86. Weeping

[Pastor Ralph]

Please share your thoughts on one or more of the questions in this lesson. 

[hanks]

1. Why does Jesus weep at the sight of Jerusalem? Because of their blindness or because of their fate? 
Jesus weeps at the sight of the lost city of Jerusalem; in love He seeks to save the lost, not wishing any to perish. He saw very clearly how wicked these people were, and what the end result was going to be. He weeps because of their blindness. The Jewish leaders had rejected Him, and God's offer of salvation while being visited by God Himself. Because of their unbelief, their rejection of Him, and their hard-heartedness, their eyes were blinded, and the time of grace was rapidly coming to a close; the salvation which they had foolishly sought by means of works was as far from them as ever. Their wilful blindness caused an even greater blindness. He weeps because of their fate. Satan, the god of this age, had succeeded in putting a veil over their minds, keeping them in perpetual darkness. Placing barriers between them and God; not wanting any to be saved. Barriers of pride, barriers of rebellion, barriers of self-righteousness, amongst others. The nation would soon suffer. He knew about the onslaught that would occur in A.D. 70, in which over 600,000 Jews would be killed, as a result of their revolt against Roman control. 
 

[hanks]

2. In what way is the Triumphal Entry a royal "visitation" or inspection tour? Why are the leaders unwilling or unable to recognize Jesus as the Messiah, the King? 
Jesus’ entire ministry gave many indications that He was indeed the Messiah. Besides, there was enough evidence in the Messianic prophecies for the Jews to have recognised our Lord as fulfilling the prophecy perfectly. They could have rightly interpreted Daniel's great prophecy in Daniel 9:24-27, which gave a timetable to allow one to predict when the Messiah would present Himself to Jerusalem as the Messiah, the Anointed One, the King of the Jews. And they could have compared Daniel's prophecy with that of Zechariah 9:9, and they would have recognized the time of their visitation by God in the flesh! Due to their unbelief many Jews did not open their eyes to see Christ as Messiah (2 Cor 4:4), or recognise His coming as the time of God’s visitation and offer of salvation. Once the opportunity given to the nation of Israel passed, it was too late and they would suffer the consequences. 
 

[hanks]

3. Why does Jesus drive the money-changers and sacrifice-sellers out of the temple? What reason does He give? 
The money-changers and sacrifice-sellers had their stalls in the Temple’s Court of the Gentiles. These temple merchants having paid the priests generously for their concessions. Some of this money finally reaches the coffers of both high priests Annas and Caiaphas. It is therefore understandable that the tradesmen and the priests are partners in this business. As Jesus enters He notices the hustle and bustle of all these buyers and sellers, as well as the noise, filth and stench from the animals.
It resembles a market place. Could this, in any sense whatever, be called worship? Being Passover business is booming! Those who came from foreign countries had to have their money changed into Temple currency, because this was the only money accepted for the Temple tax and for the purchase of sacrificial animals. The inflated exchange rate enriched the money-changers, and the outrageous high prices of animals made the sacrifice-sellers wealthy. Jesus said His house will be a house of prayer (Isa 56:7), and they had made it into a den of robbers, a den of thieves (Jer 7:11), which reflects the corrupt religious system. 
 

[hanks]

4. How does Jesus' action to cleanse the temple make His crucifixion more inevitable? (Hint: At whose home was His mock trial held?) 
Caiaphas was the Jewish high priest during the trial and crucifixion of Jesus Christ, and he presided at the religious trial of our Lord. John records that Caiaphas tells the council of chief priests and Pharisees, “Then one of them, named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, spoke up, "You know nothing at all! You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish" (John 11:49-50). This meeting and decision by the council was the beginning of the definitive plot to kill Jesus, “So from that day on they plotted to take His life (John 11:53). The Court of the Gentiles had been turned into a market. Caiaphas and Annas both being high priests ran this racket becoming filthy rich. They sold franchises at very high prices to the money-changers and the sacrifice-sellers, and then on top of this they skimmed off a huge percentage of the profit that the franchisees made. So, we can see that His action of cleansing the temple must have been the proverbial “last straw” for any who might have had reservations about killing Him. 
 

[hanks]

5. The chief priests are prejudiced toward Jesus because they have corrupted themselves with proceeds from temple sales and Jesus threatens their revenue. How can tithing serve to challenge the shallowness of our Christianity? How can we Christians be corrupted by money? 
I’ve been in churches where the focus is on tithing, where there is the regular preaching on money matters. They try to make you feel guilty because one does not tithe enough. This has just the opposite effect on me, that is when I stop tithing to the church, and look for other means where my tithing can be better used. Instead of focusing on our Lord Jesus, there is an element of commercialism brought into the church. We are to “Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength” (Deu 6:5), and any preoccupation other than God is displeasing to Him. Like any other sinner, we Christians, can easily be corrupted by money. Here again, if money becomes an obsession with us, continually taking over our thoughts, it becomes idolatry. Our Heavenly Father alone is worthy of our complete attention, love, and service. We all know the verse from 1 Tim 6:10, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” 
 

[hanks]

6. Why does righteous indignation tend to be shallow when it is not accompanied by tears? 
James tells us, “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires” James 1:19-20 (ANIV). The danger with us is that when we get angry, it is often not properly controlled, very easily we lose control, and/or we are not properly focused. On the other hand, Jesus’ anger, as with all His emotions, was held in check by the Word of God, and therefore always accomplished God’s will. In the temple Jesus expresses the righteous indignation of God. The evil acts in the temple were an insult against God and showed a total disrespect for Him. So far in our studies in Luke we have seen many of Jesus’ emotions – compassion, indignation, sorrow, and frustration. We have a God who cares, even too weeping openly. Perhaps He empathized with their grief, or perhaps He was troubled at their unbelief. In either case, Jesus showed that He cares enough for us to weep with us in our sorrow. In the same way I feel we must never be afraid to reveal our true feelings to Him. He truly cares. We tend to associate our tears with sadness or grief, but we might have the same reaction to being angry, stressed, or super happy. 
 

[Irmela]

1. Why does Jesus weep at the sight of Jerusalem? Because of their blindness or because of their fate?

Both. He weeps at their willful blindness. They rejected Him as their Messiah. They did not acknowledge Him as their Lord. So much evidence pointed to the fact that He indeed was the One Awaited for for so long. But they stared blindly at that fact. 

Jesus saw prophetically what was about to happen and it pained Him to know that those He loved would go through such trauma. 

[Irmela]

2.In what way is the Triumphal Entry a royal "visitation" or inspection tour? Why are the leaders unwilling or unable to recognize Jesus as the Messiah, the King?

Jesus came into the city on the donkey and afterwards went staight to the temple and 'inspected' it. HE threw out the money changers etc. and even stated why He was doing it. "My House shall be called a House of Prayer and you have made My House a cave/den of thieves." 

The leaders are unwilling to see because their eyes are blinded and hearts hardened to reality. They are lining their pockets with the extra money they are charging. Should they stop this money trafficking, they will not have the extra money. 

[Irmela]

3. Why does Jesus drive the money-changers and sacrifice-sellers out of the temple? What reason does He give?

He drives them out because they have made a lucrative business out of it all. Extra is charged for the exchange of the coins and also the unblemished sacrifices are priced very high. The temple is not the place for this kind of business. He spells it out plainly. My house will be a place of prayer and you have made it into a den of thieves. So all He was doing was chasing out the thieves. Starting the cleansing work.

[Irmela]

How does Jesus' action to cleanse the temple make his crucifixion more inevitable? (Hint: At whose home was his mock trial held?)

John 18:13 states that they brought Jesus to Annas, the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest, that yr. Annas questioned Him. Then in v24 we read that Anns sent Him bound to the high priest, Caiaphas. From there into the judgement hall of the governor. 

Both Annas and Caiaphas had grown rich because of the trade at the temple. Jesus' action to cleanse the temple was a step to stopping easy money from being paid to them. They were thus ready to have Jesus taken out of the way, so their pockets could further be filled as they were serving mammon and not GOD. 

AS Jesus had mentioned before, His crucifixion was now imminent. 

[Irmela]

5. The chief priests are prejudiced toward Jesus because they have corrupted themselves with proceeds from temple sales and Jesus threatens their revenue. How can tithing serve to challenge the shallowness of our Christianity? How can we Christians be corrupted by money?

Tithing is a big time very important theme in many churches. Almost seems to overpower the redemptive work of Christ. It becomes so that many give because of guilt and fear and not at all out of a desire to do as God requests. Money can be what binds the giver as well as the receiver. To both it can be an idol. We need to truly look at our lives and make sure that money is not corrupting our lives. 

[Irmela]

6. Why does righteous indignation tend to be shallow when it is not accompanied by tears?

When Jesus gave vent to righteous indignation, He had already cried over Jerusalem, as He could see what was coming her way. To the guilty and the innocent. Then when He saw the trade that was going on in the temple, He lashed out at part of the cause for this coming destruction. 

Righteous anger is accompanied by tears because the final scene it is leading to, is seen, which is caused by the wrong action which one is angry about. 

[Old Jerry]

Why does Jesus weep at the sight of Jerusalem? Because of their blindness or because of their fate?

 

A. I think that Jesus weep at the sight of Jerusalem because of their blindness and because of their fate. He knew what was going to happen to them but they wouldn’t turn to God which was their blindness.

 

In what way is the Triumphal Entry a royal "visitation" or inspection tour? Why are the leaders unwilling or unable to recognize Jesus as the Messiah, the King?

 

A. It was both a royal “visitation” and inspection tour. He saw that his temple was being abused and it was the leaders of the temple that were abusing it.

 

Why does Jesus drive the money-changers and sacrifice-sellers out of the temple? What reason does he give?

 

A. He drove the money-changers and sacrifice-sellers out of the temple because they using it as a den of thief’s. That is exactly what it was being used as.

[Katy]

Q1. Jesus weeps over Jerusalem because He knows what is going to happen to this city in70 AD. The city is going to be totally destroyed, the people are going to suffer and many would die, many of their bodies would be thrown over to city walls just to be rid of them because they were decaying and smelling. All of these terrible things could be avoided if they had just believed that Jesus was their Messiah and King, but they turned away and denied Him. I think Jesus cried because He grieved over the futility of the situation and their utter blindness despite His work among them.

Q2.For that one occasion the people treated Jesus like a King by laying their cloaks and branches on the way that Jesus would pass. They were also honour Him by shouting “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!”

”Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

Unfortunately Jesus then goes into the temple and find a very different scene, people making money in the temple courts by selling animals for sacrifice and exchanging Roman coins for coins acceptable to pay the temple tax. Those who should be setting a good example were also involved in the corruption. Any joy Jesus may have felt on entering the city was quickly evaporated by this scene. He immediately drove out the offenders and said “My house will be a house of prayer ; but you have made it a den of robbers”. The leaders hearts were hard and they were not prepared to even contemplate the possibility that Jesus could be the Messiah. They had their own ideas about how the Messiah would come and Jesus did not fit their expectations so they would not open their minds to the possibility that this may be the Messiah.

Q.3. I answered this in question 2.

Q4.The high priest was cutting a cut from extra money that was being made in the Temple before Jesus drove them away. Jesus timing didn’t suit was either because it was Passover and it was a busy time which meant there was more money to be made but now Jesus had put a stop to that. The chief priests, teachers and leaders decided they needed to murder Jesus but they were wary because Jesus had a large following of the local people. These enemies of Jesus were now united together in their bid to get rid of the Messiah! 
Q5.If we don’t fully trust and follow Jesus we will not see the purpose of tithing or the privilege we have in being able to tithe. We still have a fallen nature and we can still become involved in sin. We can become obsessed by money and the accumulation of it. I think many of our attitudes can come from our childhood experiences eg if your family was very short of money always , this can influence our thinking etc. When we become Christians we must ask God to help us to leave these experiences behind and trust Him to deliver us and to learn right attitudes to money etc. If we truely love God we will want to give Him back as much as possible to further His Kingdom.

Q6. Jesus is a great example of how our righteousness indignation should be tempered.Jesus loved those He was angry with, He loved them but disliked their actions. Because of His Holiness He had to deal with sin and wrongful actions. Even if we love people we must correct their sin and make them aware that what they are doing is sinful. If we don’t know the people  that we are angry with we must endeavour to love them and share Jesus’s  love with them. 
 

 

[haar]

 

1.    Why does Jesus weep at the sight of Jerusalem? Because of their blindness or because of their fate?

Jesus wept at the sight of Jerusalem, though physically well designed and beautiful, because it would soon face terrible destruction by her enemies for failing to see and recognizing Jesus the Saviour and solution to their danger.

2.    In what way is the Triumphal Entry a royal "visitation" or inspection tour? Why are the leaders unwilling or unable to recognize Jesus as the Messiah, the King?

The Triumphal Entry was a royal “visitation” because it publicly ushered into Jerusalem the true Messiah and the King, riding on a colt that no one had used, and he was received by multitude of people.

The leaders were however not able to recognize him as such because they were blinded by their selfish occupation as leaders thus consumed by jealousy.

3.    Why does Jesus drive the money-changers and sacrifice-sellers out of the temple? What reason does he give?

Jesus drove the money-changers and sacrifice-sellers of the temple for turning the house of prayer into a business center

4.    How does Jesus' action to cleanse the temple make his crucifixion more inevitable? (Hint: At whose home was his mock trial held?)

Jesus action to cleanse the temple made his crucifixion more inevitable because the action directly would negatively affect the income of the temple leaders and also it was a challenge to their authority.

5.    The chief priests are prejudiced toward Jesus because they have corrupted themselves with proceeds from temple sales and Jesus threatens their revenue. How can tithing serve to challenge the shallowness of our Christianity? How can we Christians be corrupted by money?

Tithing can be a source of corruption to some church leaders who probably divert it for personal use. There may also be some exploitation of the congregation by church leaders to enhance their personal goals.

6.    Why does righteous indignation tend to be shallow when it is not accompanied by tears?

I think one can be truly indignant as regards certain issues without shedding tears if it comes from the heart.

[kreilly]

Why does Jesus weep at the sight of Jerusalem? Because of their blindness or because of their fate?

I agree that it was both.  He is saddened that the leaders are blinded by their own selfishness and reject Him, but He also sees into the future what will happen and is saddened by that, also.  

What I find fascinating and never really thought about before is His statement that if they had only come to Him they would have been spared this fate.  I wonder how that could have turned out differently, as He ultimately had to atone for our sins through the cross in order for us to be saved?  

In what way is the Triumphal Entry a royal "visitation" or inspection tour? Why are the leaders unwilling or unable to recognize Jesus as the Messiah, the King? Satan has blinded them through their own selfish desires for money and power, cloaked as zeal for the law. 

Why does Jesus drive the money-changers and sacrifice-sellers out of the temple? What reason does he give?  He is truly disturbed that the temple is not a God-honoring/glorifying house of prayer. 

How does Jesus' action to cleanse the temple make his crucifixion more inevitable? (Hint: At whose home was his mock trial held?)  Prior to entering Jerusalem, much of Jesus teaching and miracles have taken place in surrounding areas.  Once He enters Jerusalem and begins to assert His authority as the Messiah, the religious leaders cannot ignore Him, confrontation is inevitable, resulting in the crucifixion. 

The chief priests are prejudiced toward Jesus because they have corrupted themselves with proceeds from temple sales and Jesus threatens their revenue. How can tithing serve to challenge the shallowness of our Christianity? How can we Christians be corrupted by money?  I'm not really sure about the direction of this question--if it is directed at only bringing a tithe and thinking you are "all done" and can let yourself off the hook and spend the rest as you please, or if it's about not bringing the full tithe in to begin with.  Either way, the desire for material wealth can be a huge temptation.  It takes a lot of prayer and self-discipline to begin to view the income you have as God's money and not your own and to ask Him where He wants it to go. A better question may be how can we not be corrupted by money.  How can we protect ourselves from falling into that temptation--only through the Spirit's power. 

 

[George L]

1. Why does Jesus weep at the sight of Jerusalem? He sees its future in the spirit.  Because of their blindness or because of their fate? Both.
2. In what way is the Triumphal Entry a royal "visitation" or inspection tour? John 2:24,25  (he knew what was going on) they were getting a royal visitation. Which is also an accurate assessment of their stewardship. Why are the leaders unwilling or unable to recognize Jesus as the Messiah, the King? They are worldly, compromised religious profiteers.
3. Why does Jesus drive the money-changers and sacrifice-sellers out of the temple? Cleansing out those not present for spiritual purpose. What reason does he give? They are marketers and tradesmen for profit.
4. How does Jesus' action to cleanse the temple make his crucifixion more inevitable? (Hint: At whose home was his mock trial held?) The sanhedron and temple religeous leadership were all of one related family. There position and influence with the roman rulers was threatened. Not to mention their cut of the sacrifice business.
5. The chief priests are prejudiced toward Jesus because they have corrupted themselves with proceeds from temple sales and Jesus threatens their revenue. How can tithing serve to challenge the shallowness of our Christianity? Tithing is an honor with a promise. If obedient you will receive blessings beyond your ability to receive it all. That beyond the ability to hold it all happens to me often. Failure to tithe with expectation is essentially calling the Father a liar. Curse territory.  It shows quite openly. How can we Christians be corrupted by money? Like the servants and the talents, we should be about the Fathers business with our finances as well as our ability and giftings. The world about us is full of distractions, attractions, and things to corrupt us.
6. Why does righteous indignation tend to be shallow when it is not accompanied by tears?  The 
7. Lord has impressed upon me that the days if cheap give me candy grade vending machine prayers are over. If we are not praying and in tears over what we see we do not have ahold of His heart in the situation. God cares greatly, so should we.