• PER285 Healing of blind and lame people

    After the cleansing of the Temple, Jesus heals the blind and the lame in the courtyard on Monday, March 28, AD 33. Only Matthew reports this episode. The crowd and the children acclaim him as Son of David, while the chief priests and the scribes, increasingly hostile, are indignant at these messianic demonstrations. This episode illustrates the contrast between the faith of the common people and the rejection by the religious authorities.

    Mark 11.15-18 (King James Version) :
    And they come to Jerusalem: and Jesus went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves;And would not suffer that any man should carry any vessel through the temple.And he taught, saying unto them, Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer? but ye have made it a den of thieves.And the scribes and chief priests heard it, and sought how they might destroy him: for they feared him, because all the people was astonished at his doctrine.
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    Level: Intermediate Level: Intermediate

  • PER289 The authority of the Messiah Jesus challenged

    In the Temple of Jerusalem, the religious leaders publicly challenge Jesus’ authority. With a clever counter-question about the baptism of John, he reduces them to silence and exposes their bad faith. This synoptic episode (Matt 21.23-27; Mark 11.27-33; Luke 20.1-8) illustrates the growing opposition of the authorities to the Messiah during his last week before the arrest.

    John 7.46 (King James Version) :
    The officers answered, Never man spake like this man.
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    Level: Intermediate Level: Intermediate

  • PER294 The questions of the Pharisees and the Herodians

    The Pharisees and Herodians try to trap Jesus by asking him whether one should pay the tax to Caesar. His answer — “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” — foils the trap and establishes the fundamental distinction between civil authority and divine sovereignty, reminding us that man, who bears the image of God, belongs wholly to him.

    Genesis 1.26-27 (King James Version) :
    And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.Notemoveth: Heb. creepethSo God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
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    Level: Intermediate Level: Intermediate

  • PER295 The questions of the Pharisees and the Herodians

    In the Temple of Jerusalem, the Sadducees try to trap Jesus with a question about the resurrection involving a woman who had seven husbands. Jesus answers by revealing their ignorance of the Scriptures and of the power of God: in the life to come, people no longer marry. He proves the resurrection from the Torah by quoting Exodus 3.6: God is the God of the living, not of the dead. His adversaries are reduced to silence.

    Matthew 22.29 (King James Version) :
    Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.
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    Level: Intermediate Level: Intermediate

  • PER296 The questions of the teachers of the law

    During the last week before his Passion, Jesus is questioned by teachers of the Law about the greatest commandment. He sums up the whole Law in two principles: loving God and loving one’s neighbor. A sincere scribe acknowledges the rightness of this answer, and Jesus tells him that he is not far from the Kingdom. The article nuances the view of Pharisaism and invites a faith lived in love rather than in legalism.

    John 3.1 (King James Version) :
    There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:
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    Level: Intermediate Level: Intermediate

  • PER297 The Messiahship of Jesus

    At the Temple court in Jerusalem, on the Tuesday before his Passion, Jesus questions the Pharisees about the identity of the Messiah. Citing Psalm 110, he reveals that the Messiah is both Son of David according to the flesh and eternal Lord according to his divinity, confounding his opponents, who are left without an answer. A fundamental Christological statement about the dual nature of Jesus.

    John 18.36 (King James Version) :
    Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.
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    Level: Intermediate Level: Intermediate

  • PER298 Indictment Against the Religious Leaders

    In the courtyard of the Temple in Jerusalem, on the Wednesday before his Passion, Jesus delivers a severe indictment against the scribes and the Pharisees. Through eight proclamations of ‘Woe to you!’, he denounces their hypocrisy, their pride and their outward show of religion, while expressing deep sorrow over Jerusalem. He calls his disciples to a genuine, humble faith that serves others.

    Matthew 23.3 (King James Version) :
    All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not.
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    Level: Intermediate Level: Intermediate

  • PER299 The Widow’s Offering

    In the Temple of Jerusalem, Jesus watches a poor widow put two small coins into the treasury, all that she has. Unlike the rich, who give ostentatiously out of their surplus, she offers her entire livelihood. Jesus declares that she has given more than all the others, overturning human standards of value. This account, reported by Mark (12.41-44) and Luke (21.1-4), teaches that true generosity is measured not by the amount given, but by the disposition of the heart and the sacrifice made.

    Luke 21.1-4 (King James Version) :
    And he looked up, and saw the rich men casting their gifts into the treasury.And he saw also a certain poor widow casting in thither two mites.And he said, Of a truth I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast in more than they all:For all these have of their abundance cast in unto the offerings of God: but she of her penury hath cast in all the living that she had.
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    Level: Intermediate Level: Intermediate

  • PER300 The unbelief of the Jews

    Pericope 300 deals with the unbelief of the Jews in the face of the signs performed by Jesus, an episode reported only by John (Jn 12,37-50), set in the Temple of Jerusalem on Wednesday, 30 March AD 33. In contrast, the poor widow's gift illustrates genuine faith. Jesus overturns human criteria: true generosity is measured not by the quantity given but by the disposition of the heart, offering to God all that one is.

    Luke 21.1-4 (King James Version) :
    And he looked up, and saw the rich men casting their gifts into the treasury.And he saw also a certain poor widow casting in thither two mites.And he said, Of a truth I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast in more than they all:For all these have of their abundance cast in unto the offerings of God: but she of her penury hath cast in all the living that she had.
    King James Version (1769), domaine public — texte : eBible.org
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    Level: Intermediate Level: Intermediate