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CHAPTER THIRTY ONE: WIDOWS AND FEMALE DISCIPLES The morning time in the Temple courts on Thursday began with Jesus sitting with his disciples opposite of where people would come and throw money into the vessels called temple treasuries. These were large fluted vessels made of stone into which it was easy to throw coins. As…

CHAPTER THIRTY: ABIDING TRUTHS The meal on Wednesday evening was not elaborate, and the mood was more somber than celebratory. After two days of confrontation with authorities and some people in the crowds, the disciples wondered what could be next. Especially prominent in their minds was Jesus’ parable about the workers in the vineyard and…

CHAPTER TWENTY NINE: SPARRING WITH PHARISEES AND SADDUCEES It was mid-week by now, and Jesus continued to teach fearlessly in the Temple courts. On this morning the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words. They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians. “Teacher,” they said, “we know you…

CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT: ANOTHER MEAL IN BETHANY, ANOTHER LESSON It was still several days before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love.…

CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN: A GRAND ENTRANCE AND PROPHETIC SIGNS The day had come and the time was at hand for Jesus to do something he had never done before— make a grand entrance into a city, and not just any city but Jerusalem, by elevating himself above the crowds. But he would do so on…

CHAPTER TWENTY SIX: THE SUMMONS FROM BETHANY Eliezer, Jesus’ most beloved disciple had become gravely ill, so his sisters sent word to Jesus, “Master, the one you love is sick.” When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for G-d’s glory so that G-d’s Son may be…

In the 9th chapter of Gary Anderson’s book on sin,  having established that sin could be viewed as a debt in Biblical times and thereafter,  he points out that the natural antinomy to such commercial language for sin was of course credit, which in turn led to a concept of a treasury of merit, not…

CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE: DOUBLE VISION Jesus and the disciples had come to Jericho, a city which another ‘Yeshua’/Jesus had made famous in ancient times. The city had become important again because Herod had built his summer palace there and various priests and Levites lived there as well, commuting up to Jerusalem. As a border town…

CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR: RECONNOITERING WITH THE DISCIPLES The reunion with the disciples found them both positively excited but at the same time perplexed. On the one hand, they seem to have been received with appreciation in many places. On the other hand, it appeared that all sorts of people were now attempting healings and exorcisms…
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