Objectives: By the end of this subtopic learners should be able to:
Narrate the cleansing of the temple.
Describe the triumphal entry into Jerusalem.
Explain the events from the trials of Jesus up to his ascension
1.0 Introduction
As Jesus drew near to Jerusalem, at the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, and said to them, "Go into the village opposite you, and immediately as you enter it you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat; untie it and bring it. If any one says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?' say, ‘The Lord has need of it and will send it back here immediately.'" And they went away, and found a colt tied at the door out in the open street; and they untied it. And those who stood there said to them, "What are you doing, untying the colt?" And they told them what Jesus had said; and they let them go. And they brought the colt to Jesus, and threw their garments on it; and he sat upon it. And many spread their garments on the road, and others spread leafy branches which they had cut from the fields. And those who went before and those who followed cried out, "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the kingdom of our father David that is coming! Hosanna in the highest!"
1.1 Comments
Jerusalem was the royal city and the center of power in Palestine during Jesus' time.
When Jesus rode into Jerusalem he received royal treatment, people accepted him the same way they accepted kings.
He publicly announced that he was the long awaited Messiah. He did not silence the people who were singing praises to him.
Riding on a colt was also a sign of Jesus' humility.
Jesus showed that he had power of nature; he rode on a colt that had never been ridden before. Usually horses go under a process called saddle breaking in order for them to be rideable.
1.2 The cleansing of the temple (Mark 11:15-19)
When Jesus and his disciples came to Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons and he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. And he taught, and said to them, "Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations'? But you have made it a den of robbers." And the chief priests and the scribes heard it and sought a way to destroy him; for they feared him, because all the people were astonished at his teaching. And when evening came Jesus and his disciples went out of the city.
Jesus drove out the traders because they were defiling the temple.
The chief priests and the scribes sought to kill Jesus because some of them were trading in the temple.
1.3 The trial of Jesus (Mark 15:1-15)
The Pharisees and the scribes' plan to kill Jesus materialised and they had Jesus arrested.
The elders of the Jewish council, the chief priests and the scribes laid false charges against Jesus.
They bound Jesus and led him away to Pilate who was the Roman governor of Judea that time.
Pilate asked Jesus if he was the King of the Jews and Jesus answered that "you have said so". Which means Jesus confirmed that he was the King of the Jews.
Again Pilate asked Jesus to respond to the charges leveled against him by the elders but Jesus did not respond: he was silent.
It was a Roman custom to release one prisoner from jail every Passover. Pilate asked the people if they wanted Jesus to be released or Barabbas (who was a murderer). The elders influenced people to call for the release of Barabbas and to have Jesus crucified.
Pilate whipped Jesus and sent him to the Roman soldiers to be crucified.
Jesus did not receive a fair trial. Even Pilate himself could not charge Jesus with any crime however he scourged (whipped) him to avoid a revolt from the crowd who wanted Jesus to be killed.
The elders, chief priests and the scribes fabricated false charges against Jesus. Jesus was not found guilty to any of the charges brought up before him however they twisted the course of justice and they pressed hard to have Jesus crucified.
1.4 Jesus' crucifixion (Mark 15 16-47)
Then the soldiers led Jesus into the courtyard of the palace; and they called together the whole military unit. And they clothed him in a purple robe; and after twisting some thorns into a crown, they put it on him. And they began saluting him saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!" They struck his head with a reed, spat upon him, and knelt down in homage to him. After mocking him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.
1.5 On the way to the cross
On their way to crucify Jesus, the Roman soldiers compelled a passer-by, who was coming in from the country, to carry his cross; his name was Simon of Cyrene. Then they brought Jesus to a place called Golgotha (which means the place of a skull), and they offered him wine mixed with myrrh; but he did not take it. The Roman soldiers then crucified Jesus, and divided his clothes among them, casting lots to decide what each should take. It was nine o'clock in the morning when they crucified him. The inscription of the charge against him read, "The King of the Jews." And with Jesus they crucified two bandits, one on his right and one on his left. People who passed by mocked Jesus, shaking their heads they said, "Aha! You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself, and come down from the cross!" In the same way the chief priests, along with the scribes, were also mocking him among themselves and saying, "He saved others; he cannot save himself. Let the Messiah, the King of Israel, come down from the cross now, so that we may see and believe." Those who were crucified with him also taunted him.
1.6 The Death of Jesus
When it was noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. At three o'clock Jesus cried out with a loud voice saying, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" When some of the bystanders heard it, they said, "Listen, he is calling for Elijah." And someone ran, filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink, saying, "Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down." Then Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. Now when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, "Truly this man was God's Son!" When evening came Joseph of Arimathea asked Jesus for the body of Jesus, he wrapped it in linen shroud and he laid Jesus' body in a tomb which had been hewn out of rock and he rolled a stone against the door of the tomb.
1.7 The resurrection of Jesus (Mark 16)
When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought spices, so that they might go and anoint Jesus' body. And very early on the first day of the week they went to the tomb when the sun had risen. And they were saying to one another, "Who will roll away the stone for us from the door of the tomb?" Looking up, they saw that the stone was rolled back—it was very large. Entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe; and they were amazed. The young man said to them, "Do not be amazed; you seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen, he is not here; see the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him, as he told you." And they went out and fled from the tomb; for trembling and astonishment had come upon them; and they said nothing to any one, for they were afraid.
1.8 Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene
Now when he rose early on the first day of the week, Jesus appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons. She went out and told those who had been with him, as they mourned and wept, but when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they would not believe it.
1.9 Jesus Appears to the Two Disciples
After Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene, he appeared in another form to two of the disciples as they were walking into the country and they went back and told the rest, but they did not believe them
1.10 Jesus commissions the Disciples
Afterward Jesus appeared to the eleven disciples as they sat at table; and he rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen. And he said to them, "Go into the entire world and preach the gospel to the whole creation. He who believes and is baptised will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned, and these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover."
1.11 The Ascension of Jesus
After Jesus had spoken to the disciples he was taken up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. The disciples went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord Jesus worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that attended it. Amen
