Jesus trusted his Father so completely that the flesh of Adam was much more subjugated in Him than in me.\u00a0 Still, I can think of two incidents where the flesh made an appearance and was recorded by the Gospel writers.\u00a0 Matthew and Mark had different opinions as to whether the first incident happened before or after Jesus cleansed the temple, but both associated it with that event.<\/p>\n
Now early in the morning<\/em>,1<\/sup><\/a> Matthew recorded, as <\/em>[Jesus] returned to the city, he was hungry. \u00a0After noticing a fig tree by the road he went to it, but found nothing on it except leaves.\u00a0 He said to it, \u201cNever again will there be fruit from you!\u201d\u00a0 And the fig tree withered at once<\/em>.2<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0 The tree appeared as if it should have fruit on it but did not have any.\u00a0 Mark wrote: Now the next day, as they went out from Bethany, <\/em>[Jesus] was hungry. \u00a0After noticing in<\/em>3<\/sup><\/a> the distance a fig tree with leaves, he went to see if he could find any fruit on it.\u00a0 When he came to it he found nothing but leaves, for it was not<\/em>4<\/sup><\/a> the<\/em>5<\/sup><\/a> season for figs. \u00a0He<\/em>6<\/sup><\/a> said to it, \u201cMay no one ever eat fruit from you again.\u201d\u00a0 And his disciples heard it<\/em>.7<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n Mark added the following details: 1) The fig tree that withered at once<\/em> was overnight<\/em>, 2) Jesus saw and approached the tree from a distance<\/em>; and 3) it was not the season for figs<\/em>.\u00a0 This is what persuades me that I am witnessing the flesh of Adam in Jesus, a frustration that overcame his reason.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not too hard to see that the actual frustration Jesus vented on the fig tree was the hypocrisy of his own people.\u00a0 He might have cursed those who were selling and buying in the temple courts<\/em>8<\/sup><\/a> with chilling effect.\u00a0 Instead, as a man like Adam He began to drive out those who were selling and buying<\/em>9<\/sup><\/a> in the temple courts.\u00a0 He turned over the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves, and he would not permit anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. \u00a0Then he began to teach them<\/em>\u202610<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n The second incident occurred in the garden of Gethsemane the night he was betrayed.\u00a0 Jesus, born of the Spirit of God, knew that the death of the flesh of Adam was part of his Father\u2019s purpose for his life and ministry. \u00a0Now my soul is greatly distressed, <\/em>He said.\u00a0 And what should I say?\u00a0 \u2018Father, deliver me from this hour\u2019?\u00a0 No, but for this very reason I have come to this hour<\/em>.11<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0 But Jesus, also born of the flesh of Adam, prayed, My Father, if possible, let this cup pass<\/a> from me!<\/em>12<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n It is important to me to believe that Jesus\u2019 willingness to suffer was of utmost concern to his Father.\u00a0 I believe Jesus could have said, Father, deliver me from this hour<\/em>, with complete impunity.\u00a0 He still would have sat at his Father\u2019s right hand, and his Father would have said something equivalent to, \u201cDon\u2019t worry about it.\u00a0 We\u2019ll get\u2019em next time, Tiger.\u201d\u00a0 But Jesus did not pray Father, deliver me from this hour<\/em>.\u00a0 He never put his Father in that position.<\/p>\n Jesus prayed, Father, if possible, let this cup pass from me!\u00a0 Yet not what I will<\/em> (\u03b8\u03ad\u03bb\u03c9<\/a>), but what you will<\/em>.13<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0 He was strengthened by the Holy Spirit, then prayed a second time, My Father, if this cup<\/a> cannot be taken away<\/a> unless I drink it, your will <\/em>(\u03b8\u03ad\u03bb\u03b7\u03bc\u03b1<\/a>) must be done.\u201d<\/em>14<\/sup><\/a> \u00a0Luke wrote, Father, if you are willing<\/em> (\u03b2\u03bf\u1f7b\u03bb\u03b5\u03b9<\/a>, a form of \u03b2\u03bf\u03cd\u03bb\u03bf\u03bc\u03b1\u03b9<\/a>), take<\/a> this cup away from me.\u00a0 Yet not my will<\/em> (\u03b8\u03ad\u03bb\u03b7\u03bc\u03b1<\/a>) but yours be done<\/em>.15<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0 As subjugated as the flesh was in Jesus He did not rely on his desires (\u03b8\u03ad\u03bb\u03c9<\/a> or\u00a0\u03b8\u03ad\u03bb\u03b7\u03bc\u03b1<\/a>) to direct his path, but relied on the will of God.<\/p>\n While I am completely convinced by my own experience (for the Scripture doesn\u2019t say it) that the living Holy Spirit of God interceded with Jesus in real time and space, and strengthened Him at that precise moment, I can\u2019t escape how the same Holy Spirit interceded for Jesus in other ways as well.\u00a0 The flesh of Adam transmitted to Jesus came through his mother.\u00a0 When I see Jesus praying My Father, if this cup cannot be taken away unless I drink it, your will must be done<\/em>, I can\u2019t help but see Mary answering Gabriel, Yes, I am a servant of the Lord; let this happen to me according to your word<\/em>.16<\/sup><\/a> \u00a0This is the spirit of the woman who raised Jesus as a boy.<\/p>\n I am becoming more and more convinced<\/a> that the idea of human sacrifice (including the death of the Lord Jesus) did not originate in the mind of God.\u00a0 They have also built places of worship in a place called Topheth in the Valley of Ben Hinnom so that they can sacrifice their sons and daughters by fire. That is something I never commanded them to do! \u00a0Indeed, it never even entered my mind to command such a thing!<\/em>17<\/sup><\/a> \u00a0They have built places here<\/em> for worship of the god Baal so that they could sacrifice their children as burnt offerings to him in the fire. \u00a0Such sacrifices are something I never commanded them to make! \u00a0They are something I never told them to do! \u00a0Indeed, such a thing never even entered my mind!<\/em>18<\/sup><\/a> \u00a0They built places of worship for the god Baal in the Valley of Ben Hinnom <\/em>[that is, Gehenna<\/em>] so that they could sacrifice their sons and daughters to the god Molech. \u00a0Such a disgusting practice was not something I commanded them to do! \u00a0It never even entered my mind to command them to do such a thing!<\/em>19<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n Though I don\u2019t believe that Jesus\u2019 sacrifice originated in the mind of God, I do believe it is evidence of how far God\u2014Father, Son and Holy Spirit\u2014will go to communicate to the religious minds of those born of the flesh of Adam, who thought that such sacrifice should have some merit.\u00a0 So as I see Jesus praying, your will must be done<\/em>, accepting the death that will put an end to sacrifice\u2014I want <\/em><\/strong>(\u03b8\u03ad\u03bb\u03c9<\/a>) mercy and not sacrifice<\/em><\/strong>20<\/sup><\/a>\u2014and an end to oaths of righteousness\u2014I say to you, do not take oaths at all<\/em>21<\/sup><\/a>\u2014and I see his mother praying, let this happen to me according to your word<\/em>, I also see an unnamed girl who was commemorated for her words, My father, since you made an oath to the Lord, do to me as you promised<\/em>,22<\/sup><\/a> after she returned from mourning her virginity and was sacrificed to God to fulfill Jephthah\u2019s reckless oath<\/a>.\u00a0 Here I find my understanding of one of Jesus\u2019 more enigmatic sayings, enigmatic to those of us who must follow Him by faith rather than by sight.<\/p>\n <\/a>If anyone wants to become my follower, <\/em>Jesus said, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me<\/em>.23<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0 Peter and Paul helped me see what it meant to deny<\/em> myself, to believe that I have died to sin<\/em>,24<\/sup><\/a> to say, I do not know the man<\/em>25<\/sup><\/a> to the old man<\/em> that was crucified with<\/em> [Christ] so that the body of sin would no longer dominate<\/em>26<\/sup><\/a> me.\u00a0 To take up<\/em> [my] cross<\/em> is to join Jesus distrusting my own desires and saying to God, not my will<\/em> but yours be done<\/em>.27<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0 And finally, to follow<\/em> Jesus is to love and forgive others as He did, which is the fulfillment of the law<\/em>.28<\/sup><\/a> \u00a0Freely you received, <\/em>Jesus told his disciples, freely give<\/em>.29<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Addendum August 22, 2024<\/b>:<\/span>
\nTables comparing Jeremiah 7:31<\/a> and 32:35<\/a> in the Tanakh, KJV and NET, and tables comparing the Greek of Jeremiah 7:31<\/a> and 32:35 (39:35)<\/a> in the Septuagint (BLB and Elpenor), and tables comparing Matthew 21:18<\/a>; Mark 11:13, 14<\/a>; 11:15<\/a> and 11:17<\/a> in the KJV and NET follow.<\/span><\/p>\n