From the second to the third Passover festival 1 study
From the 3rd Passover to the start of the final week 2 studies
The last week before the arrest 4 studies
From the second to the third Passover festival
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PER116
The disciple’s personal relationship with his Lord
Pericope 116 explores the personal relationship between the disciple and his Lord through Matthew 11.25-30 and Luke 10.21-24. After condemning the unbelieving towns, Jesus rejoices that the humble understand his word where the wise fail. He affirms his divine sonship and invites all the weary to come to him, promising rest and gentleness under his shared yoke, in contrast to the burdens imposed by the Pharisees.
Mark 1.41 (King James Version) :And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will; be thou clean.King James Version (1769), domaine public — texte : eBible.org
From the 3rd Passover to the start of the final week
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PER228
The judgment of religious leaders and the rebukes of Jesus the Messiah
During a meal at a Pharisee's house in Jerusalem (late 32), Jesus utters severe rebukes against the Pharisees and the teachers of the law. Luke 11.38-54, the only gospel to recount this episode, describes a hostile atmosphere in which the religious authorities look for evidence to condemn Jesus. His cutting words are in reality a call to repentance, ignored by men blinded by pride.
Luke 11.53 (King James Version) :And as he said these things unto them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to urge him vehemently, and to provoke him to speak of many things:King James Version (1769), domaine public — texte : eBible.org -
PER243
The parable of the lost and found sheep
This article deals with the parable of the lost sheep in the Gospel of Luke, stressing God's joy over the salvation of a sinner. It belongs to a set of three parables, illustrating different nuances of seeking and salvation.
Luke 15.8-10 (King James Version) :Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it?And when she hath found it, she calleth her friends and her neighbours together, saying, Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost.Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.King James Version (1769), domaine public — texte : eBible.org
The last week before the arrest
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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 5.3 (King James Version) :Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.King James Version (1769), domaine public — texte : eBible.org -
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.
Romans 14.8-9 (King James Version) :For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s.For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living.King James Version (1769), domaine public — texte : eBible.org -
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 7.50-51 (King James Version) :Nicodemus saith unto them, (he that came to Jesus by night, being one of them,)Doth our law judge any man, before it hear him, and know what he doeth?King James Version (1769), domaine public — texte : eBible.org -
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.
Matthew 23.1-39 (King James Version) :Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples,Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat:All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not.For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments,And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues,And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi.But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren.And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ.But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor!Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold?And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty.Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift?Whoso therefore shall swear by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon.And whoso shall swear by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein.And he that shall swear by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon.Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous,And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets.Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city:That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.King James Version (1769), domaine public — texte : eBible.org