Knowing The Word in Luke 21:37-38

The Temple

21:37 And every day Jesus was teaching in the temple, but at night he went out and lodged on the mount called Olivet. 38 And early in the morning all the people came to him in the temple to hear him.

Comments

Jesus’ routine the last week of his life was to teach in the temple during the day and go to Olivet (Mount of Olives) in the evening. Perhaps his going to Olivet referred to Jesus and his crew going over the mount to Bethany to lodge with Lazarus and his sisters, or he could have slept in the Garden of Gethsemane, a plot of land outside Jerusalem on the western slope of the Mount of Olives owned by the family of Mark the gospel writer.

Application

The two theories of Jesus either going to Bethany or to the Garden of Gethsemane for the evening flow out of Jesus’ desire for personal relationships. He was with close friends the last week of his life—friends who loved and cared for him.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, Lover of us all, do not let me ignore my friends or die with unresolved friendships. Let me be a channel of reconciliation and an ambassador for Christ among my current and future friends. As Jesus let his friends minister to him, open my heart to my friends, allowing them to serve me as I serve them, that we may all grow in love of him, our Savior and our friend.