Holy Week is the last week of Jesus' earthly life, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. On Sunday He rode into Jerusalem to shouts of "Hosanna to the Son of David" (Matthew 21:9). On Monday He cleansed the temple, on Tuesday He taught, and on Wednesday Judas agreed to betray Him. On Thursday He washed the disciples' feet and gave the Lord's Supper, on Friday He was crucified, on Saturday He lay in the tomb, and on Sunday the angel said, "He is not here: for he is risen" (Matthew 28:6). In 2027, Palm Sunday is March 21 and Easter is March 28.
About a third of the four Gospels covers just one week. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John slow down when they reach Jerusalem, and they record the last days of Jesus almost hour by hour. Christians call this week Holy Week. It begins on Palm Sunday and ends with the resurrection on Easter morning, and the days in between have their own names: Holy Monday, Holy Tuesday, Spy Wednesday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday. This page walks through the week one day at a time, with a King James verse for each day and a short note on what happened. The Gospels give the order of events clearly for Sunday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday morning. For Monday to Wednesday, Bible teachers follow Mark's careful day markers (Mark 11:12, 11:20 and 14:1), and a few details are placed slightly differently by different scholars, so we note where that is the case. For more verses on each day, see Bible verses about Palm Sunday, Bible verses about Good Friday and Bible verses about Easter. The words Jesus spoke from the cross have their own page: the seven last words of Jesus.
Palm Sunday to Wednesday: the King comes to Jerusalem
1. Matthew 21:9
"And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest."
Palm Sunday. Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, fulfilling Zechariah 9:9, and the crowds spread garments and branches on the road. John says they were palm branches (John 12:13), which is where the name Palm Sunday comes from. The people cried Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. Hosanna means save now. They were quoting Psalm 118, a psalm pilgrims sang at the feasts. The crowd welcomed a king, but most of them expected a king who would drive out Rome, not one who would die.
2. Mark 11:17
"And he taught, saying unto 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."
Monday. The next morning Jesus cursed a fig tree that had leaves but no fruit (Mark 11:12-14), and then He went into the temple and drove out the money changers. He quoted Isaiah 56:7 and Jeremiah 7:11: My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer? but ye have made it a den of thieves. The outer court, the one place where Gentiles could pray, had been turned into a market. Holy Monday is a day to ask what has crowded prayer out of our own lives.
3. Matthew 22:37
"Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind."
Tuesday. Tuesday was a long day of teaching in the temple courts. Religious leaders tried to trap Jesus with questions about His authority, taxes to Caesar and the resurrection. When a lawyer asked which commandment was the greatest, Jesus answered, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. Most teachers also place the parables of Matthew 21 to 25 and the Olivet discourse, His teaching on the last days, on this day. Mark marks it with the withered fig tree seen in the morning (Mark 11:20).
4. Matthew 26:15
"And said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver."
Wednesday. Mark says the Passover was two days away (Mark 14:1). Around this time a woman anointed Jesus with costly ointment at Bethany, and Judas Iscariot went to the chief priests and asked, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? They agreed on thirty pieces of silver, the price Zechariah 11:12 had named. Because of this secret deal, some churches call the day Spy Wednesday. The Gospels do not tell us much else about Wednesday; Jesus may have spent it quietly at Bethany.
Maundy Thursday: the towel, the bread and the garden
5. John 13:5
"After that he poureth water into a bason, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded."
Maundy Thursday: the towel. On Thursday evening Jesus ate the Passover with the twelve in an upper room. Before the meal, He got up, laid aside His garments, tied a towel around Himself, and began to wash the disciples' feet. Washing feet was a servant's job. Peter protested, and Jesus told him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me (John 13:8). The Lord of glory knelt at the feet of the men who would run away that same night, including Judas.
6. John 13:34
"A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another."
Why it is called Maundy Thursday. After washing their feet, Jesus said, A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. In Latin, commandment is mandatum, and the English word maundy comes from it. Maundy Thursday is literally Commandment Thursday. The new part is the measure: as I have loved you. Many churches hold a foot-washing service on this night to remember both the towel and the command.
7. Luke 22:19
"And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me."
The Lord's Supper. During the Passover meal Jesus took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and said, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. Then He took the cup and spoke of the new covenant in His blood (Luke 22:20). Passover remembered the lamb whose blood protected Israel in Egypt. Jesus gave the meal a new center: Himself. Christians still keep this meal as Communion, the Lord's Supper or the Eucharist. See Bible verses about Communion.
8. Matthew 26:39
"And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt."
Gethsemane. After the meal they sang a hymn and went out to the Mount of Olives (Matthew 26:30). In the garden of Gethsemane Jesus fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt. The disciples fell asleep three times. Late that night Judas arrived with a crowd carrying swords and staves, betrayed Jesus with a kiss, and Jesus was arrested and taken to the high priest. Peter denied Him before the rooster crowed.
Good Friday to Easter Sunday: the cross, the tomb and the empty grave
9. Luke 23:33
"And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left."
Good Friday. Through the night and early morning Jesus stood trial before the high priest and council, then before Pilate, Herod and Pilate again. Pilate found no fault in Him but gave in to the crowd. Jesus was scourged, mocked and led out carrying His cross. Mark says it was the third hour, about nine in the morning, when they crucified Him (Mark 15:25). And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left. Calvary comes from the Latin for skull, Golgotha in Hebrew.
10. John 19:30
"When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost."
The ninth hour. From the sixth hour to the ninth, noon to three, darkness covered the land (Matthew 27:45). Jesus spoke seven times from the cross, and the last sayings came at the end: It is finished, and then, in Luke, a prayer committing His spirit to the Father. He bowed his head, and gave up the ghost. The veil of the temple tore in two. Before sunset Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus took the body down and laid it in a new tomb in a garden (John 19:38-42), because the sabbath was about to begin.
11. Luke 23:56
"And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the sabbath day according to the commandment."
Holy Saturday. The women who had followed Jesus from Galilee saw where He was laid. And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the sabbath day according to the commandment. On this day the chief priests asked Pilate for a guard, and the stone was sealed (Matthew 27:62-66). Holy Saturday is the quiet day of the week, a day of grief and waiting. Many Christians keep it in silence, or hold an Easter vigil after dark that ends with the first announcement of the resurrection.
12. Matthew 28:6
"He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay."
Easter Sunday. Very early on the first day of the week, the women came to the tomb with their spices. There had been an earthquake, the stone was rolled away, and an angel sat on it. He said, He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. That same day Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene, to two disciples on the road to Emmaus and to the disciples behind locked doors. Holy Week ends where the Christian faith begins: with an empty tomb. See Bible verses about the resurrection of Jesus.
A short prayer
Lord Jesus, You rode into Jerusalem knowing where the week would end. Thank You for the towel and the basin, for the bread and the cup, for Your prayer in the garden and for the cross You carried for me. Teach me to love as You have loved, to pray not my will but Yours, and to wait through the quiet Saturdays of life for Your Sunday morning. You are risen, as You said. Amen.
Go deeper: a SOAP study prompt
Pick one verse above and write: - Scripture: copy the verse by hand. - Observation: what does it say? Who is speaking, to whom? - Application: what does it mean for you today? - Prayer: turn it into a two-line prayer.
New to this method? See our Bible study guide or pick a Bible reading plan.
Get the free Scripture writing plan · Pray through the week with the 30-Day Prayer Journal · Track your Holy Week reading with the free Bible reading tracker
Frequently asked questions
When is Holy Week in 2027?
In 2027, Holy Week runs from Palm Sunday, March 21, to Easter Sunday, March 28. Maundy Thursday is March 25, Good Friday is March 26 and Holy Saturday is March 27. Lent begins earlier, on Ash Wednesday, February 10, 2027. Easter moves every year because it is set by the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after the spring equinox (as Western churches calculate it). Orthodox churches use the older Julian calendar, so their Holy Week often falls later.
What is Maundy Thursday?
Maundy Thursday is the Thursday of Holy Week, the night of the Last Supper. Jesus washed His disciples' feet, gave them the bread and the cup, and said, "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another" (John 13:34). Maundy comes from mandatum, the Latin word for commandment. Later that night He prayed in Gethsemane and was arrested. Many churches hold Communion or a foot-washing service on Maundy Thursday.
What happened on Holy Saturday?
Holy Saturday is the day Jesus' body lay in the tomb. It was the sabbath, so His followers rested, as Luke 23:56 says, while the chief priests had the tomb sealed and guarded. Scripture records very little about this day, and that silence is part of its meaning. It is a day of grief and waiting between the cross and the resurrection. Many churches keep an Easter vigil on Saturday night.
Was Jesus crucified on a Friday?
Most Christians, following the Gospels' statement that the next day was the sabbath (Mark 15:42), have understood the crucifixion to be on a Friday, with the resurrection on Sunday. Jesus spoke of three days and three nights (Matthew 12:40), which in Jewish reckoning could count any part of a day as a day. A minority of Bible teachers place the crucifixion on Wednesday or Thursday. The Gospels agree on what matters most: He died, He was buried, and He rose on the first day of the week.
Sources: All Scripture quotations are from the King James Version (KJV), public domain in the United States. References were checked against the KJV text from bible-api.com.
Related: Palm Sunday · Good Friday · Easter · Resurrection of Jesus · Seven last words of Jesus · Communion · Lent · The cross · The Old Rugged Cross · What is Ash Wednesday
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