Passion of the Christ-Sadness

Hypocrites Exemplified
Hypocrites Exposed
Hypocrites Enlightened

Passion Week was a hard week for Jesus. He was going to die for people who did not care for him or care about what he was going to do. And yet, the Jews wanted to feel like they were serving God. So Jesus exemplified their hypocrisy through the fig tree illustration. He then exposed their hypocrisy in the temple, where they wanted to appear productive but they had no heart of faith to serve the Lord. Finally, Jesus enlightened his people on how they could avoid being hypocrites and live productive lives. The people needed real faith and Jews was a generous faith donor.

Brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ:

1. You are in the covenant by the grace of Jesus. He kept the covenant for you by living and
   dying for you on Calvary’s cross. You are no longer your own. You are not a fig tree at the side
   of the road. You are planted in the house of the Lord.

2. Let this fact of God’s work make the Lord more attractive to you – attractive in the fullest spiritual sense of the word.

3. Then diligently train your children to put their trust in Jesus and bear fruits of repentance. Don’t train them to trust in their covenant keeping - since their covenant keeping will never be enough to please God. Let them hear the Gospel daily!