Matthew 24: Jesus prophesies

Jesus is in Jerusalem, very next to his crucifixion. He talks about the future of the temple:

1-2 Jesus then left the Temple. As he walked away, his disciples pointed out how very impressive the Temple architecture was. Jesus said, “You’re not impressed by all this sheer size, are you? The truth of the matter is that there’s not a stone in that building that is not going to end up in a pile of rubble.”

Titus desecrated the temple and then destroyed it in 70, We read:

15-20 “But be ready to run for it when you see the monster of desecration set up in the Temple sanctuary. The prophet Daniel described this. If you’ve read Daniel, you’ll know what I’m talking about. If you’re living in Judea at the time, run for the hills; if you’re working in the yard, don’t return to the house to get anything; if you’re out in the field, don’t go back and get your coat. Pregnant and nursing mothers will have it especially hard. Hope and pray this won’t happen during the winter or on a Sabbath.

It is not in the Bible, but Christians knew about this passage and a lot of Christians run away from Jerusalem when the temple was desecrated.

Jesus talks about his return:


39-44 “The Son of Man’s Arrival will be like that: Two men will be working in the field—one will be taken, one left behind; two women will be grinding at the mill—one will be taken, one left behind. So stay awake, alert. You have no idea what day your Master will show up. But you do know this: You know that if the homeowner had known what time of night the burglar would arrive, he would have been there with his dogs to prevent the break-in. Be vigilant just like that. You have no idea when the Son of Man is going to show up.

Jesus expects that his disciples keep his words meanwhile, so he says to them (to me) to be alert. He says the same thing in chapter 21. I belong to Jesus. I see myself as a Jesus slave, but am I doing his words?

Matthew 23: the Messiah of the Jews is rejected

Jewish leaders rejected the Messiah. He was expected to be received as in Psalm 118 (as in verse 39):

"Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord!"

In fact, he was so received by the people of Jerusalem (children included), but he was rejected by the leaders. We read (MSG):

37-39 “Jerusalem! Jerusalem! Murderer of prophets! Killer of the ones who brought you God’s news! How often I’ve ached to embrace your children, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you wouldn’t let me. And now you’re so desolate, nothing but a ghost town. What is there left to say? Only this: I’m out of here soon. The next time you see me you’ll say, ‘Oh, God has blessed him! He’s come, bringing God’s rule!’”

Matthew 23 explain the psychology of the Jewish leaders, high priest included. They enjoyed to be seen as "men of God", but they didn't love the Word. They oppressed the people by many men made rules. We live in a world where many Christian churches behave exactly like the Jewish leaders behaved. Should we bow to religious leaders? We read:

8-10 “Don’t let people do that to you, put you on a pedestal like that. You all have a single Teacher, and you are all classmates. Don’t set people up as experts over your life, letting them tell you what to do. Save that authority for God; let him tell you what to do. No one else should carry the title of ‘Father’; you have only one Father, and he’s in heaven. And don’t let people maneuver you into taking charge of them. There is only one Life-Leader for you and them—Christ.

A Christian is not be put on a pedestal like the Jewish leaders, but why does that happen on Christian churches?
I daresay because men prefer to get simple (and silly) explanations or simple commands.
The Bible is the great defense to any manipulation, but do people read their Bibles?

Matthew 22: Jesus answer questions from his enemies

Jesus is in Jerusalem. Pharisees, Sadducees and Herodians are against Jesus. They are enemies among themselves but they found an enemy in common: Jesus. These three groups of people ask questions to Jesus in order to test him and put him in a difficult situation. For instance: what is the position of Jesus about Roman taxes: pro or against? Some Jews hate Rome; and they are against Roman taxes. However if Jesus were against  Roman taxes he becomes against Rome and Caesar. Here is a difficult question in order to trap Jesus. We read:

18-19 Jesus knew they were up to no good. He said, “Why are you playing these games with me? Why are you trying to trap me? Do you have a coin? Let me see it.” They handed him a silver piece.
20 “This engraving—who does it look like? And whose name is on it?”
21 They said, “Caesar.”
“Then give Caesar what is his, and give God what is his.”  

Jesus didn't preach any revolt against the system, against Rome. In a way, he said to submit to Rome. He saw many ways to submit to the Lord and to Rome because most of time there's no conflict between Rome and the Lord even though Rome is a kingdom of this world and essentially evil. Christian pay the taxes and this is not evil (by contrary, it is good). Jesus is the king of the kingdom of heaven, but he came not to destroy the kingdom of this world, but to destroy sin and death. I am a sinner and my destine is the death. Jesus came to free me. Peter, John, etc. were Jews that ,very likely, had Rome as an enemy, but their great enemy was sin and death.

It is very easy to think that a kingdom comes when it win battles. Can we imagine a kingdom that wins by being submissive? Jesus way is very different, it is divine.

Matthew 21: Is Jesus the Messiah for Jerusalem people?

In Matthew 21 Jesus arrives in Jerusalem from Galilee. He is welcomed by the people of Jerusalem as the Messiah, the son of David:

6-9 The disciples went and did exactly what Jesus told them to do. They led the donkey and colt out, laid some of their clothes on them, and Jesus mounted. Nearly all the people in the crowd threw their garments down on the road, giving him a royal welcome. Others cut branches from the trees and threw them down as a welcome mat. Crowds went ahead and crowds followed, all of them calling out, “Hosanna to David’s son!” “Blessed is he who comes in God’s name!” “Hosanna in highest heaven!”

However, the Jewish leaders had another idea as for example: Jesus is a mere human - so it is an absurd that he is so welcomed in Jerusalem, or worse, he got power from Satan when performing miracles. Jesus said to them that they pretended to be doing the will of the Lord using just their mouth:


31-32 “Which of the two sons did what the father asked?”
They said, “The first.”
Jesus said, “Yes, and I tell you that crooks and whores are going to precede you into God’s kingdom. John came to you showing you the right road. You turned up your noses at him, but the crooks and whores believed him. Even when you saw their changed lives, you didn’t care enough to change and believe him.

In Matthew 21, we see Jesus as the Messiah to the crowd but not to the Jewish leaders. To welcome Jesus is to welcome the kingdom of heaven, while rejecting him is to reject the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 20: great in the kingdom of heaven

The mother of James and John requested Jesus that their sons would be great in the kingdom of heaven. We read:

24-28 When the ten others heard about this, they lost their tempers, thoroughly disgusted with the two brothers. So Jesus got them together to settle things down. He said, “You’ve observed how godless rulers throw their weight around, how quickly a little power goes to their heads. It’s not going to be that way with you. Whoever wants to be great must become a servant. Whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave. That is what the Son of Man has done: He came to serve, not be served—and then to give away his life in exchange for the many who are held hostage.”

The great man in our world demands to be served, but in the kingdom of heaven, the greater a guy is, the more he serves. Jesus himself is the one who serves. He gave away his life in exchange of my life. If my king is the one who serves, how would dare I not to serve? Christ shows to serve and to suffer for the kingdom.