Tuesday
TUESDAY
SCRIPTURE | Mark 11:20 – 13:37
Below is an excerpt from the full text listed above.
The Authority of Jesus Challenged
27 And they came again to Jerusalem. And as he was walking in the temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came to him, 28 and they said to him, “By what authority are you doing these things, or who gave you this authority to do them?” 29 Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question; answer me, and I will tell you by what authorityI do these things. 30 Was the baptism of John from heaven or from man? Answer me.”31 And they discussed it with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say,‘Why then did you not believe him?’ 32 But shall we say, ‘From man’?”—they were afraid ofthe people, for they all held that John really was a prophet. 33 So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”
The Parable of the Tenants
12 And he began to speak to them in parables. “A man planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a pit for the winepress and built a tower, and leased it to tenants and went into another country. 2 When the season came, he sent a servant to the tenants to get from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. 3 And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 4 Again he sent to them another servant, and theystruck him on the head and treated him shamefully. 5 And he sent another, and him they killed. And so with many others: some they beat, and some they killed. 6 He had still one other, a beloved son. Finally he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 7 But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 8 And they took him and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard. 9 What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others. 10 Have you not read this Scripture:
“‘The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
11 this was the Lord’s doing,
and it is marvelous in our eyes’?”
12 And they were seeking to arrest him but feared the people, for they perceived that he had told the parable against them. So they left him and went away…
The Great Commandment
28 And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this:‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” 32 And the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him. 33 And to love him with all the heart and with allthe understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is muchmore than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 34 And when Jesus saw that heanswered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And after that no one dared to ask him any more questions.
TODAY’S THOUGHT | Questioning Jesus
Today’s scripture reading is long so I’ll keep this brief… After the events of yesterday (Jesus over-turning tables in confrontation of how people were worshipping on the Temple Mount), the religious leaders immediately question Jesus’ authority. The religious leaders oversaw the worship at the Temple and Jesus’ correction the day before was an affront to their leadership. They repeatedly try to trap Jesus with their questions – not looking for answers to their questions but looking for a way to arrest and remove Jesus from the scene.
Jesus throws fuel on the fire with parables directed at the spiritual leaders of the time. God is the true shepherd of his people, not man. It is here on this Tuesday of Holy Week that Jesus sums up all of Scripture in 2 Commandments:
- Love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength
- Love others as you love yourself.
APPLICATION & PRAYER
Do you question Jesus, seeking to trap him with human wisdom or do you love Jesus, willing to surrender your life to him? Sometimes in pride we seek to stand in authority over the teachings of Jesus but this will always result in exposing our foolishness.
Ask the Holy Spirit to bend your heart in love toward God and toward others as your trust and follow Jesus.