Attempts to
Catch Jesus in His Wordsand Prophecies of the End
 |
| Gary Smith, Christ Laments over Jerusalem |
According to the chronology of Mark, the disciples
saw the withered fig tree as they were returning with Jesus to Jerusalem
Tuesday morning. The first part of the day was spent again in the temple
courts, where the Jerusalem authorities engaged in debates with Jesus, trying
to catch him in his words. When they failed to find fault in him, Jesus
returned a question to them that established his identity and authority as the
promised Son of David. Because the questioning of
Jesus coincided with the priestly examination of the the paschal lambs
that were to be sacrificed later in the week, it underscores that Jesus
was the actual Lamb of God "who taketh away the sin of the world" (John
1:29).
After denouncing their hypocrisy and contrasting them
unfavorably with a poor widow, Jesus lamented over the fate of Jerusalem before
leaving the temple and the city for the Mount of Olives, where he delivered a
prophecy of its coming destruction and the future end of the world to his
closest disciples. With this discourse he reassured his disciples that although
he would be rejected at the end of this week, he would nonetheless one day
return in glory and be accepted not only as the true King of Israel but also of
all the earth.
While our preparations during in Holy Week focus
mainly on Jesus suffering, death, and resurrection, the Olivet Discourse
reminds us that some of Jesus’ saving mission yet lies ahead, and we must prepare
ourselves to be ready for his return. Elder D. Todd Christofferson, a member of
the Quorum of the Twelve since 2008, has enjoined us, “let us truly celebrate
the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and all that it portends: His return to reign
for a thousand years of peace, a righteous judgment and perfect justice for
all, the immortality of all who ever lived upon this earth, and the promise of
eternal life" (“Preparing
for the Lord’s Return,” Ensign (May
2019): 84).
Scriptural accounts for Tuesday: Mark 11:20–13:37; Matt 21:23–25:46; Luke 20:1–21:38; John 12:37–50
Episodes for Personal Study
- Lesson from the Withered Fig Tree (Mark 11:20–26; parallel Matt 21:19b‒22
- Jesus Examined: Attempts to Catch Him in His Words (Mark 12:13–37; parallels Matt 22:15–46, Luke 20:20–47)
- Hypocrisy of Jesus’ Opponents (Mark 12:38–40; parallels Matt 23:1‒12; Luke 20:45‒47)
- Seven Prophetic Woes (Matt 23:13‒36)
- The Widow’s Offering (Mark 12:41–44; parallel Luke 21:1–4)
- Jesus’ Second Lament over Jerusalem (Matt 23:37‒39)
- The Olivet Discourse (Mark 13:1–38; parallels Matt 24:1–25:46; Luke 21:5–38)
- Summary of Jesus’ Teaching (Luke 21:37–38; John 12:37–50)
- For my fresh translation of these passages, go to Readings for Tuesday
See my Readings for Tuesday or my complete collection of translations for Holy Week.
Suggestions for Families
- If using an Easter Wreath, again light the purple candle.
- Using the final lesson from the fig tree, talk about how things are possible with faith and why we should always forgive others.
- Read Luke 20:45–47 and discuss why Jesus was unhappy with the scribes but pleased with the widow’s modest offering.
- Discuss how the questioning of Jesus paralleled the examination of the lambs that were being selected for the Passover that year. How is he the true Lamb of God?
- Listen to Handel’s “Lamb of God.”
- Read Mark 13, the shortest version of the Mount of Olivet discourse and discuss why it would have reassured Jesus’ disciples once the Lord had been taken from them? How could it have reassured them that Jesus would still be the rightful king even though he was rejected by his own people?
- Read Jesus “parables of preparation” (Matt 24:45‒25:46) and Dallin H. Oaks, “Preparation for the Second Coming,” Ensign (May 2004): 7‒10. What can we do to prepare for the Second Coming?
- Sing “Jehovah, Lord of Heaven and Earth” (hymn no. 269).
Ideas, Traditions, and Activities for Younger Children
- Charles Colson et al., “Questioning Jesus,” Christ in Easter, [19‒20].
- Janet and Joe Hales, A Christ Centered Easter, 8, 28‒29.
- Wendee Wilcox Rosborough, The Holy Week for Latter-day Saint Families, 17‒23.
Some Inspiring Art
- James Tissot, “The Widow’s Mite,” “The Disciples Admire the Buildings of the Temple,” “Jerusalem, Jerusalem,” and “The Prophesy of the Destruction of the Temple.”
- Frans Schwartz, “The Wise and Foolish Virgins.”
- Harry Anderson, “The Second Coming of Jesus Christ.”
- Minerva Teichert, “Christ in the Red Robe.”
- Simon Dewey, “All That She Had.”
- Greg Olsen, “O Jerusalem.”
- Walter Rane, “Five of Them Were Wise.”
- Gary E. Smith, “Christ Laments over Jerusalem.”
- Liz Lemon Swindle, “The Widow’s Mites,” “No Man Knoweth the Hour.”
Anglican collect of the day:O God, by the passion of your blessed Son you made an instrument of shameful death to be for us the means of life: Grant us so to glory in the cross of Christ, that we may gladly suffer shame and loss for the sake of thy Son our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.
Right: The verdant cross represents how the shameful means of Jesus' death, a dead tree of cursing, became through his sacrifice on it a New Tree of Life for us.
Brief Discussion of the Events of the Tuesday before Easter
See the longer discussion in God So Loved the World, 27–37
On Tuesday Jesus returned to Jerusalem after having again
spent the night in Bethany, presumably with Lazarus and his sisters. Crossing
the Mount of Olives, according to the Marcan sequence, he saw the fig tree he
had cursed for fruitlessness the day before and found that it was withered. As
already noted, the literary result of "sandwiching" the cleansing of
the temple between the cursing of the fig tree on Monday and the finding of the
tree dead on Tuesday graphically illustrates that contemporary Israel was
fruitless and warned that their similarly fruitless temple would be overthrown.
The Matthean order, which can be taken to place the parables illustrating the
rejection of Old Israel also on Monday, further underscores this fact, showing
that the fault for the destruction of the temple would lie primarily at the
feet of those who had usurped its control and had misused it. Yet rather than obsessing about the failing of the biblical
chief priests and Pharisees, it is probably best, as always, to see how they
most frequently represent our own failings.
As the prophet had declared, and as
a chorus of Handel's Messiah so vividly portrays, "All we like
sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord
had laid on him the iniquity of us all" (Isaiah 53:6)
.JPG) |
| This path along the Mount of Olives leads from Bethany to Jerusalem |
LESSON FROM THE WITHERED FIG TREE: EXHORTATIONS TO FAITH AND FORGIVENESS
On Tuesday Jesus returned to Jerusalem after having again
spent the night in Bethany, presumably with Lazarus and his sisters. Crossing
the Mount of Olives, according to the Marcan sequence, he saw the fig tree he
had cursed for fruitlessness the day before and found that it was withered. As
already noted, the literary result of "sandwiching" the cleansing of
the temple between the cursing of the fig tree on Monday and the finding of the
tree dead on Tuesday graphically illustrates that contemporary Israel was
fruitless and warned that their similarly fruitless temple would be overthrown.
The Matthean order, which can be taken to place the parables illustrating the
rejection of Old Israel also on Monday, further underscores this fact, showing
that the fault for the destruction of the temple would lie primarily at the
feet of those who had usurped its control and had misused it. Yet rather than obsessing about the failing of the biblical
chief priests and Pharisees, it is probably best, as always, to see how they
most frequently represent our own failings.
As the prophet had declared, and as
a chorus of Handel's Messiah so vividly portrays, "All we like
sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord
had laid on him the iniquity of us all" (Isaiah 53:6)
Nonetheless, the cursing of fig tree had also vividly
revealed the power of Jesus over the natural world. When Peter then noted the
demise of the tree, Jesus used his action as an opportunity to issue an
exhortation for his disciples to have faith: "What things soever ye
desire, when ye pray, believe that ye shall receive them, and ye shall have
them." Nevertheless, faith and prayer do not come without a cost: the Lord
expects us to be Christlike in the exercise of our faith, forgiving all, even
as he would do so notably later in the week.
MORE TEACHINGS IN THE TEMPLE
After drawing lessons from the withered tree, he spent
the morning in the temple. The second
block of these teachings in Matthew, which also cover most of the material
preserved in Mark and Luke, focus on attempts by the Pharisees, Herodians, and
Sadducees to trap Jesus in his words (22:15–40.
The following chart again reviews the Temple Teachings, here emphasizing
the teachings that seem to have been delivered on Tuesday:
Matthew
[Monday]Authority of Jesus Questioned (21:23–27) Old Israel Rejected (21:28–22:14)
Attempts to Trap Jesus in His Words (22:15–46)
|
Mark
Six Interrogations in the Temple (11:27–12:37)
Luke
|
Whether the question was about the paying of taxes to
Rome, about the reality of the resurrection (particularly in the hypothetical
case of a woman who had married seven successive men!), or concerning what was
the greatest commandment of the law, Jesus gave responses that silenced his
opponents. Finally, he posed a question
to them that proved impossible for them to answer:
While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, Saying, What think ye of Christ? whose son is he? They say unto him, The Son of David. He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool? If David then call him Lord, how is he his son? And no man was able to answer him a word, neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any more questions. (Matthew 22:41–46)
Their inability, or refusal, to answer this question
about himself was followed by a scathing denunciation of the these leaders of
Old Israel (23:1–36).
Reflection
This verbal sparring about authority points back to the reality symbolized by Jesus’ earlier triumphal entry: he was the rightful king in Israel, while the chief priests and elders opposed to him were, in fact, usurpers who set themselves up in Jerusalem and in the temple as leaders of Israel. In the days between the selection of the Passover lambs five days before Passover and their sacrifice when the holiday began, the chosen animals were kept separate from the rest of the flocks (Exodus 12:3–6). Because the lambs were to be without blemish, in Jesus’ day the priests in the temple spent this time examining them carefully for fault. While this very examination of the paschal lambs was going on during Jesus’ last week, his opponents were, in fact, trying to find fault in him.
MESSIAH Chorus for the Day: "Behold the Lamb of God"
The examination of the paschal lambs in the temple early in the Savior's last week reminds us of the testimony of John the Baptist that Jesus was the Lamb of God and explains why Charles Jennens chose to begin Part II of Handel's Messiah, the Passion section, with a powerful quotation from John 1:29:
This text is the subject of the opening chorus of Part II, a chorus that is incredible powerful even as it is pervasively sad, moving performers and audiences alike from the joy of the Promise that was the subject of Part I to the heaviness of Jesus' weighty atoning work
Frequently this verse is misquoted, people often reading, and singing, the plural "sins" instead of the scripture's singular "sin." In accordance with the high christology of the Gospel according to John, Jesus' work is about far more than redeeming us from our individual sins and transgressions. Rather it is about totally undoing the effects of the Fall, overcoming not only our mortal state but also the state of spiritual death that holds us captive. As Jacob in the Book of Mormon wrote, “O how great the goodness of our God, who prepareth a way for our escape from the grasp of this awful monster; yea, that monster, death and hell, which I call the death of the body, and also the death of the spirit” (2 Nephi 9:10).
This, then, is the cosmic Sin that holds us prisoner. This idea of the Sin of the world as a cosmic force, which is also found in the early letters of Paul, is analogous to the "weakness" of all men and women described in the Book of Mormon (see Jacob 4:7; Ether 12:26-27, which are also frequently misquoted in the plural). This weakness is perhaps best understood as our inability in our mortal state to do anything good or lasting without the grace of Christ. And this is the captivity and death for which Jesus, our Passover, came as a sacrifice.
Reflection
This verbal sparring about authority points back to the reality symbolized by Jesus’ earlier triumphal entry: he was the rightful king in Israel, while the chief priests and elders opposed to him were, in fact, usurpers who set themselves up in Jerusalem and in the temple as leaders of Israel. In the days between the selection of the Passover lambs five days before Passover and their sacrifice when the holiday began, the chosen animals were kept separate from the rest of the flocks (Exodus 12:3–6). Because the lambs were to be without blemish, in Jesus’ day the priests in the temple spent this time examining them carefully for fault. While this very examination of the paschal lambs was going on during Jesus’ last week, his opponents were, in fact, trying to find fault in him.
MESSIAH Chorus for the Day: "Behold the Lamb of God"
The examination of the paschal lambs in the temple early in the Savior's last week reminds us of the testimony of John the Baptist that Jesus was the Lamb of God and explains why Charles Jennens chose to begin Part II of Handel's Messiah, the Passion section, with a powerful quotation from John 1:29:
Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
 |
| Francisco de Zurbarán. Agnus Dei. |
This text is the subject of the opening chorus of Part II, a chorus that is incredible powerful even as it is pervasively sad, moving performers and audiences alike from the joy of the Promise that was the subject of Part I to the heaviness of Jesus' weighty atoning work
Frequently this verse is misquoted, people often reading, and singing, the plural "sins" instead of the scripture's singular "sin." In accordance with the high christology of the Gospel according to John, Jesus' work is about far more than redeeming us from our individual sins and transgressions. Rather it is about totally undoing the effects of the Fall, overcoming not only our mortal state but also the state of spiritual death that holds us captive. As Jacob in the Book of Mormon wrote, “O how great the goodness of our God, who prepareth a way for our escape from the grasp of this awful monster; yea, that monster, death and hell, which I call the death of the body, and also the death of the spirit” (2 Nephi 9:10).
This, then, is the cosmic Sin that holds us prisoner. This idea of the Sin of the world as a cosmic force, which is also found in the early letters of Paul, is analogous to the "weakness" of all men and women described in the Book of Mormon (see Jacob 4:7; Ether 12:26-27, which are also frequently misquoted in the plural). This weakness is perhaps best understood as our inability in our mortal state to do anything good or lasting without the grace of Christ. And this is the captivity and death for which Jesus, our Passover, came as a sacrifice.
.JPG) |
| Panoramic view of the Mount of Olives from today's Old City Walls |
THE OLIVET DISCOURSE
Leaving the temple, Jesus took his disciples to Mount of Olives, where he gave them a prophetic discourse that dealt with both the imminent destruction of Jerusalem and its temple and also focused on the destruction of "the world" at his second coming. The oldest and shortest version of this seems to be in Mark, where it is sometimes referred to as "The Little Apocalypse." Longer versions of this eschatological sermon are preserved by Matthew and Luke. The JST revision of Matthew 23:39–24:51 is an inspired expansion of part of the Olivet Discourse; it continues through 25:1–46 with parables about the last days.
Matthew
|
Mark
Luke
Deceptive Signs of the End (21:7–11) Persecution of the Disciples (21:12–19) Destruction of Jerusalem (21:20–24) The Coming of the Son of Man (21:25–36)
|
Preparing for the Second Coming
"Some of the parables that Matthew records and that Jesus delivered as part of his Olivet Discourse—such as the ten virgins and their lamps or the servants and the talents they were given—are some of the best known of Jesus’ teachings. Reading them in the context of his prophecies about the end of the world, however, makes them clearly parables of preparation. To be on his right hand with his “sheep” rather than at his left hand with the “goats” at his return, we must prepare ourselves now.
"Regarding this preparation, Elder Dallin H. Oaks taught, “While we are powerless to alter the fact of the Second Coming and unable to know its exact time, we can accelerate our own preparation and try to influence the preparation of those around us.” Regarding the parable of the ten bridesmaids (Matthew 25:1–13), Elder Oaks further observed that “the arithmetic of this parable is chilling.” Because they were invited to the wedding, the
ten virgins represent members of the Church, and only half of them were ready when the Bridegroom came.
As I read Jesus’ admonitions to us in the Olivet Discourse as part of my yearly Easter preparations, my joy at the prospect of the return of my King turns to a sober sense of responsibility. His appearance in glory will be “the great and the terrible day of the Lord” (Joel 2:31): welcome and great to his Saints who are ready to meet him, and fearful and terrible to those who are not. The signs of the times that the discourse includes certainly
lead us to make physical preparations, but we should not wait until we think the Second Coming is about to occur to prepare, because for each of us, tomorrow or even today could be our last day. Accordingly, Elder Oaks warned: “What if the day of His coming were tomorrow? If we knew that we would meet the Lord tomorrow—through our premature death or through His unexpected coming—what would we do today? . . . We need to make both temporal and spiritual preparation for the events prophesied at the time of the Second Coming. And the preparation most likely to be neglected is the one less visible and more difficult—the spiritual.”
In the end, our judgment will be of our works and our hearts, and the best preparation that we can make for the Second Coming is to have faith in Jesus as the Christ—our anointed Prophet, Priest, and King—and then allow that faith to bear fruit in our lives as repentance, obedience to his gospel and its ordinances, and good works. The message of Easter week is that our King has made it possible for us to be found spotless and pure, with our lamps burning brightly at that last day." (God So Loved the World, 37)
.JPG) |
| Rachel and I at the Pater Noster Church on the Mount of Olives, the traditional site of the Olivet Discourse |
Reflection
The Lord’s private teaching to his closest disciples
about his Second Coming was once again a natural result of the events of Palm
Sunday. He had entered Jerusalem, seemingly as a recognized Messiah, and many
of them may have expected him to take the throne as king. Peter and others of the
Twelve had earlier obtained powerful witnesses that he was the Messiah, the
true Son of God, but while they understood correctly who Jesus was, they still
did not correctly understand what he had come to do. Three times on the road to
Jerusalem he had prophesied in the so-called "Passion Predictions"
that he would go to Jerusalem to suffer and die (see, for instance, Matthew
16:21–23, 17:22–23, and 20:17–19), and each time they had failed to understand.
 |
| Harry Anderson, Second Coming |
Now, perhaps understanding how confused, terrified, and
heart-broken they would be at the end of the week when their Master was taken,
tortured, and cruelly slain, he sought to reassure them by pointing their minds
forward to that future time when he would, in fact, come in glory as king of
all the earth.
And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. (Matthew 24:30–31)
The occasion of their reassurance has, in turn, provided us with a helpful road map to prepare us in the Last Days, which also fills us with hope and anticipation as we look forward to his return. As we look for the return of our King and the establishment of his millennial reign, the words of hymn 269 reflect our united wish:
And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. (Matthew 24:30–31)
The occasion of their reassurance has, in turn, provided us with a helpful road map to prepare us in the Last Days, which also fills us with hope and anticipation as we look forward to his return. As we look for the return of our King and the establishment of his millennial reign, the words of hymn 269 reflect our united wish:
Jehovah, Lord of heav'n and earth, thy word of truth proclaim! Oh may it spread from pole to pole, till all shall know thy name . . . Roll on thy work in all its power, the distant nations bring! In thy new kingdom may they stand, and own thee God and King.
SUMMARY OF JESUS’ TEACHING
Luke summarizes Jesus’ teaching in the early part of the week by writing simply:
And in the day time he was teaching in the temple; and at night he went out, and abode in the mount that is called the mount of Olives. And all the people came early in the morning to him in the temple, for to hear him. (Luke 21:37–38)
As usual, the material from John is not easily placed in
a particular chronological position during the week. These passages are placed
here on Tuesday for convenience, but they likewise summarize the reaction of
both the people and the leaders to Jesus:
But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him . . . Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue: For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God. (John 12:37–43)
John, however, closes Jesus’ temple ministry with a
powerful testimony of who the Savior is, however, and he further stresses the
responsibility of each person to accept or reject him . . . something for us to
think about as we review our discipleship this week and consider how strong our
faith in Jesus is.
Jesus cried and said, He that believeth on me, believeth not on me, but on him that sent me. And he that seeth me seeth him that sent me. I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness. And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day. (John 12:44–48)
Marking the Tuesday of Holy Week
Tuesday marks the end of what we have termed the Kingly Portion of Holy Week. Reflecting on these events and pondering what we must do to prepare for Jesus’ Second Coming is an important way of putting Jesus’ salvific work in a Restoration context, recognizing that we are living in the latter-days and that we believe that “Christ will reign personally upon the earth” (Article of Faith 10). Yet regardless of whether the Risen Lord comes again in our lifetime or in the yet distant future, we must be faithful, keep our covenants, and prepare to meet him today. President Oaks has taught, “If we knew that we would meet the Lord tomorrow—through our premature death or through His unexpected coming—what we do today? . . . I testify of Jesus Christ. I testify that He shall come, as He has promised. And I pray that we will be prepared to meet Him” (Preparation for the Second Coming,” 9, 1).
For Further Reading
Marcus J. Borg and John Dominic Crossan, The Last Week, 55–84.
Trevan Hatch, A Stranger in Jerusalem, 192‒93.
Eric D. Huntsman, God So Loved the World, 27–38.
Kent P. Jackson, “The Olivet Discourse,” From the Transfiguration through the Triumphal Entry, 318–43.
Amy-Jill Levine, Entering the Passion, 65–90.
Julie M. Smith, The Gospel according to Mark, 642–699.
Easter Quick Links
Preliminary Materials
Ideas for Celebrating Easter | A Working Chronology | The Raising of Lazarus | The Symbolism of Jesus as Anointed King and Priest: The Anointing in John
The Passion Week and the Resurrection
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