Matthew 21:33-46

Let’s remember to pray for Jim and Marty.

“Notice what you notice.” More than 40 years ago I had my own construction company, a partnership with another young man building poured-wall concrete foundations for new houses. We named our company “Cornerstone Construction”. Psalm 118:22 was the Scripture verse that gave our company its name. That is the verse that Jesus quotes in today’s reading. I can’t read that verse without going back those 40+ years and seeing David and me praying as we were beginning our business.

What surprises me in today’s reading is that His listeners go along with Jesus’ prompt and answer His question as to what the vineyard owner would do to those tenants. Their response was exactly the parable ending that Jesus would have given and was a clear condemnation of the Jewish leaders. Their forefathers had killed one prophet after another and now God was sending His Son. Jesus was foretelling His own death and predicting the fall of Jerusalem and the rise of the Gentile church.

This parable follows another in Matthew, the “Parable of the Two Sons” in both of which Jesus is condemning the Jewish leaders. Matthew follows these two parables in Chapter 21 with another beginning Chapter 22, the “Parable of the Wedding Feast”, again with serious negative implications for the Jewish leaders. With each new parable the anger of the Jewish leaders grows. Yet Jesus continues in spite of their opposition. That’s courage!

Slava Bohu!

Luke 20:1-8

Let’s remember to pray for Jim and Marty.

“Notice what you notice.” My Study Bible opened a new possibility, that the Jewish leaders were not challenging Jesus’ authority to teach and preach, but that they were challenging Him for having cleansed the temple of the merchants and money-changers. And in this they had a good point, in that theirs was the responsibility for everything connected to the temple. Here’s my thinking on that. The Jewish leaders could have brought a civil case against Jesus, but that outcome would likely have been a fine for damages and lost profits. That is not what they wanted; what they wanted was His end and for that there were two possibilities. First they could have found Him in blasphemy and had the crowds stone Him to death. Or they could have brought Him to the Roman authorities and charged Him with insurrection (or something along those lines) and had the Romans kill Him. Having failed time and again on the former of those options, they chose a middle-of-the-night rabble crowd to deliver Him to the Romans.

Luke adds one phrase we haven’t seen before: … Jesus was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the gospel. (v. 1) Whenever I see a reference to “preaching the gospel” I think of Father David’s promise to the people of St. Andrew’s, “You bring the people and I’ll preach the gospel.” Today we think of “preaching the gospel” as delivering a salvation message. I wonder what Luke had in mind when he wrote those words. What was “the gospel” to Luke back then? Was it John the Baptist’s message of repentance…? Or was it Jesus’ adding on to John’s message with forgiveness and following Him? Or what? Any thoughts?

Slava Bohu!

Mark 11:27-33

Let’s remember to pray for Jim and Marty.

“Notice what you notice.” It’s a small difference, but somewhat informative; Matthew 21:23 has the chief priests and elders confronting Jesus “…as He was teaching…”; Mark 11:27 says they approached Him “…as He was walking in the Temple…”. Matthew’s account makes more sense, that they would challenge His authority as He was teaching. But with Mark’s account we can see the Jewish leaders on the lookout for Jesus at any time that He might be in the Temple and challenging Him before He begins teaching. That is, they were so concerned about more and more people following Jesus that they tried to intercept Him before He began. Intriguing…!

Jesus had a great answer to their questioning, reflecting the questioning back to the Jewish leaders about the baptism of John. But it’s strange that He did not answer their question outright, that He had all authority on earth given to Him by His Father. We’ve seen Him totally upfront about His relationship with His Father, especially in John’s Gospel. So I wonder that He did not make a stronger response here. But I totally like that He befuddles His questioners…!

Slava Bohu!

Matthew 21:23-32

Let’s remember to pray for Jim and Marty.

“Notice what you notice.” It seems to me that the Jewish leaders had every right to question Jesus’ authority. After all, He had no “seminary” degree – that is, He had not been taught by one of the leading Jewish rabbis (unlike Paul). So if He were just an “anybody off the street”, He could have been leading the people into dangerous territory (think Jim Jones, “Kool Aid”, and Jonestown). However, Jesus had in fact been well-taught. He was filled with the Holy Spirit at His baptism – or even before! So He had credentials that the best of the Jewish leaders could not touch! And His responses to their challenges prove that point!

But staying with this authority topic… We have a major problem within the church worldwide – our unwillingness to hand full and final authority of our lives over to Jesus and His Holy Spirit working within us. We want control! Yeah, we acknowledge that we lack self-control in certain areas in our lives. But more importantly too many of us are unwilling to grant ultimate control over our directions and decisions to the One Who knows us best, Who created us in the womb, lives in us, and loves us completely. Not unlike the Jewish leaders, we have an authority problem. Let’s not make the same mistake they made; let’s get it right, folks!

Slava Bohu!

Mark 11:20-26

Let’s remember to pray for Jim and Marty.

“Notice what you notice.” I applied John’s “agree(ment) with God” to today’s passage. It works quite nicely! I also shared his phrases with our Men’s Group last night, and they had the same reactions. Finally I tried it in some other contexts also – John, I think you’re on to something!!

So today we have that famous “name it and claim it” verse: Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. (v. 24) I can’t tell anyone how he or she should interpret Scripture, but I have often heard others (“health and wealth” Gospel followers) say something like “We’ve prayed about ‘it’, so it’s done and we’re just waiting to see how the Lord works it out.” I think that sort of expectation is a first cousin to John’s “imposing our plans” prayer posture!

Slava Bohu!

Matthew 21-18-22

Let’s remember to pray for Jim and Marty.

“Notice what you notice.” I like what Debbie said two days ago about the fig tree. It had leaves and looked good on the outside, but it had no fruit. She had reflected that back to activity in the Temple – a lot of religious activity, but to what end? That comparison is dramatic when we look at yesterday’s incident with Jesus’ teaching in the Temple and the crowd’s “hanging on every word”!

I was surprised that this is the second time in Matthew that Jesus mentioned faith that could move mountains – see also Mt. 17:20. I don’t like people playing games with this verse. Years ago during my first year “in the Lord” I was at a Bible camp at Fort Collins, Colorado, one of the gateways to the Rocky Mountains. In his introductory comments one of our leaders asked if we believed that our prayers could move Longs Peak, that mountain to his left. Naturally we agreed that we could do that – it’s what Jesus had said. I don’t remember his response to our reply, but clearly he did not ask us to pray for that outcome. Still, I remember being embarrassed at what I knew was a gap in my faith – a gap that continues to this day.

So I’ve wondered if Jesus was speaking in hyperbole – overstating the need for faith so as to make a point. But I’ve always rejected that possibility, knowing that God can do anything He chooses. He is the One Who created those mountains and if He wanted the mountain moved to the sea, it could be done! But what level of faith would it take??!! And what would be the need for a prayer like that? So I come to the conclusion that, yes, it could be done, but it would be a prayer to which God could easily say “No, I have other plans for that mountain.” As always, prayer of this sort needs to be our talking to God about His plans for us, not just any willy-nilly thought that crosses our mind. We need to be as serious in our approach to Him as He is in His love for us.

Slava Bohu!

Luke 19:45-48

Let’s remember to pray for Jim and Marty.

“Notice what you notice.” Jesus’ friends had been cautioning Him about going up to Jerusalem, fearing the fate that He might encounter. But He ignored their wishes, even to the point of teaching daily in the Temple (v. 47). Courage in the face of knowing that His time had come…!

Yesterday I mentioned that the chief priests and scribes were troubled by Jesus’ deeds (miracles and healings) and His words. Today Luke emphasizes His words: And He was teaching daily in the temple … <and> … all the people were hanging on His words. (vv. 47-48) The NASB is even stronger: …hanging on to every word He said. These sentences explain the Thursday midnight seizure and trial. The authorities could not take Him in the daytime because of His faithful followers. They had to wait until they could put together a rabble crowd in the middle of the night to make their moves. Their conniving and their cowardice are unthinkable! What a sorry bunch!

Slava Bohu!

Mark 11:12-19

Let’s remember to pray for Jim and Marty.

“Notice what you notice.” Other than the incident with the fig tree, there was one item surprisingly different between Matthew and Mark – Jesus’ healings and miracles in Matthew vs. Jesus’ teachings in Mark. In Matthew 21:14 …the blind and the lame came to Him and He healed them, leaving the chief priests and scribes indignant at “the wonderful things that He did” and the children singing out. In Mark 11:17 there are no healings and miracles, only Jesus’ teaching. But that set the Jewish leaders off: And the chief priests and the scribes heard it and were seeking a way to destroy him, for they feared him, because all the crowd was astonished at his teaching. (v. 18) So there is a difference between the Jewish leaders being indignant over the healings and miracles that He did and fearing Jesus for the crowds following His teaching. Both His deeds and His words got Him in trouble with the authorities.

As to the fig tree… Does anyone else wonder that the incident with the fig tree makes Jesus look bad? It’s not even the season for figs, yet when Jesus finds no figs He curses the tree never to bear fruit again. So, does Jesus look bad in this incident? If so, to me it’s just another reminder that the Gospel writers were not writing stories just to make Jesus look good. They were writing truth, making Him looking like the fully human being that He was.

Slava Bohu!

Matthew 21:12-17

Let’s remember to pray for Jim and Marty.

“Notice what you notice.” The cleansing of the Temple… The Chronological Study Bible points out a difference between Matthew’s and Mark’s accounts as to the day of Jesus’ cleansing of the Temple. Matthew has it on the same Sunday of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem while Mark has it on “The next day…” (Mark 11:12). The key in Matthew is verse 12 beginning with the word “Then…” immediately following the multitudes in the city introducing Jesus as “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth in Galilee.” (v. 11) So we’ll never be able to reconcile these two accounts, except to surmise that something has been lost in the translations over the two millennia since this incident.

It is so strange to me how the chief priests and the scribes could have continued to be so firm in their rejection of Jesus as the Messiah: But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that He had done … they became indignant… (v. 15) How could they see “wonderful things” – the blind and the lame being healed before their very eyes – and still fail to believe? I have blogged before about the healing in Jerusalem of the man born blind and of the raising of Lazarus in Bethany just two miles east of the city, with both occasions being either visible to or immediately reported to the chief priests. How could they remain so adamant in their rejection of Him??!! It is so confusing to me…

Slava Bohu!