He had been saying this and similar dire things for weeks, and Matthew had found himself trying to make sense of it. What did He mean about rising again? Surely that was some sort of a parable, a lesson from which they were to glean something. But he was afraid to ask further for fear of being chastised, and for fear of learning something he really did not want to know.
THE NEXT DAY, as Jesus and the twelve walked through Jericho, the party was overtaken by the mother of John and James. She pulled her sons before Jesus and knelt before Him as Matthew and the others looked on.
Jesus greeted her and said, “What do you wish?”
“Grant that these two sons of mine may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on the left, in Your kingdom.”
What? Peter immediately stepped forward, as did Matthew and his brother. What an impudent request!
But before anyone else could say anything, Jesus said, “You do not know what you ask. James and John, are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?”
They both said, “Yes, Lord, we are able!”
Jesus shook his head, looking sad. “You will indeed drink My cup and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with. But to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared by My Father.”
Matthew and the others were incensed with the two brothers. But Jesus gathered them around Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you. Whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”
A ransom for me? Oh, that I could serve others as He has served! Matthew thought to himself.
As they left Jericho, Matthew wondered if the great multitude that followed Jesus would go with Him all the way to Jerusalem. What was to become of Him there? Surely He would not be allowed to preach of the kingdom or heal the sick so close to the temple. Matthew did not want to even entertain the thought of what Jesus had predicted.
When they drew near Jerusalem and came to Bethphage near the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent Matthew and Thomas into the village, telling them they would find a donkey and a colt tied. “Loose them and bring them to Me. And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord has need of them,’ and immediately he will send them.”
Matthew felt privileged, but he was puzzled and sought out his brother before he left. “What do you make of it, James?”
“I don’t know, but remember what was written by the prophet, ‘Tell the daughter of Zion, “Behold, your King is coming to you, lowly, and sitting on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey.”’”
Matthew and Thomas hurried off and found the animals. When they returned they draped a cloak over the back of the foal and helped Jesus sit astride it. As soon as the disciples began to lead the donkey toward the city, masses of people from all the surrounding areas pressed in on them, spreading their own cloaks on the road before Him. Others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.
Matthew recognized many of the people as those who had heard Jesus preach and teach and had witnessed many of His miracles. It was clear they had no doubt who He was. They crowded all around Him, and the ones in the lead and even those who followed cried out, “Hosanna to the Son of David! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ Hosanna in the highest!”
What should have been a joyous parade made Matthew shudder. The people loved Jesus and revered Him, but Matthew felt as if he and his friends were leading Jesus to His doom. When the multitude slowly moved into the great city, it seemed all of Jerusalem was in an uproar with people all about saying, “Who is this?”
The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee!”
When they came to the temple, Jesus appeared troubled and then clearly angry. The merchants who sold doves for the ceremonies and changed money were sitting right in the courtyard of the holy place, doing their business. Jesus leapt from the donkey and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, tipping over the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves.
He shouted, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves’!”
Suddenly Jesus was surrounded by many who were blind or lame, and He began healing them. Matthew was certain that the indignant merchants would already be plotting revenge and beckoning the authorities, but performing miracles at the temple? The chief priests and scribes arrived in droves as the multitudes were crying out, “Hosanna to the Son of David!”
“Do You hear what they are saying?” the chief priests demanded.
Jesus said, “Yes, I hear them. Have you never read, ‘Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have perfected praise’?”
Matthew was greatly relieved when Jesus straightaway left there and headed to Bethany. He was certain that had Jesus tarried even a few more moments, He would have been seized.
The next morning Jesus set out again for Jerusalem, despite the warnings of His friends. Along the way He said He was hungry and stopped at a fig tree by the road. There was nothing on it but leaves. Jesus said to it, “Let no fruit grow on you ever again.” Immediately the tree shriveled.
“How did that happen?” Thomas said, as the others crowded around, astonished as Matthew was.
Jesus said, “Assuredly, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ it will be done. And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”
Matthew was fascinated that Jesus did not even seem to hesitate as He reentered Jerusalem and strode straight into the temple. Crowds grew with His every step, and as soon as He was inside and began to teach, the chief priests and elders confronted Him. “By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority?”
Jesus said, “I also will ask you one thing, and if you tell Me, I will tell you by what authority I do these things: The baptism of John—where was it from? From heaven or from men?”
The holy men moved away from Him to where Matthew could overhear their murmuring. “If we say, ‘From heaven,’” one said, “He will say, ‘Why, then, did you not believe him?’ But if we say, ‘From men,’ the multitude will turn on us, for they considered John a prophet.” They turned back to Jesus and said, “We do not know.”
“Then neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things. But what do you think of this? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go, work today in my vineyard.’
“The son said, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he regretted it and went. Then the father went to the second son and said to him likewise. And the son said, ‘Yes, sir, I will go,’ but he did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?”
The holy men said, “The first.”
Jesus said, “Tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him; but tax collectors and harlots believed him; and when you saw it, you did not afterward relent and believe him.
“Hear another parable: A certain landowner planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, dug a winepress in it, and built a tower. He leased it to vinedressers and went into a far country. Now when vintage-time drew near, he sent his servants to the vinedressers, that they might receive its fruit.
“But the vinedressers took his servants, beat one, killed one, and stoned another. Again he sent other servants, more than the first, and they did likewise to them. Then last of all he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But the vinedressers said among themselves, ‘This is the
heir. Come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance. ’ So they cast him out of the vineyard and killed him.
“Now, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vinedressers?”
The holy men said, “He will destroy those wicked men miserably and lease his vineyard to other vinedressers who will render to him the fruits in their seasons.”
Jesus said, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: ‘The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This was the Lord’s doing, And it is marvelous in our eyes’? Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it.”
The chief priests and Pharisees grumbled among themselves, “He is speaking of us! Seize him!”
“No!” others said. “Not with all these people here. The multitudes take Him for a prophet!”
Matthew heard the Pharisees plotting how they might entangle Jesus as they went out. Not long later they sent others to openly challenge Him.
“Teacher,” they said, “we know that You teach the way of God in truth and that You do not care what others think, for You do not regard the person of men. Tell us, therefore, is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?”
Jesus smiled and shook His head. “Why do you test Me, you hypocrites? Show Me the tax money.” They showed him a denarius coin.
He said, “Whose image and inscription is on this?”
“Caesar’s.”
“Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”
Matthew could barely contain his glee as the men marveled and left Him and went their way.
THAT SAME DAY the Sadducees, who Matthew knew believed there would be no resurrection day, came and said, “Teacher, Moses said that if a man dies, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up offspring for his brother. Now there were with us seven brothers. The first died after he had married, and having no offspring, left his wife to his brother. Likewise the second also, and the third, even to the seventh. Last of all the woman died also. Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife of the seven will she be?”
Jesus said, “You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven. But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”
Soon the Pharisees arrived again and talked among themselves about the fact that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees. One of them, who identified himself as a lawyer, said, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”
Jesus said, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
Matthew knew the Pharisees could not argue with that, but as they talked among themselves, Jesus said, “Let me ask you, what do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He?”
They said, “The Son of David.”
“Is that right?” He said. “How then does David in the Spirit call Him ‘Lord,’ saying: ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool”’? If David calls Him ‘Lord,’ how can He be his Son?”
As Matthew quickly transcribed this conversation, he was immediately struck that those who tested Jesus had no response. And from that day on no one dared question Him anymore.
TWENTY-FOUR
Matthew had been hoping and praying that Jesus would be careful, that He would show the wisdom He had in the past, pushing and challenging the religious leaders but always stopping short of forcing their hand. Matthew knew it would take little more for these men to take action against Jesus, if for no other reason than to save face. He was making them look bad.
But it soon became clear that Jesus apparently no longer cared about that. He spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples, holding back none of His disdain for the scribes and the Pharisees. At first He sounded conciliatory, but soon His true view of them surfaced.
“Whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do. They bind heavy burdens on men’s shoulders, but they themselves will not move a finger. All their works they do to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments. They love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, ‘Rabbi, Rabbi.’”
Matthew stood hiding his face in his hands, expecting that at any moment Jesus would be taken and tried. It was as if He were begging for it. And He continued:
“But as for you, do not allow yourself to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren. Do not call anyone on earth your father, for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. And do not be called teachers, for One is your Teacher, the Christ.
“He who is greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Matthew had grown accustomed to such profound teaching that seemed to fly in the face of convention. But just as he was appreciating this wisdom, Jesus again turned against His adversaries.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.
“Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to carry out his pledge.’ Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold? Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift?
“Therefore he who swears by the altar swears by it and by all things on it. He who swears by the temple swears by it and by Him who dwells in it. And he who swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin, yet you have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, and say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.’
“You are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. Take the full measure, then, of your fathers’ guilt. Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell?”
Matthew stood quivering, awaiting Jesus’ sure arrest, but he was startled when the Master suddenly began weeping.
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem!” Jesus cried out. “You’re the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to h
er! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! You shall see Me no more till you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ”
MATTHEW WAS RELIEVED when Jesus stopped preaching and the crowd began to dissipate. He and the others rushed to His side, and as they departed, Jesus gestured to the buildings of the temple. “Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another that shall not be thrown down.”
As they left the city, Matthew kept looking back, expecting an arresting party. He tried to hurry the others along. Jesus appeared headed for the Mount of Olives, but the destination didn’t matter to Matthew, as long as Jesus was away from the eyes of the scribes and Pharisees He had so boldly called out.
When Jesus finally sat in the shade and privacy of the Mount of Olives, the disciples settled in with Him away from the people. “Tell us,” Thomas said, “when will these things be? What will be the sign of Your coming and of the end of the age?”
Jesus said, “Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.
“Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.”