Tuesday Of Holy Week

Tuesday in Holy Week
March 26, 2013

Today our journey with Jesus through Holy Week takes us back to the Temple in Jerusalem and then to the Mount of Olives.

On Tuesday morning, Jesus and his disciples returned to Jerusalem. They passed the withered fig tree on their way, and Jesus taught them about faith.

At the Temple, the religious leaders aggressively challenged Jesus' authority, attempting to ambush him and create an opportunity for his arrest. But Jesus evaded their traps and pronounced harsh judgment on them: "Blind guides! ... For you are like whitewashed tombs—beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with dead people's bones and all sorts of impurity. Outwardly you look like righteous people, but inwardly your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness...Snakes! Sons of vipers! How will you escape the judgment of hell?" (Matthew 23:24-33)

Tuesday afternoon Jesus left the city and went with his disciples to the Mount of Olives, which overlooks Jerusalem due east of the Temple. Here Jesus gave the Olivet Discourse, an elaborate prophecy about the destruction of Jerusalem and the end of the age. He taught in parables using symbolic language about end times events, including his Second Coming and the final judgment.

Scripture indicates that Tuesday was the day Judas Iscariot negotiated with the Sanhedrin to betray Jesus (Matthew 26:14-16).

After a tiring day of confrontation and warnings about the future, once again, Jesus and the disciples stayed the night in Bethany.

Read More:

• The tumultuous events of Tuesday and the Olivet Discourse are recorded in Matthew 21:23–24:51, Mark 11:20–13:37, Luke 20:1–21:36, and John 12:20–38.

READINGS

Click on Scripture Lessons below for study links and resources for each individual pericope:

Isaiah 49:1-7Roman Catholic reading: Isaiah 49:1-6

Psalm 71:1-14Roman Catholic reading: Psalm 71:1-6, 15, 17

1 Corinthians 1:18-31

John 12:20-36Roman Catholic reading: John 13:21-33, 36-38

Reading and Studying the Text This Week

• Texts:
  • Illustrated lectionary readings at Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Year A, Year B, Year C.
  • Lectionary readings from the Episcopal Lectionary: BCP - RCL.
  • The Roman Catholic Lectionary for Mass (1998 USA Edition). At Felix Just S.J.'sThe Roman Catholic Lectionary For Mass - a site featuring comprehensive tables of editions of the Roman Catholic Lectionary.
  • ELCIC Worship Planning Calendar, lectionary citations with and without hymn suggestions, text and pdf formats.
  • PCUSA - Lectionary for Sundays and Festivals Scripture Reference.
• Commentary, Exegesis & Sermon Preparation (see also listings at individual scripture pages, linked in listings at top of page)
  • Preaching Helps (Holy Week Tuesday). Safiyah Fosua, United Methodist Church General Board of Discipleship, 2012.
  • John Shearman's Lectionary Resource, Holy Week Tuesday, 2009, Rev. John Shearman, Oakville, ON, Canada.
  • Kairos CoMotion Lectionary Discussion, Pre-Easter Tuesday. "A place of conversation regarding Progressive Christianity."
  • "Come, Walk with the Light," Samuel Zumwalt, St Matthew's Evangelical Lutheran Church, Wilmington, NC, 2007.
  • Wellspring of the Gospel, Tuesday in Holy Week, Catherine McElhinney and Kathryn Turner, Weekly Wellsprings.
  • "The Hour," sermon by Samuel D. Zumwalt, St. Matthew's Evangelical Lutheran Church, Wilmington, NC.
• A list of links to on-line Bibles and general Bible study resources.
• A list of links to scholarly and preaching discussion groups and their homepages.
• A list of links to other lectionary-based preaching and worship resources.

OnLine Worship and Liturgy Resources

• Resources and Images on The Text This Week's Holy Week Resources page.
• Lent and Easter links at Rev. Richard J. Fairchild's A Holy Easter.
• Complete Liturgies and General Worship Planning Resources:
  • LCA Worship Resources, Holy Week Tuesday, includes liturgy, hymn suggestions, notes on the readings, visuals, drama, "Talking with Children," etc. Lutheran Church of Australia.
  • Liturgies Online, Holy Week Tuesday, by Rev Moira Laidlaw, Uniting Church in Australia.
• Prayers, Prefaces, Litanies, etc:
  • Laughing Bird Liturgical Resources by Nathan Nettleton, South Yarra Community Baptist Church, Melbourne, Australia. Prayers, blessings, Eucharistic prefaces and scripture paraphrases.
  • Prayers of the People, Tuesday in Holy Week. General intercessions for Sundays and Feasts, by Ormonde Plater, Archdeacon of the [Anglican/Episcopal] Diocese of Louisiana.
  • Thematic, Intercessory and Scripture Prayers for the RCL, Year A, Year B, Year C, Vanderbilt Divinity Library.
• Graphics and Bulletin Materials:
  • Art in the Christian Tradition, Year A, Year B, Year C, Jean and Alexander Heard, Vanderbilt Divinity Library. Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial ShareAlike 3.0 License.
  • Images for this week's readings, Year B, Pitts Theology Library Digital Image Archive.
  • Scripture Introduction for Bulletin Insert, Holy Week Tuesday, 2010, Rev. John Shearman, Oakville, ON, Canada.
• Hymns and Music:
  • Hymnary.org: Tuesday of Holy Week, Year A, Year B, Year C, hymns, scores, media, information.
  • Hymn selections (United Methodist) and more from Hymnsite.com.
  • Hymns of the Spirit Three, Holy Week Tuesday, Richard E. Hurst, Universalist National Memorial Church.
• With Children:
  • Lectionary Puzzles, Holy Week Tuesday. Word search puzzles in RTF or plain text, by Reg McMillan, St.Stephen's Presbyterian Church, Peterborough, Ontario.
• A list of links to other lectionary-based preaching and worship resources.