Holy Week: Yeshua's Last Night Before His Crucifixion & The 24 hours that Changed the World Forever

Shalom, friends. my name is Chadwick Harvey, and you've reached Faithful Performance. Thank you for joining us tonight as we explore Yeshua's last night before his crucifixion — the 24 hours that changed the world forever.

It's a fascinating study when we look at the gospel accounts of those last 24 hours. Tonight we'll be focused primarily in the book of John, the deity gospel that proves his divinity, and we'll supplement it with Matthew, Mark, Luke, and the Apostle Paul. As we go through this study, we'll discover that Yeshua accomplished his mission — won the victory through prayer and intercession as the High Priest — even before he went to the cross for our sins.

Tonight, at sundown, begins Nisan 14. This is the night Yeshua ate the Passover meal with his disciples. He had to eat the Passover meal at the beginning of Nisan 14 — at tonight's sunset — because he could not have eaten it tomorrow night and been on the cross at the same time. He ate the meal at the start of Nisan 14, proceeded through the day, was on the cross the next morning at 9:00 a.m., and gave up his spirit at 3:00 p.m. The Passover meal commanded in Leviticus 23 is celebrated at twilight on the back end of Nisan 14, not the front end. The Hebrew calendar runs from sunset to sunset, so tonight is the front side of Nisan 14, and tomorrow night at twilight is the Passover night. He would be in the tomb before that sunset, because the commandment required that he be taken off the cross before the Feast of Unleavened Bread began.

The primary texts for tonight's study are Matthew 26, Mark 14, Luke 22, and John 13 through 18. Walking through these accounts is how we walk in the footsteps of Yeshua — meditating on what he went through on this night 2,000 years ago, reliving what the disciples felt, and gaining the intimacy and revelation that the holy scriptures offer us.

Several key moments stand out in these passages. In Luke 22:15, Yeshua says to his disciples, "With desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you." He chose this divine appointment with sincere longing, so they would understand that he himself was the Passover Lamb. At this same gathering we encounter the bread and the wine — the new covenant, echoing Jeremiah 31 — and the foot washing recorded in John 13, which is Yeshua's demonstration of servant leadership, an example he gave us to follow, and which he gave on the very night before he went to the cross. This is also the moment Judas is identified and the betrayal begins.

John 13 through 17 contains the Upper Room Discourse, which concludes with the most powerful prayer in the holy Bible: the High Priestly Prayer of John 17. People sometimes forget that Yeshua is the High Priest. Just as the high priest had to fulfill certain ordinances and regulations before the sacrifice, Yeshua was doing the same. He was preparing himself — as both King and High Priest — for the sacrifice he would make for all of us within 24 hours.

The High Priestly Prayer in John 17 has three distinct layers. First, he prayed for himself: "Glorify your son." Second, he prayed for the disciples who walked with him. Third, he prayed for future believers — for you and me. This is the most important prayer in the Bible: offered by Yeshua the Messiah, encompassing himself, his immediate disciples, and all who would believe after them.

Then comes the Garden of Gethsemane. The word Gethsemane means "the oil press." This is where the olive is crushed and the oil flows — and on this night, it is where Yeshua was pressed. The primary texts are Matthew 26, Mark, and Luke. What he experienced there is something no one will ever fully comprehend, because he is the only one who could have endured it. He bore the entire weight of the world's sin.

He himself described what he was going through: "My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even unto death." This was not a fear of physical death. It was the weight of sin, the coming separation from the Father, and the wrath he would have to drink — the cup that was prepared for all of us. This is an Isaiah 53:10 moment, where the prophet declares, "It pleased the Lord to bruise him" — for our sake. John 3:16 puts it plainly: "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life." That night in the garden was the moment all of that was transpiring.

The physical toll was extreme. Luke 22:44 records that Yeshua was sweating drops of blood. This is the oil press at work. Medically, this condition is called hematidrosis — the body's response to extreme stress, where capillaries rupture into the sweat glands. He sweated blood because of the anguish, the turmoil, and the sorrow of heart that he described as extending even unto death.

In Matthew 26:39, he prays: "If it be possible, Adonai, let this cup pass from me — but not my will, but your will." The cup represents the wrath of God against sin, as described in Isaiah 51, Jeremiah 25, Psalm 22, and Isaiah 53. It represents the sin of the world he was about to take upon himself, and the separation from the Father that would follow. This is one reason why, on the Passover seder, we drink the four cups — in remembrance of the cup he had to drink for all of our sins.

In those final hours, Yeshua fully foresaw the betrayal by Judas, the beating he would receive, and the crucifixion itself. He saw what it meant to become sin for us, though he was without sin — the truth Paul declares in 2 Corinthians 5:21. And yet, in Luke 22:42, he speaks in total obedience to the Father: "Not my will, but your will be done." He gave up his own glory. He gave up his own life, so that he could be the Savior of all mankind, and so that we could inherit eternal life with him. It is truly amazing.