OCTOBER 17 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#31 “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season?” (Matthew 24:45)

 

OCTOBER 17  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#31 

“Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master 

made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season?” 

 (Matthew 24:45)

LIVING FOR JESUS - Daily Prayer    

JESUS, praise be to the Son that was Obedient to the Father’s Will,

 who gave so unselfishly of Himself in order that others could have 

fellowship with the Father God in heaven. Lord, we live our

 day-to-day lives thinking only about ourselves and miss the 

blessing of Sacrificial Living that You demonstrated when You walked

 on this earth in the flesh and was tempted as we are tempted, 

yet You were without sin — does sin come from self? 

Lord Jesus, forgive me when I get caught up in “how I feel” and miss

 the blessing that comes from caring about my fellow man like You did.

 Lord, we cannot perform miracles on our own but I am confident

 that we can have “compassion” for others and that the Father 

will work in their lives and bless us as well.   

AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus always Teaches so much more than just what is on the surface 

and this Lesson that He is Teaching which begins 

“Now learn this parable from the fig tree:” (Matthew 24:32) 

has much meaning if we put forth the effort to do as Jesus instructs

 us to do and “learn” the meaning of the “parable” and the “fig tree”. 

The other thing that Jesus does with His Lesson is to take the obvious

 which we see on a daily basis and give great “spiritual” meaning 

to it and since Jesus uses that which is familiar to us in our daily world

 that we will be able to “learn” His intended Lesson —

 the Lesson also being the answer to His Question.  

Jesus asks each Question to get us thinking about another

 “Truth of God” 

and with each Lesson Jesus reveals the Father in heaven to us which Teaches us that

 GOD IS TRUTH. 

The Fig Tree that was “cursed” in Matthew 21 is actually a commentary 

on the state of the Jewish church in Jerusalem. Jesus had returned

 the temple to a “house of prayer” and the chief priests and elders

 in the church began to attack Jesus because they felt that all authority 

was theirs by “tradition” and were very confrontational with Jesus, 

so much so that Jesus left Jerusalem that night and went and stayed

 in Bethany. The next morning Jesus returned to the city and the 

Scriptures note that Jesus was “hungry” which meant He was looking

 for the church in Jerusalem to provide “spiritual” food for the nation.

 When Jesus came upon the fig tree and found that it only had leaves,

 Jesus knew that the church was barren for the Fig Tree actually puts 

forth fruit buds BEFORE the leaves appear — also the late figs often

 winter-over and ripen the following spring so knowing about the 

Fig Tree one can understand why when Jesus looked at the Fig Tree 

as symbolic of the church in Jerusalem and “cursed” it for obvious 

reasons. Jesus observed that on this Fig Tree outside the Eastern Gate,

 there was no fruit from last year nor was there any fruit buds for 

the upcoming year that Jesus made the statement on the church in 

Jerusalem with His “cursing” the tree and by making it wither that 

God has passed Judgement on the church in Jerusalem because the 

church showed no signs of fruit, none from the “fall fruit” that ripens 

the following spring nor any small buds indicating that the tree 

would not produce any “summer fruit”.  

The statement that Jesus made after the parable of the vineyard

 makes much more sense once we “learn” about the “fig tree”:

 “Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you 

and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it.” (Matthew 21:43) 

So we can “learn” from the “fig tree” that God expects “kingdom fruit” 

and if there is no “fruit” then God will move the tree 

somewhere that it will bear fruit. 

Now with this second lesson using the Fig Tree we can ascertain 

that since Jesus is giving “signs” of the end time that Jesus is telling us via

 this parable of the Fig Tree what the state of the nation of Israel will be

 “at the end of the age” because Jesus says 

“So you also, when you see all these things (the tender branches 

and its putting forth leaves), you will know that “summer is near” 

and when you see the nation Israel putting forth leaves and its national

 branches are tender, that the “end of the age” is 

“near—at the doors.” (Matthew 24:32-33) 

Therefore if we are looking for "signs" of the “end of the age” and 

Jesus returning to earth, we should “learn the parable of the fig tree” 

and know that it is representative of the nation Israel and by watching

 Israel we will know that God has promised to “restore” Israel in the 

Promised Land and God has a Plan which includes the “end of the age” 

and Jesus “coming again” — 

Jesus has given us a list of signs so that those that have

 “[learned] the parable of the fig tree” will know as Jesus stated,

 “Heaven and earth will pass away,

 but My words will by no means pass away.” (Matthew 24:35) 

My prayer for America and the world is that we will 

“learn the parable of the fig tree” and we will produce “kingdom fruit” 

for the ONE that spoke Creation into existence 

and whose WORD will remain 

after Creation has “passed away.”

OCTOBER 16 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#31 “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season?” (Matthew 24:45)

 

OCTOBER 16  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#31 

“Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master 

made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season?”

  (Matthew 24:45)

LIVING FOR JESUS - Daily Prayer    

JESUS, each day is a blessing that is bestowed on us by Your 

Grace and Mercy.  Lord Jesus, as I call upon Your Holy Name I pray 

that I will call upon You for the right reason and do not let me get caught

 up in rituals or doing things so that I can have “spiritual” notches on

 my belt of self-righteousness, for I know 

there is no such thing as “self”-righteousness! 

Indeed, there is only one true righteousness and that comes through

 the blood of the Lamb of God that was slain that all men could 

receive forgiveness of sins and only through that Grace can we be 

clothed in the clean and Holy robes of the righteousness bestowed 

on all who believe that God sent His Son to be the propitiation of

 our sin. Lord forgive me of my daily shortcomings 

and keep me fully in Your LIGHT!!!       

AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus Masterfully weaves all His Lessons together so that there is 

One Truth to be learned as Jesus takes one Lesson and builds on it

 with another so that our understanding of God and God’s Plan is 

made clearer to us. Jesus is in the process of telling His disciples

 when the “end of the age” will be and has confirmed that at the

 “end of the age” that He will Return as “Master of the Household”. 

Jesus had used prophecy from Daniel who had written 600 years earlier

 to introduce in His “List of Signs of the End of the Age” pointing

 to the “Great Tribulation” which Daniel had prophesied would

 happen in the “Seventieth Week” and would be identified by 

someone standing in the place of God. This seventieth-week-usurper

 would offer “abominations” instead of daily sacrifices which

 would completely “desolate” the Holy Temple. Jesus called

 this event the 

“Abomination of Desolation” and then said His Return 

would happen very shortly. 

Jesus is now giving additional details to His disciples so that all

 believers could be prepared for His Return at the End of the Age. 

Jesus had stated plainly what the signs would be but being the 

Master Teacher He adds to our “understanding” by the use of parables.

 Jesus had just announced that God would send His angels to 

gather His “elect” (Matthew 24:31) and then Jesus says, 

“Now learn this parable from the fig tree; When its branch has

 already become tender and puts forth leaves, 

you know that summer is near.” (Matthew 24:32) 

Remember that this is His Last Week on earth “in the flesh” and 

that “He Began His Last Week On Earth” riding into Jerusalem

 on the colt of a donkey as the Son of David and as soon as 

He made His Triumphal Entry Jesus went straight to the temple

 in Jerusalem and “drove out all those who bought 

and sold in the temple” (Matthew 21:12) 

which started a series of Lessons on returning the temple to 

God’s original intent. 

Jesus, by His Own Example demonstrated God’s original intent

 for the temple by returning the temple to a “house of prayer”

 and then Jesus “healed” everyone that

 “came to Him in the temple.” (Matthew 21:14). 

Jesus then spent several days addressing the problem of “hypocrisy”

 among the leaders and rulers of the nation Israel that had chosen

 to “follow the traditions and doctrines of men” instead of the 

Commands of God! Jesus had left the city that first day and on 

His return the next morning Jesus cursed a fig tree and 

“immediately the fig tree withered away” and the disciples “marveled”

 at the power Jesus demonstrated. (Matthew 21:18-20) 

This was not the first time in His final week that the symbolism of the 

fig tree was used — Jesus had sent His disciples into Bethphage when

 they had drawn near to Jerusalem and the meaning of “Bethphage” 

is “house of unripe figs”. The nation of Israel is symbolized by

 the fig tree so that everything Jesus did in association with the fig tree

 can easily be understood as a message to the entire nation of 

Israel specifically and God’s chosen people (His “elect”) in general,

 so when Jesus says, 

“Now learn this parable from the fig tree…” (Matthew 24:32) 

that we should look more closely at what 

Truth of God 

Jesus is Teaching us!!! 

Jesus described the fig tree as

 “When its branch has already become tender…” Jesus continues, 

“and puts  forth leaves…” Jesus explains, “…you know 

that summer is near.” (Matthew 24:32) Jesus refers back to His

 last Question: “Do you not see all these things?” (Matthew 24:2) 

which Jesus uses to begin His List of Signs of the End of the Age

 and to ask His disciples in effect, Do you not “understand” 

what “all these things” mean when Jesus adds to His explanation

 of the parable of the fig tree,

 “So you also, when you see all these things, 

know that [“the end of the age”] is near—at the doors!”

 (Matthew 24:33) 

Therefore since Jesus is giving us a sign, we would be wise to

 “understand” more clearly what He means when He says,

 “…know that it is near…”. The parable of the fig tree is important

 enough that we should look closely at the parable so that indeed 

we can “see all these things” and “know” what “is near” when 

the “fig tree” has “tender” branches and “puts forth leaves”!!!!

 Or do you think that Jesus is just not serious about the 

“end of the age”?