Easter is a fun holiday. Jesus is risen, the Easter Bunny brought chocolate, and everyone’s wearing bright colors. But Holy Week? That’s a different story. It’s a week built around betrayal, death, and silence, all of which are essential to the Easter story but can easily get overlooked.
Many churches make a big deal of Holy Week. But if you didn’t grow up in church, or if you grew up in a church like mine, then you might be less familiar with the week before Easter Sunday.
Holy Week is the final week leading up to Jesus’ death and resurrection. It begins with Palm Sunday and leads to Easter, when Christians remember how Jesus laid down His life and was victorious over death.
In the sections ahead, we’ll take Holy Week one day at a time, focusing on the actual events in Jesus’ life and exploring why these days still mean something today. You don’t have to have a church background or a strong opinion about faith. You just need a little curiosity and a willingness to slow down before Easter.
Table of Contents
What Are the 7 Days of Holy Week?
Holy Week commemorates the days just before and after Jesus’ death, beginning with His final entry into Jerusalem and ending with the celebration of the resurrection.
- Palm Sunday: Jesus enters Jerusalem as crowds welcome Him (Matthew 21:1-11).
- Holy Monday: Jesus teaches and confronts corruption in the temple (Matthew 21:12-17).
- Holy Tuesday: Jesus continues teaching as tension with religious leaders grows (Matthew 21:23-27; Matthew 24:1-14).
- Holy Wednesday (also called Spy Wednesday): Judas agrees to betray Jesus (Matthew 26:14-16).
- Holy Thursday (also called Maundy Thursday): Jesus shares the Last Supper and washes His disciples’ feet (Luke 22:7-20; John 13:1-17).
- Good Friday: Jesus is crucified and buried (John 19:16-42).
- Holy Saturday: Jesus rests in the tomb as His followers wait in silence (Matthew 27:57-66).
Why Celebrate Holy Week?
Holy Week isn’t fun or comfortable, but it does bring us face to face with Jesus and the life He calls us to live.
Jesus’ death and resurrection are two of the most important events in the Bible, but Jesus didn’t just appear on the cross out of nowhere. Holy Week traces the path that led Jesus to the cross and helps explain why He was killed. Holy Week isn’t fun or comfortable, but it does bring us face to face with Jesus and the life He calls us to live.
If you’re new to the Jesus story, then Holy Week is a great introduction to what Jesus was like. We get to see how He undermined expectations, challenged corruption, taught boldly, and sacrificially cared for others.
The 7 Days of Holy Week Explained
1. Palm Sunday
Palm Sunday shows us that Jesus rejects the kind of power people are used to celebrating.
Holy Week started with a strange scene: Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a way-too-small donkey, with his feet practically dragging in the dirt. Why?
At that time, powerful rulers rode into town on sleek war horses, projecting their power through force. But Jesus was a different kind of king. He chose to undermine those symbols of domination and control as he entered the city.
Everyone in the crowd would have seen the contrast. Many would have recognized the fulfillment of an old prophetic hope about a humble king. And many brought their own hopes for freedom or revolution.
Together, they laid palm branches for the young donkey and its rider, honoring this new kind of humble king.
Want to see why Jesus entered Jerusalem this way and why it mattered?
2. Holy Monday
Holy Monday shows us that Jesus goes after injustice hiding within religion.
After entering Jerusalem, Jesus went to the temple, which was the center of religious life for His people.
During major festivals, people were required to offer sacrifices that met strict standards. To make that possible, merchants sold approved animals and exchanged money inside the temple courts. But corruption led to injustice, which made it impossible for those with fewer resources to worship according to these standards.
Jesus felt righteous anger and interrupted the entire operation. He overturned tables and brought the buying and selling to a stop.
Instead of challenging Roman power, Jesus challenged religious authorities, exposing how easily faith can turn into a self-serving system.
This is the day Jesus confronted empty religion.
3. Holy Tuesday
Holy Tuesday shows us that Jesus exposes leaders who protect their power rather than pursue truth.
On Tuesday, Jesus returned to the temple and spent the day teaching publicly. Religious leaders confronted Him and asked a fundamental question: “Who do You think You are to do any of this? Who gave You the right?”
Jesus responded with a question of His own: “Was John the Baptist sent by God, or was he just making things up?” Any honest answer would have cost the leaders control, so they refused to answer at all.
Jesus continued to teach, telling stories that challenged hypocrisy, irresponsibility, and the misuse of religious authority. The crowd listened closely. The leaders listened too, and recognized that He was publicly questioning who got to decide what counts as truth. The people in power didn’t like where that could have led.
4. Holy Wednesday (Spy Wednesday)
Holy Wednesday shows us how disappointment can turn into betrayal.
As tension around Jesus kept rising, Judas, one of His own followers, secretly met with religious leaders. We don’t know the reasons for sure, but it seemed like something about Jesus wasn't meeting Judas’ expectations. A likely reason is that Jesus wasn’t the kind of leader Judas was hoping for.
Judas agreed to betray Jesus for money. Nothing public happened that day, but the stage was set for Jesus’ arrest a few days later.
5. Holy Thursday (Maundy Thursday)
Holy Thursday shows us that leadership is about service, not control.
On this night, Jesus joined His closest friends to share a final meal, called the Last Supper. During the meal, He took bread and wine and connected them to His own life, telling His friends that this meal was how they would remember Him after He was gone.
Partway through dinner, Jesus got up from the table and did the job usually performed by the lowest servant: washing His disciples’ feet.
Later, Jesus prayed alone, fully aware that He was about to be arrested. He didn’t try to change the outcome or protect Himself. Instead, He prayed for the unity of His followers. This day ended with Judas’ betrayal and Jesus’ arrest by the priests.
Read the full Last Supper Bible story to see how the meal unfolded and what Jesus was preparing His friends for. It takes you through the whole scene step by step.
6. Good Friday
Good Friday shows us an upside-down enthronement in which Jesus rules by absorbing violence rather than inflicting it on others.
Jesus was arrested, interrogated, and executed on the cross. Death on a cross was a public way the Roman state said, “This is what happens when someone challenges the order of things.”
Jesus was lifted up where everyone could see Him. A sign was nailed above His head naming Him “King of the Jews.” Soldiers mocked Him with royal language while crowds looked on.
It sounds horrible, doesn’t it? It also sounds kind of like a grotesque version of a royal coronation. And that’s the point. The cross is where Jesus showed Himself as king. Not the kind of king the world is used to, but the kind of king it needs.
Jesus didn’t become king through praise, violence, or control; His kingship came through bearing the weight and cost of the world as it is and refusing to mirror back its violence.
This is the turning point of the entire biblical story.
Explore the crucifixion of Jesus and what it means for you and me.
7. Holy Saturday
Holy Saturday shows us a day with a sealed tomb and no next step.
Jesus was still dead. His body was sealed in a tomb, and the crowds were gone. Nothing interrupted the day because there was no next step to take.
Everyone experiences days like this at some point or another. They’re the kind when something horrible happens, and there’s nothing you can do to fix it. You can imagine Jesus’ followers must have sat together all day but not shared much conversation.
They might’ve been wondering things like, “If Jesus is God, how could He die?” or “Is Jesus really who I thought He was?” But many probably just spent the day in shock, too overwhelmed to think about anything.
Easter Sunday
Easter Sunday shows us why an executed teacher didn’t disappear from history.
Early in the morning, a few women returned to the place where Jesus was buried to deal with the body. But when they arrived, the tomb was open, and Jesus wasn’t there.
At first, no one celebrated. Instead, the women ran back to the disciples.
Even when Jesus later appeared to His followers, they didn’t really know what to do with what they saw. I mean, would you?
Jesus’ appearances on Easter aren’t super detailed. He appeared to Mary Magdalene, the disciples, and a pair of travelers heading out of Jerusalem. The first Easter wasn’t an organized celebration. It was more of a shocking, confusing, unbelievable collection of events.
Wondering why the resurrection stories don’t all sound the same?
Explore the full account of Jesus’ resurrection to find out.
Why Holy Week Matters
Easter is bright and joyful for good reason. Jesus is alive, and hope wins!
But Holy Week reminds us how we got there.
Before resurrection, there was betrayal, suffering, silence, and waiting. Jesus didn’t skip the hard parts of being human. As Holy Week reveals, He walked straight through the hard parts. And in doing so, He showed us what real love, leadership, and faith look like.
Reflect or Discuss
- Which day of Holy Week stands out to you the most, and why?
- What do you learn about Jesus from the way He handles power, suffering, and betrayal?
- How might slowing down before Easter to reflect on the events of Jesus’ last week change the way you experience Easter this year?