Life Conference 2024 – Opening Service

Paster Gerald Tan

The Significance of the Mount Olives

John 8:1-11

1 but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.

2 At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them.3The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group4and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery.5In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?”6They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.

But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger.7When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”8Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

9 At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there.10Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

11 “No one, sir,” she said.

“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

 

• Mount of Olives: the place of Jesus retreats to be with the Father
• Temple: the place of ministry

 

The Mount of Olives represents and cultivates intimacy

Intimacy with God

 

Luke 21:37 (NASB)

Now during the day He was teaching in the temple, but at evening He would go out and spend the night on the mountain that is called Olivet.

 

1. Embracing our pain
   1. The Rebellion of Absalom (2 Samuel 15)
   2. The Surrender and Betrayal (Matthew 26)
2. Dedicating our heart
   1. The Apostasy of Solomon (1 Kings 11:1-9)
3. Standing upon the truth
   1. The Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24-25)
4. Walking in our purpose
   1. The Asceasion and Great Commission (Matthew 28, Acts 1:11-12)
5. Holding on to our blessed hope
   1. The Trimphal Entry (Matthew 21)
   2. The Second Coming (Zechariah 14:1-4:9)

 

The mountain of intimacy is not a specific place, but a regular lifestyle of a strategic withdrawal to be with the Lord.

 

The Importance of the Temple

The temple represents the place where our worship and our community intricately collide, invariably enabling us to experience life and empower lives

 

• The place of God’s Holy Habitation
• The place of identity
• The place of worship
• The place of prayer
• The place of teaching
• The place of life

 

That day in John 8, the temple became:

• A place of judgement
• A place of death
• A place of accusation
• A place of hypocrisy

 

The fallenness of humanity corrupted the true importance of the temple, turning what God instituted as a holy sanctuary into a place for sanctimonious, self-serving hypocrites.

 

The secret to celebrate life, empower lives comes from both the intimacy of the mountain and the ministry of the temple.

 

But, Jesus:

• Exposed the heart of the accuses
• Confronted them with truth
• Extended forgiveness to the woman
• Released life to the woman