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TUESDAY

Jesus’ Authority Challenged

Jesus foretells His second coming

Mary anoints Jesus

 

Luke 20:1-8

Matthew 24;25

Mark 14:3-9

 

The triumphal entry was on Sunday.

The cleansing of the temple on Monday.

 

Jesus was on a mission beyond all missions and not making any friends.  After interrupting the chief priests’ income stream at the temple, they, the scribes, and elders approached Jesus as He was teaching and preaching. These three groups, no doubt, were a part of and influenced the Jewish council, the Sanhedrin.  They confronted Jesus with a series of questions in order to challenge Jesus’ authority.  Trying to entrap Him into answers that would disprove who He was and His wisdom.  

 

23 When He entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to Him while He was teaching, and said, “By what authority are You doing these things, and who gave You this authority?” 24 Jesus said to them, “I will also ask you one [a]thing, which if you tell Me, I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. 25 The baptism of John was from what source, from heaven or from men?” And they began reasoning among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say to us, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’ 26 But if we say, ‘From men,’ we fear the [b]people; for they all regard John as a prophet.” 27 And answering Jesus, they said, “We do not know.” He also said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.  (Matthew 21:23-27 NASB)

The people were listening to His teaching, therefore making the leaders jealous of His power.  These questions show their deep desperation; they could not find any legitimate reason to accuse Jesus, yet they continued to heckle Him while He was preaching the news of the kingdom.

Jesus answers them again with parables in the presence of the people, the first of which is the Parable of the vine-grower (Luke 20:9-18, Mark 12:1-12).   Scripture tells us the Pharisees “were seeking to seize Him, and yet they feared the [a]people, for they understood that He spoke the parable against them. And so they left Him and went away.”  (Mark 12:12 NASB)

Jesus went on to tell three more parables:

 

Parable of Two Sons (Matthew 21:28-32)

Parable of the Landowner (Matthew 21:33-45)

Parable of the Marriage Feast (Matthew 22:1-14)

 

The Pharisees and leaders could not find anyone against Jesus, and they knew the people were enthralled by Him.  They had to wait for the perfect time to catch Jesus Christ and dispose of Him.

 

As Jesus is ending this evening of temple teachings, He moves to the Mount of Olives, where the disciples approach Him privately, asking, “Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”  (Matthew 24:3)

As the disciples were not looking for a death and resurrection from Christ, they were wanting to know the signs of when Jesus would take over as King in the governmental realm.  Jesus would tell them signs of His return at the second coming.  Jesus told them false prophets, wars, the perilous times to be endured, which will lead to a great tribulation.  Jesus speaks of His return and the judgement.

After these things, Jesus was in Bethany, where Mary broke a vial of very expensive perfume and poured it over Jesus’ head.  There was an argument on how that perfume could have been sold for a fair amount of money, but Jesus rebuked them, saying

6… “Let her alone; why do you bother her? She has done a good deed to Me. 7 For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you wish you can do good to them; but you do not always have Me. 8 She has done what she could; she has anointed My body beforehand for the burial. 9 Truly I say to you, wherever the gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of in memory of her.” 

Mark 14:6-9 (NASB)

While Jesus was reclining at this table, the chief priests and the scribes were secretly seeking how they might seize Him and kill Him.  They were taking into account that the Passover was only two days away, and they did not want to incite a riot during the festival.  The dark clouds were gathering over Jerusalem, as relationships and opportunities began to grow toward the demise of the Son of God.  What they thought their plans were going to accomplish them was not what they thought; these were divine plans coming into history at the right time.  God was orchestrating the events of the week with His divine timeline.