Dr Paul Allen

Jesus casting out the money changers from the Temple by Giotto, 14th century (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) The sun rises just before 6:30 A.M. in Bethany , the small village on the southeastern slope of the Mount of Olives , just a mile and a half east of Jerusalem. It is Monday morning, March 30, A.D. 33. Jesus of Nazareth is staying in the humble home of his friends Martha (whose anxiety-driven hospitality had received his gentle rebuke), Mary (who chose the good portion), and Lazarus (whose body would still be in the grave apart from the wonder-working of the Christ). Just the day before — the first day of the last week of his life — Jesus had made his Triumphal Entry into the Holy City , riding on a donkey over a royal “red carpet” of palm branches and cloaks, hailed by his disciples and the Galilean pilgrims as the messianic king. But Monday would be different than Sunday. Jesus knew the heart of man (John 2:24–25). He knew the acclaim of the disciples and the crowd was built o...

Jesus casting out the money changers from the Temple by Giotto, 14th century (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Matthew 21:12–13 “ Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons” ( v. 12 ). Messianic expectations were at a fever pitch after Jesus came into Jerusalem on a donkey ( Matt. 21:1–11 ), and the next action He performed only added fuel to the fire. We will today look at our Lord’s cleansing of the temple in Matthew 21:12–13 and examine what it teaches us about the Christ. Of Herod’s building projects, none were greater than the Jerusalem temple , which he expanded. It sat on what we now call the Temple Mount , an area of some thirty-five acres. Only priests could enter the temple itself, which took up a small part of the mount and was surrounded by three courts: Israelite men could enter the court closest to the temple. Israelite men and women could occupy...

Byzantine icon of the cursing of the fig tree. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Gospel writers Matthew and Mark seem to be chronicling the same event in Jesus ’ life when they tell the story of him cursing the fig tree . However, their accounts appear to differ when it comes to their description of when the tree withered. Matthew 21:19 - And seeing a fig tree by the wayside, he went to it and found nothing on it but only leaves. And he said to it, “May no fruit ever come from you again!” And the fig tree withered at once. Mark 11:14, 20 - And he said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard it. … As they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots. In Matthew’s account, it sounds as if the tree withers just after Jesus curses it, while Mark suggests that it wasn’t until the next morning that the withering was apparent. Are these writers telling two separate stories? Is it the same story but one of them get the facts wrong...