The Book of John (8a)
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***Note- verses are not inspired, this would be a good place of example.
Why did Jesus go to the Mount of Olives
The Mount of Olives, sometimes referred to as “Olivet” in the KJV (2 Samuel 15:30; Acts 1:12) or “the mount facing Jerusalem” (1 Kings 11:7), is a ridge running along the east side of Jerusalem, separated from the city walls by a ravine and the Brook Kidron.
Mount of Olives is a significant place. King David was recorded as being there for a significant reason. If you remember, David’s sin with Bathsheba unleashed all kinds of problems in David’s home.
His son Absalom would make a coop against him and take over his throne and David had to flee the Kingdom of Jerusalem up the mount of Olivet or Olives. While in route up the Mountain, it is said that he was “weeping as he went, his head was covered, and barefooted as well as all the people that went with him, were head covered and weeping”.
Other incidents happened there but it is a notorious place of visit by Jesus when He was in the area of Jerusalem.
And he came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him. And when he came to the place, he said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” And he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.”
This passage seems to confuse us about where Jesus was when he prayed the prayer before going to the cross. We typically think it happened where..... Garden of Gethsemany.... but that is on the western slope toward the bottom of the Mount of Olives.
It’s significant to point out as we are talking about prayer in our church the location of Jesus’ prayers.
But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray.
And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone,
Doesn’t that make total sense when we talk about how Jesus instructed his disciples and those he taught on the sermon on the mount how to pray.
“And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
So the question of application is where is your personal place of prayer? Where do you make it a habit of praying and speaking to God?
When we go to be with people that are important to us, we usually have a spot that matters to us. A spot that is special. My wife and I have certain special restaurants. When we were dating in college, we would usually meet up in similar places. It’s the same with God. It would even make sense for our physiological perspective that it would train our minds knowing that when we enter this location, we mean business with God, nothing else matters. Everything else is out of the picture. We’ve come to be along just like the many couples on our campus that try to find that perfect spot alone from everyone else.
What’s the importance of this. If you looked at all the times Jesus went up to this mountain, really important events followed specifically, his triumphal entry, his preaching, his betrayal, his crucification, and his ascension. What is significant again to call out is that we succeed in private before we succeed in public and the reverse is true, where we fail in private, we will fall later in public.
Extra tidbits about this really cool place.
Speaks privately with Disciples- Matt. 24:3
As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”
Jesus ascends into heaven - Acts 1:11-12
and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”
Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away.
Finally, Zechariah foretells that when Jesus returns, he will not only return in the same way but in the same place.
Behold, a day is coming for the Lord, when the spoil taken from you will be divided in your midst. For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city shall be taken and the houses plundered and the women raped. Half of the city shall go out into exile, but the rest of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations as when he fights on a day of battle. On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley, so that one half of the Mount shall move northward, and the other half southward.
Why do I tell you all these things, The very location where David wept in defeat and where Jesus was betrayed and rejected will be the place where Jesus returns in triumph over all His enemies.
Why did all the people come to him.
We have seen that in the previous chapters, his messages were quite compelling. “No one ever spoke like this man” what the officers said for not bringing Him in. Many believed he was the Christ, some thought the prophet. Either way, he was becoming quite the figure.
In the Law, what were they trying to do with Jesus and that claim? How was it that they were testing Jesus?
Jesus was obviously very effective at teaching even in accordance to the law “he knew it well”. “How isit that this man has learning, when he has never studied”
The crowd answered, “You have a demon! Who is seeking to kill you?” Jesus answered them, “I did one work, and you all marvel at it. Moses gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. If on the Sabbath a man receives circumcision, so that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because on the Sabbath I made a man’s whole body well?
If Jesus rejected the law of Moses, his credibility would be gone.
“If a man commits adultery with the wife of his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.
“If a man is found lying with the wife of another man, both of them shall die, the man who lay with the woman, and the woman. So you shall purge the evil from Israel.
“Let Him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her”
then you shall bring out to your gates that man or woman who has done this evil thing, and you shall stone that man or woman to death with stones. On the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses the one who is to die shall be put to death; a person shall not be put to death on the evidence of one witness. The hand of the witnesses shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.
“A single witness shall not suffice against a person for any crime or for any wrong in connection with any offense that he has committed. Only on the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses shall a charge be established. If a malicious witness arises to accuse a person of wrongdoing, then both parties to the dispute shall appear before the Lord, before the priests and the judges who are in office in those days. The judges shall inquire diligently, and if the witness is a false witness and has accused his brother falsely, then you shall do to him as he had meant to do to his brother. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.
What was Jesus writing on the ground?
Not specifically said, but could be that it was used as a tool to give them time to think. If what was written were important enough, then it would have likely appeared in our scriptures. But no one takes notice of what was written in the passage.
***Notice that Jesus let them continue to ask him and scold him and he waited and was patient.
Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger;
A soft answer turns away wrath,
but a harsh word stirs up anger.
Why did they leave? Why were the older ones the first to depart after Jesus made this statement?
What does it mean to condemn?
Why does the Law judge so harshly but it seems that Jesus does not. Is Jesus the good cop and God the Father the bad cop. Is Jesus the compassionate one and God the Just one.