The Cleansing of the Temple
MONDAY — 10th of Nisan
- Cursing of the fig tree — on the road from Bethany. "May no one ever eat fruit from you again" (Mark 11:12-14)
- Cleansing of the Temple — Jesus overturns tables of money-changers and merchants. "My house shall be called a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of robbers" (Matthew 21:13). Chief priests and scribes begin seeking to destroy him.
- Returns to Bethany for the night
TUESDAY — 11th of Nisan
- The withered fig tree — disciples see it dried up. Jesus teaches on faith and prayer (Mark 11:20-25)
- Authority challenged in the Temple — chief priests, scribes, and elders demand to know by what authority he acts. Jesus answers with the question about John's baptism (Mark 11:27-33)
- Parables of judgment — Parable of the Two Sons, Parable of the Wicked Tenants, Parable of the Wedding Feast (Matthew 21-22)
- Controversies in the Temple — Pharisees and Herodians test him on paying taxes to Caesar ("Render unto Caesar..."). Sadducees question him on the resurrection. A scribe asks about the greatest commandment (Mark 12:13-34)
- Jesus's question — "Whose son is the Christ?" — silences all challengers (Mark 12:35-37)
- Denunciation of the scribes and Pharisees — the seven woes: "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites..." (Matthew 23)
- The widow's offering — two small coins, "more than all the others" (Mark 12:41-44)
Holy Tuesday & Wednesday
- Jesus curses the barren fig tree on the way from Bethany to Jerusalem, declaring it will never bear fruit again (symbolizing judgment on unfruitful Israel). (Holy Monday morning.)
- Jesus cleanses the Temple: He drives out the merchants, moneychangers, and sellers of doves; overturns their tables; and declares, “My house shall be called a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of robbers.” He heals the blind and lame there. (Holy Monday.)
- Chief priests and scribes seek to destroy Jesus but fear the crowds, who are astonished at His teaching; Jesus and the disciples return to Bethany for the night. (Holy Monday evening.)
- The disciples notice the fig tree has withered from the roots; Jesus teaches on faith, prayer, and forgiveness. (Holy Tuesday morning.)
- Jesus’ authority is challenged by the chief priests, scribes, and elders in the Temple; He responds with a counter-question about John the Baptist’s baptism. (Holy Tuesday.)
- Jesus delivers three parables in the Temple: the two sons (repentance), the wicked tenants (rejection of prophets and Son), and the wedding banquet (invitation to the kingdom). (Holy Tuesday.)
- Pharisees and Herodians attempt to entrap Jesus on paying taxes to Caesar; He replies, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” (Holy Tuesday.)
- Sadducees question Jesus on the resurrection (hypothetical of seven brothers and one widow); He affirms the resurrection and corrects their misunderstanding of Scripture and God’s power. (Holy Tuesday.)
- A scribe asks for the greatest commandment; Jesus answers: love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself; the scribe agrees, and Jesus notes he is not far from the kingdom. (Holy Tuesday.)
- Jesus denounces the scribes and Pharisees with a series of woes for hypocrisy, burdening others, and neglecting justice, mercy, and faith. (Holy Tuesday.)
- Jesus observes and commends a poor widow who casts two small copper coins (mites) into the Temple treasury, noting she gave more than the rich because she gave all she had. (Holy Tuesday.)
- Certain Greeks seek to see Jesus; He speaks of His impending glorification (death and resurrection) as a grain of wheat dying to bear fruit and draws all people to Himself. (Holy Tuesday.)
- Jesus delivers the Olivet Discourse on the Mount of Olives: signs of the end times, destruction of the Temple, His second coming, and parables urging watchfulness (ten virgins, talents, sheep and goats). (Holy Tuesday afternoon/evening.)
- The chief priests, scribes, and elders assemble at the high priest’s palace and plot to arrest and kill Jesus by stealth, avoiding the feast to prevent a riot. (Holy Wednesday.)
- Judas Iscariot approaches the chief priests and agrees to betray Jesus for thirty pieces of silver; he seeks an opportunity to hand Him over. (Holy Wednesday—traditionally called Spy Wednesday.)c
Scripture Passages — NKJV
All four Gospel accounts of the events of Holy Tuesday & Wednesday, organized by event.
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The Cursing of the Fig Tree
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The Cleansing of the Temple
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The Fig Tree Withered — Lesson on Faith & Prayer
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Jesus' Authority Questioned
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The Parable of the Two Sons
Purification of the Temple
And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the tables; And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father's house a house of merchandise.
— John 2:15–16, King James Version
And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the money changers, and the seats of them that sold doves, And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.
— Matthew 21:12–13, King James Version