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Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Passion Week - Tuesday


Luke 20:1-8
One day as Jesus was teaching the people in the temple courts and proclaiming the good news, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, together with the elders, came up to him. “Tell us by what authority you are doing these things,” they said. “Who gave you this authority?”
He replied, “I will also ask you a question. Tell me: John’s baptism—was it from heaven, or of human origin?”
They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Why didn’t you believe him?’ But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ all the people will stone us, because they are persuaded that John was a prophet.”
So they answered, “We don’t know where it was from.”
Jesus said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”

Today was the last day Jesus spent with the crowds of people who followed Him during His three years of ministry.  Jesus sat at wells with them, visited their homes, ate at their tables.  He had taught them, healed them and cast out demons and today was the last day He had to teach and prepare them as the Pharisees and religious leaders plotted to kill Him.  

But first the religious leaders basically asked Jesus who He thought He was to throw over the tables in the temple the day before.  Jesus not only had the nerve to show up at the temple again, but He was teaching as well.  Jesus was threatening their entire system because He was teaching the good news of the kingdom of God.  He was teaching that what they used to get at the temple they could now receive by going to Jesus.  The people still didn’t get it.  They wanted a king to free them politically, but the religious leaders understood very clearly and they asked Jesus “Are you claiming to be God?”.  This made them angry but they did not arrest Jesus because they feared the loyalty of the crowds who were following Him.

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