What Jesus Did

"Tell me what you think about this: There was a man that had two sons. The man went to the first son and said, 'Son, go and work today in the vineyard.' "The son answered, 'I will not go.' But later the son decided he should go, and the son went. "Then the father went to the other son and said, 'Son, go and work today in the vineyard.' The son answered, 'Yes, sir, I will go and work.' But the son did not go. "Which of the two sons obeyed his father?" The Jewish leaders answered, "The first...

 

Jesus went into the temple area. While Jesus was teaching there, the leading priests and the older leaders of the people came to Jesus. They said to Jesus, "Tell us! What authority (power) do you have to do these things? Who gave you this authority?" Jesus answered, "I will ask you a question too. If you answer me, then I will tell you what authority I have to do these things. Tell me: When John baptized people, did that come from God or was it only from other people?" The priests and the...

 

Early the next morning, Jesus was going back to the city. Jesus was very hungry. Jesus saw a fig tree beside the road. Jesus went to the fig tree {to get a fig to eat}. But there were no figs on the tree. There were only leaves. So Jesus said to the tree, "You will never again have fruit!" And then the tree dried up and died. The followers saw this. They were very surprised. They asked, "How did the fig tree dry up and die so quickly?" Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth. If you have faith...

 

Some blind people and some crippled people came to Jesus in the temple area. Jesus healed these people. The leading priests and the teachers of the law saw what Jesus did. They saw that Jesus was doing great things and saw the children praising Jesus in the temple area. The children were saying, "Praise to the Son of David." All these things made the priests and the teachers of the law angry. The leading priests and the teachers of the law asked Jesus, "Do you hear the things these children...

 

Jesus went into the temple area. He threw out all the people that were selling and buying things there. Jesus turned over the tables that belonged to the men that were exchanging different kinds of money. And Jesus turned over the benches of those men that were selling doves. Jesus said to all the people there, "It is written {in the Scriptures}, 'My house will be called a house for prayer.' But you are changing God's house into a 'hiding place for thieves.'"

—Matthew 21:12-13

Key...

 

{Jesus rode along the road to Jerusalem.} Many people spread their coats on the road for Jesus. Other people cut branches from the trees and spread the branches on the road. Some of the people were walking ahead of Jesus. Other people were walking behind Jesus. The people shouted, "Praise to the Son of David! 'Welcome! God bless the One that comes in the name of the Lord!' Praise to God in heaven!" Then Jesus went into Jerusalem. All the people in the city were confused. They asked, "Who is...

 

This happened to make clear the full meaning of what the prophet said: "Tell the city of Zion, 'Now your king is coming to you. He is humble and he is riding on a donkey. He is riding on a young donkey, born from a work animal.'" The followers went and did what Jesus told them to do. The followers brought the mother donkey and the young donkey to Jesus. They put their coats on the donkeys, and Jesus sat on the coats.

—Matthew 21:4-7

Key Thought
Several things are key in this passage...

 

Jesus and his followers were coming closer to Jerusalem. But first they stopped at Bethphage at the hill called the Mount of Olives. There Jesus sent two of his followers into the town. Jesus said to the followers, "Go to the town you can see there. When you enter it, you will find a donkey tied there. With the donkey you will find a young donkey. Untie the two donkeys and bring them to me. If any person asks you why you are taking the donkeys, tell that person, 'The Master needs these...

 

Jesus stopped and said to the blind men, "What do you want me to do for you?"

—Matthew 20:32

Key Thought
There are all sorts of things we leave behind to follow Jesus. We can leave our nets like Peter, Andrew, James, and John. We can leave our tax collector's booth like Levi. We can leave our high ranking position in the religious establishment like Saul of Tarsus. We can leave our profession as a physician like Luke. We can also leave behind our blindness!
While the apostles had...

 

Jesus stopped and said to the blind men, "What do you want me to do for you?"

—Matthew 20:32

Key Thought
"What do you want me to do?"
It sounds like a simple, almost ridiculous question. But in asking it, Jesus is giving the men who are blind the opportunity to do two things:
(1) state the absurdity of their request so they know when it happens they have received a true miracle from Jesus and (2) have them ask for the help they need rather than relying on themselves.
Sometimes we are...