based on events early in the week of Christ’s Passion
[ 3 voices ]

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This is a slightly odd dramatic reading. It has a sense of incompleteness about it — it begins to recount the events of the Passion Week and then stops half way through. The work on this project began specifically as an exploration of the event in Scripture traditionally known as The Cleansing of the Temple. For some theologians, and indeed, one could say, for the writer of the Gospel of Mark, this event was the final straw that provoked the religious leaders to plot the death of Jesus. It is therefore a pivotal event to understand.

So I thought it most important to set forth the Cleansing within the context of what preceded and what followed. Great expectations were mounting as Jesus made his way to Jerusalem. There were bright and fragile hopes that Jesus was Messiah, and that his presence in Jerusalem would usher in the new Kingdom and the gathering of all nations to the worship of the Lord God. But there were also uneasy fears that Jerusalem would occasion the death of Jesus, as it had for many of the prophets before him.

What was the shape of these hopes and these fears? And how did they work themselves out in those first events of the Passion Week?

The prophet Zechariah had spoken of the day when “all people will come and bow down before the Lord,” when a king would come to Jerusalem, “gentle and riding on a colt,” proclaiming “peace to the nations.” This was manifested in the exciting events of Palm Sunday, and gave the people hope that Jesus was this king “having salvation.”

But the following day, this righteous and gentle king entered the Temple and disrupted the sacrificial operations with a small riot. And the disciples remembered the ominous words of the Psalmist: “Zeal for your house consumes me.” The hopes for God’s restoration of his people were indeed fragile.

In the days immediately following the confrontation in the Temple courts, Jesus returned to the Temple where he healed and taught many. These days [Tuesday and Wednesday] have been given relatively little attention in the overall scheme of the Passion Week. But they are important, for they show Jesus’ undaunted resolution to work for God’s Kingdom, despite the evidence of very real and powerful opposition.

Note: I have renamed this reading from The Cleansing of the Temple to Jesus Enters Jerusalem because of an argument that John Dominic Crossan makes that the traditional naming of this event has anti-Semitic overtones.

Presentation time: 11 minutes

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The Reading

ATHE VISION OF THE PROPHETS REGARDING JERUSALEM
A B CHear the uproar from the city!
Hear the noise from the temple!
Isaiah 66.6
AThe LORD declares
A B C “Shout and be glad, O Daughter of Zion
CFor I am coming, and I will live among you
AMany nations will be joined with the LORD on that day
and will become my people
zechariah 2.10,11
 
A B CBe still before the LORD, all mankind
Bbecause the LORD has roused himself
from his holy dwelling”
zechariah 2.13
 
AOn that day
Bten men from all languages and nations
will take firm hold of one Jew by the hem of his robe and say
C“Let us go with you
because we have heard that God is with you”
zechariah 8.23
 
AOn that day
Ca fountain of living water will be opened to the house of David
and the inhabitants of Jerusalem
to cleanse them from sin and impurity
zechariah 13.1
 to remove the sin of this land in a single dayzechariah 3.9
BAnd God will pour out
a spirit of grace and supplication
zechariah 12.10
AOn that day
BHOLY TO THE LORD
will be inscribed on the bells of the horses
Every pot in Jerusalem and Judah
will be holy to the LORD Almighty
AOn that day
Bthere will no longer be merchants
in the house of the LORD Almighty
zechariah 14.20-22
AOn that day
Call foreigners who bind themselves to the LORD to serve him
to love the name of the LORD, and to worship him
Ball who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it
and who hold fast to my covenant
Athese I will bring to my holy mountain
to Jerusalem and give them joy
in my house of prayer
CTheir burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar
Afor my house will be called
a house of prayer for all nations
isaiah 56.6,7
A B COn that day
all mankind will come and bow down before the LORD

[pause]
 
AJESUS SETS HIS FACE TOWARDS JERUSALEM
BAs the days drew near for him to be taken up
Jesus set his face to go to Jerusalem
CAnd he sent messengers on ahead
who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him
but the people there did not welcome him
because his face was set toward Jerusalem
When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked
B“Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven
to destroy them?”
CBut Jesus turned and rebuked them
and they went to another village
Luke 9.51-56
BAs he approached Jerusalem and saw the city,
he wept over it and said
C“If you had only known on this day what would bring you peace
but now it is hidden from your eyes
AReform your ways and your actions
and you will remain to live in this place
Do not trust in deceptive words and say
B C“This is the temple of the LORD
the temple of the LORD
the temple of the LORD!”
AIf you really change your ways and your actions
and deal with each other justly
in your hearts not thinking evil of each other
Bif you do not oppress the alien, the fatherless or the widow
and do not shed innocent blood in this place
Aand if you do not follow other gods to your own harm
Cthen you will live in this place in the land given your forefathers for ever and ever
ABut it is plain you are trusting in deceptive words that are worthless
 
[pause]
 
ATHE ENTRY INTO JERUSALEM
A B CHear the uproar from the city!
Hear the noise from the temple!
Isaiah 66.6
BWhen it was almost time for the Jewish Passover
the ancient festival
that celebrated the people's liberation from imperial slavery
Jesus and his followers went up to Jerusalem
AAs they came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives
Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them
C“Go to the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it
you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden
Untie it and bring it here”
BThey brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it
and he sat on it.
Many people spread their cloaks on the road
while others spread branches
they had cut in the fields
mark 11.1,2,7-9
CWhen he came near the place
where the road goes down the Mount of Olives
the whole crowd of disciples
began joyfully to praise God in loud voices
for all the miracles they had seen
including the raising of Lazarus
A B C“Hosanna!”
C“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
B”Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!”
A B C“Hosanna in the highest!” Mark 11.9,10  
BThis took place to fulfill
what was spoken through the prophet Zechariah
A”Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem!
Watch, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation
gentle and riding on a colt
CHe will proclaim peace to the nations
His rule will extend from sea to sea
and from the River to the ends of the earth”
zechariah 9.9, 10b
BSome of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus
A C“Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”
BJesus replied
C”I tell you, if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out” luke 19.39,40
BJesus entered Jerusalem and went to the temple
He looked around at everything
mark 11.11
AIn the court of the Gentiles
Jesus found men selling cattle, sheep and doves,
and others sitting at tables exchanging money
john 2.14
CFor I endure scorn for your sake, and shame covers my face
I am a stranger to my brothers
an alien to my own mother’s sons
Psalms 69.7,8
BBut it was already late
and so he went out to Bethany with the Twelve
mark 11.11
CZeal for your house consumes me
and the insults of those who insult you fall on me
When I put on sackcloth, people make sport of me
Those who sit at the gate mock me
and I am the song of drunkards
Psalm 69.8-12
 
 
[pause]
 
ATHE PROPHET DISRUPTS THE TEMPLE
A B CHear the uproar from the city!
hear the noise from the temple!
Isaiah 66.6
AWhen Jesus returned to Jerusalem
the whole city was stirred and asked
BC“Who is this?”
AThe crowds answered
B CThis is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee”matthew 21.10,11
BMay those who hope in you not be disgraced because of me
O Lord, the LORD Almighty
may those who seek you not be put to shame because of me
O God of Israel
psalm.69.6
AJesus returned to the temple courts
where he had found the merchants
Then he made a whip out of cords
and drove out from the temple area
all who were buying and selling there
as well as the sheep and cattle
CHe scattered the coins of the money changers
and overturned their tables
To those who sold doves he said
B“Get these out of here!
How dare you turn my Father’s house into a market!
It is written
‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’
Aa house of prayer for all nations
but you are making it a den of robbers
a cave for thugs
a place to which you return
from your thievery and your violence”
CAnd his disciples remembered that it is written
“Zeal for your house will consume me”
john 2.14-18
DAnd he would not allow anyone to carry merchandise
through the temple courts
mark 11.16
BSave me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck
I sink in the miry depths, where there is no foothold
I am worn out calling for help
my throat is parched
My eyes fail, looking for my God
psalm 69.1-4, 29
 
[pause]
 
AJESUS TEACHING AND HEALING IN THE TEMPLE
CWhile he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast
Jesus was teaching every day at the temple
The blind and the lame came to him, and he healed them
Many people saw the miraculous signs he was doing
and believed in his name
ABut when the chief priests and the teachers of the law
saw the wonderful things he did
and the children shouting in the temple area
B C “Hosanna to the Son of David” [echo effect]
Athey were indignant
C”Do you hear what these children are saying?”
AJesus replied
B“Yes, have you never read
‘From the lips of children and infants
you have ordained praise?’
matthew 21.15,16
  The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified
I tell you the truth
unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies
it remains only a single seed
CBut if it dies, it produces many seeds
Those who love their life will lose it
while those who hate their life in this world
will keep it for eternal life
Whoever serves me must follow me
john 12.23-25
BNow my heart is troubled”
ADo not hide your face from your servantpsalm 69.17
 You know how I am scorned, disgraced and shamed
all my enemies are before you
psalm 69.19-21
B“But what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’?
No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour
Father, glorify your name!”
john 12.27,28
A I will praise God’s name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving
CThe poor will see and be glad
those who seek God, may their hearts live!
AThe LORD hears the needy
and does not despise his captive people
Let heaven and earth praise him
the seas and all that move in them
for God will save Zion and rebuild the cities of Judah
Psalm 69.30-35
C“Now is the time for judgment on this world
now the prince of this world will be driven out
BBut when I am lifted up from the earth
I will draw all men to myself”
john 12.31,32
 
AThe chief priests and the teachers of the law heard this
and began looking for a way to kill him
for they feared him
because the whole crowd was amazed at his teaching
and hung on his every word
mark 11.18
CAnd when evening came
he left them and went out of the city to Bethany
Bwhere he spent the nightmatthew 21.17