Pilate and Herod find Jesus innocent, but Pilate caves to the rabble and sends Jesus to the cross anyway.

Things are happening fast now. Jesus issues a final warning to His disciples. He prays, “Let this cup pass,” is betrayed and arrested, and heals the ear of the servant of the high priest. Then Peter denies Him 3 times, and a quick trial before the council determines that he’s claiming to be the son of God and so must be guilty.

The action really picks up as we approach Jesus’ arrest. Satan enters Judas and he plots with the authorities to betray Jesus. They eat the last supper and the disciples, clueless about what’s coming, get into a silly debate about who’s the greatest. Jesus turns this into a teachable moment, then predicts Peter’s denial.

Jesus gives a long and detailed description of the end times. Though parts of it are widely misunderstood, one part proves life-saving; He tells the disciples to flee to the hills instead of retreating within the city walls. The Roman siege of the city in 70AD was a slaughter. The Christians who fled survived.

Jesus frustrates all the attempts to trap Him with trick questions. Then he fires back with some harsh criticism. The disciples ask about the end times and Jesus launches the Olivet Discourse.

Jesus makes His triumphal entry and proceeds to shake things up, clearing the temple moneychangers and making prophetic connections people understand but don’t necessarily like. This causes the conflict with the religious leaders to heat up fast.

Jesus is marching to the cross, and tells His disciples this, but they don’t understand. He continues to teach about the Kingdom of God and people continue to miss the point, or even oppose things.

Jesus is directly asked by a ruler, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” He knows the ruler’s heart, and knows his claims of goodness are bogus, so He answers with a command He knows the ruler won’t obey. But before this conversation, Jesus teaches some lessons on how to really get saved. You must receive the kingdom as a little child. You must humble yourself. You must pray incessantly. You must be always prepared, for no one knows when the end times will be.

The kingdom of God has arrived and is in the midst of them. The era of the law and the prophets is over. Everyone wants in, but they can’t see it because they’re looking for the wrong thing. Jesus preaches the kingdom, while performing the signs that prove it’s here.

The prodigal son parable gets into some deep concepts. Then Jesus tells the parable of the dishonest manager, who gets praised for his shrewdness. Lastly, Jesus applies this parable by explaining that worldly wealth will go away. The lessons aren’t easy, but they’re as valuable as they are difficult.

Jesus uses parables to teach things his listeners don’t want to hear. Forget the status thing. You must count the cost – even hating your father and mother – for following Him. We don’t celebrate the way we should. Like the prodigal son, we chase the wrong things.

Jesus teaches that the kingdom will grow gradually, like a mustard seed, that few will be saved, that the first will be last, and that he who humbles himself will be exalted.