Good Question! My take is that something like it probably did happen because of the circumstances surrounding Passover in the year 30 CE. It is also mentioned in all four Gospels. The date itself has also come to be known as Passion Sunday. Palm Sunday, The Last Supper, The Crucifixion, and The Resurrection all happened in the same week around Passover time in about the year 30 CE. Passover was the most important festival of the Jewish calendar year. It celebrates the liberation of the Children of Israel from their Egyptian bondage hundreds of years before. Each year the story is told, in a family setting, and the words are reinforced with traditional foods to remind them of the bitterness of slavery. It is still done today in Jewish homes. The meal is called a Seder. There is good evidence that The Last Supper was a Seder meal with men, women and children attending. There is a saying at the end of the Seder, “Next year in Jerusalem”! Even in Jesus’ time there were thousands of Jews living throughout the Roman Empire. At Passover in Jesus’ day, the City of Jerusalem would be filled to overflowing with Jewish pilgrims attending the city to celebrate the holiday. In normal times the city would be a hotbed of unrest but during Passover the talk of rebellion would be higher. It was just 40 years later that the Romans would answer the Jewish rebellion with the sacking of Jerusalem, the destruction of the Temple, and the expulsion of the Jewish population to the four corners of the Empire. Because Judea was always in a constant state of unrest, Passover was seen as a time for Rome to flex its muscles toward the indentured population. Indeed, the Roman governor did just that. Each year, according to tradition, the Roman Governor would ride into Jerusalem on a horse with a Roman Legion in tow. It was war-like and aggressive, as if telling the population, “Go ahead, try something”! He came through the West Gate and people silently flocked to see his parade. Through the North Gate, at about the same time of day, came Jesus on a donkey mocking the Roman governor. Many people came to honour him by cheering and throwing down their cloaks and leaves from local palm trees to pave his way. This gesture was more literal than symbolic. In Jerusalem, the streets were either dirt or cobblestones. There were no sewers. Garbage and contents of the chamber pots were thrown into the streets. People had to walk through this filth. People paved Jesus’ way with their garments and leaves so he would not have to walk through the muck and debris. Jesus knew he was safe in Jerusalem at that time of day. The crowd would not have allowed any force to take him. The symbolism was not lost on people, either. The Roman governor rode into town on a horse, an animal of war. There were no cheering crowds welcoming him and his entourage. On the other hand, when Jesus entered there were cheering crowds. He was riding an animal symbolising peace. I am not sure what they expected this man of peace to do, but given his history in the hinterlands of the countryside, people were hopeful. After Jesus’ parade enters the city, he goes to the Temple. We need to remember that Jesus was a Jewish man who takes his responsibilities as a Jewish man seriously and that includes visiting the Temple. On his way through the Courts of the Gentiles he discovers the money changer, where one would expect them, changing money at exorbitant rates of exchange. Today we would call that gouging. Jewish pilgrims, visiting the city, were charged more and could do nothing about it. The members of the Sanhedrin were also in on the take. So, Jesus exercised some muscle against those fraudulent merchants. So why was he not arrested immediately? Because there were too many people around who would have come to his defense. He made sure he left the Temple each day before they locked the gates and was not arrested until after the Last Supper when he either chose to stay in the city or he missed the closing gates and was forced to stay.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorI'm Rev. Dr. Pirie Mitchell and I live in Ontario, Canada. Archives
May 2023
Categories |
Home |
About |
Contact |
Copyright © 2023 Ask the Preacher