Pastor's Bible Study

As the religious leaders (enemies) of Jesus become desperate to hold on to their power and thwart people from following Jesus, they cunningly devise a plan to ask Jesus question that are designed to trap Him and make Him look bad in the eyes of the people. Being much wiser than His enemies, Jesus not only answers the questions in such a way that He dismays His enemies, He then turns around asks His own questions of them.

Jesus tells an emotionally charged story to drive the point home that God's patience was going to run out with the religious leaders Israel. They could could continue to reject the Messiah, but judgment would eventually come.

God's grace is in unlimited supply. But, access to His grace is limited to this life.

The Jewish leaders rejected Jesus as King and Messiah. They chose instead to elevate the temple, their faith, and their authority above Jesus. What they didn't understand was that they had acted and believed in such a way that they served a good for nothing temple, believed with a good for nothing faith, and led with a good for nothing authority.

Jesus rides to town on a colt declaring Himself to be King. He is both the rightful ruler of the throne and temple. On Palm Sunday Jesus indicated and revealed this very truth by fulfilling prophecy, cleansing the temple, performing miracles, and receiving acclamation.

Jesus is the Messiah. He is the Savior. In the healing of Bartimaeus we see the picture and proof of who Jesus is. In the response of Bartimaeus to Jesus healing him, we see what our response to Jesus should be - following and serving Jesus with a heart of gratefulness.

As Jesus approaches Jerusalem for the last time we see His humility juxtaposed with His disciples' ambition and pride. Jesus, the King, will lay His life down and serve our greatest need. His disciples argue about who will be the greatest and jockey for position in the coming kingdom.
Power isn't about people serving us. Power is about us serving people.

Sometimes we're just better off keeping our mouths shut. Silence can be golden and certainly a blessing to us.

Who is Jesus to you? This is the all important question. In this section of scripture we see multiple comparisons and contrasts regarding Jesus, who He is, what will happen to Him, and what the true measure of success is.