4. =On Thursday afternoon, the Fourth Journey; from Bethany to the Supper room.= Take notice that no journey or event is named by any evangelist as taking place on Wednesday. Probably the day was passed in seclusion and meditation, for no conversations with disciples are recorded. On Thursday afternoon Jesus with his disciples left Bethany and walked over the mountain and the valley to Jerusalem (Mark 14. 16, 17), where they celebrated the passover and partook of the Last Supper together. Afterward came the long conversations recorded in John 13 to 17.
5. =On Thursday, at about midnight, the Fifth Journey; from the Supper room to Gethsemane.= The Saviour and his eleven disciples went from the supper room into the silent streets of Jerusalem, through the gate, and into the valley of Kedron. They crossed the brook and entered the Garden of Gethsemane, where the Agony took place, and immediately after it the Arrest (John 18. 1).
IV. We now pass in order the =Events= of these five days:
1. =The Triumphal Entry.= (Sunday.) (Mark 11. 1-10.) Compare the accounts and note the additions made by John. (John 12. 12-16.)
2. =The Barren Fig tree.= (Monday.) (Mark 11. 12-14.) This was not a wanton or petulant act of cursing. The tree was a vivid picture of the Jewish state, bearing leaves but no fruit, and the miracle was wrought as a warning of impending doom.
3. =Cleansing the Temple.= (Monday.) (Mark 11. 15-17.) Once before, in the beginning of his ministry, Jesus had purged the Temple (John 2. 13-16). But the former abuses had crept in again, and Christ again proclaimed his authority in his Father's house.
4. =The Last Discourses.= (Tuesday.) (Mark 11. 27; 12. 44.) On this day Jesus met and vanquished in debate successively the rulers (Mark 11. 27-33); the Pharisees (Mark 12. 1-12; Matt. 21. 45); the Herodians (Mark 12. 13-17); the Sadducees (Mark 12. 18-27); and the scribes (Mark 12. 28-37). He closed his ministry with a rebuke to the scribes and Pharisees (Matt. 23. 1-39); and after commending the gift of the widow (Mark 12. 41-44) went out of the Temple, never to return (Mark 13. 1, 2.)
5. =The Prophecy of the Last Things.= (Tuesday.) In the afternoon of that day Jesus sat with his disciples on the Mount of Olives, and looking down upon the city gave a prophecy to his disciples, mingling the predictions of the city's overthrow and of the end of the world (Mark 13. 1-37). In Matthew are added two parables--the Ten Virgins (Matt. 25. 1-13), and the Talents (Matt. 25. 14-30), and also the description of the Last Judgment (Matt. 25. 31-46).