“Messiah” is an English transliteration of the Hebrew masheeakh, which means anointed one. “Christ” is an English transliteration of the Greek christos, which means anointed one. Depending on which English translation you are reading, you could see “Messiah,” “Christ,” “anointed one,” or any combination of the three. Keep in mind that they all mean the same thing. After putting up with trick questions from the Pharisees, scribes, Herodians, and Sadducees all day Tuesday, Jesus asks them a question on Wednesday, but they can’t answer it.
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38 And all the people came to Him in the Temple, early in the morning, to listen to Him.
35a, 41 But, while teaching in the Temple, While the Pharisees were still assembled there, Jesus put a question to them.
42 “What think you about the Christ,” He said, “whose son is He?”
“David’s,” they replied.
43-45 “How then,” He asked, “does David, taught by the Spirit, call Him Lord, when he says, “‘THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD, SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND UNTIL I HAVE PUT THY FOES BENEATH THY FEET’? “If therefore David calls Him Lord, how can He be his son?”
46 No one could say a word in reply, nor from that day did any one venture again to put a question to Him.
Mark 12:37b, Matthew 23:1-7, Mark 12:40, Matthew 23:8-39, Jesus denounces the lawyers and Pharisees. (8/27/14)
Only Matthew records Jesus’ denunciation of the scribes and Pharisees that begins in Matthew 23:8. We don’t know why that is. My total speculation – so don’t repeat it! – is that as a tax-collector Matthew had probably been on the receiving end of plenty of denunciations from the scribes and Pharisees.
I figured out why I thought that Jesus spoke the words of vss. 37-39 on the way into the city. Doesn’t it make sense that he would say this right before the procession of Palm Sunday, where the people were shouting “Blessed be he who comes in the name of the Lord”? Just because it made sense in my head doesn’t mean that I had it right, however. Read carefully, and read the whole context of any verse you are interested in.
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37b And the mass of people found pleasure in listening to Jesus.
1 Then Jesus addressed the crowds and His disciples.
2-3 “The Scribes,” He said, “and the Pharisees sit in the chair of Moses. Therefore do and observe everything that they command you; but do not imitate their lives, for though they tell others what to do, they do not do it themselves.
4 Heavy and cumbrous burdens they bind together and load men’s shoulders with them, while as for themselves, not with one finger do they choose to lift them.
5-7, 40 And everything they do they do with a view to being observed by men; for they widen their phylacteries and make the tassels large, and love the best seats at a dinner party or in the synagogues, and like to be bowed to in places of public resort, and to be addressed by men as ‘Rabbi.’ and swallow up the property of widows and then mask their wickedness by making long prayers: these men will receive far heavier punishment.”
8 “As for you, do not accept the title of ‘Rabbi,’ for one alone is your Teacher, and you are all brothers.
9 And call no one on earth your Father, for One alone is your Father – the Heavenly Father.
10 And do not accept the name of ‘leader,’ for your Leader is one alone – the Christ.
11-12 He who is the greatest among you shall be your servant; and one who exalts himself shall be abased, while one who abases himself shall be exalted.
13 “But alas for you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you lock the door of the Kingdom of the Heavens against men; you yourselves do not enter, nor do you allow those to enter who are seeking to do so.
15 “Alas for you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you scour sea and land in order to win one convert – and when he is gained, you make him twice as much a son of Gehenna as yourselves.
16-17 “Alas for you, you blind guides, who say, “‘Whoever swears by the Sanctuary it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the Sanctuary, is bound by the oath.’ “Blind fools! Why, which is greater? – the gold, or the Sanctuary which has made the gold holy?
18-22 And you say, “‘Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the offering lying on it is bound by the oath.’ “You are blind! Why, which is greater? – the offering, or the altar which makes the offering holy? He who swears by the altar swears both by it and by everything on it; he who swears by the Sanctuary swears both by it and by Him who dwells in it; and he who swears by Heaven swears both by the throne of God and by Him who sits upon it.
23-24 “Alas for you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you pay the tithe on mint, dill, and cumin, while you have neglected the weightier requirements of the Law – just judgment, mercy, and faithful dealing. These things you ought to have done, and yet you ought not to have left the others undone. You blind guides, straining out the gnat while you gulp down the camel!
25-26 “Alas for you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you wash clean the outside of the cup or dish, while within they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, first wash clean the inside of the cup or dish, and then the outside will be clean also.
27-28 “Alas for you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you are just like whitewashed sepulchres, the outside of which pleases the eye, though inside they are full of dead men’s bones and of all that is unclean. The same is true of you: outwardly you seem to the human eye to be good and honest men, but, within, you are full of insincerity and disregard of God’s Law.
29-32 “Alas for you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you repair the sepulchres of the Prophets and keep in order the tombs of the righteous, and your boast is, “‘If we had lived in the time of our forefathers, we should not have been implicated with them in the murder of the Prophets.’ “So that you bear witness against yourselves that you are descendants of those who murdered the Prophets. Fill up the measure of your forefathers’ guilt.
33 O serpents, O vipers’ brood, how are you to escape condemnation to Gehenna?
34-36 “For this reason I am sending to you Prophets and wise men and Scribes. Some of them you will put to death – nay, crucify; some of them you will flog in your synagogues and chase from town to town; that all the innocent blood shed upon earth may come on you, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Berechiah whom you murdered between the Sanctuary and the altar.
36 I tell you in solemn truth that all these things will come upon the present generation.
37-38 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem! thou who murderest the Prophets and stonest those who have been sent to thee! how often have I desired to gather thy children to me, just as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, and you would not come! See, your house will now be left to you desolate!
39 For I tell you that you will never see me again until you say, ‘BLESSED BE HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD.’”
Mark 12:41-44, The widow’s mite (8/28/14)
We all know the story of the widow’s mite. I was surprised, again, to learn that this took place during Holy Week.
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41 Having taken a seat opposite the Treasury, He observed how the people were dropping money into the Treasury, and that many of the wealthy threw in large sums.
42 But there came one poor widow and dropped in two farthings, equal in value to a halfpenny.
43-44 So He called His disciples to Him and said, “In solemn truth I tell you that this widow, poor as she is, has thrown in more than all the other contributors to the Treasury; for they have all contributed out of what they could well spare, but she out of her need has thrown in all she possessed – all she had to live on.”
Mark 13:1-11, Luke 21:15-16, Matthew 24:9b-14, A question about end times (8/29/14)
I used to be a geologist, so when I look at something like the pyramids – or the Rocky Mountains – I know that eventually not one stone will be left here upon another. Jesus takes an even longer view of things than I do, and he comments rather casually that the wonderful Temple his disciples admire so much isn’t going to last. The disciples can’t imagine life without the Temple, so they figure he is talking about the End Times. They want to know What To Look For. Jesus tells them, lots of impressive events will occur, but don’t get confused into thinking that these are signs of the end times. The only hint Jesus gives us is that the Gospel will be preached everywhere before the end comes. Sadly, the Gospel hasn’t made it everywhere yet. The next time somebody gives you a date for the end of the world, ask what he or she thinks about this passage.
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1 As He was leaving the Temple, one of His disciples exclaimed, “Look, Rabbi, what wonderful stones! what wonderful buildings!”
2 “You see all these great buildings?” Jesus replied; “not one stone will be left here upon another – not thrown down.”
3-4 He was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite to the Temple, when Peter, James, John, and Andrew, apart from the others asked Him, “Tell us, When will these things be? and what will be the sign when all these predictions are on the point of being fulfilled?”
5-6 So Jesus began to say to them: “Take care that no one misleads you. Many will come assuming my name and saying, ‘I am He;’ and they will mislead many.
7-8 But when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed: come they must, but the End is not yet. For NATION WILL RISE IN ARMS AGAINST NATION, AND KINGDOM AGAINST KINGDOM. There will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. These miseries are but like the early pains of childbirth.
9-10 “You yourselves must be on your guard. They will deliver you up to Sanhedrins; you will be brought into synagogues and cruelly beaten; and you will stand before governors and kings for my sake, to be witnesses to them for me. But the proclamation of the Good News must be carried to all the Gentiles before the End comes.
11, 15 When however they are marching you along under arrest, do not be anxious beforehand about what you are to say, but speak what is given you when the time comes; for it will not be you who speak, but the Holy Spirit. for I will give you utterance and wisdom which none of your opponents will be able to withstand or reply to.
16, 24b You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers, relatives, friends; and some of you they will put to death. and you will be objects of hatred to all the nations because you are called by my name.
10-12 Then WILL MANY STUMBLE AND FALL, and they will betray one another and hate one another. Many false prophets will rise up and lead multitudes astray; and because of the prevalent disregard of God’s law the love of the great majority will grow cold;
13-14 but those who stand firm to the End shall be saved. And this Good News of the Kingdom shall be proclaimed throughout the whole world to set the evidence before all the Gentiles; and then the End will come.
Luke 21:20, Matthew 24:15-18, Luke 21:22-24, End times, continued (9/1/14)
I’ve mentioned before that your “red-letter edition” of the Bible may not accurately reflect how much Jesus said, because Greek has a beginning “quotation mark,” but no ending quotation mark. I actually found a couple of red-letter editions that had “let the reader understand” in red. Do we think that Jesus, in the middle of speaking to his disciples, said, “let the reader understand”? No, we don’t. While you’re busy not believing everything I tell you, don’t believe everything the printers attribute to Jesus in red letters, either.
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20 “But when you see Jerusalem with armies encamping round her on every side, then be certain that her overthrow is close at hand.
15-18 “When you have seen (to use the language of the Prophet Daniel) the ‘ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION’, standing in the Holy Place” – let the reader observe those words – “then let those who are in Judaea escape to the hills; let him who is on the roof not go down to fetch what is in his house; nor let him who is outside the city stay to pick up his outer garment.
22 For those are the DAYS OF VENGEANCE and of fulfilling all that is written.
23-24 “Alas for the women who at that time are with child or who have infants; for there will be great distress in the land, and anger towards this People. They will fall by the sword, or be carried off into slavery among all the Gentiles. And Jerusalem will be trampled under foot by the Gentiles, till the appointed times of the Gentiles have expired.
Mark 13:18-23, End times, continued (9/2/14)
If you don’t know what you’re looking for, sometimes you have difficulty seeing it. Back in the days when I was a geology student, I learned in class that glaciers make U-shaped valleys. While riding in a car at Mount Rainier National Park and looking at the map, I realized that I should be facing a glacial valley. I looked up, and there it was, plain as day! I had been forewarned. Jesus tells his disciples that false Christs will come and try to deceive them into thinking it is the end times. “You’ll recognize them, plain as day,” he says, “because I have forewarned you.”
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18 “But pray that it may not come in the winter.
19-20 For those will be times of SUFFERING THE LIKE OF WHICH HAS NEVER BEEN FROM THE FIRST CREATION OF GOD’S WORLD UNTIL NOW, and assuredly never will be again; and but for the fact that the Lord has cut short those days, no one would escape; but for the sake of His own People whom He has chosen for Himself He has cut short the days.
21 “At that time if any one says to you, ‘See, here is the Christ!’ or ‘See, He is there!’ do not believe it.
22 For THERE WILL RISE UP false Christs and false PROPHETS, DISPLAYING SIGNS AND PRODIGIES with a view to lead astray – if indeed that were possible – even God’s own People.
23 But as for yourselves, be on your guard: I have forewarned you of everything.
Matthew 24:26-29, Luke 21:25b, Matthew 24:30-31, Luke 21:28, Matthew 24:32-35, End times illustrated in a parable (9/3/14)
In the desert, you can see lightening from one horizon to the other. We saw turkey vultures in the Grand Canyon, and their 6-foot wingspan makes them visible at a great distance. Trust me on this: you will not have to rely on someone to tell you, and you won’t have to decide whether an event is or is not a sign. When the end times come, everybody will know about it!
Consequently, it may be puzzling that Jesus goes on to say that “this present generation will not pass away” before these events occur. Remember that Jesus is discussing two different things that the disciples had asked him about: the destruction of the Temple and the end times. John Wesley takes Matthew 24:34 as an answer to the first part. Since in fact the Temple was destroyed by the Romans about 40 years later, I think Wesley makes a lot of sense. We’ll see Jesus’ answer to the second part tomorrow.
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26-28 If therefore they should say to you, ‘See, He is in the Desert!’ do not go out there: or ‘See, He is indoors in the room!’ do not believe it. For just as the lightning flashes in the east and is seen to the very west, so will be the Coming of the Son of Man. Wherever the dead body is, there will the vultures flock together.
29, 25b “But immediately after those times of distress THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED, THE MOON WILL NOT SHED HER LIGHT, THE STARS WILL FALL FROM THE FIRMAMENT, AND THE FORCES WHICH CONTROL THE HEAVENS WILL BE DISORDERED AND DISTURBED; and on earth anguish among the nations in their bewilderment at the roaring of the sea and its billows;
30-31 Then will appear the Sign of the Son of Man in the sky; and THEN WILL ALL THE NATIONS OF THE EARTH LAMENT, when they see the Son of Man COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF THE SKY with great power and glory. And He will send out His angels WITH A LOUD TRUMPET-BLAST, and THEY WILL BRING TOGETHER HIS OWN PEOPLE TO HIM FROM NORTH, SOUTH, EAST AND WEST – FROM ONE EXTREMITY OF THE WORLD TO THE OTHER.
28 But when all this is beginning to take place, grieve no longer. Lift up your heads, because your deliverance is drawing near.”
32-33 “Now learn from the fig-tree the lesson it teaches. As soon as its branches have now become soft and it is bursting into leaf, you all know that summer is near.
34 So you also, when you see all these signs, may be sure that He is near – at your very door. I tell you in solemn truth that the present generation will certainly not pass away without all these things having first taken place.
35 Earth and sky will pass away, but it is certain that my words will not pass away.
More of The Chronological Gospel
Birth Announcements and Early Lives of Jesus and John the Baptist
Early Ministries of Jesus and John the Baptist
Jesus’ Early Ministry
Jesus’ Galilean Ministry
Sabbath Controversies
The Sermon on the Mount
The Sermon on the Plain
John the Baptist
Signs and Parables
Miracles and Mission Trips
Bread of Life
Miracles and Meanings
Transfiguration and Teachings
To Jerusalem for the Festival of Tabernacles
Some Results of Luke’s Research
Light
More of Luke’s Research
On the Road Again
The Raising of Lazarus
Holy Week: Palm Sunday and Monday
Holy Week: Tuesday, Parables and Questions
Holy Week: Wednesday Part 1, Discussions
Holy Week: Wednesday Part 2, Be Ready!
Holy Week: Thursday Part 1, Jesus' Celebration of the Passover
Holy Week: Thursday Part 2, Jesus' Farewell Discourse
Holy Week: Friday Part 1, Jesus' Arrest and Two Informal Trials
Holy Week: Friday Part 2, More Trials
Holy Week: Friday, Part 3, and Saturday, Jesus' Death and Burial
The Empty Tomb
Final Appearances of Jesus Prior to Pentecost
Copyright 2014 by Regina L. Hunter. All rights reserved. Scripture readings are from the Weymouth New Testament (1912); caps indicate quotations from the Old Testament. This page has been prepared for the web site by RPB.
The plans and drawings of the Temple are from the Thomas family Bible, now in a private collection of a family member.
Opinions expressed on this page are solely those of the author, Regina Hunter, and may or may not be shared by the sponsors or the Bible-study participants. Thanks to the Holy Spirit for any useful ideas presented here, and thanks to all the readers for their support and enthusiasm. All errors are, of course, the sole responsibility of the author.
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