Another excerpt from my book...this is the day after the Triumphal Entry.
The next morning, Simon still felt an acute sense of disappointment. Had they all been wrong? Jesus had the crowds…why did he not declare himself to be the Messiah…why did he not seize the moment like the Judges and Prophets of old had done…or like the Maccabees? He had them…he had them all…right in the palm of his hand. He could have asked for anything and they would have gladly given it…even their lives. Would he ever be able to recover the trust of the crowds?
He sensed that someone was watching him as he stood staring at the changing colours of dawn.
“We must return. Come. We are all waiting for you.” There was such tenderness in Jesus’ voice…as if he understood the battle raging inside of his disciple.
Simon sighed. No, he did not understand, but Jesus had not failed him before. He turned and shuffled after the others. All was quiet now…no jubilant, singing pilgrims…no foal…no spreading of cloaks or branches…nothing. Just the usual sounds of creation waking from a night’s slumber…sheep bleating, birds singing, donkeys braying, camels rumbling, and people starting their daily routine.
The sun was just beginning to show itself when they left Bethany. They had not had anything to eat as it was still early in the morning, but none of them really felt like eating anyway. No one had even given a thought as to whether Jesus was hungry though…their disappointment had blinded them to the needs of anyone but themselves. Simon suddenly felt embarrassed when he saw Jesus approaching a fig tree. “He’s hungry,” he thought.
In itself it was a strange sight. Fig trees usually only begin to leaf at that time, but this tree was full of leaves. The dense foliage indicated the possibility of early fruit. It looked so promising, but on closer inspection they found no fruit. Simon couldn’t help but think that this was how he felt about Jesus that morning…the day before, he, like the fig tree, had looked promising, but he had not delivered.
Jesus too seemed disappointed. “May no one eat of your fruit again,” he said simply and continued to walk towards the city.
They followed the same path they did the day before…down into the Kidron valley and up towards the Temple mount…but whereas Simon had then believed himself to be on the brink of the fulfilment of the hope of Israel, this time he had to deal with thoughts of despondency and despair. Jesus had done nothing…none of his expectations had been met. He tried to convince himself that he simply did not understand…that Jesus had his reasons…that he had a better plan…but he was not totally convinced. His feet felt heavy…as if they were caked with clay as they trudged up the steps towards the gate.
Like the day before, Jesus entered the Temple. This time the court was bustling too but not with joy-filled crowds singing and dancing and waving leafy branches. Money changers exchanging foreign coinage for the currency used in the Temple had set up their stalls, and merchants were selling all that was needed for sacrifice and ritual…all inside the Temple walls.
Simon was filled with revulsion. It wasn’t that there was anything wrong with the selling of sacrificial animals or exchanging foreign currency for local. Travellers, especially those from diaspora, needed to purchase animals for the festival as well as other ritual requirements, and they also needed to change their pagan coins for what was acceptable for use in the Temple. What was wrong was that the leaders had allowed what ought to have happened outside the Temple precincts to take place inside. This was the court of the Gentiles…the only place where people from nations other than Jewish could gather for prayer…but once more they had made it a rowdy marketplace.[1] And then there was the price…they were clearly overcharging those who had no choice but to buy from them. “Thieves,” Simon thought to himself. “What is the difference between them and highway brigands? This practice surely turned people away from God rather than invited them in.”
There was a loud crash behind him and then even louder protestations. He turned to see Jesus overturning the money changer’s tables and chasing the animals and their keepers out of the court to where they ought to have been in the first place.
“He’s doing it again!” Andrew shouted over the commotion.
“Yes, this is it! This is the beginning!” Simon blurted out; his mood suddenly changing. “Just like King Josiah and Hezekiah! That’s why he was waiting! Cleansing the Temple is critical to any form of national revival, why didn’t I see that?”
“And don’t forget Judas Maccabeus!” Matthew chimed in. “First the Temple, then the nation! Liberty! Liberty, Simon!”
“Riveting words coming from a former collaborator with the Romans,” Simon thought. “Just shows how much he had changed over the years. Liberty, indeed! Freedom from taxation…freedom from oppression…freedom from foreign domination…freedom…finally!”
As the last would-be tradesmen left the court, Jesus turned and faced the wide-eyed priests. “It is written,” he boomed, “My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations![2] All nations! But you have stolen that from them! You have made this space inaccessible and turned it into a den of bandits!”[3]
Simon saw some movement at the entrance to the court. Would those robbers really dare to return…even dare to show their faces? But no. Who were these people? Some were being carried, others led by the hand to Jesus. They were the blind and lame of Jerusalem…those who were often excluded from the Temple because of their infirmity.[4] Now Jesus welcomed them with open arms and healed them all.
“See what he’s doing?” Andrew said. “Once more he is opening the way for those who have been excluded in the past. The maimed, the blind…the weak of this world…not the great and the powerful. Like the prophet said: ‘I will look for the lost, and I will bring back the strayed; I will bandage the injured, and I will sustain the weak; and the fat and healthy ones I will destroy. I will tend them rightly.’[5]”
Hope-filled joy slowly began to seep back into the atmosphere. The jubilant praises of those healed were heard far and wide. Then children ran into the court and took up the chant that had melted from the lips of those who did not understand Jesus’ lack of action the day before. “Save Lord! Praise be to the Son of David!” They skipped and danced about Jesus, laughing and singing as they did.
“Enough!” The chief priests and the scribes stormed up to Jesus. “Do you hear what they are saying?”
The children were startled by the sudden outburst, but Jesus gently took one of them by the shoulder and turned her to him. He smiled and the child beamed back at him. He touched her lightly on the cheek and then slowly straightened up to face his irate opponents. “Yes.” He said, “Yes, I hear them. Tell me, haven’t you ever read in the Scriptures, ‘From the mouths of infants and sucklings You have founded praise?’”[6]
Simon thought the leaders looked like fish just out of the water, mouths opening and closing but making no sound. Without another word, Jesus turned and walked out of the Temple grounds.
Just then Philip came up to Andrew. “Andrew, there are Greeks here who want to see Jesus.” They had no doubt heard that Jesus had cleared the space allocated for them to pray and they approached Philip because he was from Bethsaida and fluent in Greek.
“Come, let’s tell him,” Andrew replied.
They came up alongside Jesus and told him about the request. Jesus stopped midstride and turned to look at the people around him.
“My hour has come,” he said, as if to himself.
“His hour,” Simon thought. “He often spoke about his hour that was yet to come.” The first time he had heard Jesus speak of this “hour” was at the wedding in Cana. What did this mean?
“The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.” Jesus said louder this time.
“Yes!” Simon said under his breath. “At last. Now he will restore to us the kingdom!”
But Jesus did not announce his imminent coronation. Instead he returned to the theme of death. “Listen well. If a wheat seed does not die once planted in the ground, it will always only be one seed, right?”
“Oh Jesus,” Simon thought, “not now. This is not the time to speak in riddles. Please, speak plainly before you lose the momentum again.”
But people were nodding…they seemed to understand the agrarian imagery, even if only superficially.
“But if it dies it will produce many seeds, not so? In the same way, if a person is overly preoccupied with the preservation of their life in this world, they will ultimately lose it. But those for whom this worldly life holds no attraction…” Jesus paused to let this thought penetrate. “They will preserve their lives.”
“He’s challenging us all,” Simon thought. “The leaders are not prepared to acknowledge him as king because they fear that the Romans will come and destroy the city and the Temple…and so in seeking to preserve their lives they will ultimately forfeit their lives. They care more for this life than for the truth! But what about us? Are we prepared to forfeit our lives for the truth?”[7]
Jesus continued. “Whoever claims to be my disciple must follow me…imitate me…walk as I walk. In that way, wherever I am, my disciple will be as well…we will be as one. Seeing my disciple, people will see me. My Father will honour such a disciple.”
“That’s the image of the multiplication of the wheat,” Simon thought. “He is the one kernel and we are the seeds he produces. But what has that to do with dying?”
“I am deeply disturbed,” Jesus said to his disciples. They could all witness an inner strain…an inner struggle…it was evident on his face. His shoulders drooped and he sighed softly.
“But what shall I say? ‘Father save me from this hour…from the very reason….the very purpose for which I came to the earth?’ Never! No, I have come to do his bidding even to the point of death.”
Jesus’ demeanour suddenly changed…he had a determined look on his face. “Father,” he cried out loudly for all to hear, “glorify Your Name!”
There was a sudden rumble in the sky above them. The weather was unpredictable that time of year, so people were not surprised when they heard the sound. They thought was thunder. But it was not thunder…it was a voice.
“I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again!”
“An angel has spoken to him,” a woman said to her companions.
“No,” they replied, “it is just thunder.”
“Thunder does not have words!” she shot back.
“This voice was for your benefit,” Jesus said, “not mine.”
“I told you it was a voice…” the woman said, but her companions quickly shushed her. They wanted to hear what Jesus would say next.
“This…this is the time…the time ripe for judgment…judgment on this world. Now the prince of this world will be driven out.”
“What prince?” Simon whispered in his brother’s ear. “Does he mean the Caesar?”
“I don’t know, brother. That is not a term usually used for an earthly ruler…I think he means the evil one. Simon, has it ever occurred to you that he may be talking about something far bigger than what we think?”
“I will drive him out when I am lifted up from the earth. Then I will draw all people to myself.”[8]
“That sounds like he is saying he will be crucified,” Simon whispered in alarm.
The crowd was growing restless. People were no longer following his line of reasoning. Someone shouted out, “We have been told that the Law says Messiah will remain forever!”
“That’s right,” someone else added, “so why are you telling us that the Son of Man is going to be lifted up? Besides, just who is this Son of Man, anyway?”
“Listen carefully and understand!” The tone of Jesus’ voice was urgent. “The light is with you only for little while more. Walk while you have the light…before darkness overtakes you and you are no longer able to navigate your way forward. Trust the light now while you still have it…that way you too will be sons of light.”
It was a clear call for them to choose. To choose to follow him wherever he led them, whether they understood or not, or to be led astray by their leaders and their desire to maintain their present sense of security, thus giving up their only chance for true liberation…for true life. It seemed as if they comprehended the challenge as they were too stunned to say anything further. With that, Jesus turned and left the city.
This time the disciples did not retreat in silence and shame. To the contrary…they couldn’t wait to see what Jesus would do next. He clearly had a plan. Maybe he would reveal himself as king at the feast?
Once more, they spent the night in Bethany with their friends. Simon struggled to fall asleep that night. How could he have been so blind? He ought to have trusted Jesus as his light. How could he have doubted him?
Wasn’t this what the prophet had predicted? That people would not hear the message of the Messiah…that they would be blind, and their hearts would be hardened. Simon knew that many people in the crowds actually did believe in Jesus, but they were afraid of being expelled from the synagogues. They really did want people and the leaders to think well of them and were therefore not prepared to take the risk of being marginalized…and so they missed the praise of God.
“How terribly sad,” Simon thought.
Jesus had clearly told the crowds that if they trusted in him, they would be placing their trust in God as well as it was God who had sent him. In other words, seeing him was seeing the one who had sent him. Jesus had come to bring clarity in the midst of all the confusing teaching of the leaders – like a strong light shining in the darkness so that those who followed him would no longer be stumbling in the dark. Their leaders had added so many extra rules and regulations to the Law that it was hard to know how to live life…
“I will not judge those who hear me but don’t keep my words…that was not the reason why I came into the world…I did not come to judge but the rescue…to set free…to deliver…to save.” Jesus had said. “What will judge them is the very words I have spoken because they are really not my words…I only said what the Father told me to say. I have not spoken on my own authority. Whatever the Father commanded me to say I have said…and I know his command always leads to life eternal. So, my words are his words and you are rejecting the very words of God.”
Simon resolved to never question his actions again. Looking back later, Simon marvelled at his naiveté that week.
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[1] Osborne, Grant R, Matthew, Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament, Arnold, Clinton E (General Ed.), Zondervan, Grand Rapids, MI, 2010, 761-762.
[3] Jeremiah 7:11. It is probable that the charge of banditry had more to do with robbing the Gentiles of their right to pray to God in this court than with financial extortion as Jesus specifically mentions the Nations in his denouncement. Jesus says as much soon after this event in Matthew 23:13-15.
[4] See also King David’s rash oath in 2 Samuel 5:6-10 and 1 Chronicles 11:4-6. So Wright, NT, Matthew for Everyone, Part Two, SPCK, London, 2002, 71.
[6] Psalm 8:2. Rabbis would often only quote a part of a passage expecting the hearer to fill in the rest. The verse continues: “…on account of Your foes, to put an end to enemy and avenger.” The songs of the children were an open rebuke against the hard-heartedness and spiritual blindness of the leaders.
[8] Cf. Exodus 19:4 In my opinion Jesus is using Exodus imagery here…God delivered His people from slavery in Egypt, defeating the Pharaoh, and then He drew them to Himself at Mount Sinai.
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