With the exception of the Last Supper and the Garden of Gethsemane, the passion week remained a public week for Jesus right up to His crucifixion. His death was very public. His trials bounced from leader to leader with stops before the crowds clamoring for His death. He carried His cross through the public streets and died in a public place of execution. His death made news throughout the entire city and beyond.
Remember the two disciples on the road to Emmaus the next Sunday who, not suspecting their guest was Jesus, said, “Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem and unaware of the things which have happened here these days … concerning Jesus the Nazarene?” (Luke 24 18-19). Christ died a very public death.
So less than a week after Palm Sunday, the King was dead. Now silence. The dead King is buried. In the world’s eyes, the very public figure, who less than a week earlier accepted the multitude’s praise as Messiah King, is dead.
But something is stirring in our minds. What are we to make of the Isaiah 61 passage that launched Jesus’ public ministry? Jesus said it referred to Him. What are we to make of His claim to be God’s Son? And what about His own prediction that He would be “delivered up to the Gentiles to mock, scourge, and crucify Him, and on the third day He would be raised up.” (Matthew 20:19)? What are we to do with “the King is dead” but wait?
What happens next is dramatic in more ways than just the awesome miracle of the resurrection, as powerful and incredible as that was. How dramatic? We will talk about it next time.