Update on the study of the book of Matthew...
My blogging has been slow in coming lately. I guess with the snow gone there is more to do outside to keep me busy. I do want to give an update on our study of the book of Matthew. We are now in chapter 21 - July 2013 - with a start of this book in January 2012 - so I think we will be ending our study in 2 years. I am going through the book of Romans on Sunday nights this summer with thoughts of spanning this over into another time slot when fall arrives. We will be picking back up the book of Acts in the fall for our Sunday night Bible study group.
Jesus has told His disciples 3 times that He would be heading to Jerusalem and that He would be turned over to the religious authorities and then turned over to the government authorities. He would suffer beating and whipping and ultimately be killed on a cross but rise again on the third day. So we are at that time now and actually Jesus will give this proclamation of what is to come one more time in this passage. To help get a feel for the timing of all of this I have been putting the days of the week in place and what is happening on those days.
Saturday - Jesus travels from Jericho toward Jerusalem - the big event in Jericho was the healing of the blind men - He ends up in Bethany at the home of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus - the one He raised from the dead after 4 days
Sunday - Jesus spends the day in Bethany and a large crowd starts to gather because of His presence
Monday - Jesus tells His disciples to fetch a donkey and the foal of the donkey from a neighboring town - He rides them into Jerusalem to fulfill the prophecies of the Messiah in Genesis, Zechariah, and Daniel - people praise Him and lay palms and clothes on the road as a carpet for the donkey and its foal to walk on - the procession ends at the temple with Jesus looking around - He travels back to Bethany for the night - about 2 miles out of the city
Tuesday - Jesus travels from Bethany back to Jerusalem and cleanses the temple of the moneychangers and those selling animals for sacrifices - He did this just 3 years ago - He drives out the wrong to be replaced by what is right - the blind and lame can come in now and be healed - He travels back to Bethany for the night
Wednesday - Jesus travels from Bethany back to Jerusalem - on the way He comes upon a fig tree that is full of leaves but no fruit and He curses it and it withers at once - Jesus is teaching and preaching in the temple and He is questioned by the religious authorities of what authority does He have to do this - Jesus turns the tables and asks them a question that they refuse to answer and Jesus starts to expose them as being like the fig tree - they look good on the outside but there is no fruit - Jesus goes on the offensive to point out their hypocrisy
What is amazing is that from chapter 21 to chapter 26 is all teaching that happens on that Wednesday in and out of the temple. It is like another Sermon on the Mount in chapters 5-7. This is a major teaching section that will tell us a lot about the 2nd coming of Jesus.
One more thing - I love how the Bible helps you to understand the Bible. You come to passages or parables that mirror some other event in the Bible that you can look at. One example in this passage for Sunday is the chief priests and the Pharisees saying that those nasty tenants should be done away with and others take their place - they were proclaiming their own judgement just like King David did when Nathan told him about the story of the man with just one little lamb. "You are that man!"
So back to the books and watching God transform my life and the ones around me.
Adam
Jesus has told His disciples 3 times that He would be heading to Jerusalem and that He would be turned over to the religious authorities and then turned over to the government authorities. He would suffer beating and whipping and ultimately be killed on a cross but rise again on the third day. So we are at that time now and actually Jesus will give this proclamation of what is to come one more time in this passage. To help get a feel for the timing of all of this I have been putting the days of the week in place and what is happening on those days.
Saturday - Jesus travels from Jericho toward Jerusalem - the big event in Jericho was the healing of the blind men - He ends up in Bethany at the home of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus - the one He raised from the dead after 4 days
Sunday - Jesus spends the day in Bethany and a large crowd starts to gather because of His presence
Monday - Jesus tells His disciples to fetch a donkey and the foal of the donkey from a neighboring town - He rides them into Jerusalem to fulfill the prophecies of the Messiah in Genesis, Zechariah, and Daniel - people praise Him and lay palms and clothes on the road as a carpet for the donkey and its foal to walk on - the procession ends at the temple with Jesus looking around - He travels back to Bethany for the night - about 2 miles out of the city
Tuesday - Jesus travels from Bethany back to Jerusalem and cleanses the temple of the moneychangers and those selling animals for sacrifices - He did this just 3 years ago - He drives out the wrong to be replaced by what is right - the blind and lame can come in now and be healed - He travels back to Bethany for the night
Wednesday - Jesus travels from Bethany back to Jerusalem - on the way He comes upon a fig tree that is full of leaves but no fruit and He curses it and it withers at once - Jesus is teaching and preaching in the temple and He is questioned by the religious authorities of what authority does He have to do this - Jesus turns the tables and asks them a question that they refuse to answer and Jesus starts to expose them as being like the fig tree - they look good on the outside but there is no fruit - Jesus goes on the offensive to point out their hypocrisy
What is amazing is that from chapter 21 to chapter 26 is all teaching that happens on that Wednesday in and out of the temple. It is like another Sermon on the Mount in chapters 5-7. This is a major teaching section that will tell us a lot about the 2nd coming of Jesus.
One more thing - I love how the Bible helps you to understand the Bible. You come to passages or parables that mirror some other event in the Bible that you can look at. One example in this passage for Sunday is the chief priests and the Pharisees saying that those nasty tenants should be done away with and others take their place - they were proclaiming their own judgement just like King David did when Nathan told him about the story of the man with just one little lamb. "You are that man!"
So back to the books and watching God transform my life and the ones around me.
Adam
Comments
Post a Comment