Dr. Doug Bookman

A. Jesus Curses the Fig Tree on the Way from Bethany on Monday Morning

Scripture: Mark 11:12-14 and Matthew 21:18-19

Notes: There were two stages to this event: on Monday the tree was cursed, on Tuesday it was found withered. Mark makes this clear. Matthew (as was his customary style) grouped them together (he tends to arrange events more thematically than chronologically). Matthew 21:18 refers to Monday morning (i.e., the morning of the day which he had narrated in Matthew 21:12-17); Matthew 21:20 refers to Tuesday morning (when the fig tree was discovered to have withered, and Jesus responded to the wonder of His disciples).

The day did not begin with a meal in Jewish culture, so they would often “snack” early in the day. Fig trees bore fruit twice a year: (harvestable summer figs, harvested in the autumn and worthless winter figs which appeared in the spring). There should have been winter figs on this tree, but Jesus found none.

Questions/Observations: What do you think might have been the point Jesus was making in the cursing of the fig tree? (That is, what spiritual reality is Jesus illustrating in this act – if any?)

B. The Second Cleansing of the Temple on Monday Morning

Scripture: Matthew 21:12-16; Mark 11:15-19; and Luke 19:45-48

Notes: This was not just an act of resentment, as if Jesus stumbled on abuses He had not anticipated and flew into a righteous rage. There were four Passovers during Jesus’s ministry. He cleansed the temple at the first (John 2), and then again at this feast (the fourth and last). There is strategy in this. In that regard, it is important to note whose territory Jesus was treading upon here.

It is impossible to overstate the anger that this act produced in the leadership of the Jewish nation, or the delight it generated in the hearts of the Jewish people.

Questions/Observations: The temple was the jurisdiction of the Sadducees (by Roman decree); the synagogue was the domain of the Pharisees (by practical realities). Given that, what strategy do you think might be involved in Jesus’s cleansing of the Temple at this time?

C. Jesus Returns to Bethany to Lodge for the Night

Scripture: Mark 11:11 and Matthew 21:17

Notes: The cleansing of the temple is basically all that is described in the gospel narrative of Monday of the Passion Week; after this event, Jesus returned to Bethany (Matthew 21:17; Mark 11:11). Jesus’s life was in constant and real danger; by walking with the vast crowds moving in and out of the city, and by lodging in Bethany – a village that deeply loved Jesus – at the home of a friend (who, by Jewish mores, was bound to provide protection for his Guest), Jesus protected Himself from the murderous designs of the Jewish leaders.

Questions/Observations: Remember that the disciples were convinced the kingdom was about to be established (Luke 19:11). How might the events of Sunday and Monday have affected that persuasion?

Adapted from the Life of Christ study notes of Dr. Doug Bookman, professor of New Testament Exposition at Shepherds Theological Seminary (used by permission).

Dr. Doug Bookman

A. The Trip to Jerusalem for the Final Passover: Ephraim to Bethany

Scripture: Luke 17:11; Mark 10:1-52; Matthew 19:1-30; and John 12:1

Notes: These passages describe the very important and strategic route that Jesus took as He made His way from Ephraim (just north of Jerusalem) through Samaria, Galilee, and Perea – on the way to the feast. Notice that Jesus arrives in Bethany (on the outskirts of the Holy City) “six days before the Passover,” which would be Friday.

Questions/Observations:

1. Notice that the route described in Luke 17:11 seems strange, but there is a remarkable strategy in that route. What is it about the route outlined there which seems strange?
2. Notice the excitement which builds as Jesus travels with a large band of Passover pilgrims along the way to the Feast.

B. The Sabbath in Bethany: The Day Before the Triumphal Entry

Scripture: John 12:1-11; Matthew 26:1-16; and Mark 14:1-11

Notes: The incident of the ointment – and specifically Jesus’s rebuke of Judas in connection with that incident – which occurred in Bethany on Saturday night (at the “coming out” of the Sabbath) has important ramifications later in the week.

Questions/Observations:

1. Notice that Matthew and Mark record the feast/anointing in the middle of their narrative of the events of Tuesday evening. We will discuss those events later; at this point, it is important to see that Matthew and Mark tell the story of the anointing in Bethany as a flashback. Can you think of why those gospelists would record that event anachronistically as they do?
2. In that connection, compare Luke 22:1-6; in a passage clearly parallel to Matthew 26 and Mark 14, Luke does not tell the story of the anointing. Note what he does say at precisely the place in the narrative where Matthew and Mark insert that account.

C. The Triumphal Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem

Scripture: Mark 11:1-19; Matthew 21:1-11; Luke 19:28-44; and John 12:12-19

Notes: This event was unspeakably important with respect to Old Testament prophecy and to the ministry of Jesus. It did not happen accidentally; Jesus planned and strategized to make it happen. Further, the drama of the event relates to the expectations of the Jewish people for a soon-coming Deliverer, to the specific dynamics of the Passover Feast, and to recent events in the ministry of Jesus.

Questions/Observations:

1. Can you identify specific Old Testament predictive prophecies that were fulfilled in the Triumphal Entry of Jesus?
2. Given the edict issued by the Sanhedrinists (the most powerful leaders of the Jewish nation) in John 11:57, what reaction do you think this grand entrance of Jesus into the city produced in those leaders?
3. How would you explain the fact that by Friday the same city/people would be crying for the crucifixion of this One whom they received as King on this day?
4. Notice the frustration of the Pharisees in John 12:19.
5. Notice that as night fell Jesus and His disciples returned to Bethany (Mark 11:19). Understand the strategic importance of Bethany throughout this dramatic and dangerous week.

Adapted from the Life of Christ study notes of Dr. Doug Bookman, professor of New Testament Exposition at Shepherds Theological Seminary (used by permission).

Dr. Doug Bookman

A. Jesus Hears of Lazarus’s Sickness and Waits Two Days Before Leaving

Scripture: John 11:1-16

Notes: Only John records this sensational miracle, and he makes it clear that in very important ways preparation for the events of the Passion Week was laid in this event. Notice that this miracle occurred only several weeks before the Passover at which Jesus would die.

Questions/Observations: Because He waited for two days before departing Perea for Bethany, when Jesus arrived Lazarus had been dead for four days. This is important. Why?

B. Jesus Arrives in Bethany and Raises Lazarus from the Dead

Scripture: John 11:17-44

Questions/Observations:

1. Why do you think Jesus wept (John 11:35)?
2. Contemplate carefully the dramatic effect of this miracle.

C. The Consequence of Raising Lazarus from the Dead

Scripture: John 11:45-57

Questions/Observations:

1. John identifies several specific results of this miracle (John 11:45-57). Carefully note those results as cataloged by John, specifically the impact on Jesus’s enemies (John 11:45-53), on Jesus’s travels (John 11:54), and on the city of Jerusalem (John 11:55-56).
2. According to John 11:57, after He raised Lazarus from the dead, Jesus was a fugitive – He is on the run and must order His movements very carefully.

Note: At this point, Jesus’s public travels are entirely completed. He is tarrying north of Jerusalem at the little village of Ephraim (secret from His enemies), waiting for the time when He would make His way to Jerusalem for the Passover at which He would die. The raising of Lazarus was hugely important in setting the stage for the events of that final week to come. In that connection, note John’s comment in John 12:12 – “a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem….” How is it that that multitude heard that Jesus was coming? The answer has a great deal to do with this final and most deliberately spectacular miracle of Jesus’s ministry.

Adapted from the Life of Christ study notes of Dr. Doug Bookman, professor of New Testament Exposition at Shepherds Theological Seminary (used by permission).