Luke 19:45-46

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

From Background Notes [BN] for March 31^st /April 1^st written by Pastor Bob Brown:

It would not be an overstatement to say that the Jewish people venerated their Temple. Thanks to King Herod the Great, it stood as an architectural marvel, gilded with gold and shining like a divine emblem in the noonday sun. All of the main Feasts of Israel climaxed with some Temple rituals, as pilgrims came from all over the Empire to celebrate together. "The Temple, the Temple" could be heard in Jesus' day, much as it was heard in the days of Jeremiah.  And in this veneration lay the tragic danger which led to the destruction of the Temple: twice...

Luke 19:33-34

As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?” They replied, “The Lord needs it.”

From Background Notes [BN] for March 31^st /April 1^st written by Pastor Bob Brown:

It is among the marvels of the ministry of Jesus that he "needs" his creatures to accomplish his work…

Mark 11:7-8

When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it. Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields.

From Background Notes [BN] for March 31^st /April 1^st written by Pastor Bob Brown:

Through two powerful symbolic actions, Jesus would dramatically tell this part of the story: first, that he came to save, the royal king riding on a donkey's colt, humble, lowly, offering himself to Israel; second…

Matthew 21:15

But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple courts, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they were indignant. 
 

From Background Notes [BN] for March 31^st /April 1^st written by Pastor Bob Brown:

"Hosanna" is a perfectly good Aramaic/Hebrew word, and had you lived in Jesus' day, you would have heard it used at more than one Jewish festival. The actual form is hôšî‘â-na’, and literally, it means "Save! Please!" The root behind the name Jesus (Yeshua) is the same as the root for Hosanna…

Luke 9:51

As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.

From Background Notes [BN] for March 31^st /April 1^st written by Pastor Bob Brown:

From the moment that Jesus “set his face toward Jerusalem” (Luke 9:51) and the cross, he never turned back. His decision was resolute, one that he decided long ago in the corridors of heaven at his Father’s side.

John 13:15-17

I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

From Background Notes [BN] for March 24^th/25^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

He has given (dedoka, perfect tense, again, showing the completion of the action) them an example (Greek: hupodeigma)…

John 13:13-14

“You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am.  Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.

From Background Notes [BN] for March 24^th/25^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

What follows in 13:12-17 some scholars see as yet a second application of the foot-washing event…

John 13:8-9

“No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.”  Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.” “Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”

From Background Notes [BN] for March 24^th/25^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

Not to be outdone, Peter figures if washing his feet will garner him a place in the coming kingdom alongside Jesus, then washing his hands and head would have to count for even more.

John 13:3-5

Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

From Background Notes [BN] for March 24^th/25^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

The Jewish rabbis placed foot-washing among the menial tasks which Jewish slaves should not be expected to do, based on a special reading of Leviticus 25:39-46.

John 13:1

It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

From Background Notes [BN] for March 24^th/25^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

The whole Gospel of John is painted against the landscape of "In the beginning was the Word" (1:1) where God and the Word lived in perfect harmony of purpose and fellowship...

Matthew 27:54

When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!”

From Background Notes [BN] for March 17^th/18^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

We know that Roman soldiers tended to embrace Stoic philosophy which accepted the idea of a universal Fate that governed the world and that assigned unique roles to human beings…

John 4:42

They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”

From Background Notes [BN] for March 17^th/18^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

The role of the woman is crucial, to be sure. She set in motion a chain of testimony that ultimately led to a face-to-face encounter with Jesus.

John 4:39-41

Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony, "He told me everything I ever did."  So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. And because of his words many more became believers

From Background Notes [BN] for March 17^th/18^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

The reader is encouraged to review the entire story of the Samaritan woman who met Jesus at the well in her hometown (John 4).

Isaiah 25:6-8

"On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.

From Background Notes [BN] for March 17^th/18^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

Jesus bears witness that God's table is for all kinds of "lost people"…

Mark 1:24-26

“What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”  “Be quiet!” said Jesus sternly. “Come out of him!”  The impure spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek.

From Background Notes [BN] for March 17^th/18^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

What sort of spirit was this?

Luke 2:17-18

When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.

From Background Notes [BN] for March 17^th/18^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

What they do with their witness is to “spread the word” not only of what they saw, but of the heaven-sent interpretation of the event.

1 John 1:6-7

If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

From Background Notes [BN] for March 10^th/11^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

A few observations about this text:

1. God is the author of fellowship when He calls human beings into fellowship with His Son. This is a sign of His faithfulness and His reliable commitment to His children.

Luke 17:3

So watch yourselves. "If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him.

From Background Notes [BN] for March 10^th/11^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

The key to this saying from the words of Jesus is 17:3, “So watch yourselves.” The Greek has prosechete eautois, literally, “hold to one another,” an interpretation consistent with the title of this week’s study.  “Be connected to each other” might be an alternate rendering. What leads Jesus to issue this instruction to his followers?

Galatians 2:12

For before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group.

From Background Notes [BN] for March 10^th/11^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

When there are so many social challenges to living as a Christian in the present culture, strong connections to other Christians are essential to prevent discouragement, backsliding, anxiety, and loss of faith.

Heb 10:24-25

And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another-- and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

From Background Notes [BN] for March 10^th/11^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

The writer of the Hebrews is anonymous, and that prompted some early church fathers to delay acceptance of the book into the New Testament.

Acts 2:5-7

Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven.  When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans?

From Background Notes [BN] for March 10^th/11^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

All of these Jewish worshippers had been in Jerusalem for the feast of Passover and its sequel, Šavuot (Pentecost).

John 15:20

Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also.

From Background Notes [BN] for March 3^rd/4^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

A great weakness in our appeals for others to become disciples of Jesus lies in our pandering to human, selfish wants. We give false hopes by telling people, “Come to Jesus and everything will be sunshine and roses.”

Mark 3:13

Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him.

From Background Notes [BN] for March 3^rd/4^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

He is Lord of his disciples.

Mark 2:16

When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

From Background Notes [BN] for March 3^rd/4^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

The origin of the Pharisees (Perushim) seems to be in the days after the exile in Babylon (500 B.C.E.) when they were known as the Hasidim.