Matthew 21 Pt.2 – Jesus and Jerusalem!

https://livingrock.info/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Matthew-21-Pt2-Jesus-and-Jerusalem.mp3

As we have been working our way through Matthew’s Gospel, we came to the moment of Jesus’ Triumphant Entry into Jerusalem. But Matthew has not given us all the details. Neither have any of the Gospel writers. But sometimes one of them will share some information that the others have not. What we end up doing is having to put all the pieces of this jigsaw together.

If we were to follow Matthew’s chronology, Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey’s foal, and straightaway went and cleansed the temple.

However, that doesn’t seem to be the case. And if we were to compare that account with what Luke says in Lk.19:37-44, we would see that Jesus must have departed from Bethphage and headed towards Jerusalem by heading up and over the Mount of Olives. And it is from here, it would seem, that Jesus stopped and looked over the city of Jerusalem, and wept over it, and even predicted (or prophesied) what would happen to the city.

What is surprising is that many Christians have read the text of Lk.19:43-44 as if Jesus was speaking about some event that would happen one day, maybe thousands of years later, when Israel would be attacked by some foreign armies. What they completely fail to see is that Jesus’ words were completely fulfilled in 70 AD when the Romans did just what Jesus said they would do, under General Titus. As a matter of fact many Christians are completely ignorant of what happened historically. Thankfully these days we have access to videos on Youtube, which will graphically show how the Romans carried out this prophesy.

What I personally found very revealing, was the last line of Lk.19:44 where in some Bibles we read that these things would happen, “‘…because you did not KNOW the TIME of your VISITATION.” Yet others translations including NIV, NLT, BSB, CSB, CEV, GNT say something much more profound:

NIV because you did not recognise the time of God’s coming to you

NLT because you did not recognise it when God visited you

BSB because you did not recognise the time of your visitation from God

CSB because you did not recognise the time when God visited you

CEV because you did not see that God had come to save you

GNT because you did not recognise the time when God came to save you

There is little doubt that Jesus had come to fulfil the prophesy of Mal.3:1 which tells of THE LORD COMING TO HIS TEMPLE. And that is exactly what He did. He came to visit His own house or temple. But He was not recognised (except perhaps by those who were physically blind – See Matt.20:29-34), and the people living there could not, since these things were Hidden from their eyes (See Lk.19:42).

To watch the full video from today’s service,https://youtu.be/Uf4aVxde698 just click on this link!

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