Yesterday, we considered Saturday through Monday of the final week of Jesus. We had three thoughts or musings to consider on these days. Today, we will muse over the Tuesday of that sacred week.
On this day Jesus once again comes into confrontation by the Pharisees. They continually confronted Jesus as it dealt with His teachings and authority to attempt to accuse or ensnare Him before the crowds of people. This day they confronted Him dealing with issues such as: (1) His authority, (2) paying tribute to Caesar, (3) the resurrection, and, (4) the Messiah. The result was the silencing of the Pharisees - Luke 20:40 Phillips - "And indeed nobody had the courage to ask him any more questions." It causes me to muse over the fact that it is not wrong to ask God questions, but it is the motive behind those questions. "Have I been questioning God, not to respond by doing what He discloses, or to try to change what He teaches in His Word to allow me to do what I want?"
The next thing we see on this day is that Jesus condemns the Pharisees for having polished exteriors, but polluted interiors. Their words did not fit their actions. What they did was not in balance with what they taught. In turn, Jesus points out a poor widow as the model of what we should be (Luke 21: 1-4). Today, let us muse over this, "Does my thoughts, words, and actions align with my beliefs? Does my hands and my head align with my heart?"
We find Jesus here weeping over the city of Jerusalem. He has found the fig tree withered, and He teaches on faith to His disciples (Mark 11:20-26). The fig tree was a symbol that challenges us to bear fruit for our Savior. On the way, He delivered what we term the Mt. Olivet discourse (Matthew 24:1-31; Mark 13:1-27, and Luke 21:5-28). He taught them about the Temple's destruction and the events of the end of the age. Muse over this thought today, "How much closer is the Return of Christ today than it was then - or even yesterday? What effect does this thought have on my life, if any?"
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