Almanac › Time & the calendar

Holy Week

Also called Passion Week.

Nine days, from the arrival at Bethany to the empty tomb, and about a third of all four Gospels.

Mark counts the days for us: “the next day”, “in the morning”, “two days before the Passover”, “the Preparation Day, that is, the day before the Sabbath”. The other Gospels fill in what happened inside each one. Each evening Jesus left the city for Bethany or the Mount of Olives, and each morning he came back to teach in the temple. A Jewish day begins at sunset, so the supper, the arrest, the trials, the cross and the burial all fall within one day, the day before the Sabbath. The Gospels do not agree on everything: John puts the anointing earlier and has Jesus die as the Passover lambs were killed, a day ahead of the other three. The drawing follows Mark and notes where the others differ.

Holy Week, day by day
  • The Temple
  • The city
  • Outside the walls
  • after sunset, the next Jewish day
SatDay 1

“Six days before the Passover” John 12:1

  • Arrives at Bethany, where Lazarus lives Outside the walls: Bethany · John 12:1–2
  • Mary anoints his feet Outside the walls: Bethany · John 12:3–8

John puts the anointing here; Mark tells it after “two days before the Passover” (Mark 14:1–3).

Night Bethany John 12:1

SunDay 2

“On the next day” John 12:12

  • Rides into Jerusalem on a colt Outside the walls: Mount of Olives · Mark 11:1–10
  • Looks round at everything in the temple The Temple: Temple · Mark 11:11

Night Bethany Mark 11:11

MonDay 3

“The next day” Mark 11:12

Matthew tells the cleansing straight after the entry, on Sunday (Matthew 21:12).

Night Out of the city Mark 11:19

TueDay 4

“In the morning” Mark 11:20

  • Finds the fig tree withered Outside the walls: Road from Bethany · Mark 11:20–25
  • Questioned on authority, taxes, the resurrection; the widow’s two coins The Temple: Temple · Mark 11:27–12:44
  • Foretells the temple’s fall Outside the walls: Mount of Olives · Mark 13:1–37

Night Mount of Olives Luke 21:37

WedDay 5

“Two days before the Passover” Mark 14:1

  • The chief priests plot to seize him The city: City · Mark 14:1–2
  • Anointed at Simon the leper’s house Outside the walls: Bethany · Mark 14:3–9
  • Judas agrees to betray him The city: City · Mark 14:10–11

No day is named. “Two days before” is counted back from the Passover, so the day is an inference.

Night not stated

ThuDay 6

“The first day of unleavened bread, when they sacrificed the Passover” Mark 14:12

Night Under arrest Mark 14:53

FriDay 7

“The Preparation Day, that is, the day before the Sabbath” Mark 15:42

Night The tomb Mark 15:46

SatDay 8

“On the Sabbath they rested” Luke 23:56

Night The tomb

SunDay 9

“Very early on the first day of the week” Mark 16:2

  • The women find the tomb empty Outside the walls: The tomb · Mark 16:1–8
  • Two walk to Emmaus, sixty stadia Outside the walls: Emmaus road · Luke 24:13–35
  • Appears to the disciples that evening The city: City · Luke 24:36–43

Night not stated

Friday, sunset to sunset

As a Jewish day, Friday begins at sunset on Thursday, so the supper is its first act. Mark gives the hours, counted from sunrise: crucified at the third hour, darkness from the sixth to the ninth, death at the ninth. The burial had to be finished before sunset began the Sabbath.

Friday as one Jewish day From sunset on Thursday to sunset on Friday: The supper, Gethsemane, the arrest, Before Caiaphas; Peter denies him, Council at daybreak, Before Pilate, On the cross, Buried before the Sabbath, with darkness over the land from the sixth hour to the ninth. night darkness over the land · Mark 15:33 sunset 6 pm midnight 12 am sunrise 6 am 3rd hour 9 am 6th hour noon 9th hour 3 pm sunset 6 pm The supper Mark 14:17 Gethsemane, the arrest Mark 14:32–46 Before Caiaphas; Peter denies him Mark 14:53–72 Council at daybreak Mark 15:1 Before Pilate Mark 15:1–15 On the cross Mark 15:25–37 Buried before the Sabbath Mark 15:42–46 Thursday evening Friday evening · the Sabbath begins

The hours are Mark’s, and the clock times beneath them are approximate. A Jewish hour was a twelfth of the daylight, so it was longer in summer than in winter.

Two readings: was the supper the Passover?

Mark, Matthew and Luke: yes. It is eaten on “the first day of unleavened bread, when they sacrificed the Passover” (Mark 14:12).

John: the Passover is still to come on Friday morning. The priests stay out of the Praetorium “that they might eat the Passover” (John 18:28), so Jesus dies on “the Preparation Day of the Passover” (John 19:14), as the lambs are killed.

Two readings: what time was the crucifixion?

Mark: “It was the third hour when they crucified him” (Mark 15:25).

John: Jesus is still before Pilate “at about the sixth hour” (John 19:14). Some explain the gap by different ways of counting the hours, others by the round numbers of an age without clocks.

Two readings: Friday or Wednesday?

Friday is the traditional reading of “the day before the Sabbath” (Mark 15:42), with the Sabbath being the weekly one.

Wednesday or Thursday is argued from “three days and three nights” (Matthew 12:40). On this reading the Sabbath of Mark 15:42 is the feast’s first day, not the weekly Sabbath.

Not a word scripture uses. A reading aid, not a name the text uses. The week is the church's name for the days the Gospels narrate from Jesus' arrival at Bethany to the resurrection.

Disputed. Mark, Matthew and Luke make the supper the Passover meal; John has the Passover still to come on Friday morning (John 18:28). A minority reading puts the crucifixion on Wednesday or Thursday, to fit “three days and three nights” (Matthew 12:40).

Where it appears

See also

All 84 almanac entries