He was teaching in the temple

Luke 21:29-22:13 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Then He told them a parable: “Behold the fig tree and all the trees; ³⁰ as soon as they put forth leaves, you see it and know for yourselves that summer is now near. ³¹ So you also, when you see these things happening, recognize that the kingdom of God is near. ³² Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all things take place. ³³ Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.

³⁴ “Be on guard, so that your hearts will not be weighted down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life, and that day will not come on you suddenly like a trap; ³⁵ for it will come upon all those who dwell on the face of all the earth. ³⁶ But keep on the alert at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

³⁷ Now during the day He was teaching in the temple, but at evening He would go out and spend the night on the mount that is called Olivet. ³⁸ And all the people would get up early in the morning to come to Him in the temple to listen to Him.

22 Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which is called the Passover, was approaching. ² The chief priests and the scribes were seeking how they might put Him to death; for they were afraid of the people.

³ And Satan entered into Judas who was called Iscariot, belonging to the number of the twelve. ⁴ And he went away and discussed with the chief priests and officers how he might betray Him to them. ⁵ They were glad and agreed to give him money. ⁶ So he consented, and began seeking a good opportunity to betray Him to them apart from the crowd.

⁷ Then came the first day of Unleavened Bread on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. ⁸ And Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and prepare the Passover for us, so that we may eat it…

Today’s text once again dispels the notion that some people would promote that Jesus would not associate with the church or traditional worship if He were here today. The text says:  Now during the day He was teaching in the temple, but at evening He would go out and spend the night on the mount that is called Olivet. ³⁸ And all the people would get up early in the morning to come to Him in the temple to listen to Him.        Jesus spent much of His time, did much of His teaching in the temple and in the local synagogues. He knew and taught from the scriptures. Our culture and our society has become so polarized in everything, from politics, to social issues, to science and in matters of religion and faith, that we see nearly everything as one extreme or the other. Jesus associated with common people, sinners and outcasts, but He also interacted with wealthy people and even with religious people. Jesus came to earth as a man not to call any one group of people, but that:  whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.(John 3:16) Whoevers come in all shapes and sizes, they come from all walks of life and from every variety of life experience. To think that Jesus would disregard any group of people shows our limited human perspective which is formed by our own experiences and preferences.

Today’s text also says: And Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and prepare the Passover for us, so that we may eat it.”    Jesus Himself followed and held to the sacred Jewish traditions and religious observances. He was a practicing Jew. Jesus did not come to do away with everything God had established, the law and the religious observances, Jesus says:   “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. ¹⁸ For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. ¹⁹ Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. ²⁰ “For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.(Matthew 5:17-20)     Jesus was and is the fulfillment of the law and the traditions. God said:   “Thus you are to be holy to Me, for I the LORD am holy; and I have set you apart from the peoples to be Mine.”(Leviticus 20:26)       Jesus didn’t do away with the need for us to be holy. He fulfilled our ability to be holy. Our righteousness cannot exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees if it is self righteousness. It is only in and through the cross, believing in Him, being a whoever, that we attain the righteousness to enter the kingdom of heaven.

In John 17, just before Jesus was arrested to be crucified, He prayed to the Father. Some of the gospel accounts focus on a few words Jesus prayed there in the garden. They recount His words: “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.”(Matthew 26:39)   They recount His anguish and the fervency of His prayer:    And being in agony He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground.(Luke 22:44)     I don’t believe that Jesus anguished and prayed for those three hours in the garden over His future. I believe John 17, Jesus prayer for His disciples and the future of His church were what caused Him to anguish. He was interceding for us. Verses 20-23 say:

 “I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; ²¹ that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me. ²² The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; ²³ I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me.

Jesus anguished and sweat drops of blood because His church would be divided. He knows that for the world to truly see Jesus and know that the Father sent Him to be a demonstration of His love for the world, His church, His followers must be perfected in unity. Our perfected unity will not mean that we agree about every tradition or worship style. It will not mean that those who feel an outward call to missions, whether in a third world country, a city street or a shopping mall are more right or wrong than the one who is called to teach the word in a building or a living room. We need to stop seeing from our singular perspective and being divided. In 1 Corinthians 1:10-13, Paul says:  Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment. ¹¹ For I have been informed concerning you, my brethren, by Chloe’s people, that there are quarrels among you. ¹² Now I mean this, that each one of you is saying, “I am of Paul,” and “I of Apollos,” and “I of Cephas,” and “I of Christ.” ¹³ Has Christ been divided?       And in Ephesians 4, he says:  Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, ² with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, ³ being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. ⁴ There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; ⁵ one Lord, one faith, one baptism, ⁶ one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all. ⁷ But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift… And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, ¹² for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; ¹³ until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. ¹⁴ As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; ¹⁵ but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, ¹⁶ from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.

Jesus is not affiliated with any one denomination, but neither is He opposed to them. Jesus does not want us to focus on any one gift or calling to the exclusion of the others. Jesus wants us to be perfected in unity, “so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me.”  That is His prayer, that’s why He sweat drops of blood, not that we are either this or that but that we are unified in Him and the Father.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; Holy Spirit may Your church, Your people truly become what You have called them and desire them to be. May we not veer to the right or the left, but may we be perfected in unity, with You and in You, so that the world may know that You love them.   Amen.