Moosic Alliance Church

After “cleansing the Temple courts” on Monday Jesus returns to the Temple area on Tuesday. Tuesday is a very busy day for the Lord (read Matthew 21:23 – 25:46 to get an idea of how busy) but there are two points I want to pick out for us today.
As Jesus was walking and teaching in the Temple courts He was confronted by “the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders” (Mark 11:27) who challenged Him with the following questions (Mark 11:28). “By what authority are You doing these things? … And who gave You authority to do this?” Jesus responds by asking them about John’s baptism, “…was it from heaven, or from men?” These leaders talked it over among themselves, couldn’t figure out which response was most politically correct so replied that they didn’t know! Jesus then told them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.” Jesus then proceeded to teach the people in the hearing of these leaders using parables. One parable in particular cut them to the quick and (Mark 12:12), “Then they looked for a way to arrest Him because they knew He had spoken the parable against them. But they were afraid of the crowd; so they left Him and went away.”
When Christians today speak in public places about the Kingdom of God and Jesus Christ His Son they should not be surprised if there are some listeners who take offense! So, Christian friend, do you know by what authority you speak about these things? And do you know who gave you this authority? If not, I believe you need to open your Bibles again and find the answers to these questions; otherwise you could find yourself not holding firm to the faith you profess.
Eventually Jesus leaves the Temple courts and goes to the Mount of Olives for the night. Here He gives what we commonly call the Olivet Discourse which is primarily about His second coming; you can read the short version of this in Mark 13. Among the volume of teaching He does that night look at this one section near the end found in Matthew 24, “Be on guard! Be alert! … keep watch because you do not know on what day your Lord will come [back]. … Who then is the faithful and wise servant…? It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing [his master’s appointed work] when [the master] returns.”
There is a lot of talk about the end times going around in Christian circles today. I don’t think that is a bad idea at all. Just be careful that all the talking prevents you, as a follower of the soon coming King, from doing what our King has appointed you to do. Jesus will return at God’s appointed time – make sure you are busy with Kingdom work when He does.
I’ll be gone for Wednesday so here it is in a nutshell. The chief priests and the teachers of the law and the elders “plotted to arrest Jesus in some sly way and kill Him.” (Matthew 26:1-5) At the dinner party that night Mary anointed the Lord to, as He said, “prepare Me for burial.” (Matthew 26:6-13) And Judas made his deal to betray Jesus for thirty silver coins. (Matthew 26:14-16)
When you make your plans for the future do they include the Lord and what He desires for you to plan?
Think about these things and let me know what you think.

Tags: Enemies, Faith, Planning
Filed under: Uncategorized