Teaching Tuesday (and Wednesday?) of Holy Week

On this day in Holy Week, or maybe yesterday, or both, Jesus did a lot of teaching.  

There’s so much I’ll just summarize without much comment.

The setting is really important though.  It’s very hostile and politically charged.  Jesus just drove the sacrifice sellers out of the temple, the ones the rulers said could be there.  So their question is obvious: who gave you authority to do this?  Jesus' rejoinder: I'll answer if you tell me if God gave John his authority.  This is brilliant, because the people loved John, but the rulers didn’t.  It seems Jesus wasn’t above playing popular politics against those who were against and about to crucify Him.  But Jesus is also indirectly asserting that God Himself gave Jesus His authority to cleanse the temple, just as God gave John authority earlier.

Jesus then tells a series of parables around the same theme: the kingdom of God is coming, you’d better be ready.  The stewards are resisting the king’s son – they’re in for it.  The king will reward those who are faithful to Him with the resources He's given them.

The rulers get the message loud and clear, and they are out to take Jesus down.  They ask Him if they should pay taxes to Caesar, and who in the resurrection gets to marry the woman who has had multiple husbands.  Jesus parries these, says they are mistaken and deceived to scoff at a real resurrection, tells them the 2 greatest commandments, and then asks His own final question of them.  In Psalm 110 David writes that God speaks to the Messiah, and David calls Him "my Lord."  How could the Messiah be greater than David, and also His son?  And the Bible says, on that note, nobody could answer Him, and they didn’t dare ask Him questions anymore.

But Jesus isn’t done.  In Matthew 23, He rebukes the Pharisees’ for their self-righteousness and hypocrisy, and for focusing on externals and details, instead of the heart of the law.

In Matthew 24 He predicts the downfall of the temple, and the tribulation of those days.  I think Jesus is talking about the Roman conquest in 70 AD, up to verse 26 or 35, and probably His second coming after that.  He describes the sheep and goats separated and judged.

At the beginning of Matthew 26, the teaching stops and we get events related again.  Jesus predicts His crucifixion while the rulers plot to kill Him.  Judas agrees to help.  And Mary anoints Jesus’ feet with really expensive oil.  Jesus says it was for His burial, hinting at the infinitely precious value of His coming death for us.

Tomorrow we consider the Gethsemane events.