Iscariot is a surname (John).
○ "Man of Kerioth"
▪ Village in southern Judea.
• Synoptic Gospels agreed that Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus to the chief priests.
• Matthew specified that it was for "thirty pieces of silver".
• Luke and John cite the influence of Satan on Judas.
○ He showed the temple priests how Jesus could be arrested away from the public view.
5. The Trials of Jesus and His Condemnation
a. Religious Inquest by the Sanhedrin
• The Gospels recorded that Jesus was taken under arrest before the high priest and the
Sanhedrin.
○ Jewish governing council which judged Him to be deserving of death.
• He was arrested because He was regarded as one who provoked dissatisfaction with the
accepted religious and social order and posed a threat to the stability of the whole
region.
• The high priest and council condemned Jesus after the high priest asked Him whether
He claimed to be the Messiah and He said He is.
• His response was described as "blasphemy".
○ Speaking the holy and unutterable name of God,
○ Anything causing serious religious offense.
• Son of God
○ Used by some charismatic wonder-workers to describe themselves.
b. Political Trial by the Roman Procurator
• The Roman Procurator of Judea found Jesus guilty of rebellion.
○ He was accused of calling Himself or letting others call Him, "King of Jews".
• Pilate suspended his trial by sending Jesus to Herod Antipas. ○ The tetrarch of Galilee.
• During the Roman trial, Pilate recognized the innocence of Jesus and declared that he
found no case against Him.
○ To pacify the Jews, he suggested the whipping of Jesus, a lighter punishment and
wanted to release Him.
• Herod Incident
○ Only occurred in Luke,
○ Takes the place of the contempt of Roman soldiers.
• Herod, the ruler of Galilee, was at the time of Jesus' trial.
○ This was a neat plan by Pilate an act of reconciliation with Herod but he was
frustrated by Jesus' silence and sent him back to Pilate.
• At the end of the trial, Pilate agreed to condemn Jesus but he repeatedly asserted the
• At the end of the trial, Pilate agreed to condemn Jesus but he repeatedly asserted the
innocence of Jesus (Luke and John's Gospels).
○ His wife recognized that Jesus was a righteous man but the Jews wanted Him
crucified.
• Pilate then washed his hand and declared that the Jews must take responsibility for the
death of Jesus.
c. The Charges and Accusations
• He is associated with the outcasts and the sinners and therefore, by implication, was
a sinner himself.
○ Jesus' understanding of His mission brought Him closer and closer in contact with the
unfortunate, ignored, despised, and even sinners, whom He saw as someone needing His
help and the mercy and forgiveness of God.
• He was accused of not observing the Law of Moses. ○ He healed a sick on a Sabbath
day,
• He was accused of blasphemy.
○ He spoke of God in the most personal way that in the eyes of the Jewish leaders
was blasphemy because He made himself equal to God.
• He was accused of being a threat to the security of the nation.
○ Jewish leaders feared that the Roman would do what they had done before
and
destroy any opposing movement with great cruelty.
○ Jewish leaders used this as an excused to get rid of Jesus.
IV. Missionary Response
• People who shared something significant in our lives are worth remembering. They serve as
inspirations to us to live a meaningful life.
• Just like Theophile Verbist, CICM founder, shared a very beautiful mission to them that they
continue spreading through out the world.
• We, too, who believe in Jesus' words and actions, must continue remembering and witnessing
to the words and deeds of Jesus as well as the significant persons who made a difference in our
lives.
• We do this by:
1. Participating actively in the celebration of the Holy Eucharist
2. Praying religiously for people who guide us live meaningfully Iike the religious,
trusted leaders of our community and nation as a whole
3. Supporting noble endeavors of the community and nation as a whole
4. Being honest at all times and avoiding doing things that are not right