Teaching in the TempleFollowing the activities of Jesus during passion week is a bit difficult. My effort to do that took me through the Gospels. My conclusion is that He spent a couple of days teaching the crowds that gathered around Him there, and also some time teaching the disciples. For Him it appears these days were days of offering to the Jews one last time the opportunity to accept Him for who He said He was. It was also evident that not only did the Jewish authorities not accept His message, but that they took strong steps to do away with Him.
Some of the subjects Jesus spoke about were about proper attitudes in giving, as in the picture here, signs of the end of the age, the resurrection and marriage, and on paying taxes, to name a few. He also had some debates with the Jewish leaders. Due to His action in cleansing the temple, His authority to do such things was questioned and responded to. Jesus also took this opportunity to ask the Jews some questions, such as "How is it that the teachers of the law say that the Christ is the son of David? David himself, speaking by the Holy Spirit, declared, 'The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.' David himself calls him Lord. How then can he be his son?" (Mark 12:35-37). Of course they had no answer to give to this question.
We note in the Gospels that Jesus taught in the temple areas during the day and left the city for the night. Some say simply that He left the city. One says He went to the Mount of Olives to spend the night. One says that He was in Jerusalem in the day and in Bethany at night. At any rate He was obviously not wanting to stay in the city during the night, probably so that He could remain safe from those who were seeking to destroy Him. They were afraid to try anything during the day because they were afraid of the crowds, who were yet finding Jesus interesting to listen to.
Finally the time came for Jesus to go into "hiding." It becomes evident that He still wanted to teach some things to the disciples before His death. He gave instructions to have an upper room in Bethany prepared for their observance of the Passover, where, as we know, He instituted, what we call, the Lord's Supper. We'll take up there tomorrow.
Pilgrim on the way
Some of the subjects Jesus spoke about were about proper attitudes in giving, as in the picture here, signs of the end of the age, the resurrection and marriage, and on paying taxes, to name a few. He also had some debates with the Jewish leaders. Due to His action in cleansing the temple, His authority to do such things was questioned and responded to. Jesus also took this opportunity to ask the Jews some questions, such as "How is it that the teachers of the law say that the Christ is the son of David? David himself, speaking by the Holy Spirit, declared, 'The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.' David himself calls him Lord. How then can he be his son?" (Mark 12:35-37). Of course they had no answer to give to this question.
We note in the Gospels that Jesus taught in the temple areas during the day and left the city for the night. Some say simply that He left the city. One says He went to the Mount of Olives to spend the night. One says that He was in Jerusalem in the day and in Bethany at night. At any rate He was obviously not wanting to stay in the city during the night, probably so that He could remain safe from those who were seeking to destroy Him. They were afraid to try anything during the day because they were afraid of the crowds, who were yet finding Jesus interesting to listen to.
Finally the time came for Jesus to go into "hiding." It becomes evident that He still wanted to teach some things to the disciples before His death. He gave instructions to have an upper room in Bethany prepared for their observance of the Passover, where, as we know, He instituted, what we call, the Lord's Supper. We'll take up there tomorrow.
Pilgrim on the way
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