Jesus in Jerusalem

Enter the story

Imagine the road into Jerusalem. Jesus sends two disciples to fetch a colt, the people shout, and finally he walks quietly around the temple.

Commentary

Jesus sends two of the disciples into the village to fetch a colt that is tied up there. No one has ridden it before. And if anyone asks, they are to say that the Lord needs it.

I have always liked that sentence. The Lord needs it. A young animal by a doorway in a village, which no one has used for anything yet. That is what he chooses to enter the city.

They put their cloaks on the colt, and people spread their clothes and branches along the road. Those walking ahead and those following behind shout: Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!

Hosanna actually means: Save now. It is a cry for help that has become praise. I do not think the people fully knew what they were shouting. But the words were true all the same, truer than they themselves understood.

And then comes the part that always makes me pause. Jesus enters Jerusalem, goes into the temple courts, and looks around at everything. Then, since it is already late, he goes back out to Bethany with the twelve.

After all the cheering, he stands quietly and looks. No speech, no action. Just a gaze across everything there. I think that is how he enters my life too. He does not always speak straight away. First he looks. Then he comes back the next day.

Look closely

What do the disciples say about the colt, and what do the people shout about Jesus and the kingdom? What does Jesus do after the cheering?

Reflect

What does it mean to welcome Jesus as king over my own life?

Together

How can our praise find expression in making our lives and what we have available to Jesus?

Live it out

Bring a specific task or something you own before Jesus, and ask how it can serve him and others.

Enter the story

Read about the fig tree, and feel free to continue to the incident in the temple. Mark returns to the tree in verse 20. The different parts shed light on one another.

Commentary

The next morning Jesus is hungry. He sees a fig tree with leaves and goes over to see whether it has any fruit. But there are only leaves, because it was not the season for figs. And he says: May no one ever eat fruit from you again.

I want to be honest: This is one of the passages I have struggled with. It seems unreasonable to curse a tree because it bears no fruit out of season. I have read many explanations, and some of them help.

But I do not think I should make the passage too easy. I read it as a sign, an action that points beyond itself. Mark places it just before Jesus enters the temple. And he returns to the tree afterwards.

What stays with me is the foliage. A tree that looks alive, that promises something, but has nothing to give someone who is hungry.

I recognise that in myself. I can have many things that look like life: words, activity, a devout appearance. And yet someone may come to me hungry and leave empty-handed.

Look closely

What does Jesus find on the tree? What does the commentary say about its connection with the temple? Distinguish between what the text tells us and the interpretation of the sign.

Reflect

Where might a devout appearance hide a lack of fruit in my life?

Together

What do people receive when they come to our fellowship hungry for care and hope?

Live it out

Let one good word you use find expression in a specific act for someone today.

Enter the story

Jesus returns to the temple. Notice what he stops, and listen to what he says the house should be.

Commentary

Then Jesus enters the temple courts and begins driving out those who are buying and selling. He overturns the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves.

Mark includes a detail the other Gospel writers do not: He would not let anyone carry anything through the temple. The temple courts had become a shortcut, a place people walked through with their goods. He stops it.

Then he quotes the prophet: My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations. But you have made it a den of robbers.

For all nations. This happened in the part of the temple where Gentiles could come. The only space they had was filled with trade and noise.

I think about what fills the space within me where I should pray. Busyness, plans, everything I need to get done. It is not wickedness. It is simply that the space has become a passageway. And I think about how easily a Christian fellowship can become so full that there is no room for someone coming from outside, searching.

The chief priests and the teachers of the law hear it and look for a way to get rid of him. They are afraid of him, it says, because all the people were captivated by his teaching.

In the evening he leaves the city again.

Look closely

What does Jesus do, and what words from Scripture does he use? Notice the words for all nations and the leaders’ reaction.

Reflect

What fills the space within me where I should seek God in prayer?

Together

How can we make room in our fellowship both for prayer and for people coming from outside?

Live it out

Set aside some time for prayer, and pray for a people group or for people outside your usual fellowship.

Enter the story

The disciples see the withered tree. Jesus speaks about faith, prayer and forgiveness. Read his whole answer.

Commentary

The next morning they pass the fig tree again. It has withered from the roots up. Peter remembers and says: Rabbi, look!

Jesus answers: Have faith in God.

Then he speaks about telling the mountain to throw itself into the sea, and about believing that we have received whatever we ask for. These are great words, and I have not always seen them fulfilled as I prayed. I do not read them as a promise that everything I want will happen. I read them as a call to pray with my whole self, without holding anything back in reserve.

But it is the final sentence that has stayed with me most: When you stand praying, forgive if you have anything against anyone.

It is strange to read this immediately after the story of the tree. From cursing to forgiveness, within a few verses. But perhaps that is precisely the point. Someone who prays cannot cling to bitterness. Prayer and an unforgiving spirit cannot live in the same heart over time.

I have stood praying with a grudge inside me. I know how it feels. The words go up, but something stays behind. And I have also felt the relief when I let go, not because the other person deserved it, but because I could no longer bear to carry it into my prayer.

Perhaps that is the mountain I most often need to pray will be thrown into the sea.

Look closely

Towards whom should faith be directed? What does Jesus say someone standing in prayer should do if they have something against anyone?

Reflect

What am I carrying that I need to bring before God and let go of?

Together

How can we help one another both to pray boldly and to forgive?

Live it out

Pray specifically for a need. Also bring before God a relationship in which you carry a grudge, and ask for help to forgive.

Enter the story

The leaders ask what authority Jesus has. He answers with a question about John. Read the conversation they have among themselves.

Commentary

Jesus walks around the temple courts, the same place where he overturned the tables the day before. Now the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders come to him. By what authority do you do this? Who gave you permission?

It is a reasonable question. They were responsible for the temple. A man from Galilee had come in and turned everything upside down. Perhaps I would have asked the same thing.

Jesus answers with a question: Was John’s baptism from heaven or from human beings? Answer me.

And then we hear their conversation among themselves. If we say from heaven, he will ask why we did not believe him. If we say from human beings, the people will be angry, because everyone regarded John as a prophet.

I notice what they do not ask. They do not ask what is true. They ask what it will cost to say it. The whole conversation is about consequences, not about John.

So they answer: We do not know.

I have great respect for those words when they are honest. There is much I do not know, and I have learned that this is often the truest thing I can say. But here they are not honest. They know very well what they think. They simply do not want to take the risk of saying it.

I recognise myself here too. I have calculated my answers. I have been vague where I could have been clear, because I did not want to offend anyone or lose something. I have called it wisdom. But sometimes it was only fear.

Jesus says: Then neither will I tell you by what authority I do this.

It is not an answer that closes the door completely. He has already answered, in his own way. Anyone who had been honest about John would have understood who Jesus was. John pointed to him. But truth cannot be forced out of someone unwilling to risk anything for it.

I think his question remains for me. Not what it is safe to say about him, but what I really think. And whether I dare to say it aloud.

Look closely

What determines how the leaders will answer? What distinguishes an honest I do not know from the answer they give here?

Reflect

Where have I been vague out of fear, even though I knew what I thought?

Together

How can we make room both for honest uncertainty and for courageous answers?

Live it out

Be truthful in a conversation where you would otherwise have hidden behind an unclear answer.

Enter the story

Jesus tells of a vineyard the owner has prepared. Read what the tenants do to the messengers, and finally to the son.

Commentary

A man plants a vineyard, puts a fence around it, digs a winepress and builds a tower. Then he rents it out and travels abroad.

I have always noticed how much the owner has done before he leaves. Everything is ready. The tenants receive a finished vineyard. They have built none of it themselves.

When the time comes, he sends a servant to receive his share of the harvest. They beat him and send him away empty-handed. He sends another, and another. Some are beaten, some killed. And he keeps sending.

At last he has only one left, the son he loves. And he thinks: Surely they will respect my son.

That sentence moves me more than any other in the parable. It is almost naive. After everything that has happened, the owner still believes there is something good in them. I believe that is how God is. He does not give up hope for us, even when all experience speaks against it.

I think of my life as a vineyard like that. I have not sown most of what grows there. It is on loan. And the question is not whether I own it, but how I receive those who come to remind me whom it belongs to.

The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. What was thrown out now supports the whole house.

Look closely

What has the owner given the tenants? What does Jesus say about the rejected stone, and how do his opponents react?

Reflect

What in my life have I received as a gift, and how do I steward it?

Together

How can we help one another to receive the Son and steward what God has given us?

Live it out

Thank God for something you have received without creating it yourself. Use the gift for someone else’s good.

Enter the story

The question about tax is intended as a trap. Jesus asks for a coin and takes the conversation further with a question.

Commentary

Some Pharisees and Herodians come with flattering words. Teacher, we know that you are truthful and are not swayed by anyone. Then comes the trap: Is it right to pay tax to Caesar or not?

Jesus sees through them. Why are you testing me? Bring me a denarius so I can look at it.

I have always noticed that he does not have one himself. They have to fetch the coin. Then he asks: Whose image and name is this? Caesar’s.

Then give Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and God what belongs to God.

People have used these words for many things, about church and state, about tax and obedience. But what stays with me is another question beneath them. If the coin belongs to Caesar because his image is on it, what belongs to God?

What bears God’s image. The human being. Me.

Caesar can have his coins. But I cannot give God less than myself. It is not a demand imposed on me from outside. It is simply giving back what was always his.

Look closely

What does Jesus ask about on the coin? What does he say about Caesar and God? Notice that the thought about human beings as God’s image is the reflection in the commentary.

Reflect

What does it mean that I myself belong to God?

Together

How can the fact that people bear God’s image shape the way we meet and speak about others?

Live it out

Treat someone you disagree with respectfully. Ask God to help you see the worth he has given that person.

Enter the story

The Sadducees use a story to bring the question of resurrection to a head. Listen to the answer Jesus gives from the Scriptures.

Commentary

The Sadducees do not believe in the resurrection. So they come with a story intended to make the whole idea ridiculous. Seven brothers marry the same woman in turn, and all die childless. Whose wife will she be in the resurrection?

Jesus answers that they are mistaken, because they know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God. In the resurrection people do not marry. They are like the angels.

Then he turns to the burning bush. God said to Moses: I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. Not was. Am. And he adds: He is not a God of the dead, but of the living.

I have lived long enough to have lost many people. Parents, friends, people I have served alongside. When I read this passage, I think of them. God does not stop being their God because they are no longer here. The relationship holds. It is not I who sustain it with my memories. It is God who sustains it.

I do not know what it will be like. Jesus says little about it, and I do not want to say more than he does. But what he says is enough. Those I have lost are not lost to God.

Look closely

What does Jesus say they do not know? What does he teach through the words to Moses about Abraham, Isaac and Jacob?

Reflect

What hope do Jesus’ words give me when I think about death and those I have lost?

Together

How can we carry one another in grief and offer hope without saying more than we know?

Live it out

Give time and care to someone who is grieving. You may like to read Jesus’ words together if that person wishes.

Enter the story

A teacher of the law comes with a question Jesus takes seriously. Read both Jesus’ answer and what the man says afterwards.

Commentary

A teacher of the law has heard the conversation and sees that Jesus answers well. So he asks, and I believe he asks honestly: Which is the first of all the commandments?

Jesus answers with the words every Jew prayed morning and evening. Hear, Israel! The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength. And the second: You shall love your neighbour as yourself.

All. All. All. All. I have read it many times and thought that there is no room for anything limited here. Not part of the time, part of our thoughts, part of our love. The whole person, turned towards God. And then, from the same source, towards our neighbour.

The teacher of the law agrees and adds that this is more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices. And Jesus sees that he has answered wisely and says: You are not far from the kingdom of God.

Not far from. I have long thought about what that means. It is praise. But it is also a reminder that we can be near without being inside. We can know all the right words, agree with everything, and still stand just outside the door.

I do not think the difference lies in knowledge. The teacher of the law knew it all. Perhaps the difference lies in taking those last steps, from agreeing to following.

Look closely

Which two commandments does Jesus mention? What does the man say about love and sacrifice, and how does Jesus answer him?

Reflect

What does it mean to love God with my whole self and my neighbour as myself today?

Together

How can we help one another move from agreeing to living what Jesus teaches?

Live it out

Do something specific that seeks another person’s good. Let it flow from prayer and love for God.

Enter the story

Jesus asks about the Messiah as David’s Lord, then warns against religious behaviour that serves itself at others’ expense.

Commentary

Jesus asks a question about the Messiah. How can he be David’s son when David himself calls him Lord? The teachers of the law do not answer. But it says that the large crowd listened to him gladly.

Then he warns against the teachers of the law who like to walk around in long robes and be greeted in the marketplaces, who want the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honour at banquets. They devour widows’ houses and make long prayers to be seen.

I read this with discomfort, because I know it applies to me too. I have received much attention in my life. Books, talks, people who know my name. And I have liked it. I have liked being greeted. I have sat in the front row.

That is not wrong in itself. But Jesus sees beneath it. He sees what it does to a person when they begin to live to be seen. And he places it right beside the worst thing: serving yourself at the expense of the weakest.

Long prayers to be seen. I have felt that temptation too. Praying with those listening in mind. Then it is no longer prayer. It is a performance.

I need this warning, and I need to hear it more often than I do.

Look closely

What does David say about the Messiah? What attitudes and actions does Jesus warn against in the teachers of the law?

Reflect

Where do I seek to be seen, rather than seeking God and serving others?

Together

How can we use influence to protect the weakest and make room for them?

Live it out

Do an act of service that needs no attention or thanks. Pray a simple prayer without thinking about how it sounds.

Enter the story

Jesus sits down and watches the offerings at the temple treasury. Read the story alongside the warning against devouring widows’ houses.

Commentary

Jesus sits down opposite the temple treasury and watches people putting money into it. Many rich people put in a great deal. Then a poor widow comes and puts in two small copper coins.

He calls the disciples. This widow has put in more than all the others. They gave out of their abundance. She gave out of what she needed, everything she had to live on.

I notice that Jesus sits and watches. He has time for it. In the middle of his final week, with everything that lies ahead, he sits down and watches what people give. And he sees the person no one else sees.

I also notice where this appears in the Gospel. Just before this, he warned against those who devour widows’ houses. Now a widow comes and gives everything she has to a temple he has just said will be destroyed. I do not quite know what to do with that. I do not think Jesus praises the system that took her money. But he sees her. He sees the gift and the heart behind it.

I have given much out of abundance. It has cost me little. I do not know whether I have ever given as she did, everything, holding nothing back.

Perhaps it is not the size of the gift Jesus sees. Perhaps it is how much of ourselves we put into it.

And then, immediately afterwards, they leave the temple, and one of the disciples says: Teacher, look at those stones and those buildings!

They saw the stones. He had seen the widow.

Look closely

What does Jesus see in the widow’s gift that others may overlook? What is the difference between what she and the rich people give?

Reflect

What does this story teach me about seeing the person and the heart behind a gift?

Together

How can we value what people give and at the same time care for those who have little?

Live it out

Notice a small gift or act of service someone offers. Give thanks for it, and be attentive to that person’s own needs.

Enter the story

A disciple is struck by the size of the temple. Jesus says the stones will not remain standing.

Commentary

They leave the temple, and one of the disciples says: Teacher, look at those stones and those buildings!

I understand him. He was from Galilee, from fishing boats and small houses. And there he stood before one of the greatest things people had built. It must have felt as though nothing could shake it.

Jesus answers: Not one stone will be left on another.

I have seen enough in life to know that what he said did not apply only to the temple in Jerusalem. I have seen things I thought were solid fall apart. Churches that were full stand empty. Movements that carried a whole generation no longer exist. I have seen people I thought were pillars fall.

It is not only sad. There is freedom in it too. If the stones do not last, I do not need to build my life on them. Then I can turn my eyes towards the one who stood looking at the stones with the disciple, and who knew what would remain when everything else was gone.

Look closely

What does the disciple notice, and how does Jesus answer? You may like to read this alongside what Jesus has just seen at the temple treasury.

Reflect

What do I build my security on when what I thought was solid can fall?

Together

How can we support one another when an arrangement or a fellowship changes or falls apart?

Live it out

Bring a change that troubles you before God. Read a word from Jesus that can help you hold fast to him.

Enter the story

The disciples ask about timing and signs. Jesus teaches them how to face deception, unrest and opposition.

Commentary

Later Jesus sits on the Mount of Olives, directly opposite the temple. Four of the disciples come to him and ask: When will this happen? And what is the sign?

I notice that he does not answer what they ask. Instead he says: See that no one leads you astray.

Many will come in his name. There will be war and rumours of war, earthquakes and famine. But that is not the end. It is only the beginning of birth pains.

I have heard many preachers calculate the time. I have seen people become anxious, sell everything, wait for a date. I have felt the pull myself to read the news as signs. But Jesus gives no calendar. He gives a warning against those who claim to have one.

Then he speaks about what will happen to them: They will be handed over to courts, beaten in synagogues, brought before governors and kings. And he says something I believe has sustained many: Do not worry about what you will say. It is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit.

I have never stood before a court for my faith. But I have been in conversations where I did not know what to say, and felt the words come all the same. Not from me.

The one who endures to the end will be saved. Not the one who understands everything. The one who endures.

Look closely

What does Jesus warn against, and what does he say about war and unrest? What promise does he give about the Spirit when they are to bear witness?

Reflect

What voices shape my fears and expectations? How can I hold fast to Jesus’ words?

Together

How can we support Christians who face opposition, and help one another endure?

Live it out

Pray for Christians who face pressure or persecution. Read Jesus’ words before judging a claim that creates fear.

Enter the story

Jesus speaks about distress and flight. Notice the practical advice and the people he mentions especially.

Commentary

Then Jesus speaks about a time when those in Judea must flee to the mountains. Anyone on the roof must not go down to fetch anything. Anyone out in the field must not turn back to fetch their cloak.

These are strange, concrete pictures in the midst of such great events. I imagine a man standing out in the field, thinking about the cloak hanging at home. He must leave it there.

And then Jesus says something I cannot read without being moved: Woe to those who are pregnant and those who are nursing in those days. And: Pray that it will not happen in winter.

In the midst of speaking about catastrophes, he thinks of pregnant women and the cold. He thinks of how difficult it is to flee with a small child. He thinks of roads that become slippery, and wind that cuts through clothes.

That tells me something about who he is. The one who speaks about the end of the world has not forgotten the smallest and most vulnerable. He asks them to pray about thoroughly practical things. Not only for salvation, but for mild winters.

Then he warns again: If anyone says, look, here is the Messiah, do not believe it. And he ends with a simple sentence: I have told you everything beforehand.

It is not a promise that it will be easy. It is a promise that he knew, and that he has said it.

Look closely

Who is mentioned in Jesus’ words about fleeing? What does he ask them to pray for, and what does he warn against?

Reflect

What does Jesus’ practical care teach me about what I can pray for?

Together

How can we support people fleeing danger and families in distress?

Live it out

Pray for a specific practical need of people in a crisis. Offer help through a reliable organisation or arrangement if you can.

Enter the story

The language becomes vast and solemn. In the midst of what is being shaken, Jesus speaks about the Son of Man and gathering the elect.

Commentary

Then the language changes. The sun will darken, the moon will not give light, the stars will fall from heaven. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.

I do not read this as a description I can draw or calculate. I read it as a picture of everything that has given light and order one day going out. And at that very moment he comes.

What moves me most is the final sentence. He will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the end of the earth to the end of heaven.

Gather. That is what he does. Not scatter, not separate out, but gather. From every direction. Those who are scattered, those who have lost their way, those who live far apart.

I have friends all over the world. People I have prayed with in other countries, in other languages. Many of them I have not seen for years. Some I will never see again here. But I believe in that gathering. One day we will stand together.

Look closely

What does Jesus say about the Son of Man, and how far does the gathering of the elect reach?

Reflect

What hope does it give me that Jesus will gather his people from every direction?

Together

How can the hope of this gathering strengthen our fellowship with Christians in other countries?

Live it out

Pray for a Christian fellowship in another country. You may like to contact someone you know and offer encouragement.

Enter the story

Jesus uses the fig tree to teach the disciples to see. Read also the firm promise he gives about his words.

Commentary

Learn from the fig tree, Jesus says. When its branches become tender and leaves sprout, you know that summer is near.

I notice that it is a fig tree again. A few days earlier he cursed a fig tree that had leaves without fruit. Now he uses another as a sign of hope. The same kind of tree, but a different picture. One withers. The other buds.

I have lived my whole life in a country where spring comes late and suddenly. One day everything is grey, and then one morning the birches wear their first pale green veil. You do not quite know when it happens. But you know that it happens. And when it happens, you know that summer is on its way.

Then Jesus speaks words that have been a fixed point for me for many years: Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

The stones of the temple would fall. Sun and moon would darken. But his words will stand. I do not have much else to build on. And I have not needed anything else.

Look closely

What does Jesus teach through the seasons, and what does he say will stand when heaven and earth pass away?

Reflect

What words from Jesus have become a fixed point for me?

Together

How can we help one another build on Jesus’ words when so much is uncertain?

Live it out

Write down one word from Jesus and take it into your day. Ask for help to act on it.

Enter the story

Jesus says that no one knows the day or the hour, and tells of servants each given their own work. Read the call to keep watch as a word to you.

Commentary

But no one knows that day or hour, not the angels in heaven, not the Son, only the Father.

That is a sentence I am glad of. If the Son did not know, I do not need to know either. And I do not need to be afraid of not knowing.

Then Jesus tells of a man who travels abroad. He gives his servants authority, each their own work, and tells the doorkeeper to keep watch.

Each their own work. Keeping watch is not sitting and staring at the horizon. It is doing what you have been given, faithfully, day after day.

The Lord may come in the evening, at midnight, when the rooster crows, or in the morning. I have noticed that these are precisely the hours that appear in the next chapters. In the evening Jesus eats the meal with the disciples. At midnight he prays in Gethsemane while they sleep. When the rooster crows, Peter denies him. In the morning he is taken to Pilate.

It is as though Mark is saying: Keeping watch is not only for a distant future. It concerns the next few hours too. And the disciples fell asleep.

I am no longer young. For me, keeping watch has become quieter than it once was. It is less about great expectations and more about being faithful in small things. Praying in the morning. Being alert to those I meet. Not falling asleep to what he has given me to do.

What I say to you, I say to everyone: Keep watch!

Look closely

Who knows the day and the hour? What are the servants given, and what does Jesus say to everyone?

Reflect

What work and what people has God placed before me now?

Together

How can we help one another remain watchful and faithful in everyday life?

Live it out

Do a task you know God has given you, with attention and care. Pray to be alert to the people you meet.