This Easter season, I’ve made a series of posts addressing skeptics’ criticism surrounding the Resurrection. As we close in on Easter, I want to do a day-by-day detail discussing the events happening during the Passion Week.
Please keep checking back!
Tuesday
On the way back to Jerusalem, the group again passes by the fig tree that Jesus had cursed the day before. The tree that was green and healthy just the day before was now brown and withered. It is a haunting foreshadow of Jesus’ impending confrontation with the Jewish leaders.
When Jesus entered the Temple, He resumed preaching and teaching as was His daily practice. He was confronted by the chief priests and elders who asked, “By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority?” Jesus responded by asking them where John the Baptist had received his authority. The leaders then faced a dilemma: they didn’t want to acknowledge John’s authority as being from God but neither did they want to raise ire among the crowd who believed in John, so they refused to answer. Therefore, Jesus didn’t answer their question.
Matthew 21 tells us that Jesus next gave two parables. The first was of two sons who were told by their father to go work in his vineyard. The first said no, but later repented and went to work. The second said yes, but ultimately never went to work. The point of the parable is that it’s our actions - not our words - that demonstrate our obedience. The Pharisees claimed they followed the Law of Moses, but in practice they never did.
Then Jesus spoke the Parable of the Tenants, where the owner of a vineyard let out his vineyard before going away on a long trip. When the harvest came, the owner sent servants and eventually his own son to collect his profits from the tenants. The wicked tenants mistreated the servants and even killed the son, hoping to keep the profits and even inherit the vineyard. Then Jesus reveals the point of the parable:
Matthew 21:40-45, When the lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen? They say unto him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons. Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes? Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder. And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spake of them.
It was the lesson of the fig tree come to life! The religious leaders were the disobedient sons who told their father they would work in the field but didn’t. They were wicked tenants who worked in the owner’s vineyard, but would not give the owner the bounty of it. Just like the fig tree, they presented themselves as healthy and productive but they bore no fruit, so the Kingdom of God would be taken from them and given to the Church!
The back and forth between Jesus and the religious leaders continued with Jesus ultimately condemning them with “Seven Woes” (Matthew 23):
V. 13, But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.
V. 15, Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.
V. 16, Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor!
V. 23, Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith:
V. 25, Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.
V. 27, Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.
V. 29-31, Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets.
After His blistering condemnation, Jesus laments over Jerusalem, Matthew 23:37-39, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.” After this, Jesus leaves the Temple.
As He is walking down from the Temple Mount with His disciples, I can imagine there may have been an awkward silence that hung over the group. It could be that they had never seen Jesus this angry and weren’t sure what they should say or do. Perhaps to break the silence or lighten the mood, the disciples remarked on the beautiful buildings of the temple. Jesus, however, stunned them back into silence with a frightful prophecy:
Matthew 24:2, And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.
Later, as Jesus sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples had mustered the courage to ask Him about His comments. They asked Him 2 questions (Matthew 24:3):
Tell us, when shall these things be?
And what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?
Jesus’ response to these questions has become known as the Olivet Discourse. Notice, there are two questions. Many Bible commentaries treat them as though they are one question (essentially, ‘when and how will the world end?’). This has led to some confusion because some of the things Jesus tells them will happen during the lives of the disciples and other things will happen at the end of the age.
An adequate discussion of the Olivet Discourse would be too long for this post. I do, however, want to direct your attention to v. 14, And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. Wow! God has withheld His judgment even until now, giving the entire world the opportunity to hear the gospel! The Bible says that God is not willing that any should perish but that all might come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). He is not some tyrant king, looking for any chance to punish his subjects! He is the loving father of Luke 15, who sees his wayward son returning from a life of rebellion, and runs to him, and showers him with love and blessings! Amen!!
Which brings us back to the lesson of the fig tree. Jesus concludes His discourse with these words (v.32-33): Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.
The parable of the wicked tenants wasn’t only to the scribes and Pharisees but also to the Church. We are the tenants of the vineyard, now, and it is our job to produce the fruit that is due to Him. Let us not be like that deceitful tree that appeared productive because of its green leaves but still did not produce fruit. His return is near - let us go now and preach the gospel to every creature!!
No comments:
Post a Comment