Why this worship guide? 

This post is an overview of the Holy Week Worship Guide. For those who are new to family worship there is a brief summary below to help get you started. I’ve also included a Scripture reference guide in this post to help you track the events of Holy Week as they unfold.

Observing Holy Week is not an obligation for believers (Rom 14:5; Col 2:16).  Yet it is an opportunity to focus our minds attention and our hearts affection on Jesus Christ.  Holy Week is the most important week in the earthly life of Jesus Christ.  This is reflected in the amount of space the Gospels devote to this part of Christ’s life and ministry.  The goal of this worship guide is to help you individually or with your family to worship Jesus Christ our Savior and King.  The best way to do that is to spend time in the Scriptures, prayer, and worship. 

For each day of Holy Week, I will post a worship guide. Each day you’ll find: 1) suggested readings, 2) discussion questions, 3) song suggestions, and 4) a short prayer guide.  It’s my hope that these posts will help you dig into God’s word and lead you into a greater love for Jesus Christ and desire to follow Him. 

What is Family Worship?

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be upon your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, ….”                              – Deuteronomy 6:5-7

God created the family to be the primary place children learn to love and obey God. Family worship is essential for that mission. As parents, we try to share our faith through unplanned teachable moments.  Yet, we also purposefully plan regular times to gather the family to worship God. The goal is to impress your children’s hearts with the goodness and greatness of God so that they want to follow Him.  Family worship is one of the primary ways we pass on our faith to our children, strengthen our relationships, and glorify God.

Family Worship has three basic components:

• Read God’s Word and discuss it. The Bible has saving and transforming power. Read with interest. Explain big words. Clarify key phrases. Talk about it together.
• Pray with and for one another.  In addition to other needs, let the passage guide your prayers. This helps you pray in fresh ways and trains the family by example how to pray.
• Sing together. Its amazing how children can remember such deep truths when set to music. Singing also deepens your heart connection as a family. You can use a hymnal, song sheets, or if singing is not your gift, use YouTube videos with lyrics to help you.
• Catechism (Optional).  A Catechism is a question-and-answer format for teaching theology.  We’ve found regularly working through a catechism to be tremendously helpful in training our kids.  We use this one: http://www.reformedreader.org/ccc/acbg.htm

Tips: Find the best time for your family. Be flexible. Keep it short. Be creative. Make it fun and interactive. Start small and be consistent. Remember, the goal is to turn your hearts to the Lord in worship. 

God wants to be worshiped in the hearts and homes of all His people. Therefore, family worship is for couples as well as parents. It’s for newlyweds and empty nesters and for parents with kids of all ages.  

Scripture Reference Guide to the Events of the Holy Week¹

¹Adapted from “The Final Days of Jesus” by Adreas J. Kostenberger and Justin Taylor, pages 23-26

Sunday

Jesus enters Jerusalem	Matt. 21:1-11; Mark 11:1-10; Luke 19:29-44; John 12:12-19
Jesus predicts his death	John 12:20-36
Jesus visits the temple	Matt 21:14-17; Mark 11:11

Monday

Jesus curses a fig tree	Matt 21:18-19; Mark 11:12-14
Jesus cleanses the temple	Matt 21:12-13; Mark 11:15-18; Luke 19:45-48

Tuesday

Jesus teaches the lesson from the fig tree	Matt 21:20-22; Mark 11:20-26
Jesus teaches and engages in controversies in the temple	Matt 21:23-23:39; Mark 11:27-12:44; Luke 20:1-21:4
Jesus predicts the future	Matt 24-25; Mark 13:1-37; Luke 21:5-36

Wednesday²

Jesus continues his daily teaching in the temple complex	Luke 21:37-38
The Sanhedrin plots to kill Jesus	Matt 26:3-5; Mark 14:1-2; Luke 22:1-2

² Authors note we don’t know for sure if these events occurred on Wednesday.  This is just one possible option.

Thursday

Jesus instructs Peter & John to secure a room in Jerusalem for the Passover meal	Matt 26:17-19; Mark 14:12-16; Luke 22:7-13
Jesus eats the Passover meal, predicts his betrayal, and institutes the Lord’s Supper	Matt 26:20-29; Mark 14:17-23: Luke 22:14-30
During supper Jesus washes the disciples feet and delivers the Farewell Discourse	John 13:1 – 17:26
Jesus and the disciples sing a hymn together, then depart to the Mount of Olives	Matt 26:30; Mark 14:26; Luke 22:39
Jesus predicts Peter’s denial	Matt 26:31-35; Mark 14:27-31; Luke 22:31-34
Jesus gives final practical instructions	Luke 22:35-38
Jesus and the disciples go to Gethsemane for a final prayer vigil late into the night	Matt 26:36-46; Mark 14:32-42; Luke 22:40-46

Friday

Jesus is betrayed & arrested (perhaps after midnight, early Friday morning)	Matt 26:47-56; Mark 14:43-52; Luke 22:47-53; John 18:2-12
Jesus trial before Annas (former high priest and Caiaphas’s father-in-law)	John 18:13-24
Jesus trial before Caiaphas & Sanhedrin	Matt 26:57-75; Mark 14:53-72; Luke 22:54-65; John 18:25-27
Peter denies Jesus and the rooster crows as predicted	Matt 26:69-75; Mark 14:54, 66-72; Luke 22:54-62; John 18:15-18, 25-27
Jesus is condemned to death by the full Sanhedrin and sent to Pontius Pilate	Matt 27:1-2; Mark 15:1; Luke 22:66-71
Judas Iscariot changes his mind, returns the silver, and hangs himself	Matt 27:3-10
Jesus has first trial before Pilate, is questioned and then sent to Herod Antipas	Matt 27:11-14; Mark 15:2-5; Luke 23:1-7; John 18:28-38
Jesus is questioned by Herod and then sent back to Pilate	Luke 23:8-12
Jesus has second trial before Pilate and is condemned to die	Matt 27:15-26; Mark 15:6-15; Luke 23:13-25; John 18:38-19:16
Jesus is mocked and marched to Golgotha	Matt 27:27-34; Mark 15:16-23; Luke 23:26-33; John 19:17
Jesus is crucified between two thieves	Matt 27:35-44; Mark 15:24-32; Luke 23:33-43; John 19:28-37
Jesus breathes his last	Matt 27:45-56; Mark 15:33-41; Luke 2344-49; John 19:28-37
Jesus is buried by Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus in a new tomb	Matt 27:57-61; Mark 15:42-47; Luke 23:50-56; John 19:38-42

Saturday

Religious Leaders post a Roman guard at the tomb with Pilate’s permission.

Matt 27:62-66

Sunday

Some women discover the empty tomb and are instructed by angels	Matt 28:1-7; Mark 16:1-7; Luke 24:1-7; John 20:1
The women go tell the disciples the news	Matt 28:8-10; Luke 24:8-11; John 20:2
Peter & John run to the tomb based on Mary Magdalene’s report and discover it empty	Luke 24:12; John 20:3-10
Mary returns to the tomb & encounters Jesus	John 20:11-18
Jesus appears to Cleopas and a friend on the road to Emmaus	Luke 24:13-35
Jesus appears that evening to the Eleven (minus Thomas) in Jerusalem	Luke 24:36-43; John 20:19-23

Later Appearances of Jesus and the Ascension

Jesus appears to the Eleven (with Thomas)	John 20:24-31
Jesus appears to some at the Sea of Galilee	John 21
Jesus gives the Great Commission	Matt 28:16-20 (see also Luke 24:45-49; John 20:21-23)
Jesus ascends into Heaven	Luke 24:50-53; Acts 1:9-11