Holy Week Day-by-Day: Tuesday ~ Multiple Lessons from the Master Teacher

“Now in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. And Peter, remembering, said to Him, ‘Rabbi, look! The fig tree which You cursed has withered away.’ So Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea’, and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will come to pass he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask, when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them. And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.’” –Mark 11:20-26 (NKJV).

Tuesday of Holy Week was a very busy day for Jesus. He and his disciples were on their way from Bethany where they had spent Monday night back to Jerusalem and the Temple where Tuesday of Passover Week would be spent in teaching. It was almost as if Christ wanted to both reinforce what he had already taught and get in some very important last lessons for his disciples and other listeners before his passion and death on Friday. Only three days remained of His major earthly ministry. There on the road was the fig tree Jesus had cursed on Monday. Peter, the outspoken disciple, called their attention to how it was withered. Jesus made it an object lesson on both prayer and forgiveness. Scholars note that the fig tree should have had fruit on it, but there was none. When leaves appear on a fig tree, and no fruit is present to be gathered, it is a pretension: seeming to be fruitful when there is no fruit. A much larger lesson lies here: don’t have a pretense of righteousness when a changed life does not result. It was also an indirect condemnation of the ultra-righteousness of the Sadducees and Pharisees who made much pretense of following the law, but compassion and loving kindness were far from them. It was amazing to Peter that so quickly the fig tree would be withered at a word from the Lord. Jesus then told the disciples to have unwavering faith in God, and to believe that what they prayed for would indeed come to pass—even mountains, like towering Mt. Olivet that was beside the road as they passed—and mountains of trials and problems which they would surely face. And link praying with forgiveness, for God cannot bless those with unforgiving spirits. No doubt, ever after that Tuesday of Holy Week, the disciples would remember these important lessons from Jesus every time they saw a fig tree or a mountain, or problems loomed like mountains to be overcome.

But the lesson of the fig tree was just one of many on this busy Tuesday. I challenge you to read from the Gospels to see how many great lessons Jesus taught. You can see them fully, (and I encourage you to pursue the study) by reading Matthew 21:20 -24:1-25, 46; Mark 11-20 –13:37; and Luke 20:1-21:36. (Since John’s gospel is not as chronological as the first three, these teachings are more scattered in his gospel.) I will mention them here briefly: The religious leaders question Jesus’ authority to teach. He gives a lesson on tribute money to Caesar (taxes, anyone?). Which wife will be the brother’s in eternity (no marriage and giving of marriage in heaven)? What is the first and greatest commandment? What do you think of the Christ? Woes are pronounced on the Pharisees (beware of hypocrisy in religion!). Jesus in the Temple treasury and the widow’s mite. Greeks come seeking Jesus and He gives a lesson on His coming death and on serving Him (see John 12:20-26). Jesus laments over Jerusalem (Matthew 23:37-39). Then came the prophecy of the fall of Jerusalem and the Olivet Discourse in which Jesus teaches about the Last Times and the Advent of His Second Coming, relating His prophecy to that of ‘The Abomination of Desolation’ found in Daniel. You may read this discourse in Matthew 24:1-25, Mark 13:1-37 and Luke 21:5-36. I merely give you an outline of Jesus’ teachings on Tuesday of Holy Week to show you what a variety of subjects He covered and what depth and breadth of spiritual truth He presented. Countless books have been written and scholars have debated during the centuries since concerning all Jesus meant on this full day of His last week of teaching.

Then we read of Jesus announcement to his disciples, perhaps made to them as they walked back to Bethany after the busy day. And behind the scenes at the end of this full day for Jesus, a major plot was contrived. “when Jesus hadfinished all these saying, He said to His disciples, 'You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.' Then the chief priests and the elders of the people gathered in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, and plotted together in order to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill Him. But they said, 'Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar among the people.’” –Matthew 26:1-3 (ESV).

On Tuesday of Holy Week came the walk in the morning when they saw the withered fig tree and the lessons gained from it. Then ensued a long, busy day in the Temple during which Jesus gave profound teachings, some of which, especially the Advent of His Second Coming, have not yet transpired. We marvel at how He could be under such pressure with the weight of death by crucifixion looming in the immediate future. Yet He taught with marvelous clarity, insight and wisdom. He was Emmanuel, God with us, showing us the way to God, for He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. May we look afresh and anew at these precious teachings of Jesus, knowing that they were given for our understanding of what kingdom persons should be and do. Praise be to God!