Deliberate: Clarity

…As they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. Then he said to the tree, “May no one ever eat Fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard him say it.

But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control...

²⁰In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots.

So Jesus came to Jerusalem and went into the Temple. After looking around carefully at everything, he left because it was late in the afternoon. Then he returned to Bethany with the twelve disciples.

...If he finds that the mildew has spread, the walls are clearly contaminated with a serious mildew, and the house is defiled. It must be torn down, and all its stones, timbers, and plaster must be carried out of town to the place designated as ceremonially unclean.

Jesus at the Temple

⁴⁵When Jesus entered the temple courts, he began to drive out those who were selling. ⁴⁶“It is written,” he said to them, “ ‘My house will be a house of prayer’^[1]; but you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’^[2]”

“But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way.”

Some of his disciples began talking about the majestic stonework of the Temple and the memorial decorations on the walls...

Jesus Speaks about the Future

⁶“The time is coming when all these things will be completely demolished. Not one stone will be left on top of another!”

“...Many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’...”

“Nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.”

“There will be great earthquakes, and there will be famines and plagues in many lands...”

“Watch out! Don’t let your hearts be dulled by carousing and drunkenness, and by the worries of this life…Keep alert at all times.”