#21 - Our King Is Coming?
<<< BIBLE CHAPTER SECTIONS >>>
(Referred to in this weeks "Come Follow Me")
Mt 21- Triumphal Entry - Jesus Cleanses the Temple - Jesus Curses the Fig Tree - Authority of Jesus Challenged - Parable of The Two Sons - Parable of the Tenants
Mt 22- Parable of the Wedding Feast - Paying Taxes To Caesar - Sadducees Ask About the Resurrection - The Great Commandment - Whose Son is The Christ?
Mt 23 - Seven Woes to the Scribes and Pharisees - Lament over Jerusalem
Mk 11- Triumphal Entry - Jesus Curses Fig Tree - Jesus Cleanses the Temple - Lessons from the Withered Fig Tree - Authority of Jesus challenged
Lk 19- Jesus and Zacchaeus - Parable of Ten Minas - Triumphal Entry - Jesus Weeps over Jerusalem - Jesus Cleanses Temple
Lk 20- Authority of Jesus Challenged - Parable of Wicked Tenants - Paying Taxes to Caesar - Sadducees Ask About the Resurrection - Whose Son is The Christ? - Beware of the Scribes
Jn 12- Mary Anoints Jesus at Bethany - Plot to Kill Lazarus - Some Greeks seek Jesus - Son of Man must be Lifted Up - Unbelief of the People - Jesus Came to Save the World
Read the chapters yourself then…
watch the Bible Project videos on Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John
Neil Evans COMENTS:
Jesus had told His disciples that He was going to Jerusalem and would be killed there. In the excitement of all the attention Jesus attracted they didn’t pay much attention to His predictions about dying in Jerusalem. The Triumphant welcome Jesus received when He entered Jerusalem probably blinded the disciples to the seriousness of Jesus’ opponents. But Jesus certainly wasn’t blind to either the intentions or the character of everyone in Jerusalem.
Israel had been anxiously awaiting the King promised by the Old Testament Prophets.
The problem, then as now, was that people focused on their own expectations rather than ponder what the Prophets actually said. Some people expected the Promised King to be a powerful political leader Who would rescue Israel from Rome and bring back the glory days of King David’s Israel. It was this crowd that lined the streets of Jerusalem thinking that Jesus was their new King. The religious leaders were also looking for a King to come. Their King would come rescue them from Rome and exalt them and their religious views to the dominant influence in Jewish life. Both groups used Old Testament ideas to support their positions and expectations. The problem was that Jesus neither claimed nor fulfilled either expectation. Jesus was their King but a different kind of King than either group expected or really wanted.
Using illustration and demonstration as His familiar teaching technique, Jesus cursed a fig tree that wasn’t producing fruit. The fig tree claimed to be a fruit-producer but only produced leaves. The hypocrisy of claiming to be one thing but demonstrating another was, and is, natural to people all around Jesus. The crowds that welcomed Jesus dissipated as quickly as it gathered. The religious leaders were concerned with their public self-righteousness more than with genuine heart righteousness. And Jesus clearly saw it all.
God has always looked at our hearts to see the real us. He has always judged us on the Great Commandments rather than the religious rituals we tend to build to exalt ourselves. Jesus was looking for people who would love Him and love others. He found them in the most unexpected places. The crowds were intrigued by miraculous provisions and captivating stories, but turned cold when He challenged their selfish hearts. Jesus said earlier that He “did not come to call the righteous, but sinners,” and not many were willing to bow in that admission. But there were some, but not among the proud keepers of scrupulous religious rituals, whose hearts were hungry for forgiveness and the LIFE that Jesus was offering. One such person was a hated tax collector named Zacchaeus.
What a contrast Zacchaeus was with the Pharisees whose hypocrisies Jesus so strongly warned them of to no avail. Zacchaeus humbly, gladly and generously gave his sinful self to the forgiving grace of Jesus, and demonstrated the reality of his new LIFE in his sacrificial and generous love for God and the people he had so selfishly wronged. The religious leaders on the other hand held tightly to the proud life they had built for themselves. They gave impossible-to-keep rules to the people while they themselves followed with their lips but excused in their hearts.
Jesus was and is The King (Messiah) promised by the Old Testament Prophets. But He is a King who came not to sit on a palace throne but on the heart-throne of all those who would bow before Him. He came as a King not conquering with a sword but with a cross. Jesus came as a King misunderstood and hated. He came not to exalt self-righteous rule keepers but to forgive and give LIFE to those willing to admit their unworthiness and accept His sacrifice for their sin. Jesus came as no merely human king could come, He came to give His Life as “a ransom for many.” He came not to build a kingdom of rule keepers but a Kingdom of forgiven servants (like Zacchaeus) who would LIVE to love God and love people.
(Referred to in this weeks "Come Follow Me")
Mt 21- Triumphal Entry - Jesus Cleanses the Temple - Jesus Curses the Fig Tree - Authority of Jesus Challenged - Parable of The Two Sons - Parable of the Tenants
Mt 22- Parable of the Wedding Feast - Paying Taxes To Caesar - Sadducees Ask About the Resurrection - The Great Commandment - Whose Son is The Christ?
Mt 23 - Seven Woes to the Scribes and Pharisees - Lament over Jerusalem
Mk 11- Triumphal Entry - Jesus Curses Fig Tree - Jesus Cleanses the Temple - Lessons from the Withered Fig Tree - Authority of Jesus challenged
Lk 19- Jesus and Zacchaeus - Parable of Ten Minas - Triumphal Entry - Jesus Weeps over Jerusalem - Jesus Cleanses Temple
Lk 20- Authority of Jesus Challenged - Parable of Wicked Tenants - Paying Taxes to Caesar - Sadducees Ask About the Resurrection - Whose Son is The Christ? - Beware of the Scribes
Jn 12- Mary Anoints Jesus at Bethany - Plot to Kill Lazarus - Some Greeks seek Jesus - Son of Man must be Lifted Up - Unbelief of the People - Jesus Came to Save the World
Read the chapters yourself then…
watch the Bible Project videos on Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John
Neil Evans COMENTS:
Jesus had told His disciples that He was going to Jerusalem and would be killed there. In the excitement of all the attention Jesus attracted they didn’t pay much attention to His predictions about dying in Jerusalem. The Triumphant welcome Jesus received when He entered Jerusalem probably blinded the disciples to the seriousness of Jesus’ opponents. But Jesus certainly wasn’t blind to either the intentions or the character of everyone in Jerusalem.
Israel had been anxiously awaiting the King promised by the Old Testament Prophets.
The problem, then as now, was that people focused on their own expectations rather than ponder what the Prophets actually said. Some people expected the Promised King to be a powerful political leader Who would rescue Israel from Rome and bring back the glory days of King David’s Israel. It was this crowd that lined the streets of Jerusalem thinking that Jesus was their new King. The religious leaders were also looking for a King to come. Their King would come rescue them from Rome and exalt them and their religious views to the dominant influence in Jewish life. Both groups used Old Testament ideas to support their positions and expectations. The problem was that Jesus neither claimed nor fulfilled either expectation. Jesus was their King but a different kind of King than either group expected or really wanted.
Using illustration and demonstration as His familiar teaching technique, Jesus cursed a fig tree that wasn’t producing fruit. The fig tree claimed to be a fruit-producer but only produced leaves. The hypocrisy of claiming to be one thing but demonstrating another was, and is, natural to people all around Jesus. The crowds that welcomed Jesus dissipated as quickly as it gathered. The religious leaders were concerned with their public self-righteousness more than with genuine heart righteousness. And Jesus clearly saw it all.
God has always looked at our hearts to see the real us. He has always judged us on the Great Commandments rather than the religious rituals we tend to build to exalt ourselves. Jesus was looking for people who would love Him and love others. He found them in the most unexpected places. The crowds were intrigued by miraculous provisions and captivating stories, but turned cold when He challenged their selfish hearts. Jesus said earlier that He “did not come to call the righteous, but sinners,” and not many were willing to bow in that admission. But there were some, but not among the proud keepers of scrupulous religious rituals, whose hearts were hungry for forgiveness and the LIFE that Jesus was offering. One such person was a hated tax collector named Zacchaeus.
What a contrast Zacchaeus was with the Pharisees whose hypocrisies Jesus so strongly warned them of to no avail. Zacchaeus humbly, gladly and generously gave his sinful self to the forgiving grace of Jesus, and demonstrated the reality of his new LIFE in his sacrificial and generous love for God and the people he had so selfishly wronged. The religious leaders on the other hand held tightly to the proud life they had built for themselves. They gave impossible-to-keep rules to the people while they themselves followed with their lips but excused in their hearts.
Jesus was and is The King (Messiah) promised by the Old Testament Prophets. But He is a King who came not to sit on a palace throne but on the heart-throne of all those who would bow before Him. He came as a King not conquering with a sword but with a cross. Jesus came as a King misunderstood and hated. He came not to exalt self-righteous rule keepers but to forgive and give LIFE to those willing to admit their unworthiness and accept His sacrifice for their sin. Jesus came as no merely human king could come, He came to give His Life as “a ransom for many.” He came not to build a kingdom of rule keepers but a Kingdom of forgiven servants (like Zacchaeus) who would LIVE to love God and love people.
Check out these LINKS:
Watch Bible Project video about Matthew
Watch Bible Project video about Mark
Watch Bible Project video about Luke
Watch Bible Project video about John
Read "Bible Words to Ponder" related to this week study
Read "The Gospel"