Well, it’s another Sunday morning. “And he will become a sanctuary and a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And many shall stumble on it. They shall fall and be broken; they shall be snared and taken.” Isaiah 8:14-15 (ESV)
Have you ever worked hard to accomplish something just to have someone come along and change it? When they change it, it’s never close to what you had intended it to be when you started on it. You tell yourself it will be ok, but you are always hurt or even mad because of the changes made to your thoughts.
In Mark 11:11 (ESV) it says, “And he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple. And when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.” We see Jesus return to Jerusalem on Sunday of that week and go into the temple only to see all the good that used to be there gone, and it was taken over by profiteers. When he woke that Monday morning they all went back to Jerusalem, they were hungry, Jesus saw a fig tree along the way, when they got to it there was no fruit. Jesus cursed the tree in Mark 11:14 (ESV) “He said to it, ‘May no one ever eat fruit from you again.’ And his disciples heard it.”
Hungry and stressed He continued on to Jerusalem. When you’re hungry and stressed are you a ticking time bomb just looking for a place to explode? I believe our stress level could never reach the level Jesus was dealing with. I don’t think we can imagine how the burden of carrying all the sins of the world on His shoulders could weigh on Jesus. Every petty sin to every gruesome nasty blood curdling sin put right on His back for Him to carry alone to His death.
On that Monday morning Jesus entered into the temple and he cleaned house. We can read this in Matthew 21:12-13 (ESV) And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.” They were overcharging the people for the doves they needed for sacrifices. They were cheating the people by charging them too much to exchange their foreign money. Jesus was not happy and had every right not to be.
On Tuesday morning, they passed the fig tree again and it was withered away to its roots. Peter remembered that Jesus cursed it and said, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.” Jesus answered, “Have faith in God.” He said, “Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him.” Mark 11:23 (ESV). Jesus made it back to Jerusalem and walked in the Temple. The chief priests, the scribes, and elders questioned His authority to do what He had done the day before, in cleansing the temple. Speaking of Himself, Jesus said to them, “Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.” Luke 20:18 (ESV) So, at this point the scribes and Pharisees and high priests asked Jesus a lot of questions. He answered them by giving simple answers.
On Tuesday afternoon, they went to the Mount of Olives near Jerusalem sat and Jesus talked to the twelve of them, Jesus gave prophecies dealing the destruction of Jerusalem and His Second Coming. He warned them of the coming of false Christs and false prophets at the end of this age.
On that Tuesday night Judas went to the chief priests and plotted with them to betray Jesus and place Him into their hands. They paid him thirty pieces of silver in advance for doing this evil deed. Nothing was written about things that happened on Wednesday, most believe it was a day they all rested.
Could you have handled what Jesus was dealing with even up till that point? Could you deal with the pressure of knowing what He knew and still moved forward to complete your task? I pray for all of you, I pray for your peace of mind and that you have understanding for others. I lose my cool over simple things sometimes, and I regret it as soon as I do it. I don’t deal with any stress compared to our Lord and Savior and still I blow up. I can’t imagine what it would have been like for Him. I thank Him for all He has done and for His love daily and I try to share it with others, like right now. God truly loves each and every one of you, and so do I.
