Jesus in the Temple Following Jesus' display of controlled anger on Monday in the Temple as he overturned the tables of the money changers and chased them away, his Tuesday return was low key but all the more threatening to the leadership of the Temple. Jesus was there to carry on a discourse with them and all who cared to participate. He allowed them to question him in depth, deftly avoiding any traps they threw so they could charge him with blasphemy and clearly showed His grasp of the Scriptures and the Law. His ability to explain himself using beautiful parables, his gift of being able to challenge their wrong-handed handling of much of the Law, and his discernment of motives when others couldn't see the truth were marvelous for anyone to behold. But Caiaphas and his priests, mindful that the public was learning just how smart Jesus was, knew that he was a threat to their power and wealth.
Think about it. This humble man of extremely modest background, a man from the poorest part of Israel and possessing no formal education was able to effectively argue over the issues using insight they had never seen in anyone and certainly not in the son of a carpenter who wandered the countryside like a nomad. Jesus clearly dazzled them, but at the same time he redoubled their determination to destroy Him. His destruction would require stealth, with an arrest after hours and his followers unable to assist him. The immediate planning was quickly being finalized.
When Jesus left the Temple that day, he and His disciples went to the Mount of Olives and sat in the shade of the olive trees. It was here that He taught them about the coming fall of the Temple and the desolation that would be Jerusalem. It is found in Matthew 24 and biblical scholars have penned it with the name, The Olivet Discourse. In reading it, some might think He was referring to the end of the world, but scholars who focus almost totally on that subject say no, that it was not the time for Him to address the Revelation with these loyal followers. God had other plans, and He left left the writing of that book to his disciple John, to be written from isolation years later while on the Isle of Patmos.
After their discussion in the warm afternoon sun, Jesus again retired for the night with his disciples back to Bethany and his friends Mary, Martha and their no very alive Lazarus, where he would rest until Thursday morning. He and His disciples would talk and enjoy a day of rest so that Jesus could prepare, both mentally and physically for what awaited Him.
But one member of the party did not accompany them. It was Judas Iscariot, a man clearly different from the others. He departed from the Mount of Olives in a different direction. rushing instead to the Temple where he made a commitment to identify Jesus for the Temple soldiers when they came for Him on Thursday night. He sold out his Lord for thirty pieces of silver. By doing so, the plan was set and the event that would change the world forever was on schedule to fulfill the purpose of Jesus' entire life on earth. We'll come back to the story from here from Thursday.
Think about it. This humble man of extremely modest background, a man from the poorest part of Israel and possessing no formal education was able to effectively argue over the issues using insight they had never seen in anyone and certainly not in the son of a carpenter who wandered the countryside like a nomad. Jesus clearly dazzled them, but at the same time he redoubled their determination to destroy Him. His destruction would require stealth, with an arrest after hours and his followers unable to assist him. The immediate planning was quickly being finalized.
When Jesus left the Temple that day, he and His disciples went to the Mount of Olives and sat in the shade of the olive trees. It was here that He taught them about the coming fall of the Temple and the desolation that would be Jerusalem. It is found in Matthew 24 and biblical scholars have penned it with the name, The Olivet Discourse. In reading it, some might think He was referring to the end of the world, but scholars who focus almost totally on that subject say no, that it was not the time for Him to address the Revelation with these loyal followers. God had other plans, and He left left the writing of that book to his disciple John, to be written from isolation years later while on the Isle of Patmos.
After their discussion in the warm afternoon sun, Jesus again retired for the night with his disciples back to Bethany and his friends Mary, Martha and their no very alive Lazarus, where he would rest until Thursday morning. He and His disciples would talk and enjoy a day of rest so that Jesus could prepare, both mentally and physically for what awaited Him.
But one member of the party did not accompany them. It was Judas Iscariot, a man clearly different from the others. He departed from the Mount of Olives in a different direction. rushing instead to the Temple where he made a commitment to identify Jesus for the Temple soldiers when they came for Him on Thursday night. He sold out his Lord for thirty pieces of silver. By doing so, the plan was set and the event that would change the world forever was on schedule to fulfill the purpose of Jesus' entire life on earth. We'll come back to the story from here from Thursday.
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