Then came day eight, the most glorious and historic day of all! Early in the morning, as the sun began to rise, the Bible tells us that the women came to the tomb with spices to anoint the body of Jesus. Nicodemus came with myrrh (an embalming fluid) when he heard Jesus had died. He was essentially saying, “He’s dead and buried, so let’s embalm Him.” But Scripture reveals that when the women got to the tomb, there was an angel sitting on top of the stone that had been rolled away. Jesus wasn’t there. 

The last eight days Jesus was on the earth changed the world, unlike any other time in human history. 

Jesus came riding into Jerusalem on a donkey on the first day of these eight days. This was a day of celebration, and the people waved palm branches and praised Him. This was monumental because a great prophecy of the coming messiah was fulfilled. At the time, palm branches were a symbol of victory. When an athlete or a general won a great victory, they were given a crown made of palm branches.

On the second day, Jesus went to the temple, and “He overturned the money tables, and He began to preach, my house shall be called a house of prayer.” By doing this, Jesus was making clear that there should be no other gods before Him. Money cannot be your god. Material things cannot be your god. On that second day Jesus did many things, but the most monumental moment was when, right there in the middle of the temple, he illustrated that there were to be “no other gods before me.”

The most memorable story on the third day was about a woman named Mary Magdalene who came with an expensive basin of anointing oil — so expensive it cost one year’s wages. Mary Magdalene was once controlled by seven demons. At one time, all she had ever known was torment and the power of Satan. Maybe like her, all you can remember is being a slave to sin or being under crippling oppression. But when Mary met Jesus, He broke the power of Satan off of her life, and she was never the same again. So she broke open the alabaster box, and she fell at His feet and began to worship Him. It was on this historic day that Jesus established worship. Jesus chastised his followers for criticizing her and declared that this woman who wasn’t ashamed to worship Him should even be talked about wherever the gospel is preached. 

The fourth day that changed the world was a bit more unusual. That fourth day is known as Silent Wednesday. Out of the last eight days of Jesus’s life, there’s one day when historians tell us we don’t know what He did. It appears He did nothing. There were people with needs all over Jerusalem, yet Jesus was quiet. Sooner or later in life, you will encounter not just the Jesus of miracles but sometimes your own silent Wednesday. You may feel desperate to hear from God, but your situation stays the same.

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