last week

PER281 The return to Bethany

After his triumphal entry into Jerusalem, Jesus leaves the city in the evening to return to Bethany with his twelve disciples, including Judas. Related mainly by Mark (11.11) and Matthew (21.17), this episode, set on Sunday, March 27, AD 33, illustrates the rhythm of the last week: days at the Temple, nights near Bethany. The disciples use these journeys to ask their Master about the meaning of his messianic acts.

Mark 11.11 (King James Version) :

And Jesus entered into Jerusalem, and into the temple: and when he had looked round about upon all things, and now the eventide was come, he went out unto Bethany with the twelve.

King James Version (1769), domaine public — texte : eBible.org

Level: Intermediate Level: Intermediate

PER284 Cleansing of the Temple (second time)

Jesus' second cleansing of the Temple, on Monday, March 28, AD 33, is a prophetic and symbolic act. By driving the sellers out of the Court of the Gentiles and quoting Isaiah and Jeremiah, Jesus denounces the corruption of worship, asserts his messianic authority and announces the coming judgment on the Temple. This event hastens the decision of the religious leaders to put him to death.

Exodus 12.3-8 (King James Version) :

Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house:^{aNotelamb: or, kid}^{bNoteof…: Heb. son of a year}^{cNotein…: Heb. between the two evenings}And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbour next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb.Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats:And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening.And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it.And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it.

King James Version (1769), domaine public — texte : eBible.org

Level: Intermediate Level: Intermediate

PER287 Returning Once More to Bethany

PER287 describes the return of Jesus and his disciples to Bethany after a day at the Temple of Jerusalem, on Monday, March 28, AD 33. Attested mainly by Mark 11.19, this episode sheds light on the group's nightly routine around Martha, Mary and Lazarus. The article deals with the scattered hospitality, the role of the women, the daily round trips between Bethany and Jerusalem, and the disciples' failure to understand the announcements of the Passion.

Mark 9.31 (King James Version) :

For he taught his disciples, and said unto them, The Son of man is delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill him; and after that he is killed, he shall rise the third day.

King James Version (1769), domaine public — texte : eBible.org

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.

Matthew 21.23-27 (King James Version) :

And when he was come into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came unto him as he was teaching, and said, By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority?And Jesus answered and said unto them, I also will ask you one thing, which if ye tell me, I in like wise will tell you by what authority I do these things.The baptism of John, whence was it? from heaven, or of men? And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say unto us, Why did ye not then believe him?But if we shall say, Of men; we fear the people; for all hold John as a prophet.And they answered Jesus, and said, We cannot tell. And he said unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things.

King James Version (1769), domaine public — texte : eBible.org

Level: Intermediate Level: Intermediate

PER290 The parable of the two sons

The parable of the two sons (Matt 21,28-32), recorded only by Matthew, takes place in the Temple of Jerusalem during Jesus’ last week. It contrasts two attitudes: promising without acting versus refusing and then obeying. Jesus unmasks the hypocrisy of the religious leaders and announces that repentant sinners enter the Kingdom ahead of them. A universal call to humility and sincere repentance.

Matthew 21.28-32 (King James Version) :

But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work to day in my vineyard.He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went.And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir: and went not.Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you.For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him.

King James Version (1769), domaine public — texte : eBible.org

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.^{aNotemoveth: Heb. creepeth}So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

King James Version (1769), domaine public — texte : eBible.org

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.

Hebrews 1.3-4 (King James Version) :

Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.

King James Version (1769), domaine public — texte : eBible.org

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.

Mark 12.41-44 (King James Version) :

And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much.And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing.And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury:For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.

King James Version (1769), domaine public — texte : eBible.org

Level: Intermediate Level: Intermediate

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