Holy Week
March 29 - April 4, 2026
Palm Sunday
Maundy Thursday
Good Friday
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The Triumphal Entry
John 12: 12-15 ESV
The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written,
“Fear not, daughter of Zion;
behold, your king is coming,
sitting on a donkey's colt!”
The Lord's Supper
1 Corinthians 11:23-26 ESV
For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.
The Death of Jesus
John 19: 28-30 ESV
After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
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Matthew 21:3 – “If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.”
Did Jesus really need the donkey? If the man had refused to give the donkey, would the work of salvation have been derailed? Of course not. But what an honor for the man who owned this donkey and foal!
Likewise, with us — the Lord needs none of us, but what an honor for God to choose to use our generosity in the work of His church.
LCMS Stewardship Bulletin Sentences
Holy Week - March 29-April 4, 2026
Palm Sunday
Isaiah 50:4–9a; Philippians 2:5–11; John 12:12–19; Matthew 26:1—27:66 or Matthew 27:11–66 or John 12:20–43
Now Is the Hour When the Son of Man Is Glorified
“Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming.” He comes in gentle humility, “sitting on a donkey’s colt,” yet also as the King of Israel “in the name of the Lord” (John 12:13, 15). His royal glory is faithful obedience and self-sacrificing service “to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:8). The love of God is manifested in the cross and Passion of His Son for the salvation of sinners.
Since He has borne our sins and suffered our death, “God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name” (Philippians 2:9), and He exalts us in His resurrection. Our Lord did not hide His face “from disgrace and spitting” (Isaiah 50:6), but He trusted His God and Father, who raised Him from death and the grave and exalted Him to His right hand.
This same King Jesus now comes to us in gentle humility in His Supper, where He feeds us with His body and cleanses and covers us with His blood, so that “after his resurrection” we also shall rise and enter the holy city (Matthew 27:52–53).
Holy Thursday
Exodus 24:3–11 Exodus 12:1–14; Hebrews 9:11–22 or 1 Corinthians 11:23–32; Matthew 26:17–30 John 13:1–17, 31b–35
Let Us Love One Another, as Christ Jesus Has Loved Us and Loves Us to the End
“The LORD’s Passover” (Exodus 12:11) and “the blood of the covenant” at Mount Sinai (Exodus 24:8) foreshow the Lord’s Supper. The blood of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, now covers us, and we keep His Supper “as a feast to the LORD” (Exodus 12:14). In Him, we see “the God of Israel” (Exodus 24:10), and yet He does not lay His hand on us to punish us, but from His hand we eat and drink in peace.
As our High Priest, He “entered once for all into the holy places … by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption” (Hebrews 9:12). He shed His own blood in order to “purify our conscience” and bring us before His God and Father “without blemish” (Hebrews 9:14).
The holy apostles received this New Testament in His blood from the Lord Jesus “on the night when he was betrayed,” and they delivered the same to His Church, which we also now receive in the name and remembrance of Christ (1 Corinthians 11:23–26; Matthew 26:26–28). He has “loved his own who were in the world,” and He loves us “to the end” (John 13:1); therefore, let us also “love one another” (John 13:34).
Good Friday
Isaiah 52:13—53:12; Hebrews 4:14–16; 5:7–9; John 18:1—19:42 or John 19:17–30
Behold the Lamb of God, Who Takes Away the Sin of the World
Jesus, the Lamb of God, is led to the slaughter of His cross as the Sacrifice of Atonement for the sin of the world. “Despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” (Isaiah 53:3), He is the righteous Servant who justifies many by His innocent suffering and death. He bears our griefs and sorrows; He is wounded for our transgressions; He is crushed for our iniquities; He suffers our chastisement; “and with his wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:4–5).
As the Son of God, He fulfills the Law for us in human flesh, and so fulfills the Scriptures (John 19:7, 24). In perfect faith and faithfulness, He shares all our weaknesses and temptations, “yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15).
As our merciful High Priest, He brings us to the Father in peace, “makes intercession for the transgressors” (Isaiah 53:12), and joins our prayers to His own, so that we are heard “because of his reverence” (Hebrews 5:7). From His cross, He gives us His Spirit (John 19:30), washes us with water from His side, and covers us with His blood (John 19:34).
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Life Thoughts for the Week
Palm Sunday - When Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, he gave up, washed his hands, called himself innocent, and let the Innocent One, our Lord Jesus Christ, be taken away and crucified (Matthew 27:24-26).
As the world around us continues to call for the death of the innocent, it may seem that we are gaining nothing, and we will be tempted to wash our hands and give up like Pilate did. But the Lord, in His mercy, has given you a tongue to speak that you may sustain with His Word those who are weary (Isaiah 50:4).
God grant us the strength to speak up on behalf of the innocent ones and let “every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:11).
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Lectionary Series – Sunday’s Scripture Readings © The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod 1333 S. Kirkwood Road, St. Louis, MO 63122-7295 800-248-1930, Ext. 1265 • worship@lcms.org • lcms.org/worship. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the ESV Bible® (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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