We are studying the 7 days from Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem up to his resurrection the week later. My topics will be generally about doctrine taught in the temple during the Tuesday through Thursday.

Luke 21:37-38 says that Jesus spent his days in the Temple and his nights at the mount of olives.

We are going to start with the cursing of the fig tree. The Books of Matthew and Mark both speak of Jesus cursing a fig tree. The book of Matthew says that the tree withered immediately, but the account from the Gospel of Mark is a bit clearer with the timing of when this happened, and has a bit more details. Mark 11:12-14; 20-21

• 12 The next day (Monday) as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. 13 Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. 14 Then he said to the tree, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard him say it.
• 20 In the morning (Tuesday), as they went along, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. 21 Peter remembered and said to Jesus, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!”

Jesus was leaving Bethany to go to back to Jerusalem. He was hungry and went looking for some figs, but the tree was empty. He cursed the tree. The next day was Tuesday, and He and his disciples passed the tree again. It was all withered, after only one day of being rebuked by Jesus. The disciples asked Him a question. “How did it wither quickly?” Jesus answered that with faith, you can move mountains. A prayer made in faith with the expectation and belief will be powerful. He claims whatever you ask for in prayer, you will receive. Now, to have that faith and that belief is something that we should aspire to and that concept is its own sermon. But the incident with the tree isn’t just about belief in your prayers. The incident told a bigger message; the tree was Israel. We know the answer to the riddle, but there’s more of a background that I’d like to talk about briefly. Earlier in His ministry, Jesus had told a story about repentance. In Luke 13:1-5

13 Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. 2 Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? 3 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. 4 Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them―do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”

Even to this day, some people think generally worse sinners ended up suffering more for their sins. They believe that if you’re suffering, you’re a worse sinner or more guilty. Jesus put to rest this myth. He said were these people more guilty? Were those people worse sinners than others? No. Suffering and sin aren’t always related. Some churches tell you that if you’re sick, it’s because you don’t have enough faith. If you suffer, it’s punishment for something wrong you did. This is not Biblical. The last thing you should tell someone with a terminal illness is that it’s their fault because of their sins or lack of faith in God. Jesus said that those who suffered weren’t more guilty, or worse sinners. Mind you, He didn’t say they were innocent. But He did say they were no worse either. But because they were on the topic of Sin, Jesus decided to teach a valuable lesson. He taught universal need for repentance. You need to repent of your sin. Unless you repent, you too will all perish. It doesn’t matter if you are suffering more or less. It doesn’t matter if you have an easy life or a hard one. Unless you repent you too will all perish. Everyone needs to repent. It’s universal. We all have enough sin to condemn us, but there is an opportunity to repent. And this idea of repentance brings on this half-parable. In Luke 13:6-9 Jesus tells a half of a parable about a fig tree that isn’t bearing fruit.

5 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.” 6 Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it but did not find any. 7 So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’ 8 “‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. 9 If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’”

The tree represents a people who are not willing to repent. A people that are unfruitful and aren’t serving their purpose. The owner of the vineyard (God owns all people, as the creator) is willing to cut the tree down to save the soil for a vine that will bear fruit. The man who took care of the vineyard begs the owner for another year of patience. The tree will get special care and attention for one more year. How does the story turn out? Jesus didn’t finish the story in Luke 13, because the story wasn’t over yet! That’s why I called it a half-parable. But the warning was presented. The time is coming and has come where this tree will either bear fruit or won’t. So what’s fruit? The fruit here is repentance. The listener of the parable has a limited time to consider what repentance means, and then things will change, irreversibly.

Now, back to the physical tree that Jesus actually curses. This is how that half-parable ends! This literal tree has no fruit, and Jesus curses it. The tree’s demise is very quick. Now this tree could represent any people who are not bearing the fruit of repentance. But in particular, the Jewish religion and the Levitical priesthood are the fruitless tree Jesus speaks about. And the fruit Jesus doesn’t see is repentance. At this point, Jesus is being a little bit poetic, yelling at literal trees with symbolic meaning, but in the next few verses Jesus will bring His rebukes and charges more directly towards the Jewish priesthood. Things are about to change, and they will change very fast. A lot happens here, and it happens very quickly.

In Matthew 21:23-27 Jesus argues with the Chief priests and elders about where He gets his Authority. We won’t read the verse, but the Priests and Elders ask Jesus where he gets his authority. Instead of answering, Jesus asked them about John the Baptist’s authority. He brought up John the Baptist for a few reasons. First, they had been trying to trick Jesus into saying something wrong, but he flipped the question on them. They knew John the Baptist was popular, but didn’t want to acknowledge that John the Baptist was from God. They also didn’t want to say his ministry was not from God, but from man, when he was so popular. Remember John the Baptist for a bit, because Jesus didn’t just use him as a trump card or an argument winner. There’s a reason that he brings up John the Baptist. It’s found in the next verse, which is Jesus’ parables of the two sons. Matthew 21:28-32

28 “What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’ 29 “‘I will not,’ he answered, but later he changed his mind and went. 30 “Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but he did not go. 31 “Which of the two did what his father wanted?”
“The first,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. 32 For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.

Jesus is teaching in the temple courts and he’s primarily speaking to Jews. These were devout law abiding, by the book Jews. In the parable there are two sons. Both are given commands by their father, to go to the vineyard and work. Both sons have issues with doing what they say they will. One says he will not work, but he changes his mind and goes out to work. The other says “I will sir” but does not go. Look at the sons. The first son didn’t address his father as sir, or with any respect whatsoever. When asked to go to work, he honestly answered his father, “I will not.” But something happened to the first son. Verse 29. The first had a change of mind. We don’t know if he just got bored, or his other plans fell through. Or he thought about his Father doing the work alone, and wanted to be with him. But something happened in his mind, and when his mind was renewed or changed, his actions followed. The second son said all the right things. He called his father “Sir” and agreed to do the work. It doesn’t say the second son swore an oath or made a promise, but he did agree to do the work that the Father had asked. Interestingly, the Bible never says that the second son had a change in mind, like the first. Which might mean that the second son had never intended to follow through. Either way, the first son did what the father asked. And verse 31 explains that the Priests in Jerusalem knew that. Jesus then tells them that they are like the second son. The Prostitutes and tax collectors are like the first son, and they are entering the Kingdom of God before the priests. No Tact. No sugar coating it. Jesus goes into the temple and tells them that they’re all wrong.

Now remember how I said to keep John the Baptist in mind? Here’s why. In verse 32 he brings up John the Baptist again. He says that John came to show you the way of righteousness. What did John the Baptist preach? What was his message? He preached repentance. Repent, for the Kingdom of God is here. John claimed to be preparing the way for the messiah. He was fertilizing the soil of repentance for this Fruitless Fig tree! Verse 32 Jesus says. John came to you to show you the path of righteousness. Now here’s basically what Jesus is saying to the Pharisees and Priests:

What about John the Baptist? The prophet in the wilderness? You don’t acknowledge him. You don’t refute him. You don’t say you believe him and you’re too scared of the popular opinion to say you don’t believe him. You don’t know where he gets his authority. You study this stuff every day. You run these temples, and you don’t even have an opinion about this guy? What GOOD are you?
You have a prophet preparing the way in the wilderness. His message is repentance. Do you agree with repentance? You are literally living in the middle of the biggest event in the History of your religion, and really in the History of the WORLD!! And you don’t even have an opinion??!?! Those people you look down on, the tax collectors and prostitutes, they believe him. Their hearts and minds changed and so they repented. They felt something because they are alive. Not you! You’re dead. Even after you see John’s ministry, you don’t change!

That’s the crux of the first parable. Now for whoever isn’t totally offended by this point, Jesus tells another Parable. Matthew 21:33-39

33 “Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place. 34 When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit.
35 “The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. 36 Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way. 37 Last of all, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said.
38 “But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.’ 39 So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

The second parable that Jesus told was similar to the first. It was a warning that the Jewish religious establishment had failed. Jesus was perfect, so he always spoke truth, and never lied. Sometimes we lie, to be nice. Or we hold back saying unpleasant things in order to not offend people. But Jesus was honest, and was not scared to offend people. There’s a sin that the Bible warns us of called the “Fear of Man.” it could be a form of pride because we want to appear a certain way to others, or we desire their approval more than God’s. It could also be a form of unbelief, because with this fear, we are acting as if God’s approval doesn’t exist. But Jesus was without sin, so He wasn’t affected by that. He said things in faith, without any fears of recourse. And the things he said were offensive to the Jewish priests and Pharisees. So what’s up with this parable? Well, the landowner, is of course God, the owner of all things. The tenants are the Jews, and the servants of the landowner that were beaten, killed, and stoned were prophets. God sends prophets to his people in order to teach them, warn them and to prepare them to produce fruit that comes from being in a close relationship with Him. Primarily that fruit begins with repentance. Throughout history, Prophets are mistreated by the very people that they are coming to help. Finally God sends his Son, who is going to be treated badly. And the people who treat him badly do so with an intention to personally gain from his death. In the parable, the tenants believe that their position in the vineyard should be a guarantee for the inheritance. Now that’s totally illogical!! How does that work? If I rent a property, do I expect to be in my landlord’s will?? It makes no sense. But like these tenants, the Jews believe that their position in the synagogue and their heritage is some sort of guarantee in God’s inheritance. If they could just kill the Son, for some reason they believe themselves to be next in line. Then Jesus asks them to judge the people in the proverb. Let’s read on.

40 “Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?”
41 “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” they replied, “and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.”
42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:
“‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?
43 “Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. 44 Anyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.”
45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus’ parables, they knew he was talking about them. 46 They looked for a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that he was a prophet.

In verses 40-41, Jesus has them condemn themselves, and eventually in verse 45, the priests and Pharisees finally figured out he was talking about them. In Verse 46, they start looking for a way to arrest him, But look at the second half. “but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that he was a prophet.” Here is the “Fear of Man” that we spoke about earlier. This is just like how they were afraid to take an opinion about John the Baptist. Is the Baptism from God? No we aren’t prepared to admit that. Is it from man? No we don’t want anger the crowds. So they don’t have an answer. They were afraid of the crowd. Jesus was becoming popular, and these Pharisees could see it. Jesus wasn’t sinning. He wasn’t making any ridiculous statements. They wanted to arrest him and deny that he was a prophet, but they were too scared of the crowds to do anything. Their fear of man paralyzed their actions. Now the fear of Man is very dangerous because when you fear Man more than God, you start to act as if God doesn’t exist. You become a functional Atheist, because you aren’t acting like there’s a God. And the Leaders of the Temple were acting this way. They had this fear of Man, and they were paralyzed. They couldn’t arrest him themselves, so they changed their tactic. They started trying to trick Jesus with questions designed to make him unpopular with certain groups. The first was the Roman Government. Matthew 22:15-22

15 Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words. 16 They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians. “Teacher,” they said, “we know that you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are. 17 Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not?”
18 But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, “You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? 19 Show me the coin used for paying the tax.” They brought him a denarius, 20 and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?”
21 “Caesar’s,” they replied. Then he said to them, “So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”
22 When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left him and went away.

Jesus said nothing that would offend Caesar or the empire. Give back to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what is God’s. No soldier or government worker would have a problem with that answer. But when you really think about Jesus’s answer, you really ask yourself who owns what? Jesus is saying if something belonged to Caesar give it back to him. Does Caesar have a claim on your coins? Does he own your wage? Did you take the coins or your livelihood from Caesar, and now you are giving them back? What about your life? Does Caesar own that? Give back to him what belongs to him. Now. How about God? What do you think God owns? It’s Biblical to think that God owns everything. I believe that as the Creator of it all, God owns the entire universe. So if you give a coin back to Caesar, was it your coin to begin with? Does it now belong to Caesar when you hand it to the tax collector? And WHEN did God stop owning various parts of His creation? Never mind the metal discs, do you belong to Caesar or God? If you belong to God, have you given yourself back to Him? Jesus not only didn’t say anything wrong, but he really challenged their thoughts. IF they wanted to be challenged and think about what He said. Maybe they just wanted to trap him, but failed. Matthew 22:23-33

23 That same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him with a question. 24 “Teacher,” they said, “Moses told us that if a man dies without having children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up offspring for him. 25 Now there were seven brothers among us. The first one married and died, and since he had no children, he left his wife to his brother. 26 The same thing happened to the second and third brother, right on down to the seventh. 27 Finally, the woman died. 28 Now then, at the resurrection, whose wife will she be of the seven, since all of them were married to her?”
29 Jesus replied, “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God. 30 At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven. 31 But about the resurrection of the dead―have you not read what God said to you, 32 ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead but of the living.”
33 When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at his teaching.

The Sadducces didn’t believe in a resurrection, so they framed their question to make the concept of resurrection seem ridiculous. Jesus explained how their theology was wrong. He told them that they hadn’t read the Word of God. Since they hadn’t become familiar with God’s word, they didn’t understand God’s character. Since they don’t understand God’s Character, they don’t understand God’s power. Jesus used scripture to disarm their trap, and to explain how a theological concept makes sense.  It’s not about winning debates or standing up against someone who disagrees with you, it’s about knowing God for who He is, and taking the study of his word seriously. Matthew 22:34-40

34 Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

The Pharisees had heard that Jesus silenced the Sadducees. In Luke 20:39, we read, “39 Some of the teachers of the law responded, “Well said, teacher!”” The teachers of the law and the Pharisees actually liked Jesus’ answer to the Sadducees. They must have felt vindicated that the Sadducees were silenced and proven wrong. The book of Matthew said that the Pharisees got together, and one man, who was an expert tested him. From Matthew’s account, it seemed like the Pharisees were still trying to trick Jesus into saying something wrong. But in the book of Mark, the one who asked the question had thought Jesus’ answers to the Sadducees were good. So this expert of the law, who’s motives and heart we can’t judge, except to say he actually liked Jesus’s answers. He made Jesus pick one commandment above all the others. But Jesus didn’t pick one of the 10 commandments at the exclusion of the 9 others. Jesus picked a commandment from Deuteronomy 6:5. This commandment was just a general commandment to love God with every fiber of your existence. All your heart and soul and mind. Jesus’ second commandment was from Leviticus 19:18. Love your neighbor as yourself. The commandments Jesus referred to were Biblical, but they weren’t from the 10 commandments. Why does this matter? Most Pharisees thought they were justified because they kept the 10 commandments religiously. But Jesus’s top two “commandments” were not from the 10. And Jesus’s two are actually impossible commandments to keep. None of us can love God above everything else with everything that we are. None of us are able to love our neighbors as much as ourselves. I’m sorry. I hope I don’t offend anyone here, but I challenge you to say you can do either of these two things for more than a few minutes at a time. Love God. Fine. With EVERYTHING that you are. Above ALL else. That’s a bit more impossible.. and Love your neighbor as yourself. That’s a nice sounding commandment. To love your neighbor as yourself. But when your paycheck comes, do you truly love your neighbor like as yourself? Is it even possible for you to care for another person the way you care for yourself? And when a neighbor sins, are you as quick to forgive or overlook their sins as you are to explain away and overlook your own sins? If you were able to do both of Jesus’s top two commands fully, you will not break any of the 10 commandments or any of the hundreds of other laws. But living in our flesh, we know that is impossible. It’s impossible for everyone except Jesus.. Those two commandments prove that we are imperfect and can never justify ourselves before God. Mark 12:32-34 shows that there was some hope in Jesus teaching. Maybe the Jewish priesthood or the Pharisees in general were dead like the fig tree, but everyone’s heart is different and shouldn’t be judged. We say Pharisees are bad but read here how the Expert of the Law responded:

32 “Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. 33 To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 34 When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.

Matthew 22:41-45

41 While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, 42 “What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is he?”
“The son of David,” they replied.
43 He said to them, “How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him ‘Lord’? For he says, 44 “‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.”’ 45 If then David calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son?” 46 No one could say a word in reply, and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions.

Jesus asks the Pharisees and experts of law a question, after they’ve been testing him. He asks what they think about the Messiah. Now, in theory, this is what the entire Jewish religion is waiting for. They are searching for their king, their redeemer, their savior. This is the one that the prophets foretell. They should have an opinion but after a simple question about his Davidic heritage they were dumbfounded. It’s almost like they knew one stock answer that he was son of David, or from David’s line. But when asked a follow up about his title, Lord, they had no answers and asked no more questions. I guess idea that a King, like David, would call one of his distant offspring, “Lord”, even if that distant offspring was the Messiah was beyond the understanding of the Pharisees. But in all the questions He’s being asked, and asking Himself, Jesus keeps bringing up the idea of the messiah. He does this to help them see the answer that is staring them in the eyes. Once they are silenced we are in Matthew 23. I won’t go verse by verse, because this post is getting long, but if you read it on your own, you’ll see the details.

It’s important to know that the week between Palm Sunday and Good Friday (Monday through Thursday) of this week in Jesus’ life, the events have been escalating. Jesus starts by yelling at a tree, which symbolizes Israel. Then he goes to the temple and tells some offensive parables, where the bad characters represent the priests and Pharisees. He makes enemies by telling the truth. But in Matthew 23, Jesus takes his Holy tirade to another level. He goes through all the woes of the Pharisees and teachers of law. He isn’t yelling at trees, or telling parables, where the bad character symbolizes a real life bad guy. He calls them out directly. He starts by telling the crowds to obey their rules and commands, because they are in the seat of Moses. BUT don’t follow in their footsteps. Don’t emulate them. They give burdens to people but do not help them. They do things for appearances only. They care about men’s opinions (this is the fear of man I discussed earlier) and love recognition. They cherish their status, their positions, and their titles. They are full of pride. They are blind, they are hypocrites, and they are wicked. They value the gifts and the gold on the altar more than the Temple, and they value that Temple and their priesthood more than the God who should be exalted at the temple. Jesus actually calls them sons of Hell. And later in Matthew 23:35-36

35 And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. 36 Truly I tell you, all this will come on this generation.

Then he explains that all the righteous blood spilled on the earth from Abel to the prophets will be on their hands. OK that sounds a bit dramatic. Is this a hyperbole? That ALL the righteous blood is on their hands? No. Within only a few days of Matthew 23, Jesus’ righteous blood WILL spill. This is happening within DAYS, just like the fig tree that withered within a day. Jesus righteous blood will spill. And it is their hands that will spill it. Now Jesus was being punished for our sins, so it was our sins that shed His blood in a sense. But it is their demands and their pleas to Pontus Pilate. It is their choice to free Barabbas. At Easter time, you will be learning all of this part of the story. But know this: Jesus’ blood is more righteous, more precious, and more worthy than any of the righteous blood that has EVER spilled throughout history. Before Jesus, there was never truly absolutely righteous blood spilled. The relatively righteous blood of Abel or the Prophets, or various animal sacrifices was spilled, but it wasn’t as righteous and pure as Jesus’ blood. All the seemingly righteous blood that was spilled over and over before Jesus only served to point to ONE truly righteous sacrifice that at one time atoned for the sins of all who believe once and for all. This is what Easter time is about.