The Easter triduum begins on the evening of Thursday with the last supper and ends on Easter Sunday. On the Thursday evening a meal was in progress and Jesus knew that his time had come, so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, wrapped a towel around his waist and pouring water into a basin he began to wash his friend’s feet, drying them with the towel and telling them, I am your teacher.
There are parallels to dharma, one of the four aims in life and a key concept in Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism and Janism. Dharma refers to the behaviours that are in harmony with the order that sustains life, virtue and moral duties, that is ethics and service.
Shortly after the last supper Jesus was arrested and taken to be questioned by the high priest. The priests had been infiltrated by greeks during a greek emire and may have been affiliated with the romans in order to continue their status. He was brought to the roman emperor and charged with subversion and making himself a king and was crucified on the Friday along with two criminals.
Jesus agonized on the cross for hours with his mother, Mary and Mary Magdeline looking on. When he died a high priest requested his body, which he anointed, wrapped in cloth and placed in his own familiy tomb. Some think that Jesus’s friends removed the body on Saturday evening though christian tradition assumes he rose from the dead. His remains were discovered quite recently.