Passion, Resurrection and Ascension

Christian Religious Studies · WAEC and JAMB · SS2 and SS3

The final week of Jesus's life is the heart of the Christian faith and the most heavily examined narrative in the syllabus. You need the sequence of events in order, the names of the people involved, and the meaning Christians attach to the cross, the empty tomb and the ascension.

What you need to know

The week opened with the triumphal entry, when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a colt that had never been ridden, while crowds spread garments and branches and cried Hosanna to the Son of David. The manner of entry, on a donkey rather than a war horse, declared a king who comes in peace.
Jesus then cleansed the temple, driving out those who bought and sold and overturning the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves, saying His house should be a house of prayer but they had made it a den of robbers. This act hardened the resolve of the chief priests and scribes to destroy Him.
Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests and agreed to betray Him for thirty pieces of silver, looking for an opportunity to hand Him over away from the crowd.
At the Last Supper, a Passover meal in a prepared upper room, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it and gave it to them as His body, then took the cup as His blood of the covenant poured out for many. He announced that one of them would betray Him and told Peter that he would deny Him three times before the cock crowed.
In Gethsemane Jesus took Peter, James and John apart and prayed in agony that the cup might pass from Him, yet submitted to the Father's will. He found the three asleep three times and warned them to watch and pray so as not to enter into temptation.
Judas arrived with a crowd from the chief priests and identified Jesus with a kiss. A disciple drew a sword and cut off the ear of the high priest's servant, and Jesus rebuked the violence, saying those who take the sword perish by it; all the disciples then forsook Him and fled.
Jesus was tried first before the Jewish authorities, including Annas and the high priest Caiaphas with the council, where false witnesses disagreed until He was asked directly whether He was the Christ, the Son of the Blessed. His answer was taken as blasphemy, the high priest tore his garments, and they judged Him worthy of death, spitting on Him and striking Him.
In the courtyard Peter denied knowing Jesus three times, the last with cursing and swearing, and the cock crowed; Luke adds that the Lord turned and looked at Peter, who went out and wept bitterly. Judas, filled with remorse, returned the silver, which was used to buy the potter's field, and hanged himself.
Because the council could not carry out an execution, Jesus was taken to Pilate on a political charge of claiming to be a king. Pilate found no fault in Him, Luke records a hearing before Herod Antipas, and at the feast custom Pilate offered the crowd a choice and they demanded Barabbas; Pilate washed his hands, had Jesus scourged and delivered Him to be crucified, while the soldiers put on Him a scarlet robe and a crown of thorns and mocked Him as King of the Jews.
Simon of Cyrene was compelled to carry the cross to Golgotha, the place of a skull, where Jesus was crucified between two robbers under the inscription King of the Jews. Among the sayings from the cross are His prayer that the Father forgive them for they know not what they do, His word to the repentant thief about paradise, His entrusting of His mother to the beloved disciple, His cry of forsakenness, His thirst, His declaration that it is finished, and His commitment of His spirit to the Father.
Darkness covered the land from the sixth to the ninth hour, the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom, and the centurion confessed that this man was truly the Son of God. Joseph of Arimathea, a respected council member, asked Pilate for the body, wrapped it in linen and laid it in a new rock-cut tomb, and a stone was rolled across; Matthew adds that the tomb was sealed and guarded at the request of the chief priests.
Very early on the first day of the week women came with spices and found the stone rolled away and the tomb empty, and were told by an angel that He had risen as He said and to go and tell His disciples and Peter. Peter and the beloved disciple ran to the tomb and found the linen cloths lying there.
The risen Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene, who at first took Him for the gardener, to two disciples on the road to Emmaus who recognised Him in the breaking of bread, to the disciples in a locked room, to Thomas eight days later, and to seven of them by the Sea of Tiberias where Peter was restored. Paul adds in 1 Corinthians 15 an appearance to more than five hundred at once.
Before leaving them Jesus gave the Great Commission to go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything He had commanded, with the promise of His presence to the end of the age. Acts 1 records that after appearing over a period of forty days He was taken up from the Mount of Olives while they watched, a cloud received Him, and two men in white asked why they stood gazing and promised He would come again in the same way.

Key terms

Passion: The suffering of Jesus from the agony in Gethsemane through His trials to His death on the cross.
Atonement: The reconciliation of sinners to God achieved by the death of Jesus in their place.
Resurrection: The rising of Jesus bodily from the dead on the third day, attested by the empty tomb and His appearances.
Ascension: The taking up of Jesus into heaven from the Mount of Olives forty days after His resurrection.
Great Commission: The command of the risen Christ to make disciples of all nations, baptising and teaching them.
Blasphemy: Speech held to insult God, the charge on which the Jewish council condemned Jesus.
Golgotha: The place of a skull outside Jerusalem where Jesus was crucified, also called Calvary.

Worked example

Describe the trial of Jesus before Pilate and state three lessons from Pilate's conduct.

Explain why Jesus was brought to Pilate at all, namely that the council could not execute and needed a political charge.
Narrate the hearing in order: the accusation, Pilate's questioning, his verdict of no fault, Herod in Luke, Barabbas, the scourging and the handing over.
Include Pilate's wife's dream and the washing of hands if you are answering from Matthew.
Then draw lessons from Pilate specifically, not from the crucifixion as a whole.

Answer: Having condemned Jesus for blasphemy, the Jewish council could not carry out an execution under Roman rule, so they brought Him to Pilate the governor with a political charge, saying He perverted the nation, forbade tribute to Caesar and claimed to be a king. Pilate asked whether He was the King of the Jews, and Jesus answered that it was as he said, but to the many accusations of the chief priests He made no reply, so that Pilate marvelled. Pilate declared that he found no fault in Him. Luke records that on learning Jesus was a Galilean Pilate sent Him to Herod Antipas, who questioned Him, mocked Him, arrayed Him in gorgeous apparel and sent Him back. Matthew records that Pilate's wife sent word about a dream warning him to have nothing to do with that just man. Following the custom of releasing a prisoner at the feast, Pilate offered the crowd Jesus or Barabbas, a notorious prisoner, and the chief priests persuaded the people to ask for Barabbas and to cry out that Jesus be crucified. Seeing that a riot was starting, Pilate washed his hands before the crowd, saying he was innocent of this man's blood, released Barabbas, had Jesus scourged and delivered Him to be crucified. Lessons: (i) knowing what is right is useless without the courage to do it, since Pilate repeatedly declared Jesus innocent and still condemned Him; (ii) leaders who fear losing position or popularity will sacrifice justice, as Pilate did under pressure from the crowd; and (iii) no ritual can transfer responsibility, because washing his hands did not clear Pilate of the decision he alone had authority to make.

The mistake to avoid

Candidates compress the trials into one and say Jesus was tried only before Pilate, or place Herod before Caiaphas. Keep the order: the Jewish hearing before Annas and Caiaphas with the council, then Pilate, then Herod in Luke's account, then Pilate again. Candidates also confuse Simon of Cyrene with Simon Peter, and say the ascension happened on Easter Sunday rather than after forty days of appearances.

In the exam

Questions ask you to describe one segment, such as the Last Supper, Gethsemane, the trial before the Sanhedrin, the crucifixion or the resurrection appearances, so read the question carefully and answer only that segment in full detail. Names and places earn marks: Caiaphas, Barabbas, Simon of Cyrene, Golgotha, Joseph of Arimathea, Emmaus, the Mount of Olives. Where lessons are asked, draw them from the character the question names rather than giving general comments on the crucifixion.