Jesus Enters Jerusalem as Popular Leader

90. Jesus Enters Jerusalem as Popular Leader

After about one year of teaching in the cities and villages on the outskirts of Judea, Jesus finally comes to Jerusalem, the spiritual epicenter of his people’s religion. What’s more, he comes during the preparation for Passover, one of the holiest of Jewish celebrations. It is a calculated moment to enter the holy city, because it promises to give Jesus his greatest audience, and his greatest impact.

It is clear from the first part of this passage that as Jesus enters Jerusalem, he receives a hero’s welcome. In fact, his reception is so enthusiastic that Jesus is moved to declare it virtually uncontainable: “I tell you that, if these shall hold their peace, the stones will cry out.”

This outpouring was not some happy accident, but the outcome of a calculated strategy. Jesus knew that when he came to Jerusalem, he would be entering the lion’s den – the power base of the Jewish leadership who were most threatened by his teachings. By first preaching in the areas surrounding Jerusalem, beyond the clutches of those who would destroy him, he knew he would build up a following that would give him some protection when he finally came to preach in his enemies’ midst.

It would be a strategy that would only buy Jesus so much time, as he seemed fully aware. In the next passage, Jesus foreshadows his fate when he says: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killeth the prophets, and stoneth them that are sent unto her!” It appears his anguish is not so much over his personal fate as the fate of his people. Because they would not heed his message, he sees clearly the coming annihilation at the hands of the Romans: “For the days shall come upon thee, when thine enemies shall cast up a bank about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, and shall dash thee to the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another…”

And finally we have the last paragraph, where Jesus, while in Jerusalem, does a little reconnaissance – checking out the situation in the temple before retreating to Bethany, where we can imagine he is making his plans for the next day.