JESUS IS in Jerusalem and, knowing that his time is short, begins to speak of his return, both directly and in parables. We discuss the parable of the wedding feast and what it means that some at the feast will be bound and cast into outer darkness, the abomination that causes desolation (another “already but not yet” fulfillment of prophecy), Jesus’ condemnation of the scribes and Pharisees, and his citation of Psalm 110:1, showing that Messiah is greater than David and not merely a human descendant of Israel’s first great king.
OUR NEW TESTAMENT study this week clearly illustrates the viewpoints of the gospel writers with parallel accounts of the disciples eating grain plucked from the stalk (on the Sabbath–oh, no!) and the healing of a man with a withered hand (also on the Sabbath–oh, no!). Matthew draws on the Torah to validate Jesus’ claims of divinity, Mark offers a condensed, almost bullet-point account, and Luke, the careful historian, is the only one to mention that it was the man’s right hand Jesus healed.
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