Arrival In Jerusalem, The City of Destiny
- Jesus is leading his followers right up to Jerusalem. It's been a long trip since Chapter 9.
- He arrives at Bethphage and Bethany on the city's outskirts at a place called Mount of Olives.
- He orders two of his disciples to enter the village. There they'll find a colt tied up on which no one's ever sat before. If someone asks them what they're doing, they're simply to respond, "The Lord needs it" (19:34). Yep, God needs a horse.
- Sure enough, everything goes down exactly how Jesus said, and Jesus gets on the colt.
- Everyone's strewing their shirts before him while he travels along the road.
- As he gets close to the bottom of the Mount of Olives, a huge group of disciples is celebrating. They've seen so many miracles!
- Now they're calling Jesus "king." That's one serious claim.
- In words that are familiar to attentive ears, they're hoping for "Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!" (19:38). Take a look all the way back to 2:14 for a refresher.
- Some of the Pharisees in the crowd urge Jesus to silence his disciples. They're going too far. He's going to get into trouble. But Jesus refuses.
- As soon as he sees the city, Jesus breaks into tears. Armies are destined to besiege her; they'll destroy her and her children within, and no stone will be left standing on stone.
- History buffs, take note. This is a reference to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans at the end of the Jewish War in 70 CE.
- Why is this going to happen? Because Jerusalem will not recognize God's visitation.
- Jesus enters the precinct of the temple in Jerusalem and drives out the merchants who've set up shop there.
- As justification for his actions, Jesus cites Isaiah 56:7, which states that God's house is a "house of prayer," and Jeremiah 7:11, which condemns those who treat it as a "den of robbers" (19:46).
- Jesus starts to teach each day in the precinct of the temple. But the chief priests, scribes, and leaders of the people want to bring him down.
- One little problem: he's a huge major crowd-pleaser. How will they defeat him?