HOLY WEEK TUESDAY: A Withered Tree, Trickery, End Times & Betrayal

Read Mark 11:20-26, Matthew23:24-33 & Matthew 26:14-16 Tuesday was a pretty busy day fore our Lord! On this morning, Jesus and his disciples returned to Jerusalem. They passed the withered fig tree on their way, and observant Peter pointed it out! Class is always in session with our Jesus, so the disciples took yet another opportunity to learn from their Lord about faith & prayer! When they reached the Temple, the religious leaders challenged Jesus' authority and tried to trick & trap Him with questions: “Is it right to pay taxes to Casear?” “Which is the greatest commandment?” “By what authority are you doing these things?” Yadda, Yadda, Yadda…….. did they think they’d trip up GOD?!~ Jesus talked right thru their traps and pronounced harsh judgment on them: Woe, Woe, Woe, Woe, Woe, Woe, Woe – 7 times He exposes who they are! Hyporcrites, Blind guides, whitewashed tombs, snakes, brood of vipers!~ Tuesday afternoon Jesus left the city and went with his disciples to the Mount of Olives, which overlooks Jerusalem due east of the Temple. Here Jesus gave what is known as the “Olivet Discourse”, which is an elaborate prophecy about the destruction of Jerusalem and the end of the age. He taught in parables (symbolic language) about end times stuff. And Ha - the religious leaders knew these parables made them look bad – duh! Finally, Tuesday was also the day Judas went to the Sanhedrin (the Holy Heavies) and negotiated with them to betray Jesus. After a tiring day of confrontation and warnings about the future, once again, Jesus and the disciples stayed the night in Bethany. SO WHAT?!~ - How is your faith? Your prayer life? We don’t need a lot of faith, just a little faith in a BIG God! - Jesus did not have very kind words for those whose focus was to look good on the outside and whose hearts were far from Him. How about us? God knows our hearts. Is there anything we need to ask forgiveness of so we can get our hearts right? If so, do it now. The sooner you learn you can’t trick Jesus, the better. - Ever been betrayed by a friend? I have and pretty recently. It’s extremely painful and your heart doesn’t want to forgive. But if ever there is a time when we can imitate our Lord’s difficulties, this is one. Make it a point today to CHOOSE to forgive, even if the feelings aren’t there yet. AND, if you are the one who has betrayed, go seek forgiveness – today!