[Industrialblog,
April 4, 2004]
Holy Week
Jesus' riding on a colt to enter Jerusalem was well-known symbol at the time ... He chose it to fulfill a prophecy, and that communicated clearly to the people of Jerusalem that He was the messiah. Apparently others who claimed to be the messiah had done the same thing.
Of course, as our priest explained today, Jesus then proceeded to spend a few days arguing in the Temple, instead of taking the Throne of David and overthrowing the Romans. By the time he throws someone out — it's not the Romans, it's the moneychangers in the Temple. The people's hopes are dashed. By Friday, they've turned against him entirely.
Perhaps those in the crowd felt they'd tipped their hands on Palm Sunday, both against Herod and against Pilate, by honoring Jesus with palms and cloaks strewn in his path. By receiving a man with such honors as He entered Jerusalem, they'd showed disloyalty to the Roman empire and their own Jewish king. After the expected revolution from Jesus didn't occur, they may have started to turn on Jesus to get back in the good graces of Pilate and Herod. Judas may have been monitoring this delicate situation — and determined that he needed to force Jesus' hand on Thursday night.
*****
Different parts of the Gospel affect us in different times. One that stood out when I saw The Passion was at the Last Supper, when Jesus said, "If they'll do this to me, they'll do this to you." It was a reminder where the world stands on Christ and His followers. We're lucky, in the United States, that virtually all the persecution against us is merely disapproval and ridicule. In the larger scheme of things, that's pretty light. In the Sudan, in Nigeria, and in other places, the persecution is what Jesus said was coming at the Last Supper.
Of course, as our priest explained today, Jesus then proceeded to spend a few days arguing in the Temple, instead of taking the Throne of David and overthrowing the Romans. By the time he throws someone out — it's not the Romans, it's the moneychangers in the Temple. The people's hopes are dashed. By Friday, they've turned against him entirely.
Perhaps those in the crowd felt they'd tipped their hands on Palm Sunday, both against Herod and against Pilate, by honoring Jesus with palms and cloaks strewn in his path. By receiving a man with such honors as He entered Jerusalem, they'd showed disloyalty to the Roman empire and their own Jewish king. After the expected revolution from Jesus didn't occur, they may have started to turn on Jesus to get back in the good graces of Pilate and Herod. Judas may have been monitoring this delicate situation — and determined that he needed to force Jesus' hand on Thursday night.
*****
Different parts of the Gospel affect us in different times. One that stood out when I saw The Passion was at the Last Supper, when Jesus said, "If they'll do this to me, they'll do this to you." It was a reminder where the world stands on Christ and His followers. We're lucky, in the United States, that virtually all the persecution against us is merely disapproval and ridicule. In the larger scheme of things, that's pretty light. In the Sudan, in Nigeria, and in other places, the persecution is what Jesus said was coming at the Last Supper.
The crowd then saw that their hoped for Messiah was not going to give them a military victory over the despised Romans. People are still the same: if a "hero" lets them down, trash them the next day and start looking for another one. Many of them were not ready for a spiritual victory, and saw that their spiritual leaders rejected Jesus, so they did the same.