There was a lot that happened between Jesus cleansing the temple and the last supper.

One day, on their way to Jerusalem, they were walking beside a fig tree, and Jesus was hungry. The fig tree was in full bloom, but it turned out that there were no figs on it. It was putting up a good front, but producing no fruit. Jesus said to the tree, "May you never bear fruit again!" And immediately, the tree withered - Matthew says right before their eyes; Mark says they noticed it the next morning. The disciples wanted to know, "How did you do that?" And Jesus said, "If you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer" (Matt. 21:21-22; Mark 11:22-25).

It's almost as if Jesus is saying, "I dare you!"

The evening before, he had arrived at the Temple, riding on the colt of a donkey, surrounded by crowds of cheering people who were welcoming him as the Messiah, and opposed by Pharisees who were telling him to rebuke them. But it was getting late, so Jesus and his disciples headed back out of the city. The next morning, he returned without fanfare, but obviously, he was ticked.

Triumphant entry? Was it really? Was it what the disciples were expecting? Was it what the people were expecting?

There were no fanfare trumpets. Think of what it might have looked like if Caesar arrived in Jerusalem to make sure there was no doubt about who was king - hundreds of soldiers, chariots, horses, spears and swords. I hear the music from Emerson, Lake and Palmer's "Fanfare for the Common Man" (by Aaron Copland)) echoing on the soundtrack.

Welcome to the beginning of Holy Week. Each day until Easter Sunday, there will be a Five Minute post here, as we journey through the events of the week that changed the world forever.

Here's how the Apostle Paul summarizes Jesus' ministry:

(Jesus), being in very nature God,

did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;

rather, he made himself nothing

by taking the very nature of a servant,

being made in human likeness.

My Mom always said "Getting old isn't for wimps." When I get old, I'll let you know if it's true or not. (Cough cough)

Early Wednesday morning, I experienced a health scare. It turned out being no big deal, but when it started, I got more and more concerned.

I woke up with an elephant on top of me, and what felt like a Charlie horse in my chest.

There's a two-part question that all of us should be constantly asking: What's it cost, and what's it worth? And the answers aren't always as obvious as you might think.

Let's say you see something, and the price is $1,000 (since that number is easy to work with - and for the sake of argument, let's forget about taxes for now). What does that cost you? If you pay cash, it will cost you $1,000, straight out of your pocket or bank account. That's simple enough. If you can do that, let's still keep it simple, and say you're earning $25 per hour, that means it costs you 40 hours of work (again, forgetting about taxes and deductions), or one full work week. Is it - whatever it is - worth 40 hours of effort to own this thing?

Welcome to Five Minutes with Phil Routly, where I share my experiences under three headings: Grampa Talks, which is where I discuss events of the day, or ideas that inspire me to write; Soul Impact, which is my coaching and leadership development business, with the goal of helping people be more effective in whatever they are called to be and to do; and Timothy My Son, which is inspired by Paul's first letter to his protégé, Timothy, his spiritual son.

As a Pharisee of the Pharisees, what did Saul believe?

Well I guess it would start with the idea that God was the God of very Gods - he had no rival. Sure, the other nations may have their "gods," but none could compare to the God of Israel. He, and He alone, had created this world, protected his people through Egyptian captivity, led them under Moses to the promised land, and spoken through the prophets during times of great darkness. And now, even though they were living in Roman-occupied lands, they were able to worship God pretty much as they pleased. So, if they kept Rome happy, they were happy.

Ask Google, and here's some of what you get:

Those are lots more definitions of success that can be found online, and I'm sure you have your own.

Handel's Messiah, which includes the Hallelujah Chorus, was written by George Fredrick Handel in 1742. In his day, such music was often derided by religious leaders in England, where it was written. To escape some of the controversy, it actually premiered in Ireland, where Jonathan Swift (who wrote Gulliver's Travels) threatened to remove the singers from St. Patrick's Cathedral for participating.