A Harmony of the Gospels for Students of the Life of Christ

Chapter XXVII: Part XII: In the Shadow with Jesus (1)

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_Tuesday afternoon to Thursday night of Passion Week, A.D. 30 (or 29). Jerusalem._

_Sects. 139-152. Jesus now seeks to prepare the disciples for the tragedy of His death and for carrying on His work after His departure._

Sect. 139. SITTING ON THE MOUNT OF OLIVES, JESUS SPEAKS TO HIS DISCIPLES ABOUT THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM, AND HIS OWN SECOND COMING, IN APOCALYPTIC LANGUAGE. THE GREAT ESCHATOLOGICAL DISCOURSE[a]

(_Tuesday Afternoon_)

[Footnote a: This great discourse has as its background the death of Christ. Further on as part punishment for this crime lies the destruction of Jerusalem. This catastrophe is itself a symbol of the end of the world and in one sense a coming of Christ in power and judgment. But Christ boldly predicts his own personal return to earth, though the time is not revealed. But he does exhort an expectant attitude toward the promises of his coming and readiness for his return which will be at an unexpected hour. Jesus employs the common Jewish apocalyptic imagery to portray this most difficult subject. Some scholars insist that Jesus was himself merely a wild enthusiast who was carried away by the Messianic hopes of his people, but that is a one-sided and distorted view of Christ's life and ignores the great mass of his ethical teaching. It forgets also that Jesus has a world program of conquest and of power. The various aspects of the discourse are not kept distinct. Some think that the Gospels have misunderstood or misrepresented Jesus in this discourse. But we can catch the general drift of the teaching and leave alone minute details of time and place against which Jesus himself warned us.]

[Footnote 1: Gr. _presence_.]

[Footnote 2: Or, _the consummation of the age_.]

[Footnote 3: Or, _these good tidings_.]

[Footnote 4: Gr. _inhabited earth_.]

[Footnote 5: Or, _through_.]

[Footnote 6: Or, _a holy place_.]

[Footnote 7: Or, _him_.]

[Footnote 8: Or, _them_.]

[Footnote 9: Or, _vultures_.]

[Footnote 10: Many ancient authorities read _with a great trumpet,
and they shall gather &c._]

[Footnote 11: Or, _a trumpet of great sound_.]

[Footnote 12: Or, _it_.]

[Footnote 13: Many authorities, some ancient, omit _neither the
Son_.]

[Footnote 14: Or, _But this ye know._]

[Footnote 15: Gr. _digged through_.]

[Footnote 16: Gr. _bondservant_.]

[Footnote 17: Or, _severely scourge him_.]

[Footnote 18: Or, _Teacher_.]

[Footnote 19: Or, _put them to death_.]

[Footnote 20: Some ancient authorities omit _and pray_.]

[Footnote 21: Gr. _bondservants_.]

[Footnote 22: Gr. you _being brought_.]

[Footnote 23: Or, _shall they put to death_.]

[Footnote 24: Or, _lives_.]

[Footnote 25: Or, _earth_.]

[Footnote 26: Or, _expiring_.]

[Footnote 27: Gr. _the inhabited earth_.]

|Matt. chap. 25
_Parable of | 1 Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto
the Ten | ten virgins, which took their [1]lamps, and went
Virgins._ | 2 forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were
| 3 foolish, and five were wise. For the foolish, when
| 4 they took their [1]lamps, took no oil with them: but
| the wise took oil in their vessels with their
| 5 [1]lamps. Now while the bridegroom tarried, they all
| 6 slumbered and slept. But at midnight there is a cry,
| Behold, the bridegroom! Come ye forth to meet him.
| 7 Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their
| 8 [1]lamps. And the foolish said unto the wise, Give
| 9 us of your oil; for our [1]lamps are going out. But
| the wise answered, saying, Peradventure there will
| not be enough for us and you: go ye rather to them
|10 that sell, and buy for yourselves. And while they
| went away to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that
| were ready went in with him to the marriage feast:
|11 and the door was shut. Afterward, come also the
|12 other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But
| he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know
|13 you not. Watch therefore, for ye know not the day
| nor the hour.
_Parable of |14 For _it is_ as _when_ a man, going into another
the Talents._| country, called his own [2]servants, and delivered
|15 unto them his goods. And unto one he gave five
| talents, to another two, to another one; to each
| according to his several ability; and he went on his
|16 journey. Straightway he that received the five
| talents went and traded with them, and made other
|17 five talents. In like manner he also that _received_
|18 the two gained other two. But he that received the
| one went away and digged in the earth, and hid his
|19 lord's money. Now after a long time the lord of
| those [2]servants cometh, and maketh a reckoning with
|20 them. And he that received the five talents came and
| brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou
| deliveredst unto me five talents: lo, I have gained
|21 other five talents. His lord said unto him, Well
| done, good and faithful [3]servant: thou hast been
| faithful over a few things, I will set thee over
| many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.
|22 And he also that _received_ the two talents came and
| said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents:
|23 lo, I have gained other two talents. His lord said
| unto him, Well done, good and faithful [3]servant;
| thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will
| set thee over many things: enter thou into the joy
|24 of thy lord. And he also that had received the one
| talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou
| art a hard man, reaping where thou didst not sow,
|25 and gathering where thou didst not scatter: and I
| was afraid, and went away and hid thy talent in the
|26 earth: lo, thou hast thine own. But his lord
| answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful
| [3]servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed
|27 not, and gather where I did not scatter; thou
| oughtest therefore to have put my money to the
| bankers, and at my coming I should have received
|28 back mine own with interest. Take ye away therefore
| the talent from him, and give it unto him that hath
|29 the ten talents. For unto every one that hath shall
| be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him
| that hath not, even that which he hath shall be
|30 taken away. And cast ye out the unprofitable
| [3]servant into the outer darkness: there shall be
| the weeping and gnashing of teeth.
_6 Picture |31 But when the Son of man shall come in his glory,
of the | and all the angels with him [_see Zech. 14:5_], then
Judgment |32 shall he sit on the throne of his glory: and before
with Parable | him shall be gathered all the nations: and he shall
of the Sheep | separate them one from another, as the shepherd
and the |33 separateth the sheep from the [4]goats; and he shall
Goats._ | set the sheep on his right hand, but the [4]goats on
|34 the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his
| right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit
| the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of
|35 the world: for I was an hungred, and ye gave me
| meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a
|36 stranger, and ye took me in; naked, and ye clothed
| me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison,
|37 and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer
| him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and
|38 fed thee? or athirst, and gave thee drink? And when
| saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked,
|39 and clothed thee? And when saw we thee sick, or in
|40 prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall
| answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you,
| Inasmuch as ye did it unto one of these my brethren,
|41 _even_ these least, ye did it unto me. Then shall he
| say also unto them on the left hand, [5]Depart from
| me, ye cursed, into the eternal fire which is
|42 prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was an
| hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and
|43 ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took
| me not in; naked, and ye clothed me not; sick, and
|44 in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they
| also answer, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an
| hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or
| sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
|45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto
| you, Inasmuch as ye did it not unto one of these
|46 least, ye did it not unto me. And these shall go
| away into eternal punishment: but the righteous into
| eternal life [_see Dan. 12:2_].

[Footnote 1: Or, _torches_.]

[Footnote 2: Gr. _bondservants_.]

[Footnote 3: Gr. _bondservant_.]

[Footnote 4: Gr. _kids_.]

[Footnote 5: Or, _Depart from me under a curse._]

Sect. 140. JESUS PREDICTS HIS CRUCIFIXION TWO DAYS HENCE (JEWISH FRIDAY)

Probably at Bethany on Tuesday evening (beginning of Jewish Wednesday). The Rulers in Jerusalem plot His death

Sect. 141. AT THE FEAST IN THE HOUSE OF SIMON THE LEPER MARY OF BETHANY ANOINTS JESUS FOR HIS BURIAL

At Bethany (Tuesday evening, Jewish Wednesday)

[Footnote 1: Or, _a flask_.]

[Footnote 2: Gr. _pistic nard_, pistic being perhaps a local name.
Some take it to mean _genuine_; others, _liquid_.]

[Footnote 3: The word in the Greek denotes a coin worth about
seventeen cents.]

[Footnote 4: Or, _box_.]

[Footnote 5: Or, _carried what was put therein_.]

[Footnote 6: Or, _Let her alone:_ it was _that she might keep it_.]

[Footnote a: This anointing has nothing in common with that given by Luke (Sect. 59), except the fact of a woman anointing the Saviour's feet, and the name Simon, which was common. The former was in Galilee, this is at Bethany near Jerusalem. There the host despised the woman who anointed, here her brother is one of the guests, and her sister an active attendant. There the woman was "a sinner," a notoriously bad woman, here it is the devout Mary who "sat at the Lord's feet and heard his word" months before (Sect. 104). There the host thought strange that Jesus allowed her to touch him, here the disciples complain of the waste. There the Saviour gave assurance of forgiveness, here of perpetual and world-wide honor. Especially notice that here the woman who anoints is anticipating his speedy death and burial, of which at the former time he had never distinctly spoken. In view of all these differences it is absurd to represent the two anointings as the same, and outrageous on such slender ground to cast reproach on Mary of Bethany.]

Sect. 142. JUDAS, STUNG BY THE REBUKE OF JESUS AT THE FEAST, BARGAINS WITH THE RULERS TO BETRAY JESUS

Tuesday Night in Jerusalem

[Footnote 1: Gr. _the one of the twelve_.]

[Footnote 2: Or, _without tumult_.]

Sect. 143. THE PREPARATION FOR THE PASCHAL MEAL AT THE HOME OF A FRIEND (POSSIBLY THAT OF JOHN MARK'S FATHER AND MOTHER)

Jerusalem, Thursday[a] afternoon. (A Day of Preparation)

[Footnote 1: Or, _Teacher_.]

[Footnote a: Wednesday (A Day of Rest) was apparently spent with the disciples in retirement in Bethany. Thursday was spent wholly with the disciples till the arrest in Gethsemane after midnight.]

Sect. 144. JESUS PARTAKES OF THE PASCHAL MEAL WITH THE TWELVE APOSTLES AND REBUKES THEIR JEALOUSY

Jerusalem, Thursday evening after sunset (beginning of Jewish Friday)

Mark 14:17 |Matt. 26:20 |Luke 22:14-16, 24-30
| |
17 And when it was |20 Now when even was |14 And when the hour
evening he cometh | come, he was sitting| was come, he sat
with the twelve. | at meat with the | down, and the
| twelve [1]disciples;| apostles with him.
| |15 And he said unto
| | them, With desire
I have desired to eat this passover[a] with you before I suffer:
16 for I say unto you, I will not eat it, until it be fulfilled in
the kingdom of God.
24 And there arose also a contention among them, which of them is
25 accounted to be [2]greatest. And he said unto them, The kings of
the Gentiles have lordship over them; and they that have authority
26 over them are called Benefactors. But ye _shall_ not _be_ so: but
he that is the greater among you, let him become as the younger;
27 and he that is chief, as he that doth serve. For whether is
greater, he that [3]sitteth at meat, or he that serveth? is not he
that [3]sitteth at meat? but I am in the midst of you as he that
28 serveth. But ye are they which have continued with me in my
29 temptations; and [4]I appoint unto you a kingdom, even as my
30 Father appointed unto me, that ye may eat and drink at my table in
my kingdom; and ye shall sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes
of Israel.

[Footnote 1: Many authorities, some ancient, omit _disciples_.]

[Footnote 2: Gr. _greater_.]

[Footnote 3: Gr. _reclineth_.]

[Footnote 4: Or, _I appoint unto you, even as my Father appointed
unto me a kingdom, that ye may eat and drink etc._]

[Footnote a: Some regard certain expressions in the Gospel of John as showing that Jesus did not eat the Paschal meal, thus hopelessly contradicting the other Gospels. But no one of John's expressions shows what is supposed, and one of them really indicates the contrary. See note at end of volume. Matthew, Mark, and Luke clearly show that he did eat the regular Passover meal.]

Sect. 145. DURING THE PASCHAL MEAL, JESUS WASHES THE FEET OF HIS DISCIPLES

Evening before the Crucifixion (our Thursday, Jewish Friday)

John 13:1-20

1 Now before[a] the feast of the passover, Jesus knowing that his
hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the
Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved
2 them [1]unto the end. And during supper, the devil having already
put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's _son_, to betray
3 him, _Jesus_, knowing that the Father had given all things into
his hands, and that he came forth from God, and goeth unto God,
4 riseth from supper, and layeth aside his garments; and he took a
5 towel, and girded himself. Then he poureth water into the bason,
and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the
6 towel wherewith he was girded. So he cometh to Simon Peter. He
7 saith unto him, Lord, dost thou wash my feet? Jesus answered and
said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt
8 understand hereafter. Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash
my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part
9 with me. Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but
10 also my hands and my head. Jesus saith to him, He that is bathed
needeth not [2]save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and
11 ye are clean, but not all. For he knew him that should betray him;
therefore said he, Ye are not all clean.
12 So when he had washed their feet, and taken his garments, and
[3]sat down again, he said unto them, Know ye what I have done to
13 you? Ye call me, [4]Master, and, Lord: and ye say well; for so I
14 am. If I then, the Lord and the [4]Master, have washed your feet,
15 ye also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an
16 example, that ye also should do as I have done to you. Verily,
verily, I say unto you, A [5]servant is not greater than his lord;
17 neither [6]one that is sent greater than he that sent him. If ye
18 know these things, blessed are ye if ye do them. I speak not of
you all: I know whom I [7]have chosen: but that the scripture may
be fulfilled, He that eateth [8]my bread lifted up his heel
19 against me [_see Ps. 41:9_]. From henceforth I tell you before it
come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye may believe that
20 [9]I am _he_. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that receiveth
whomsoever I send receiveth me; and he that receiveth me receiveth
him that sent me.

[Footnote 1: Or, _to the uttermost_.]

[Footnote 2: Some ancient authorities omit _save_, and _his
feet_.]

[Footnote 3: Gr. _reclined_.]

[Footnote 4: Or, _Teacher_.]

[Footnote 5: Gr. _bondservant_.]

[Footnote 6: Gr. _an apostle_.]

[Footnote 7: Or, _chose_.]

[Footnote 8: Many ancient authorities read _his bread with me_.]

[Footnote 9: Or, _I am_.]

[Footnote a: It is needlessly inferred that John by this expression means that it was a full day before the passover meal. In fact, the words in verse 2 "during supper" rather imply that "before passover" was just before the meal began.]

Sect. 146. AT THE PASCHAL MEAL JESUS POINTS OUT JUDAS AS THE BETRAYER

Thursday evening (Jewish Friday)

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A Harmony of the Gospels for Students of the Life of ChristChapter XXVII: Part XII: In the Shadow with Jesus (1)

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