Someone has figured that
if we put all of the materials in the Gospels that tell us about the life of
Jesus together that it would equal about 80 pages. Yet, most of that would
represent duplication, for we know that some of the Gospel writers copied from
others. If, therefore you eliminate the duplication, you would have only 20
pages that tell us about Jesus life and teachings. Of those 20 pages, 13 of them
deal specifically with the last week of his life. And if you separate it still
further, you will discover that one-third of those 13 pages took place on
Tuesday of Holy Week. Thus, in terms of sheer volume, we know far more on this
day in his life than any other day. The events of that day represent a
significant percentage of what we know about the man Jesus.
We know that Jesus spent Monday evening in Bethany, probably in the home of
Mary, Martha and Lazarus, since that is where he spent Sunday evening. He arose
early on Tuesday morning and he and his disciples returned to Jerusalem. If you
will then let your mind drift back through the pages of history, let us assume
for a moment that you are living in First Century Palestine. It is the Season of
the Passover and you and your family are among the thousands of religious
pilgrims who have migrated to the ancient walled city of Jerusalem to
participate in the religious celebration. You were there on Monday when Jesus
took whip in hand and radically ran the moneychangers from the temple. It had
been an eventful day.
But now it is Monday and it has come time to retire with your family. As you
walk down the Villa de la Rosa you pass by the palace of the high priest, the
residence of Caiaphas. You notice that a light is burning in the upper floor of
this exquisite mansion. You comment to your family that Caiaphas must be working
long hours to see that all of the religious festivities go on as scheduled. Yet,
if you only knew what was really going on in that palace that evening. If you
only knew what was taking place in that smoke filled room.
Gathered around the table that evening in the palace was one of the strangest
combinations of political and religious factions that anyone could possibly
imagine. Yet, politics makes strange bedfellows. It is interesting to me to see
how fundamentalist Protestant denominations find a partner in the Roman Catholic
Church on the issue of abortion. It is interesting to me to see how
fundamentalist Protestants and Jews are brought together because they have
similar views on the protection of Israel. Groups that would normally not have
communication are sometimes strangely brought together for a temporary goal.
That is what happened that night in Jerusalem. Here is the background.
The three groups conspired together that evening: the Herodians, the Sadducees,
and the Pharisees. Their common goal was to discredit Jesus of Nazareth in front
of his constituency, the common people. It was probably not their intent to
assassinate Jesus, which is what eventually happened, but rather to discredit
him. They did not want a martyr on their hands. They would much prefer to make
him a fool. Let's give him enough rope and he may just hang himself. Thus, each
group would in turn ask him a question, not because they thought that they could
learn from him, but because they wished to trick him. They were hoping for that
one slip of the tongue. Each group would ask him a question that would be dear
to their cause:
1. The first question asked on Tuesday was from the Herodian.
2. The next question was asked by Sadducees.
3. The third question came from a Pharisee.
4. Having routed the opposition, Jesus now, in essence, says, "It is my turn!
Now I want to ask you a question
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