
The population of Jerusalem, normally, was about 30,000, yet with the passover and all its events and activities, the city's population had grown far beyond its capacity to about 180,000. Inns were full. Family homes packed to overflowing with relatives. Camps of make-shift tents filled almost every space around the city and its outer hills and valleys.
And, then, Jesus arrives.
The crowd cheering him on as he rode that colt of a donkey was not (necessarily only) the regular travel guests and residents of Jerusalem that day, but the throngs, that is, the crowds that had been following him from Galilee many were Galileans for sure (very much outsiders), but certainly many of those whom Matthew has already described to us elsewhere:
“. . . all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, those having seizures, and paralytics, and he healed them” (Matthew 4:24; cf. 8:16; 9:35; 12:15; 14:14; 15:30-31; 19:2). |
Outsiders. Lame. Disabled. Demon-posessed (many whom Matthew's story thus far has told us were freed). The sick. Infirmmed. Those with seizures. And, their families. Did I mention outsiders? Galileans. And, even those perhaps from as far as Syria (Matthew 4:24). Throwing down palm branches. Shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” (21:9b). All proclaiming Jesus as king of Israel. And, then, Jesus makes space in the temple for them. All this was not received well by Jerusalemites (i.e., the probably crowd shouting condemnation before Herod later in the story), and, especially the temple-leadership (v. 15).
When Jesus tells the two parable of the one son who rejected the Father's work and how the first disrespectful son repents and does the will of the Father, and the fake, greedy servants killed the Father's son . . . it is no wonder the temple-leadership felt this all was about them.
Now, to do away with this king, this messiah . . .
How can we, today, as church, run away from the inspired narrative that clearly shows that Jesus accepted the blind and the lame (surely a summary of all those sick, oppressed, and poor) into the temple, upsetting the status quo, deconstructing the religious institutional bias toward the powers and powerful, the wealthy and affluent?
What do we make of this?
Church, we need to do better.
O, Christian, we need to rethink church.
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