(Matthew 21:12) – “And Jesus entered the temple and cast out all those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the moneychangers and the seats of those who were selling doves.”
Problem: Critics note that Jesus chased out the money changers with “a scourge of cords.” Why was he so angry here?
Problem: At Jesus’ triumphal entry, Matthew records that the people shouted, “Hosanna to the Son of David; blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest!” (Mt. 21:9). Of course, this is a citation of Psalm 118:26. Why did the crowds shout this particular psalm?
Problem: Zechariah writes, “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; He is just and endowed with salvation, humble, and mounted on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a donkey” (Zech. 9:9). Is this a messianic prediction of Jesus?
A colt (Mark 11:2-7) – “Go into the village opposite you, and immediately as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, on which no one yet has ever sat; untie it and bring it here. 3″And if anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ you say, ‘The Lord has need of it’; and immediately he will send it back here.” 4And they went away and found a colt tied at the door outside in the street; and they untied it. 5And some of the bystanders were saying to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” 6And they spoke to them just as Jesus had told them, and they gave them permission. 7And they brought the colt to Jesus and put their garments on it; and He sat upon it.”
A colt (Luke 19:30) – “Go into the village opposite you, in which as you enter you will find a colt tied, on which no one yet has ever sat; untie it, and bring it here.”
Problem: Matthew’s account records Jesus’ request of two disciples to go into a village and get two donkeys. But in Mark and Luke, He requests that the two disciples get just the colt.
Problem: According to Luke, a blind man was healed as Jesus entered the city of Jericho (18:35), but Matthew and Mark declare that the healing took place as Jesus left the city of Jericho. Again, the accounts do not seem to be harmonious.
Two blind men (Matthew 20:29-30) – “And as they were going out from Jericho, a great multitude followed Him. 30And behold, two blind men sitting by the road, hearing that Jesus was passing by, cried out, saying, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!”
One blind man (Mark 10:46-47) – “And they *came to Jericho. And as He was going out from Jericho with His disciples and a great multitude, a blind beggar named Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the road. 47And when he heard that it was Jesus the Nazarene, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
One blind man (Luke 18:35,38) – “And it came about that as He was approaching Jericho, a certain blind man was sitting by the road, begging…38And he called out, saying, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
Problem: In Matthew, the mother of James and John made a request of Jesus. However, Mark states that it was James and John who came to Jesus to make their request.
Problem: Jesus told a parable of His kingdom in which each servant got the same pay even though each had worked a different number of hours. Yet in other places, the Bible speaks of different degrees of reward for working in God’s kingdom (cf. 1 Cor. 3:11–15; 2 Cor. 5:10; Rev. 22:12).
Problem: According to this verse, “with God all things are possible.” However, Hebrews 6:18 declares that “It is impossible for God to lie.”
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Matthew 20:20-21 and Mark 10:35-37
(Matthew 20:20-21) – “Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to Him with her sons, bowing down, and making a request of Him. 21And He said to her, “What do you wish?” She *said to Him, “Command that in Your kingdom these two sons of mine may sit, one on Your right and one on Your left.”
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Problem: Jesus says, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone” (Lk. 18:19). Cultists and skeptics argue that Jesus is claiming that he is not God in this passage. Is this the case?
Problem: The rich young ruler called Jesus “Good Teacher,” and Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God.” Yet on other occasions Jesus not only claimed to be God (Mark 2:8–10; John 8:58; 10:30), but He accepted the claim of others that He was God (John 20:28–29). Why did Jesus appear to deny that He was God to the young ruler?
Did Jesus teach that we could obtain eternal life by keeping the commandments? Yes, he did. But the problem is that no one keeps the commandments because the standard is perfection.
Deut. 27:26, “Cursed is he who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.'”
Gal. 3:10, “For as many as are of the works of the Law are under a curse; for it is written, “CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO DOES NOT ABIDE BY ALL THINGS WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF THE LAW, TO PERFORM THEM.”