Holy Week

The week between Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday is often called Holy week or Passion Week.  During this week, Jesus was in Jerusalem and its immediate environs.

Jesus sometimes avoided Jerusalem and Judea prior to Palm Sunday because He was in danger there, and His time had not yet come. (John 7:1, 11:8)  However, He was especially active on Monday and Tuesday of Holy Week.  He definitely didn’t keep a “low profile.”  Some, not all, of the things he did follow:

1.    He drove the money changers out of the temple.  (Matthew 21, Mark 11, Luke 19)

2.    He contested with the Pharisees, Sadducees, and others (Matthew 21-23, Mark 11-12, Luke 20)

3.    He prophesied about the end times. (Matthew 24-25, Mark 13, Luke 21)

4.  Jesus ate the Passover Feast (Last Supper) with His Disciples. (John 13-14)**

5.    He prayed for deliverance but accepted the will of God the Father in the Garden of Gethsemane. ( Matthew 26, Mark 14, Luke 22)

6.    He was arrested, tried, and sentenced to be crucified. Matthew 26-27, Mark 15, Luke 23, John 19)

7.    He was crucified, died, and was buried. (Matthew 27, Mark 15, Luke 23, John 19)

8.    He rose from the dead. (Matthew 28, Mark 16, Luke 24, John 20)

Over the next few of days, Lamp in a Corner will quote some of the teachings Our Lord gave us, during Holy Week.  The Pharisees, Sadducees, and Scribes (lawyers) asked Jesus trick questions in order to get him to say something that he could be arrested for, but Jesus foiled them at every turn:

On one of the days while He was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes with the elders confronted Him, and they spoke, saying to Him, "Tell us by what authority You are doing these things, or who is the one who gave You this authority?" Jesus answered and said to them, "I will also ask you a question, and you tell Me: Was the baptism of John from heaven or from men?" They reasoned among themselves, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' He will say, 'Why did you not believe him?' "But if we say, 'From men,' all the people will stone us to death, for they are convinced that John was a prophet." So they answered that they did not know where it came from. And Jesus said to them, "Nor will I tell you by what authority I do these things."

(Luke 20:1-8 NASB)*

In our modern parlance, they were trying to put Jesus down by asking, “Who gave you the right to teach here in the temple?” Jesus reversed the question, essentially letting everyone know that He didn’t owe them an answer.

The scribes and the chief priests tried to lay hands on Him that very hour, and they feared the people; for they understood that He spoke this parable against them. So they watched Him, and sent spies who pretended to be righteous, in order that they might catch Him in some statement, so that they could deliver Him to the rule and the authority of the governor. They questioned Him, saying, "Teacher, we know that You speak and teach correctly, and You are not partial to any, but teach the way of God in truth. Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?" But He detected their trickery and said to them, "Show Me a denarius. Whose likeness and inscription does it have?" They said, "Caesar's." And He said to them, "Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.”  And they were unable to catch Him in a saying in the presence of the people; and being amazed at His answer, they became silent.

(Luke 20:19-26 NASB)*

Yes, this is the time of year for Americans to file their income tax returns.  It is a privilege to pay taxes to support a free country.  Americans’ freedom is envied by people in many other countries. However, taxes are a secondary issue in this passage.  The Enemy was trying to trick Jesus into saying something that could be used to bring charges against Him for sedition against Rome.

Now there came to Him some of the Sadducees (who say that there is no resurrection), and they questioned Him, saying, "Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies, having a wife, and he is childless, his brother should marry the wife and raise up children to his brother. Now there were seven brothers; and the first took a wife and died childless; and the second and the third married her; and in the same way all seven died, leaving no children. Finally the woman died also.  In the resurrection therefore, which one's wife will she be? For all seven had married her." 

Jesus said to them, "The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage, but those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage; for they cannot even die anymore, because they are like angels, and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection. But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed, in the passage about the burning bush, where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Now He is not the God of the dead but of the living; for all live to Him." 

Some of the scribes answered and said, "Teacher, You have spoken well."  For they did not have courage to question Him any longer about anything.

(Luke 20:27-40 NASB)*

Jesus warned the people about their religious leaders, and He exposed them for the hypocrites and frauds that they were.

"Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and love respectful greetings in the market places, and chief seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets, who devour widows' houses and for appearance’s sake offer long prayers. These will receive greater condemnation.”

(Luke 20:46-47 NASB)*

Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples, saying: "The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses; therefore all that they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things and do not do them. They tie up heavy burdens and lay them on men's shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as a finger. But they do all their deeds to be noticed by men; for they broaden their phylacteries and lengthen the tassels of their garments. They love the place of honor at banquets and the chief seats in the synagogues, and respectful greetings in the market places, and being called Rabbi by men. But do not be called Rabbi; for One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers. Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. Do not be called leaders; for One is your Leader, that is, Christ. But the greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.”

(Matthew 23:1-12 NASB)*

Jesus boldly rebuked the Pharisees on no uncertain terms, even though He knew they were looking for an excuse to kill Him:

"But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut off the kingdom of heaven from people; for you do not enter in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you devour widows' houses, and for a pretense you make long prayers; therefore you will receive greater condemnation. 

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.

Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'Whoever swears by the temple, that is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple is obligated.' You fools and blind men! Which is more important, the gold or the temple that sanctified the gold? And, 'Whoever swears by the altar, that is nothing, but whoever swears by the offering on it, he is obligated.' You blind men, which is more important, the offering, or the altar that sanctifies the offering? Therefore, whoever swears by the altar, swears both by the altar and by everything on it. And whoever swears by the temple, swears both by the temple and by Him who dwells within it. And whoever swears by heaven, swears both by the throne of God and by Him who sits upon it.

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel! 

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also. 

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness.  So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. 

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, and say, 'If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.' So you testify against yourselves, that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of the guilt of your fathers. You serpents, you brood of vipers, how will you escape the sentence of hell? 

Therefore , behold, I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes; some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city, so that upon you may fall the guilt of all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between temple and the altar.  Truly I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.”

(Matthew 23:13-36 NASB)*

And all God’s people say Amen.

*https://www.biblestudytools.com/nas/

** Added April 18, 2019 - Sorry, the BlogSpot word processor will not allow me to fix the indent error.