📖 Biblical Definition
Passion Week is the final week of Christ’s earthly life — the most theologically dense seven days in human history. Sunday: the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem (Matthew 21:1-11). Monday: the cleansing of the temple and cursing of the fig tree (21:12-22). Tuesday: the day of controversies in the temple, the Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24-25). Wednesday: probably retirement at Bethany; Judas’s bargain with the priests. Thursday evening: the Last Supper, Gethsemane, the arrest, the night-trials before Annas and Caiaphas. Friday: the morning trials before Pilate and Herod, the crucifixion, the burial before sundown. Saturday: the Sabbath in the tomb. Sunday: the Resurrection. Every gospel devotes a disproportionate share of its pages to this week.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
PAS'SION, n.
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1. The suffering of our Savior. 2. Passion Week — the week immediately preceding Easter, commemorating the suffering and crucifixion of Christ.
📖 Key Scripture
Matthew 21:9 — "Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord."
Luke 22:20 — "This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you."
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."
Mark 16:6 — "He is risen; he is not here."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
The Gospels devote nearly half their text to one week; modern preaching often does not.
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The four Gospels are not biographies in proportion. They give some chapters to thirty years of obscurity in Galilee, more chapters to three years of public ministry, and almost half their total verses to a single week — the Passion Week. The Spirit's emphasis is unmistakable: the cross is the center, and the Resurrection is the vindication. Everything before this week leads to it; everything after flows from it.
Modern preaching often does not match this proportion. The early life of Christ, His parables, His Galilean ministry, His sayings of comfort — rich material, all of it. But if a pulpit goes a year without dwelling at length in the Passion Week, it has misweighted the Gospels. Let the Spirit's emphasis become yours: read Mark 11-16 in one sitting; John 12-21 in another. The week is dense; the meaning is permanent.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
Latin passio; Greek pascho (G3958).
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G3958 — pascho — to suffer
G3804 — pathema — suffering
Usage
"Half the Gospels covers one week; modern preaching often does not match the proportion."
"Everything before Passion Week leads to it; everything after flows from it."
"Read Mark 11-16 in one sitting; let the Spirit's emphasis become yours."