Holy Wednesday
Mary Anoints Jesus and Judas Plans to Betray Jesus
Review the Reference scriptures Below. Write out how God may be speaking to you through this devotional.
Scripture Reference
Luke 22:2-6
Matthew 26:6–13
Mark 14:3–9
Luke 7:36–50
John 12:1–8
In the New Testament account of Holy Week, after Palm Sunday, the Sanhedrin gathered and plotted to kill Jesus before the feast of Pesach. On the Wednesday before his death, Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the Leper. As he sat at the supper table with his disciples, a woman named Mary anointed Jesus' head and feet with a costly spikenard oil.
The disciples were indignant, asking why the oil was not instead sold and the money given to the poor. But Judas Iscariot wanted to keep the money for himself. Then Judas went to the Sanhedrin and offered to deliver Jesus to them in exchange for money. From this moment on, Judas sought an opportunity to betray Jesus.
Judas Iscariot's intent to betray Jesus was formed on Holy Wednesday, which is sometimes called "Spy Wednesday." The word spy, as used in the term, means "ambush, ambuscade, snare." Additionally, among the disciples, Judas clandestinely was a spy, and Wednesday was the day he chose to betray Christ.
In Western Christianity, many churches of various denominations observe the tenebrae service on Holy Wednesday.
