On Friday the Lord arrived at the home of Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, in the little village of Bethany, which is 1 and 7/8 miles from Jerusalem. The Lord Jesus arrived in Bethany early on Friday to permit Martha and Mary time to prepare supper for Him. This meal was not served until after the sun had set and a new day had dawned. When Mary took the pound of ointment of spikenard and poured it on Jesus’ feet and then wiped them with her hair, the Sabbath had already begun. This was the first phase of the selection of Paschal Lamb, which God’s law said must be done on the tenth day of the month.

On Saturday the day on which God’s law said that the acceptable "lamb without blemish" must be selected and set apart. Christ began the day by presenting Himself to Israel as her King. He was recognized as such. But then He was rejected. Mark tells us that "Jesus entered into Jerusalem and into the temple: and when he had looked around about all things, and now the eventide was come, he went out unto Bethany with the twelve." (Mark 11:11) It was the Sabbath so all was quiet in the temple, so the Lord just inspected His house and then withdrew Himself to Bethany as the sun began to sink in the west.

On Sunday before the Passover, Jesus reentered Jerusalem and in doing so He fulfilled the prophecy from Zechariah, which describes a triumphant King who comes to Zion riding on an ass. (Zechariah 11:9) He was greeted in the streets with crowds of people waving palm branches symbolizing victory and crying "Hosanna; Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord:" (Mark 11:9). The Lord went to the temple where to the temple merchants it was a time of business. There were many thousands of pilgrims present in Jerusalem. They had come from all over the Roman Empire. Many only had Roman money or money from their homeland and this money had to be exchanged for shekels. Also there were some who traveled too far to bring animals for sacrifice so animals needed to be purchased as well. So on this first day of the week, the money-changers and merchants were in their booths early. No doubt they were calling out to the pilgrims who passed into the temple courts, hawking their merchandise and services. It is no wonder that the Lord Jesus Christ, in righteous anger, said to them, "Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer? But ye have made it a den of thieves." Mark 11:17. And in this we see the fulfillment of the prophecy of Malachi 3:1. "And the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts."

On Monday the Lord and His disciples entered again into Jerusalem, and went into the temple court. Here there were a long series of encounters with those who sought to discredit our Lord’s testimony. The chief priests and the scribes attacked Him in an effort to entrap Him in His own words. They first asked Him the source of His authority to do "these things." And by this, they doubtlessly referred to His cleansing of the temple the day before. Immediately the Lord brought out clearly His source for authority when He asked, "The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men? Answer me." Mark 11:30. That statement ended that line of questioning but not the end of the encounter. The Lord then related the parable of the hedged vineyard and the wicked husbandmen. Next it was the Pharisees’ turn, and they joined forces with their old enemies, the Herodians. They concocted a brilliant scheme to place the Lord Jesus Christ at odds with the Roman authorities and thus remove Him from the scene. Then the Sadducees came and tried their hand. The result was the same. The day finally drew on toward sunset after all had their turn to try to entrap Christ. All comers had been silenced. But their hatred had now crystallized. The Lord’s hour was approaching. Things were moving rapidly toward that rendezvous with the cross. The Lord Jesus Christ and the twelve had climbed the slopes of the Mount of Olives at the close of Monday. While they were there, the Master had delivered His discourse, which included the prophecy of the coming destruction of the temple and the city.

On Tuesday the chief priests and the scribes sought to put Him to death. But they decided not to do it on the feast day because there might be an uproar of the people. That evening after the Lord delivered the Olivet Discourse the Lord and His disciples came down off the mountain and again headed toward Bethany. This time they went to the house of Simon the Leper. It was at this house that the Lord was anointed the second time by a woman with an alabaster flask, who opened it and poured an expensive ointment over Jesus’ head. This was our Lord’s last day of freedom before his arrest and crucifixion.

On Wednesday the lamb had been slain and roasted and was now ready in the upper room. The Lord Jesus Christ and his disciples arrived early after sunset and partook of the Passover feast. "And when the hour was come, he sat down, and the twelve apostles with him. And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer: For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God." Luke 22:14-16. It was on the occasion of this evening that the disciples’ feet were washed, the Lord's supper was instituted, and that wonderful discourse of our Lord was given beginning with the words: "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me." John 14:1. The Lord Jesus Christ knew that Judas was anxious to bring the soldiers to arrest Him. So when the supper had progressed to a certain point, the Lord said to him, "That thou does, do quickly." John 13:27. This gave the betrayer an opportunity to get away and carry out his unholy purpose. Jesus also foretold that Peter would deny him that very night. All the disciples stood with Peter in asserting their loyalty even unto death. Finally, Jesus led the disciples out to Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives where He prayed that if it were possible, the hour might pass from him.