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.

Zechariah 9.9 (King James Version) :

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.^{aNotehaving…: or, saving himself}^{bNoteby…: or, whose covenant is by blood}

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.

Matthew 21.12-13 (King James Version) :

And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves,And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.

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.

John 12.1-8 (King James Version) :

Then Jesus six days before the passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead.There they made him a supper; and Martha served: but Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him.Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment.Then saith one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, which should betray him,Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor?This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein.Then said Jesus, Let her alone: against the day of my burying hath she kept this.For the poor always ye have with you; but me ye have not always.

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 13.3-23 (King James Version) :

And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower.When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it;Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

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.

Mark 12.13-17 (King James Version) :

And they send unto him certain of the Pharisees and of the Herodians, to catch him in his words.And when they were come, they say unto him, Master, we know that thou art true, and carest for no man: for thou regardest not the person of men, but teachest the way of God in truth: Is it lawful to give tribute to Cæsar, or not?Shall we give, or shall we not give? But he, knowing their hypocrisy, said unto them, Why tempt ye me? bring me a penny, that I may see it.And they brought it. And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? And they said unto him, Cæsar’s.And Jesus answering said unto them, Render to Cæsar the things that are Cæsar’s, and to God the things that are God’s. And they marvelled at him.

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.

Matthew 6.3-4 (King James Version) :

But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.

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

Level: Intermediate Level: Intermediate

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