Matthew 22:15-46 | Mark 12:13-37 | Luke 20:20-44

In these passages Jesus is being tested by the Pharisees and Sadducees in Jerusalem, trying in many ways to trap Him with various tests.  In one they try to get Him to condemn Roman taxes, but He simply said “give to Caesar what belongs to him, and to God what belongs to Him”.  The Sadducees tried to trap Jesus with a story about a woman who sequentially marries 7 brothers, but Jesus explains to them that they don’t understand the scriptures, or the power of God, as there is no marriage in heaven, and everyone who has died is still alive in heaven.  By others He is asked about the greatest commandment, which He tells them to Love God with all of their being, and to love their neighbor as they love themself.

In the story of the first passover in Exodus 12, God tells Moses to take a perfect lamb on the 10th day of the month, to examine it and verify it is unblemished, and then kill it on the 14th day of the month.  It is this same thing we are seeing in the days leading up to the Lord’s crucifixion, where He is being tested and examined, but found to be perfect, and without sin.

Matthew 21:23-22:14 | Mark 11:27-12:12 | Luke 20:1-19

In the Lord’s final week before the crucifixion, He teaches in the temple, and confronts the Pharisees regarding their guilt in rejecting Him.  He tells a story about a highly prized vineyard, but the vineyard workers showed contempt for the owner.  This story was a direct quote, and reference to what God said through the prophet in Isaiah 5:1-7, where God says that Judah is His vineyard, and Jesus is telling the Pharisees that they have made themselves enemies of God.

Jesus goes on to tell another story about a great king who scheduled a wedding feast for His Son, but the invited guests showed the king contempt, and refused to attend.  The king sends an army to destroy them, and then freely invites any others who will come.  This story again told of the unfaithfulness of the Jewish leaders, and how God was going to use their rejection of Him as an opportunity to throw open the doors of welcome to the whole gentile world, which is exactly what happened.

Matthew 21:1-22 | Mark 11:1-26 | Luke 19:29-48 | John 12:12-50

About a week before the Lord’s crucifixion, He rides into Jerusalem on a donkey, fulfilling Old Testament prophecies (Psalm 118:26 and Zechariah 9:9).  Many Bible scholars also believe that it was on that day that Jesus fulfilled the prophecy of Daniel (9:25-26), who predicted 483 years between the decree to rebuild Jerusalem and the appearing of the Messiah.

For the second time in the Lord’s ministry, He cleanses the temple of the money changers and vendors, which He had also done at the beginning of His ministry (John 2:13-17).

Jesus begins preaching in the temple area, allowing Himself to be questioned by the Jews and the people, declaring Himself to be the Light sent into a world of darkness.  In spite of His teaching, and His miracles, many remained deaf and blind to God among them, and plotted to kill Him.

Matthew 20:29-34, 26:6-13 | Mark 10:46-52, 14:3-9 | Luke 18:35-19:28 | John 11:55-12:11

In these passages Jesus is making His final journey from Galilee up to Jerusalem, and He goes through the city of Jericho before taking the road to Jerusalem from there.  While in Jericho He heals numerous blind men, and also meets up with Zacchaeus, who was a tax collector of short stature.  Zacchaeus becomes a believer, as does blind Bartamaus.

Upon arriving in Jerusalem, Jesus goes to Bethany, which is a nearby town where Mary and Martha and Lazarus live.  Jesus has dinner with a man named Simon, where an unnamed woman anoints the Lord’s feet with costly perfume, and this happens again in the house of Martha and Mary, where Mary also does the same thing - both of these were done in preparation for the Lord’s dead.

Matthew 19:16-20:28 | Mark 10:17-45 | Luke 18:18-34

Jesus tells a rich young man that he can gain much if he sells all and follows Him, with rewards to be had in heaven, but this was a hard thing, and he went away sad.  Jesus comments on how hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God, but also that nothing is impossible with God.

Jesus continues in talking about the kingdom of God, and how the economy of God is different, and how the first will be last, and the last will be first when He rewards those who have worked for Him.

Jesus tells His disciples about his imminent death and resurrection, but they do not really hear what He is saying, and they are focused on which of them will be greater in the His kingdom.  The mother of James and John tries to get them promoted to the Lord’s right and left hand, but they don’t understand what that will cost, and Jesus tells them it is only the the Province of the Father to determine who will be in those places in the kingdom.  It is he who is servant of all that will be greatest in God’s kingdom, and that description fits first with Jesus Himself!

Luke 17:11-18:17 | Matthew 19:1-15 | Mark 10:1-16

Jesus continues his slow walk towards Jerusalem, teaching and healing in every city that He goes through.  In one village He heals 10 lepers, but only one of them returns to thank Him, and give Him praise, and he was a Samaritan.  It’s amazing how many people Jesus healed, who did not turn and follow Him.  Prior to Jesus, leprosy in Israel was incurable, but He healed many lepers, and each one was required to show themselves to the priests (according to the law in Leviticus), which would have been an amazing thing for all of the priests to suddenly see happening, yet it changed few hearts.

Jesus talks about the last days, and how His coming judgement in the end will be sudden, just like it was in the days of Noah and Lot.

He also answered questions about divorce and remarriage, saying that it was never God’s intent in the beginning for married couples to divorce, but the law of Moses allowed for it only in cases of infidelity.  Even today, God hates divorce, but it is not the unpardonable sin, and He will forgive every one who comes to Him in repentance.

Luke 16:1-17:10 | John 11:1-54

Jesus tells the story of the unrighteous steward, or business manager, who is going to get fired for wasting his master’s resources.  Before he is fired, he goes to those who owe his master rents, and negotiates better terms for them, so as to set himself up favorably with them after he is out of a job.  Jesus uses this story to make a point, which is for us to use the resources of this world to prepare for our future in eternity, which echoes what He said elsewhere - “store up for yourselves riches in heaven”.  The Pharisees ridiculed Jesus for this story, because they loved money, but Jesus told them anything they regard as important is an abomination before God.  He tells them the story of Lazarus and the rich man, who regrets his poor decisions in life, but Abraham tells him that even if someone came back from the dead to warn the man’s family, they still wouldn’t believe.  This was demonstrated when another Lazarus was raised from the dead, and when Jesus was raised - unbelievers persisted in not believing.

In response to a request from the disciples to increase their faith, Jesus tells them a story about the proper role of servants, and how servants should have no personal expectations, other than to serve the master.  With this attitude, servants also have no concerns, as the master will be responsible for everything they need.

Jesus raises their friend Lazarus from the dead after being in the grave for 4 days.  He could have healed Lazarus before he died, but God received far greater glory in the way He chose to respond in that situation.  Of course, the Pharisees hated seeing him alive, and plotted to kill him because he was a living demonstration of the power of Jesus Christ.

Luke 13:22-15:32

After three years of ministering in the northern region of Galilee, Jesus begins an extended journey towards Jerusalem, where He has an appointment with the cross.  This is reported in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, where Jesus gradually makes His way towards Jerusalem, preaching in many cities has they go, but He again tells people that it is there that He will be killed.

In one such town Jesus is invited to dinner at the house of a prominent Pharisee on the Sabbath, and He heals a man who was severely afflicted.  He proves to them that it is right to do good things on the Sabbath, and the Pharisees there were unable to answer Him.  Jesus also observed how people were jockeying for the better seats at the dinner, and He said that it is better for us to not self-promote, but to let others promote us from a lower place.  He also told everyone to do good, and invite people who cannot repay the kindness, unlike most of the people He was observing at the dinner.  Jesus then told a parable of a great man who threw a huge dinner party, and invited many people, but all of those people disrespected him by being too busy to attend.  That man, or king, then invited anyone from the streets who would come, and this story represented the invitation of God to His people, who uniformly rejected Him.

Jesus tells many different stories, which all relate to the Kingdom of God, and then tells the familiar story of the Prodigal Son.  This story provides a great picture of the Father’s love for all of His sons, and how He is quick to forgive and restore any who return to Him in repentance.  God is the same, Who is always willing to forgive, and give many chances for repentance to those who walked away from Him.

John 9-10

Jesus heals a man who had been blind from birth, which was one of the miracles that He did, which had never been done by anyone throughout history.  This man would have had no education, and would have been among the least qualified to become a messenger of the gospel, yet he confounded the experts of the law with nothing more than his testimony, and the logical conclusions that came from what Jesus did.  Like this man, we may not be trained in theology, and we may not know how to find verses in the Bible, yet we each have a testimony of what God did for us, which no one can take away, or dispute.

Jesus then declares Himself to be the Door (to the sheepfold), and also that He is The Good Shepherd.  In old times the shepherd would sleep across the opening of the sheepfold, so that nothing could go in or out without going through him, which is the picture we get from this statement of Jesus.  He was the promised descendant of king David, who was the first shepherd king, and who famously wrote psalm 23 (The Lord is my Shepherd…), and that is who Jesus says He is - The Good Shepherd.  Unlike someone who was hired to watch the sheep, the Good Shepherd is the owner, Who will give His life to protect the sheep.

The Jews again try to stone Jesus for calling Himself the Son of God, but that didn’t work out.

Luke 11:37-13:21

Jesus spoke harsh words to the Pharisees and lawyers (experts in the law of Moses), condemning them for their hypocrisy, and for the excessive burdens they placed on common people.

He tells His disciples to beware the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, and that none of them should fear the wicked rulers in the land, but they should rather fear God, Who loves and cares for those who are His.

Jesus warns the people against having hearts of greed, and he tells the story of the rich man who saved up much, without realizing that his death was coming that very night.  It is far better to store up spiritual riches in heaven, rather than trusting in temporary things on earth.  It is far better to rely on the Providence of God, Who will take care of everyone who trusts in Him.  Live life in anticipation of the Lord’s return, like strangers in a foreign country, rather than worrying about position or power or wealth in this world.

Jesus told His disciples that the service of His servants will be recognized and rewarded after He returns, which will be based upon what each one did for Him as His servants on the earth.

Jesus then tells some people that there is a great need for repentance in Israel, and likens them to a fig tree that refuses to bear fruit for 3 years, and has only a short time remaining before it will be cut off.  He heals a women that was bent over like a folded taco shell on the Sabbath, but the self-righteous Jews were mad that it was done on the Sabbath.  Jesus was in turn angry over their hypocrisy, and their lack of compassion for the woman.

Luke 10:1-11:36

Among the followers of Jesus, He appointed 70 to go out and preach in the cities of Israel, telling of the coming of God’s kingdom, and He gave them power to heal the sick, and cast out demons.  They came back amazed at what was done, but Jesus told them to be amazed that God accepted them.

Jesus tells an expert in the law the story of the good Samaritan, who seemed to understand the requirements of God’s laws (love God and love others), but wanted to know who qualifies as his brother (others).  The hated Samaritan was the one who showed mercy, and Jesus told the lawyer to go and do the same.

Jesus gives the disciples an outline for prayer, which echoed what He taught in Matthew 6:9-15, but then emphasizes the importance of persistence in praying.  Pray without giving up, and the Lord will answer in a way that is consistent with His love for us.

Jesus then teaches about the domain of demons, and how it is only by the authority of God that they are exercised.  But, someone who has been cleansed of demons must fill their life with God’s love and Word, or they are in danger of being repossessed even worse.

John 7:11-8:59

The timeline of Christ’s ministry has jumped forward about 3 years, and it is about 6 months before His crucifixion that He goes up to Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles (or feast of booths), which occurs in the Fall of the year. 

Until this time Jesus had been primarily teaching and healing people in the northern region of Galilee, but now He has gone up to Jerusalem to present Himself before the people, and to openly declare Who He Is.  He makes very clear that He was sent from God, His Father, and that everything He said and did came from the Father.

The Pharisees devise a scheme to try and trap Jesus, Who they hate because He is constantly helping people, and drawing people away from being under their control.  They bring a woman who was caught in the act of adultery (but they didn’t bring the man), and they demanded that Jesus judge her appropriate punishment, which is clear in the law of Moses.  In the law there is no provision for sacrifice or forgiveness for intentional sins, like adultery and murder, so she was clearly guilty, and clearly deserving of the death penalty.  They know that Jesus doesn’t want to condemn anyone, so they want Him to be trapped between the law and His desire to show mercy.  This grieves the heart of Jesus, and He finally tells them that the one among them who is without sin can throw the first stone.  Each of her accusers become aware of their own guilt, and disappear, and then Jesus tells her that He also does not condemn her (“go and sin no more”).  It’s impossible to trap God, no matter how sly and cunning the enemy might be.

Jesus ends a heated debate with the Pharisees in John 8, by again telling them clearly that He is from God, and that God is His Father.  He likewise tells them that they are of their father, the devil, who was a murderer and liar from the beginning.  At the end of this, Jesus tells them clearly that He is the “I AM” of the burning bush, and they tried to kill Him, but without success.

Matthew 18, 8:19-22 | Mark 9:33-50 | Luke 9:46-62 | John 7:2-10

In many ways and times Jesus impressed upon His disciples the importance of being servants, and not striving to be great in the kingdom of God.  This is a lesson that they would not really learn until the night that Jesus would be arrested, when He would humble Himself to wash their dirty feet.

Jesus also taught them many times about forgiveness, and emphasizes this in Matthew 18, with the story of the two servants, and how God will likewise treat us in the same way we treat others.  If we refuse to have mercy, and to forgive, then Jesus says that God will likewise refuse to have mercy and forgive us.  Jesus told Peter that we should be willing to forgive the same offense hundreds of times without growing weary.

He also taught on the correct way to resolve conflict between individuals, where they should first try to clear things up one-on-one.  If that doesn’t work, then they should enlist the help of a disinterested third party as an arbiter.  Then, if that doesn’t work, the issue can be brought before the larger body of believers in the church, who will make a judgement between them.  If the guilty party then refuses to listen, they should be treated as a stranger.  Many people want to short circuit this process, and go straight to corporate discipline, but that is not how Jesus ordained it to happen.

Jesus also taught on the importance of living holy in this life, and said that we should take drastic steps to separate ourselves from whatever causes us to stumble.  We should not interpret this literally, in cutting off body parts, or gouging out an eye, but see these as examples of how serious and drastic we need to cut off what causes us to sin.

Matthew 16:21-17:27 | Mark 8:31-9:32 | Luke 9:22-45

Peter had just answered Christ’s question correctly (“You are the Christ, the Son of the living God”), but then He rebukes Jesus for telling them that He was going to be killed in Jerusalem and raised from the dead on the 3rd day.  Jesus responds by saying “get behind me satan”, so Peter goes from hero to goat in just a few verses.  As seen in these passages, there were many times when Jesus told His disciples in advance that He would be killed, and raised from the dead on the 3rd day.

Jesus took Peter, James, and John up on a high mountain, and He was transformed before them, as if His heavenly glory was leaking out of Him, being brighter than the sun.  Jesus is speaking with Moses and Elijah, and then God speaks from heaven to the disciples, saying “hear Him, Who I have chosen”.  Jesus tells them later to not speak of the incident until after He was raised from the dead.  This event remains vivid in Peter’s memory, and he speaks of it again in his epistle (2 Peter 1:17-18).

When they come down from the mountain, they encounter a man who’s son has been afflicted by a demon since childhood, and the Lord’s disciples had been unable to cast it out.  Jesus rebukes the demon, and the son is restored to his right mind, after He tells the man that all things are possible to him who believes (the man responded “Lord, I believe, help my unbelief”).  Jesus later tells His disciples that their faith was weak, and that such do not come out except following fasting and prayer.

Matthew 15:21-16:20 | Mark 7:24-8:30 | Luke 9:18–21

For a short period of time Jesus and His disciples go north of Galilee to the Syrian coast, where the region of Tyre and Sidon was, and they encounter a gentile woman who keeps asking Jesus to free her demon possessed daughter.  Jesus pushes back, because she is not a Jew, but she persists and Jesus commends her for her faith, and heals her daughter.  Many times the faith of gentiles was far greater than of those in Israel.

Upon returning to Galilee, Jesus teaches and heals people for 3 days, but before sending them home, he feeds some 4,000 men, plus women and children, with 7 small loaves of bread and a few fish, and afterwards they gather up 7 large baskets of food scraps.  Jesus has to remind the disciples of this miracle, and the feeding of the 5,000, when they (again) misunderstand His instruction to beware of the leaven (teaching) of the Pharisees.

He then asks His disciples the crucial question that every person must answer for themselves - “who do you say I am?”.  It is critical that people believe He was sent from God, and that He was crucified for the sin of the world, but rose again on the 3rd day to life everlasting.

John 6:22-7:1 | Matthew 15:1-20 | Mark 7:1-23

After Jesus had fed the multitude, there were many in the crowd who wanted to make Him king, but He dispersed them and sent them away.  The next day they found Him with His disciples at Capernaum, and they challenge Jesus to give them more food, just like Moses gave their forefathers in the wilderness.  Jesus corrects them, telling them that it was God Who gave them bread in the wilderness, and it was God Who sent Jesus down as the bread of life.  Jesus almost goes out of His way to offend them, saying that He is the Bread of Life from the Father, and that it is necessary for those who seek God to eat His Body and drink His Blood.  Many in the crowd were offended, and went away, and many of the Lord’s disciples also stopped follow Him at that time.  Only the 12 were left, and they told Him they would remain faithful to Him.

In like manner, we see other ways in which Jesus offended the Jews, with examples in these passages from Matthew and Mark.  Pharisees from Jerusalem came to Galilee and criticized Jesus and His disciples for breaking the law, even though they didn’t break God’s law, but only their interpretation.  Jesus points out their own hypocrisy, and quotes from Isaiah 29:13, telling them that they were guilty of teaching the people the doctrines of men, but claiming them to be the doctrines of God.  Jesus tells them, and then He tells His disciples that it is what comes out of a person’s mouth (which is a reflection of what is in their heart) that defiles a man, and not what a person eats, or if they eat with unwashed hands.

Matthew 14:13-36 | Mark 6:31-56 | Luke 9:11-17 | John 6:1-21

When Jesus heard that John the Baptist had been killed, He took His disciples to a deserted place to be alone, but the crowds knew where they were going and went ahead.  When Jesus saw the multitude, He had compassion on them, and began teaching and healing the sick.  At evening time the Disciples told Jesus to send them away, but He said “you feed them”.  They brought Jesus the sack dinner of a child, with 5 rolls and two small fish, and from that the Lord fed some 5,000 men, plus women and children, with 12 baskets of leftovers gathered up.

After everyone had eaten, Jesus sent the crowds away, and forced His disciples to get in a boat without Him, to go over to Capernaum while He went upon the mountain to pray.  Jesus prayed all night, but the disciples worked all night and couldn’t get to land because of wind and waves they were rowing against.  However, Jesus was watching them from afar, and then came walking on the water to them before sunrise.  Jesus knew this storm would hit, but He sent them out without Himself with them, and He was watching them throughout the time He was praying.  This is the same with us, as He leads us into difficult circumstances, and even when it seems like He is far away, He is watching and protecting us.

Mark 6:1-30 | Matthew 13:54-58, 9:35-11:1, 14:1-12 | Luke 9:1-10

Jesus calls together His 12 disciples, and gives them instructions for going out in pairs to preach about the coming of God’s kingdom, and He gives them power over demons, and power to do miracles.

While this is going on we read a side story of the death of John the Baptist, who Herod has beheaded, and who is afraid that Jesus might be John raised from the dead.

The Lord’s disciples return with reports of all they had done, and Jesus gets word that John the Baptist had been killed.

Mark 4:35-5:43 | Matthew 8:18, 23-34, 9:18-34 | Luke 8:22-56

Jesus and His disciples get into a boat on the Sea of Galilee, and He tells them “let us go over to the other side”.  On the way to the other side, Jesus goes to sleep in the back of the boat, and a hurricane force wind comes up, to where those seasoned fishermen in the boat were convinced they were going to die.  After being woken up, Jesus rebuked the wind and waves, and then His disciples, for not believing what He had previously said (“let’s go over to the other side”).  This was a lesson in faith for His disciples, and for us, as Jesus is also faithful to take each of us to the other side.

On the other side of the lake, Jesus casts thousands of demons out of a man, but the people in that region were afraid, and ask Him to leave their country.  The man who had been freed wanted to go with Jesus and His disciples, but the Lord told him to stay in his own country, to tell the people there about the good things God had done for him.  Jesus was not welcome there, and he left this totally unqualified man behind as His witness, yet people ended up believing as a result of hearing his testimony.  This is a strong lesson for us, to realize that our own testimony has great ability to change hearts, as the Spirit uses us as witnesses for Jesus, even though we might be totally unqualified.

After returning to Galilee, Jesus is asked to go and heal the 12 year old daughter of a synagogue leader, and on the way a woman was also healed after touching the hem of his garment.  Jesus commended her for her faith.  The 12 year old girl ended up dying before Jesus got there, but He put out all of the unbelievers, and she was raised from the dead after He commanded her to get up.

Mark 4:1-34 | Matthew 13:1-53

Jesus begins to teach in parables, which is a fulfillment of Psalm 78:2, and He gives the story of the sower and soils as a primary parable that helps in interpreting all of His parables.  He told His disciples in Mark 4:13 that they couldn’t understand the parables if they didn’t understand this one in particular.  Consequently, we understand that the metaphors given in the parables are consistent, which means that birds are always servants of the enemy, leaven (or yeast) always represents sin, the seeds represent both the word of God, as well as the saints, etc… This is called the principle of expositional constancy, where metaphors and allusions always refer to the same thing.

In these passages Jesus also tells His disciples that it was ordained by God that they understand these things, and that the parables were taught so that some would understand, and others would not.  Jesus quotes from Isaiah 6:9-11, which predicted that Israel would be deaf and blind to the works of God for a very long time, until the end of the age, after there has been great destruction on the earth, and only a remnant in Israel remained.

In Matthew 13 Jesus tells many parables, with all of them providing simple comparisons to the kingdom of God and of satan, and how the disciples of each kingdom will be judged separately at the end of the age.