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).

Dr. Doug Bookman

A. Jesus Makes His Way to Jerusalem

Scripture: Luke 13:22

Notes: Notice that only Luke records the journey.

Questions/Observations: There is a break in Luke’s narrative between Luke 13:22 & Luke 13:23. All of John 10:22-39 occurs in that break. In the narrative of Luke 13:23 Jesus is already in Perea, after the feast of Dedication (cf. John 10:40).

B. At the Feast of Dedication, Jesus Claims to Be One with the Father

Scripture: John 10:22-39

Questions/Observations:

1. In John 10:24, Jesus’s enemies insist that He tell them plainly that He is the Christ. What is their purpose in this?
2. Notice that in His reply, Jesus is “wise as a serpent.” Trace His strategy here carefully.
3. Notice that in John 10:33, the Pharisees are explicit as to what they perceive to be Jesus’s crime.
4. Notice that in two places in this account, we are told that Jesus’s enemies took enraged steps to be rid of Him (John 10:31 and John 10:39). Jesus contrives to escape from their hands, but notice that the anger of His enemies has by now metastasized to murderous intent, even if impulsive and frustrated.

C. Jesus Retreats Across the Jordan River to Perea

Scripture: John 10:40-42

Notes: This is often denominated Jesus’s “Perean Ministry.” While the title is appropriate, it needs to be emphasized that Jesus resorts to this place for one reason – His life is in real danger in Judea.

Questions/Observations:

1. The political dynamics of the 1st century are essential to understand Jesus’s travels and tactics here, as well as those of His enemies. By traveling to Perea, Jesus has left the jurisdiction of Pilate (who could be made to do the bidding of the Jewish leadership) for that of Herod Antipas (who was not vulnerable to political manipulation as was Pilate).
2. Jesus ministers in Perea for a time, probably primarily to Jews who traveled there to hear Him.

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

Note: Luke describes a number of miracles wrought by Jesus and times of teaching, as well as the consistently hostile response of the Jewish leadership. Recall that it is very late in His ministry (within several months of Jesus’ death), and that Jesus is traveling in the region very close to Jerusalem, where the Pharisaic leadership so entirely committed to rejecting Him are headquartered.

A. The Blasphemous Accusation Is Repeated: Miracles by the Power of Beelzebub

Scripture: Luke 11:14-36

Notes: The event is very similar to that related to the “unpardonable sin” in Galilee. The Pharisees had no other explanation, and so they returned to it whenever necessary. Jesus’s response was magisterially effective and is repeated in this instance.

1. Notice that Jesus appends a parable about a man who is cleansed of an unclean spirit, leaves himself empty, and is then possessed by seven wicked spirits. What do you think Jesus is referring to here? That is, who is the man, and in what sense had a cleansing taken place earlier?
2. Jesus repeats the “sign of Jonah,” the emphasis of which is that this generation has proven itself so hard that signs are no longer wise, and thus they will get only the sign of Jesus’s resurrection.

B. Dining with a Pharisee, Jesus Denounces Empty Legalism

Scripture: Luke 11:37-54

Questions/Observations:

1. The Pharisees constituted a very tight and exclusive religious fraternity; there were relatively few admitted. On the other hand, the scribes (lawyers) were ideologically and socially identified with the Pharisees. Thus, when Jesus excoriates the Pharisees (in words anticipatory of the Woes of Matthew 23), a lawyer (or scribe) is insulted as well (Luke 11:45). Jesus proceeds to excoriate the scribes as well.
2. Notice that Luke is explicit as to the purpose of the Pharisees in attending Jesus in these days.

C. Jesus Addresses Hypocrisy, Covetousness, Worldly Anxieties, Watchfulness, and His Approaching Death

Scripture: Luke 12

Notes: Notice Luke’s description of the great hordes of people pressing in on Jesus at this time. As His death draws near, Jesus remains the wildly popular folk-hero of the masses. This is important as it ties the hand of His enemies, and it makes Jesus’s words concerning His coming death entirely incoherent to His disciples. (Jesus is able to see through the great crowds and knows that their interest is superficial and self-serving, but only Jesus discerns this.)

D. The Command to Repent: The Parable of the Fig Tree

Scripture: Luke 13:1-9

E. Jesus Heals a Crippled Woman on the Sabbath

Scripture: Luke 13:10-21

Questions/Observations:

1. Throughout His ministry, the one perceived crime for which Jesus’s enemies felt they could indict Him was a violation of the Sabbath. Jesus never violated the Law of Moses, but He did transgress some of the traditions of the elders. Here the tactic often employed in Galilee is employed by His enemies in Judea.
2. Notice Luke’s remarkable description of the result of these confrontations (Luke 13:17).

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 Teaches and Is Confronted by Some Pharisees

Scripture: Luke 13:23-35

Notes: Perea is close to and accessible from Judea, but much safer for Jesus because Herod was not liable to manipulation by the Jewish leadership anxious to be rid of Jesus.

Questions/Observations:

1. Note carefully the ploy of Jesus’s enemies in Luke 13:31. They are trying to trick Jesus into returning to Judea where they can get the Roman authorities to move against Him. (Understand that it is because of the popularity which Jesus still enjoys with the common man – superficial to be sure, but wild-eyed nonetheless and thus crippling to Jesus’s enemies – that His Jewish enemies cannot simply spirit Him away; they must get the Roman authorities involved, and they cannot do that in Perea.)
2. Jesus’s answer to that ploy is remarkable. In the concluding lament, He claims that Jerusalem will not see Him until they welcome Him as Messiah. Understand the source and significance of that which Jesus says the city will cry out when they see Him: “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.”
3. Jesus’s prediction here is fulfilled some weeks later when He rides into the city of Jerusalem in His triumphal entry and is welcomed with the words He foretells here. When Jesus made this prophecy, it was almost unimaginable that it would come to pass; the men to whom He made the prediction were representatives of the most powerful body in Judea, and they were committed not to let it happen. The means Jesus employs to cause it to happen are fascinating; be careful to trace those means as the narrative moves toward the Passion Week.

B. Jesus Dines with a Pharisee on the Sabbath and Heals a Diseased Man

Scripture: Luke 14:1-24

Questions/Observations:

1. Note the intent of the Pharisee in inviting Jesus to his home (Luke 14:1).
2. The two parables –
   1. the feast at which a guest is moved from a seat of honor and
   2. the man who gave a great banquet and the invited guests refused to come
   3. are spoken in response to the attempt to trap Jesus.

C. Great Crowds Follow Jesus

Scripture: Luke 14:25-35

Questions/Observations: Understand the specific Old Testament ethic that Jesus is imposing upon His followers when He demands that they “hate” mother/father/brother/sister.

D. Parables of the Lost Sheep, Coin, and Prodigal Son

Scripture: Luke 15

Questions/Observations: Notice carefully what precipitated these parables: the Pharisees and scribes were offended because among the great crowds following Jesus were sinners and publicans.

E. Three Lessons on Stewardship

Scripture: Luke 16

Notes: The three lessons: 1) the parable of the unjust steward; 2) to the Pharisees, the rich man and Lazarus; and 3) to the disciples, the servant who is faithful has only done his duty.

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