A Day of Teaching

Matthew 21:23-23:39, Mark 11:20-12:44, Luke 20:1-21:4, Matthew 26:6-16

“As they were passing by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots up. Being reminded, Peter *said to Him, “Rabbi, look, the fig tree which You cursed has withered.” And Jesus *answered saying to them, “Have faith in God. Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him. Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you. Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions.”

‭‭Mark‬ ‭11:20-25‬

The Tuesday of Holy Week was a day of teaching by Jesus, with so many parables and lessons recorded that day in the Gospels that it is difficult to focus on a single subject. Jesus taught his disciples privately on the Mount of Olives near Bethany and forewarned them of what to expect in the End Times. He talked about faith moving mountains if you believe that God answers prayers when the disciples noted the withered fig plant from Monday (the Gospel excerpt above). He saw and commented on the widow in the temple with her mites (tiny coins), giving all that she had to the Lord, in comparison to the rich who gave only a little of their fortunes.

The Pharisees, Sadducees and Herodists at the Temple tried to trap him with many questions. He responded with parables about the Cornerstone (himself) being rejected, as they had rejected John the Baptist ahead of His coming. He said to render unto Caesar those things that belong to Caesar (and to God the things that belong to God). He explained the Greatest Commandments, a distilling of the Old Testament law into love for God above all else and love for your neighbor as you love yourself. He described eternal life to the Sadducees, who did not believe in an afterlife. He silenced his critics and they seethed in their anger, plotting for ways to kill Him.

The betrayer of our Lord came to the Sanhedrin that Tuesday evening, after seeing a woman who was a notorious sinner come to Jesus at the home of Simon the Leper and anoint His feet with expensive perfume (nard) from an alabaster jar, weeping with gratitude to her Savior. Judas, the treasurer for the disciple group, resented what he called this waste of money; he was also disappointed that Jesus did not appear to be the warrior King who was destined to redeem Judea from their invaders. The plan was set in motion, bought with 30 pieces of silver, to be done in a way that didn’t arouse the people gathered for the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Passover).

A personal note: I wear a widow’s mite coin with my cross every day. Steve bought me this 2000-year-old tiny brass coin encased in a silver frame in Israel a few years ago. It is a reminder that everything that I have belongs to God. He will move mountains for you if you believe and ask for repentance and forgive others. We sinners should spend every waking hour in gratitude for this loving God, like the woman with the alabaster perfume jar. He is the Cornerstone of our faith and we are the living Temples.

Photo by Bruno Kelzer on Unsplash