Matthew 21.18-22

¹⁸ Early in the morning, as he was on his way back to the city, he was hungry. ¹⁹ Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!” Immediately the tree withered.

 ²⁰ When the disciples saw this, they were amazed. “How did the fig tree wither so quickly?” they asked.
 ²¹ Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. ²² If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”


There is an unstated lesson that is found in this passage. Yet to truly understand this lesson, we have to see how Mark describes this event. In Mark 11, Mark divides this story up into two parts. The first part, Jesus sees the fig tree and curses it. The second part, the following day the disciples recognize that the fig tree had dried up and withered, and then Jesus teaches them about prayer. But what is interesting about Mark dividing up this passage is what he puts in the middle, the cleansing of the temple. 


For Matthew the events occur like this:


Jesus Cleanses the Temple
Jesus Curses the Fig Tree
The Disciples see the Fig Tree withered


In Mark, the first two are reversed:


Jesus Curses the Fig Tree

Jesus Cleanses the Temple

The Disciples see the Fig Tree withered

Mark is trying to make a theological point by arranging the story a bit differently. He wants to show as clearly as possible the connection between the cursing of the fig tree because it wasn't producing fruit and the cleansing/cursing of the temple because it wasn't producing any fruit. 

This is the unstated lesson, the temple was no longer the place where God's presence dwelt. 

This is HUGE!!!!

All throughout the history of the people of God, God dwelt among them. At first it was in a tabernacle, a tent in the desert that was mobile. Then, when they built the city of Jerusalem, Solomon built this massive temple. When the Babylonians destroyed it in 586 BC, the prevalent Jewish belief was that the Messiah, the anointed one, the coming King would restore the temple. This is why Judas Maccabaeus tried to restore the temple in between the Old and New Testament. Even at this exact moment, Herod the Great's project was trying to rebuild the temple, proving that he was the rightful king of the Jews. The wanna-be Messiah that came a hundred years after Jesus, Simeon ben Kosiba, minted coins declaring himself King and the Jews free from Roman rule, and one of the coins had a picture of the Temple, which had been in ruins since the Romans destroyed it in AD 70. At the very heart of Simeon's desire to be named the Messiah was to rebuild the temple. 

All of this to say, the Messiah, the King of the Jews, was always expected to take care of and restore the temple of God. The reason is because the temple represented the fact that God's presence was with his people. The temple was the house of God, where his presence dwelt. In the book of Ezekiel, God's judgment on the nation for their sin is him saying his presence left the temple. Because of this, when the temple is destroyed, the Jews believe that God's presence isn't with them anymore. But because they have the temple now, in Jesus' day, they believe that God is dwelling among them.

But not Jesus. 

Jesus says that the temple is just like the fig tree. The tree had the appearance of bearing fruit, it leaves were green and it should have had figs on it, but it didn't. So Jesus cursed it and it withers. The same is true of the temple. The Jewish leaders that were in charge of the temple had become corrupt, charging people interest on the "appropriate" lambs to be sacrificed, they became greedy and turned God's house into a dishonest business. Jesus is saying that the temple has the appearance of containing the presence of God, but it really and truly doesn't. 

This is the unstated lesson. We can have the appearance of spirituality, of being good christians, but unless we are truly bearing fruit, we will be cursed and dried up just like the fig tree and temple. 

So are you all about appearances? Are you focusing on doing the right things, coming to church the right amount of times, wearing the right clothes and uses the correct lingo and language? Are you doing all these things yet on the inside are you selfish, greedy, putting on a show, not bearing fruit? We are called to bear fruit, to do good works by following Jesus. The works are a by-product of your relationship with Jesus. 

Because you follow Jesus, read your bible, pray, do the things he does, your life and your actions will bear fruit. You will be God's presence here on earth, when you follow Jesus. Don't strive for appearance, strive for fruit. 

Matthew 21.12-17

At this moment, more than any other, Jesus knew they would kill him for this.

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The temple remained littered with the remnants of the rabbi’s outburst.  The Pharisees and temple priests began to trickle back into the temple courts to survey the damage.  It wasn’t cataclysmic, but for them it was strangely symbolic.  Splintered tables ruptured across the stone floor.  Gold and silver coins scattered about in disarray like from a bank robbery.  Doves and pigeons caught in the corners of the temple courts and circling overhead.  The trail of hustled cattle, their footprints leading out of the temple gates and onto the streets outside.  It wasn’t the end of the world for them, these religious leaders, but they knew of this rabbi and what he had done.  He could heal the blind.  Exorcise demons.  Raise the dead.  And he came to Jerusalem on a donkey, like some king.  It felt strange to them, almost prognostic.  Like this was a whisper of things to come.  And they knew their duty.  They would have to kill him for this.

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Jesus had perfect control over his fury.  He knew when to let it roll free and when to let it subside.  But even he had to admit that he nearly lost control when he entered the temple courts that day.  It was a like a market, with vendors and sellers peddling their cattle and doves.  Two doves for a drachma.  A bull for a month’s wage.  The poor stumbled up to the selling tables and fumbled into their pockets for pennies to purchase a pardon.  A couple of well-to-do, God-fearing Gentiles handed over a gorgeous sum of money to the sellers for a couple of bulls to sacrifice, but the sellers looked down on them with upturned noses and pointed them to the moneychangers.  The Gentiles gathered up their foreign coin and had it exchanged at what Jesus could see was a horribly unfair rate.

In the distance, Jesus could see a woman with her veil drawn back, standing at the edge of the Court of Women and looking on at the men who could travel further to God’s resting place.  He caught a sense of regret in her eyes, and he knew her heart.  Why did God make me a woman? she thought.  Why are we so weak?

A pair of priests folded back the curtain from the inner sanctum, decorated in their gold and jewelry and garbed in their elaborate robes.  An entourage of guards appeared on either of side of them and escorted them past the men, the women and the Gentiles on their way out the temple.  They looked upon their congregation with nausea, wondering how God could possibly love such filth as these.  And Jesus knew their hearts.  Thank God, we’re not like them, they thought.

And it dawned on Jesus what he saw.  Not a temple.  Not a house for his Father.  It was the tomb of a dying religion.  It was the bank of a corrupt government.  It was an institute for racial and sexist oppression.  It was a hideout for bandits.  A den of robbers.

Jesus sensed his wrath grow within him and let it boil forth.  And in the midst of his fury, he understood completely that they would kill him for this.

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Ezekiel looked up and saw the figure of a man.  The figure appeared to be glowing like burnished metal, and from his waist down he was fire.  He reached out to Ezekiel and grabbed him by the hair of his head and pulled him to the northern entrance of the inner court of the temple.

He saw an idol standing in the space where God’s presence should reside.  To the side he saw a hole in the wall of the temple.  He tunneled into the wall, and inside, he saw all kinds of crawling monsters and filthy, repulsive beasts and the idols of the people of Israel cast in their wood, stone and metal.  There was no light in the temple.  Only darkness.

When Ezekiel came to, he realized that it was a vision from the Lord.  But as he reached for his pen to write down what he saw, he hesitated.  I shouldn’t write this down, he thought.  They won’t like what I have to say.  They’ll kill me for this.  

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The words were coming out of Isaiah before he even knew he was speaking them.

…foreigners who bind themselves to the Lord 

to serve him, 

to love the name of the Lord, 

and to worship him, 

all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it 

and who hold fast to my covenant— 

these I will bring to my holy mountain 

and give them joy in my house of prayer. 

Their burnt offerings and sacrifices 

will be accepted on my altar; 

for my house will be called 

a house of prayer for all nations.

He surveyed the Babylonian countryside from his window, watching the sunset, and wondered when he could go home.  He wondered if he would get to see the Temple in Jerusalem again.  It seemed to him a strange thing to write while exiled to a foreign land: a house of prayer for all nations.  One of those very nations had destroyed his home country and enslaved his people.  

He knew it would be risky to proclaim a message such as this to his fellow Israelites.  They wouldn’t approve.  But he knew his duty to the message.  And he knew the consequences: they would kill him for this.

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Solomon rolled up the sleeves of his cloak as he scanned the layouts for the temple construction.  Everything was coming along smoothly.  The lumber was on its way from Lebanon.  The stonecutters were nearly ready to begin laying the foundation.  They had accumulated plenty of gold to cover the costs.  

I will build a house worthy for the Lord and for my people, he thought.  He looked out to the east, toward the land of the foreigners.  And perhaps it will be for them as well.

“Where are the layouts?!” a foreman shouted in panic.  Solomon hurried to return to them.  He thought, I better return these.  That foreman is vicious.  He might kill me for this!

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David stood before the Lord, naked and exposed.  His plea was simple: he wished to build a magnificent temple worthy of the Lord God Almighty.  The Lord wished to honor David’s request, but could not.  “You have the blood of foreigners on your hands,” he said.  “You cannot build it for me.”

David hung his head in sorrow.  He thought to himself, I would have killed for an opportunity like this! 

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Before the creation of the world, I like to think the Father, Son and Spirit had the following conversation (although they most likely didn’t).

“So we’re all agreed,” the Father said.  “We’re moving forward.”

“Yes,” said the Son.  “We must create something else in order to share this love we have with one another.”

“So we create the heavens and the earth,” the Spirit said.  “The universe and stars and planets to fill them.”

“And then we will create the world,” God said.  “And fill it with life.  With plants and animals.  And humanity.  We will create humanity in our image.”

“But we cannot force these humans to love us,” the Spirit said.  “Otherwise, it cannot be love.”

“I will give them a choice,” God said.  “I will set a tree in this world and give them an opportunity to disobey.  They will have the choice to obey or disobey, to love or to hate.”

“They will certainly disobey,” the Spirit said.  “They are not like us.  They will have the capacity for wrong.”

“We will redeem them,” the Son said.  “We will give them laws to follow so that they may become righteous.  We will reveal ourselves and our nature to them so that they may follow us.”

“We would have to keep an eye on them,” the Father said.  “They will disobey.  They will need us to live among them.  To show them what is right and to save them from their sins.”

“In a temple?” the Spirit said.  “There are problems with temples.  Humanity will become defensive of their temples.  They will use them to their advantage.  They will force others out and teach that we do not love them.  It will make them think that some are closer to us than others.”

“We will live in a tent, at first,” the Father said.  “Then, in a temple.  But eventually these will fail.  Nothing manmade can contain us.”

“We could go down there,” the Son said.  “As one of them.”

The Father and the Spirit looked at the Son with such love.  “Will you do it?” they asked him.  “Will you go down and live among them and show them our love?”

“I will do it,” the Son said.  “I would die for this.”


Kyle Welch

Matthew 21.6-11

Parades are full of sights and sounds that mean something, that make a statement of why the parade is happening.  A Christmas parade has Santa, a Macy’s parade has a huge snoopy, and a Chinese New Year parade as a silky dragon dancing down the street.

When Jesus parades into Jerusalem in Matthew 21, the sights and sounds of his parade were making a loud and clear proclamation:  the king is here.  Pull up your chair, get your bag for candy and let’s enjoy this parade.

Matthew 21:6-11

⁶ The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. ⁷ They brought the donkey and the colt, placed their cloaks on them, and Jesus sat on them. ⁸ A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. ⁹ The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, 

“Hosanna to the Son of David!” 

“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”

“Hosanna in the highest!” 

¹⁰ When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?” 

¹¹ The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”

This parade seems a little strange doesn’t it?  There is no marching band, just a rowdy group of people singing.  There is no candy, just palm branches.  The only float entry is Jesus on a donkey.  That wouldn’t win any prizes around here.  However, our experiences with parades don’t allow us to let the commotion of this parade pass by idly.  It must mean something.  

If you were in another country at a parade and needed help understanding the images, you’d ask a local.  Today, let’s pull up our chairs and let the locals help us understand what’s going on in this strange parade.

The first thing I want to know is, where are we?  So I turn to the guy beside me.  His eyes have been glued on Jesus since we got here.  His thick accent hints that he must be from Galilee, where Jesus is from.  So I ask him where we are.

He speaks out of the corner of his mouth to me, keeping his eyes on Jesus, “East side of the Mt. of Olives.” Sure enough, we can see the horizon, the summit of the ridge.

Then he says, “But just over the ridge you can see down into Jerusalem.  You can actually see right down into the temple itself.”

That’s cool, but there is only one man in this parade and he’s on a donkey.  

This woman named Salome has been standing beside us singing.  But she hears my question and says, “We think this man, Jesus, is a king because our prophet Zechariah prophesied about this.  He said something to the effect of, ‘Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’”

All the people around are putting their cloaks on the ground in front of the donkey.  This is kind of crazy to me; I mean, these people don’t look like they have a closet full of cloaks to change into.  Why would they give up their cloaks for this parade?  I ask Salome since she seems well informed.

Indeed, she replies, “In our history, one of our kings named Jehu was anointed by Elisha the prophet to be king.  But it was kind of a secret ceremony.  When Jehu’s companions realized he was king, they laid their cloaks down on the steps before him.  This was a sign of honor for a king and a pledge of allegiance. The cloaks are a political gesture saying they cast their lot with this king.”

That makes sense.  So this seems to be some sort of royal parade, but this Jesus definitely doesn’t look like a king.  Others are waving palm branches and spreading them out.  Trees aren’t too common around here so this seems like it might be wasteful, but I am sure there’s a good reason.

The Galilean is quick to point out that there is.  He says, “About 200 years ago, Antiochus Epiphanes desecrated the temple by offering a pig to Zeus and outlawed our religion.  But a band of rebels rose up, led by Judas Maccabeus, ‘The Hammer.’   They delivered the Jews from Antiochus Epiphanes and restored the worship in the temple.  When they came back to Jerusalem to purify the temple, the crowds laid down palm branches in front of them.  Now we celebrate Hanukah to remember this.   His line went on to be king for over one hundred years.”

So, this is a royal parade, no doubt about it.  But what’s a good parade without music?  What is this you hear?

Salome happily explains that Hosanna means “save.”  She says, “This is from Psalm 118 which is one of the Hallel Psalms we sing during Passover.”

With all this focus on kingship, it sounds a lot more like a battle cry to me.  I think I get it now.  The king they’ve been waiting for is finally here!  No wonder they’re excited.  I ask Salome if this is the case and she just looks at me with a smile.  This explains why the Galilean is carrying a sword.

But, oh, what a difference five days makes.  

Day after day without sign of revolution and subtle whispers of the Jewish leaders change their chant from Hosanna to CRUCIFY.  Instead of pleas for salvation, they look at him on the cross, and say SAVE YOURSELF, SON OF GOD.  When he didn’t give them what they wanted, they caved.

Following Jesus is easy as long as he meets our expectations.

Today, let’s join the crowds in hailing our king, but let’s not abandon him if he leads where we don’t expect. 

Jeremy Hyde

Matthew 21.1-5

My professor of the Life of Christ sums up this last week of Jesus life with a great statement: "Jesus is the Messiah predicted by the prophets, but not the Messiah expected by the people." 

All throughout this last week of Jesus' life, Jesus fulfills prophecy after prophecy, showing that he IS the Messiah, the anointed one to save the world. Yet, the Jews at this time had a very different view as to who they thought the Messiah would be and what they thought the Messiah would do. Because of this, there is a lot of confusion with the Jewish leaders, even oppositions, because this is not the Messiah they expected. Yet Matthew shows over and over again, that Jesus was the Messiah that was predicted. Let's read this passage:

¹ As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, ² saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. ³ If anyone says anything to you, tell him that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.” ⁴ This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:
 ⁵ “Say to the Daughter of Zion,
   ‘See, your king comes to you,
gentle and riding on a donkey,
   on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’”


There are basically two parts to this passage, Preparation and Prophecy. 


The first part has to do with verses 1-3, which say:


¹ As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, ² saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. ³ If anyone says anything to you, tell him that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.”


The Mount of Olives is in between the two cities of Bethany and Jerusalem, which are two miles apart. Jesus, according to John 12, was just anointed by Mary in Bethany and is now on his way to Jerusalem. So the Mount of Olives was like a good halfway point. If you read the end of John 11, you will see that the tension between the Jewish Leaders and Jesus is very high. They want to kill him, so Jesus stayed kind of in hiding. Because of the Passover week starting, the tension somewhat tripled! Hundreds of thousands of Jews are asking if Jesus is going to come, and the Jewish Leaders were looking for a way to arrest him. 


Because of this, it seems like Jesus made previous arrangements the last time he was in Jerusalem with the owner of the donkey. This way, he has safe travel into the town using this man's colt. The same kind of preparations occur later for his disciples to find the upper room where they eat the Lord's Supper together (Mt. 26). 


Next, Matthew presents to us the Prophecy that Jesus fulfills when he enters Jerusalem. 

 ⁴ This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:

 ⁵ “Say to the Daughter of Zion,
   ‘See, your king comes to you,
gentle and riding on a donkey,
   on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’”

Notice how clear this passage is, yet how wrong the Jewish leaders got it. This is a quote from Zechariah 9.9, which was written during the rebuilding of the temple. When Zechariah was prophesying, the Jews were struggling to see how they were going to succeed in rebuilding the temple. They had opposition from foreigners, the walls were half built, and they didn't see any kind of success in sight. So Zechariah said that God will bring them to victory through a Messiah. The problem was, Zechariah's prophecy was that this Messiah would bring about victory by suffering, by riding on a donkey of peace instead of a horse of war. 

The Jews didn't like that idea of God and his Messiah, so they changed it. They actually took a a passaged from Zechariah 12.10-11, which states that God himself, not the Messiah, will be pierced, and they changed it to make it say they will "dance" before him instead of "pierce" him. 

They did not like the idea of a humble, gentle, peace bringing Messiah and God by suffering. 

And neither do we. 

We do not like the idea of Jesus as someone who lives by the ethic, by the lifestyle of self-sacrifice. Yet that is what brings about victory for God's people. And the life of the cross, the life of self-sacrifice, is how we win, it is how we as the kingdom of God, bring heaven on earth.

My question today today is this: are you going to follow the Jesus presented in the Bible and the prophets, or are you going to follow your own idea of who Jesus was? When you get to decide what kind of Jesus you follow, Jesus begins to look a lot like you instead of you beginning to look a lot like Jesus.

Matthew 20.29-34

It is interesting that after Jesus truly reveals what kind of King he is, Matthew tells the story of the blind men receiving sight. This story is a miracle of Jesus, pulling back the veil and showing us a little glimpse of what heaven is going to be like. Yet, this story is serving more than just that purpose. This story is a commentary, a political cartoon representing what is happening with Jesus and his disciples.

We just saw his disciples not understanding what kind of King he is and Jesus clearing it up for them. Then Matthew tells this story:

 ²⁹ As Jesus and his disciples were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed him. ³⁰ Two blind men were sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was going by, they shouted, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!”
 ³¹ The crowd rebuked them and told them to be quiet, but they shouted all the louder, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!”
 ³² Jesus stopped and called them. “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked.
 ³³ “Lord,” they answered, “we want our sight.”
 ³⁴ Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight and followed him.


The disciples are just like the blind men. They are not seeing clearly who Jesus is and what kind of King he is supposed to be. Jesus reveals to them his identity. This is the exact same thing he does for the blind guys. They aren't seeing clearly to say the least, and he gives them sight, revealing to them who he is. 


It is interesting that these blind guys called out, "Lord, Son of DAVID, have mercy on us." These blind guys "saw" more clearly who Jesus is than the seeing but seemingly "blind" Jewish leaders". This is the paradox. The blind guys see who Jesus is, and the disciples and the Jewish leaders don't see who he is, even though they have their sight. 


So here is my question for you: Do you understand and "see" who Jesus is? He is not a middle class, white American. He is a homeless, itinerant political figure from the Middle East. And he came hanging out with the social outcasts, spending time with tax collectors and sinners, meeting the physical needs of people, and he did it all by serving and discipling a small group. 


This is what Jesus did, this is the kind of King he is. We have to see this clearly so that we can follow his example, for that IS what he is calling us to do. 


"Come follow me."


Will you follow him?

Matthew 20.20-28

Ever since Jesus' fourth sermon in Matthew 18, Jesus has building up to this passage. There has been all kinds of confusion about what kind of King Jesus is going to be, and that is one of the central messages that Matthew is dealing with in his book.

As we saw in Luke 9, Jesus has set his sights on Jerusalem, and on the way there he teaches a number of different lessons, all leading to this passage. In Matthew 19, we see Jesus confront the Pharisees about divorce, which shows that Jesus cares for the rights of WOMEN!!!! Then Jesus confronts his disciples telling them to allow the children to come to Jesus. Children were not admired then as they are today. They were financial burdens. Then the Rich young man, the one person that should be honored, Jesus shames and sends away sad. He ends this story by saying the last shall be first and the first last, which he illustrates with a parable. At the end of this parable, he repeats the same line, "The last shall be first and the first last." During this whole time, Jesus has been taking care of the outcasts of society, the down and outers. He shames the one elite person that he comes into contact with, and he teaches over and over again that the last shall be first.

Jesus, during these two chapters, is revealing to his disciples what kind of King he is. And in this passage, they still don't get it. So Jesus becomes very blunt. Let's read the passage:

²⁰ Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Jesus with her sons and, kneeling down, asked a favor of him.
   ²¹ “What is it you want?” he asked.
   She said, “Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom.”
   ²² “You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said to them. “Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?”
   “We can,” they answered.
 ²³ Jesus said to them, “You will indeed drink from my cup, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared by my Father.”
 ²⁴ When the ten heard about this, they were indignant with the two brothers. ²⁵ Jesus called them together and said,“You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. ²⁶ Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, ²⁷ and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— ²⁸ 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.”


Jesus' disciples were not understanding who Jesus was, and especially, who they were supposed to be. That is why James and John send their mom to request for the chief seats. It probably comes from his conversation with them in Matthew 19.28, which says:


²⁸ Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.


After hearing this, James and John wanted to sit in the thrones that were on the right and left hand of Jesus. They wanted power, authority, prestige. Yet...This is not the kind of King Jesus is, and this is not the kind of leaders Jesus wants to leave his kingdom in the hands of. That is why he reveals to them, very boldly, what leadership in the kingdom of God looks like. This is what he says:

“You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. ²⁶ Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, ²⁷ and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— ²⁸ 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.”

Jesus is a SERVANT King. He came to serve the down and outers, the shameful, the oppressed. And that is the kind of people he expects to be a part of his kingdom. 

We are called to be like our King, to drink the same cup that he drank, which was the cup of a servant. This interaction sheds light to his disciples on what kind of King he is before he goes to Jerusalem and dies. He does this so they know what kind of kingdom citizens they are supposed to be. 

And that is our mission as well. We are to be like our king, which is the life of a servant. 

Matthew 20.17-19

This small passage comes after three intense encounters with the Pharisees (Matthew 19.3), Jesus' Disciples (Mt. 19.13) and the rich young ruler (Mt. 19.16). After all this,  it seems that Jesus stops teaching, and sets his sights, again, on Jerusalem. Luke 9.51, Luke says that "As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem." During this period, all kinds of conflicts occurred that could have derailed him, but Jesus kept his eyes on the prize, which was a cross. Read Jesus' third and last prediction of his death:

¹⁷ Now as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside and said to them, ¹⁸ “We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death ¹⁹ and will turn him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!”


This prediction consists of six elements:

1. It is taking place in Jerusalem
2. There will be a betrayal
3. The Jewish Leaders will be responsible
4. He will be handed over to the Gentiles for a death sentence
5. he will be mocked, flogged and crucified
6. He will rise again on the third day

This was the third time that Jesus told his disciples that he was going to die, and each time they just didn't get it. Even after this, James and John's momma comes to Jesus trying to make sure they get the best seats when Jesus' kingdom is established. The disciples just didn't get it. How dull are they????!!!!

Yet how dull are we.

Jesus as told us over and over again what it means to be kingdom citizens. We are called to pick up our crosses daily and follow Jesus. We are called to resolutely set our sites on Jerusalem, on death, on dying to our own selfish desires for the needs of those around us. This is what we are called to do, yet we just don't get it.

We don't help the poor. We don't tell our coworkers and friends and neighbors about Jesus. We don't adopt children to keep them from being aborted. We don't take care of the elderly, instead we throw them in nursing homes and visit them once or twice a year. We spend money and big fancy cars and vacation homes, rather than on water wells for communities that have no clean water, or for the homeless in Joplin, MO. 

We don't get this concept of the cross. Yet, this is how we are supposed to live everyday. So sets your sights on Jerusalem, maybe even put a sticky note on your bathroom mirror that says, "Go to Jerusalem". Because in Jerusalem is where we die, and in when we die, the world is blessed. So get your passport ready, pack your bags, remember your tickets, and Go to Jerusalem. Don't forget, we go there to die.