Biblical Places Spiritual Spaces Kidron Valley

 

The Kidron is filled with Jewish and Muslim graves on both sides.

 

 

Olive groves still fill the hillside.

 

Ancient Olive trees in the Garden of Gethsemene

 

 

This is apparently a 2000 year old olive tree

 

 

 

 

Tomb of Absalom

 

 

 

Tomb of Bene Hezir

 

Muslim Tombs

 

Muslim & Jewish Tombs

 

The Kidron Valley was the scene of significant discussion that Jesus had with the religious authorities and his disciples.

 

The Rich Young Ruler and the Laborers in the Kingdom

Matthew 19:16-30

 

¹⁶  And someone came to Him and said, “Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life?”

 ¹⁷ And He said to him, “Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good; but if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.”

 Jesus pointed out that there is nothing that we do that can make us good. Only God is good.

 

 ¹⁸ Then he *said to Him, “Which ones?”

And Jesus said, “YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT MURDER; YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY; YOU SHALL NOT STEAL; YOU SHALL NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS; ¹⁹ HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER; and YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.”

²⁰ The young man *said to Him, “All these things I have kept; what am I still lacking?”

²¹ Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”

Jesus pointed this young wealthy man to Commandment #1:

“You shall have no other gods before Me. Exodus 20:3

 ²² But when the young man heard this statement, he went away grieving; for he was one who owned much property.

His wealth was a more important than a relationship with God.

²³ And Jesus said to His disciples, “Truly I say to you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. ²⁴ Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

²⁵ When the disciples heard this, they were very astonished and said, “Then who can be saved?”

²⁶ And looking at them Jesus said to them, “With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

²⁷ Then Peter said to Him, “Behold, we have left everything and followed You; what then will there be for us?”

²⁸ And Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

 ²⁹ And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms for My name’s sake, will receive many times as much, and will inherit eternal life.

³⁰ But many who are first will be last; and the last, first. Matthew 19:16-30

 

Jesus has rewards for his disciples that are relationally based. What He has for us is far more valuable than property, power, possessions or even familial relationships that we have here on Earth.

Do we trust Him?

Do we lay down our agendas and follow Him and His plan for our lives?

Do we abandon our pursuit of possession, pleasure and power for what He has in store for us.

 

The road from the Mt of Olives into the Kidron

Here is the answer to Peter’s question:

    

 The Parable of the Laborers

 Matthew 20:1-16

 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. ² When he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius for the day, he sent them into his vineyard.

 ³ And he went out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the market place; ⁴ and to those he said, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.’ And so they went.

 ⁵ Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did the same thing.

⁶ And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing around; and he *said to them, ‘Why have you been standing here idle all day long?’ ⁷ They *said to him, ‘Because no one hired us.’ He *said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’

⁸ “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last group to the first.’

 ⁹ When those hired about the eleventh hour came, each one received a denarius.

¹⁰ When those hired first came, they thought that they would receive more; but each of them also received a denarius.

¹¹ When they received it, they grumbled at the landowner, ¹² saying, ‘These last men have worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the scorching heat of the day.’

¹³ But he answered and said to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for a denarius? ¹⁴ Take what is yours and go, but I wish to give to this last man the same as to you.

¹⁵ Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with what is my own? Or is your eye envious because I am generous?’ ¹⁶ So the last shall be first, and the first last.” Matthew 20:1-16

 

Words Matter:

Verse 1: hire: misthoō: to arrange for services by an offer to pay compensation or salary

Verse 9: The word ‘hired’ is not in the Greek text. It is in italics in the New American Standard Bible text, which means the translators ae trying to ‘help’ with a smoother translation and understanding of the passage.

From Dr. Spiros Zodhaites:

A better exact translation would be: “And those of the eleventh hour having come, each received a dinar (or denarius).” The Lord rewarded those who did one hour of work equally with those who did 12 hours of work. Those, however, who worked one hour had not agreed to a specific sum with the one who called them, but had left it to his judgement.

Those who signed a contract to earn one dinar for twelve hours of work set their own price for their own work and that is what they received. Those who do what they are called upon by the Lord to do and leave the reward to Him will always be rewarded far more than if they set the worth of the own labor. This is the principle behind this parable’          Dr Spiros Zodhiates, Key Word Study Bible, p.1294

 

 Verse 13: Friend: Hetairos:  Clansman, false friend, hetaíros refer to comrades or companions who were mostly followers of a chief. They were not necessarily companions for the sake of helping the chief, but for getting whatever advantage they could.

The verb hetairéō (n.f.) basically means to keep company with or to establish and maintain a meretricious, pretentious, ostentatious, deceptive, and misleading friendship.

True friendship is expressed by the verb philéō (G5368), to befriend which means to appropriate another person's interests unselfishly.

The word occurs in Matt. 26:50, where Judas betrays his Master with a kiss as if he were a true friend (phílos). The Lord called him hetaíre, indicating that while Judas was giving Him a kiss pretending that he was a friend, all he was interested in was the thirty pieces of silver.

 

The first set of workers were contractual workers, working for a set amount.

The following groups of workers had no contract, but trusted the owner to pay them what he thought was fair.

“The Kingdom of Heaven is like……..workers who arrange a contract with the Lord versus those who have a relational connection with Him and receive what He thinks is fair for their labor.

What sort of workers of the Kingdom are we?

Contractual workers, who earn the contract wages?

Or are we those workers who trust the Owner to give us what He thinks we need?

 

 

The Triumphal Entry

Matthew 21-22

¹  When they had approached Jerusalem and had come to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, ² saying to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied there and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to Me.

 ³ If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord has need of them,’ and immediately he will send them.” ⁴  This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:

⁵ “SAY TO THE DAUGHTER OF ZION,
‘BEHOLD YOUR KING IS COMING TO YOU,
GENTLE, AND MOUNTED ON A DONKEY,
EVEN ON A COLT, THE FOAL OF A BEAST OF BURDEN.’”

⁶ The disciples went and did just as Jesus had instructed them, ⁷ and brought the donkey and the colt, and laid their coats on them; and He sat on the coats.

 ⁸ Most of the crowd spread their coats in the road, and others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them in the road.

 ⁹ The crowds going ahead of Him, and those who followed, were shouting,
“Hosanna to the Son of David;
BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD;
Hosanna in the highest!”

¹⁰ When He had entered Jerusalem, all the city was stirred, saying, “Who is this?” ¹¹ And the crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth in Galilee.”

Cleansing the Temple

¹²  And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves. ¹³ And He *said to them, “It is written, ‘MY HOUSE SHALL BE CALLED A HOUSE OF PRAYER’; but you are making it a ROBBERS’ DEN.”

¹⁴ And the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them.

 ¹⁵ But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that He had done, and the children who were shouting in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they became indignant ¹⁶ and said to Him, “Do You hear what these children are saying?”

 And Jesus *said to them, “Yes; have you never read, ‘OUT OF THE MOUTH OF INFANTS AND NURSING BABIES YOU HAVE PREPARED PRAISE FOR YOURSELF’?”

¹⁷ And He left them and went out of the city to Bethany, and spent the night there.  Matthew 21:1-17

The Barren Fig Tree

¹⁸  Now in the morning, when He was returning to the city, He became hungry.

¹⁹ Seeing a lone fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it except leaves only; and He *said to it, “No longer shall there ever be any fruit from you.”

And at once the fig tree withered.

²⁰ Seeing this, the disciples were amazed and asked, “How did the fig tree wither all at once?”

²¹ And Jesus answered and said to them, “Truly I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ it will happen.

²² And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”  Matthew 21:18-22

 

Why did Jesus cause the fig tree to wither?

 

Fig trees in the highlands of Judea have two of three cycles of fruit during their growing season. When the tree sprouts leaves, it also produces a small fruit that is tasty and nutritious. Later, it produces bigger and sweeter fruit that hangs onto the tree until summer.

Sprouting fig trees near Bet Saour

 

For any seasoned traveler, seeing leaves on the fig tree mean there is some edible fruit on the tree.

Jesus was disappointed that even that there was a abundance of leaves on this particular fig tree, there was no fruit.

Why does Matthew tell us this in connection to Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem and subsequent visit to the Temple?

Principle: Where there is the appearance of a healthy tree but no fruit, the tree is worthless. Where there is substantial religious activity but no spiritual fruit, this is a religious environment that has little to do with the Kingdom of God.

Remember what Jesus said at the close of the Sermon on the Mount:

“Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. ¹⁶ You will  know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? ¹⁷ So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit.

¹⁸ A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. ¹⁹ Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

²⁰ So then, you will know them by their fruits.

²¹ “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.

²² Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’

²³ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’ Matthew 7:15-23

 

Authority Challenged

²³  When He entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to Him while He was teaching, and said, “By what authority are You doing these things, and who gave You this authority?”

²⁴ Jesus said to them, “I will also ask you one thing, which if you tell Me, I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. ²⁵ The baptism of John was from what source, from heaven or from men?

And they began reasoning among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say to us, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’ ²⁶ But if we say, ‘From men,’ we fear the people; for they all regard John as a prophet.”

 ²⁷ And answering Jesus, they said, “We do not know.”

He also said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.

Parable of Two Sons

²⁸ “But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go work today in the vineyard.’ ²⁹ And he answered, ‘I will not’; but afterward he regretted it and went.

³⁰ The man came to the second and said the same thing; and he answered, ‘I will, sir’; but he did not go.

³¹ Which of the two did the will of his father?” They *said, “The first.”

 Jesus *said to them, “Truly I say to you that the tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the kingdom of God before you. ³² For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him; but the tax collectors and prostitutes did believe him; and you, seeing this, did not even feel remorse afterward so as to believe him.

Regret/Remorse: metamélomai; to be concerned. To regret. metemelḗthēn has the meaning of changing one's mind or purpose after having done something regrettable.

Contrasted with metanoéō (G3340), to repent, it expresses the mere desire that what is done may be undone, accompanied with regrets or even remorse, but with no effective change of heart

Metamélomai, on the part of man, means little or nothing more than a selfish dread of the consequence of what one has done, whereas metanoéō means regret and forsaking the evil by a change of heart brought about by God's Spirit.

 Both sons appear to have differing levels of disrespect and disobedience.

The first son disrespects his father by refusing to work in the vineyard, but later considers the consequences of his disobedience, and decides to avoid the punishment that will follow, and reluctantly goes to work.

The second is outright in his disrespect with no reluctance to lie to his father.

Both are not one in heart, mind and will with their father.

Jesus points out to the chief priests that they are like the sons. Some disregard the commandments of God and while others begrudging obey. None are of one heart, mind and will with God, as are the former tax collectors and prostitutes, otherwise they would recognize the authority of John as well as the authority of Jesus.

 

 

The Eastern Gate to the Temple

Parable of the Landowner

³³ “Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who PLANTED A VINEYARD AND PUT A WALL AROUND IT AND DUG A WINE PRESS IN IT, AND BUILT A TOWER, and rented it out to vine-growers and went on a journey.

 ³⁴ When the harvest time approached, he sent his slaves to the vine-growers to receive his produce. ³⁵ The vine-growers took his slaves and beat one, and killed another, and stoned a third.

³⁶ Again he sent another group of slaves larger than the first; and they did the same thing to them. ³

⁷ But afterward he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’

 ³⁸ But when the vine-growers saw the son, they said among themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.’ ³⁹ They took him, and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

Therefore when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vine-growers?”

⁴¹ They *said to Him, “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end, and will rent out the vineyard to other vine-growers who will pay him the proceeds at the proper seasons.”

⁴² Jesus *said to them, “Did you never read in the Scriptures,
‘THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED,
THIS BECAME THE CHIEF CORNER stone;
THIS CAME ABOUT FROM THE LORD,
AND IT IS MARVELOUS IN OUR EYES’?

⁴³ Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people, producing the fruit of it.

 ⁴⁴ And he who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust.”

⁴⁵ When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables, they understood that He was speaking about them. ⁴⁶ When they sought to seize Him, they feared the people, because they considered Him to be a prophet.

 

The Altar on top of the rock promentory at tjhe Holy Sepulchre Church

 

The cracked limestone that the workers quarried around as it was unusable for the walls.

 

Parable of the Marriage Feast

¹ Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying,

 ² “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son. ³ And he sent out his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding feast, and they were unwilling to come.

 ⁴ Again he sent out other slaves saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited, “Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and my fattened livestock are all butchered and everything is ready; come to the wedding feast.”’ ⁵ But they paid no attention and went their way, one to his own farm, another to his business, ⁶ and the rest seized his slaves and mistreated them and killed them.

⁷ But the king was enraged, and he sent his armies and destroyed those murderers and set their city on fire.

 ⁸ Then he *said to his slaves, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. ⁹ Go therefore to the main highways, and as many as you find there, invite to the wedding feast.’

¹⁰ Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered together all they found, both evil and good; and the wedding hall was filled with dinner guests.

¹¹ “But when the king came in to look over the dinner guests, he saw a man there who was not dressed in wedding clothes, ¹² and he *said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without wedding clothes?’

And the man was speechless. ¹³ Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

¹⁴ For many are  called, but few are chosen.” Matthew 21:1 - 22:14

There are many good people that the Lord is inviting into His Family who will not accept the invitation because of their pursuit of pleasure, possession and prestige.

There are evil peole who do not have regard for others, and do not want to be accountable to a King.

There are those who have a change of heart and repentance and receive the invitation and come with a joy to follow the King's directions.

Some hear the invitation and decide to act like guests of the Lord, but have no change of heart, and are not inwardly changed to become children of the King.

All Photos by GMBagby (c)