In a sense, Holy Week both begins and ends with a parade—one into the Holy City itself, and the other out to a lonely hillside called Golgotha. In both cases, Jesus is the central figure. In both cases, the crowds line the streets to watch him. And in both cases, the poor disciples scurry about trying to understand what it all means.

The chief difference between the two is that on Palm Sunday the world seemed ready to embrace Jesus … and by Good Friday, it is his outstretched arms which are embracing the world!

According to Caiaphas, the high priest at the time, Jesus’ death was essentially a matter of mathematics. Figures don’t lie, and the way he figured it—far better that one misguided Messiah-wannabe get publicly executed, than for an entire nation to perish. And of course, for those already nervous about another Roman crackdown, the grim arithmetic of Caiaphas proved unassailable.

The arithmetic of Jesus, on the other hand, left a lot to be desired. In fact, sometimes his new math didn’t even seem to add up. He said that the Kingdom of Heaven gets a bigger kick out of a single sinner who repents than out of ninety-nine saints who have no need to. He said that God pays as much for one hour’s work as for one day’s. He said that the more you give away, the more you have.

Ironically, though, in this particular matter, both Caiaphas and Jesus reached the same conclusion. Namely, it was better to sacrifice one for the sake of many. And so, Jesus allowed himself to be paraded out to Golgotha. And there he gave his life. He gave it for all those who confronted him. He gave it for all those who chastised him. He gave it for all those who condemned him.

“Just calculate the numbers,” Caiaphas had argued. “This man’s death is necessary in order to save countless lives.” And Jesus bowed his head in agreement.

Only it wasn’t the laws of mathematics that he was following.