What were the fundamental problems facing the Jews during the first century AD? No doubt, if you were able to ask any Jew during the time of Jesus and the days the Apostles preached the Gospel, each one would tell you, the main problem facing them was the gentile oppressor, Rome. Nevertheless, who really gets to say what the fundamental problems were, the Jews or the Lord? Certainly, during the days of Zedekiah, Judah’s last reigning king, the answer to that question would have been Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonian oppressor, but the Lord had a different opinion, and it was the Lord’s opinion that prevailed. The people were warned by the prophets to repent, but they wouldn’t listen. They obsessed over being free of the gentile oppressor.
We are at this time involved in a study of N.T. Wright’s book, Simply Jesus.[1] Dr. Wright tells us that Jesus was redefining the role of the Messiah during his public ministry. The people, including Jesus’ own disciples, expected the Messiah to fight certain battles that would set the people free and establish the Lord’s reign over his people. Jesus was showing folks what the reign of the real King of the Jews would look like, once God had returned to his people, as predicted by the prophets (Malachi 3:1). Keep in mind, that the Lord’s idea of the role of king was much different from that of the people. The people wanted to be like the nations (1Samuel 8:4-5), and in doing so, they rejected the Lord as King (1Samuel 8:7). The people wanted a hero who would lead them to victory over their enemies under any and all circumstances, but the Lord was more interested in the peoples’ righteousness, and victory in battle was secondary to it.
A close study of the Gospel narratives during Jesus final days before his crucifixion would show that he entered Jerusalem three times on three different days, and each time he did, he cleansed the Temple. The average reader sometimes doesn’t realize the royal implications of Jesus’ action. “It was kings, real and aspiring, who had authority over the Temple. It was Israel’s kings or would-be kings, who planned it (David), built it (Solomon), cleansed it (Hezekiah, Josiah, Judah the Hammer), rebuilt it (Zerubbabel, Herod the Great), and hoped to defend it (Simon bar-Giora) or to rebuild it once more (Simon the Star).”[2]
This understanding places Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem upon a donkey and his subsequent Temple cleansings in an appropriate light. It also puts the Jewish authorities’ demand for Jesus to rebuke his disciples (Luke 19:39) and their questions (Matthew 21:15-16; 21:23) in their proper context. The Jewish authorities recognized the royal implications of Jesus’ actions (cp. Zechariah 9:9-11), and they sought a way to destroy him (Mark 11:18), because the Jewish authorities believed Jesus’ activity would eventually provoke the Roman governor to take action to both destroy the nation and their Temple (John 11:45-48).
Therefore, understood in its real context, Jesus’ coming into Jerusalem on a donkey, together with his Temple cleansings, implied his claim to being Israel’s true King. Nevertheless, the subsequent battle that such a claim demanded was misunderstood by the Jewish authorities and the people. That battle was redefined by Jesus as a call for repentance, a demand for righteousness. Any promise of victory over the Roman oppressor was of secondary importance.
Indeed, the Passover was chosen by Jesus to do the things he did, because it implied a new Exodus, and pointed to the return of Israel’s God, emphasizing his presence with them, in the cloud by day and the fire by night, and later in the Tabernacle and the Temple. Nevertheless, something was amiss, because Jesus’ interpretation of the symbols was different from what the people and the Jewish authorities expected, so he was rejected (John 12:34). Therefore, Jesus coming would end in judgment (Malachi 3:1-5; cp. Jeremiah 19).
Jesus’ coming into Jerusalem and his subsequent Temple cleansings ended in his rebuke of the Jewish authorities (Matthew 23:1-36), and his prediction of the destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple (Matthew 23:37-39; 24:35[3]). Moreover, the fact that Jesus cast out the money changers and those who bought and sold the animals to be sacrificed, effectively stopped the performance of the sacrificial system, and was a prophetic statement that “it (the sacrificial system) no longer had a purpose.”[4] Thus, in Jesus’ redefinition of the problems first century Judaism was facing, and his redefinition of the battle that was expected to occur, also encompassed a redefining of the Temple, itself, the place where God and mankind met, the very center of the activities of heaven and earth.
[1] While I follow Dr. Wright’s book chronologically in my studies, even using most of his ‘headings’ as titles for my studies, I don’t always conclude each study according to his conclusions. We differ at times, but not all the time; we usually agree on what he has written, but even then, I may emphasize a different approach or conclusion concerning the scriptures he uses. So, the reader needs to understand that Dr. Wright will not agree with everything I point out as true. One needs to read his book to be certain he or she is getting Dr. Wright’s understanding of a particular matter.
[2] N.T. Wright; Simply Jesus, chapter 10 “Battle and Temple;” page 127.
[3] The phrase: “Heaven and earth shall pass away…” is a statement that the Temple will be destroyed. Heaven and earth met in the Temple. The Most Holy Place is where God dwelt (heaven) and the Holy Place is where mankind worshiped him (earth). The Temple was a picture of Eden, the Garden is where the presence of God resided, and Eden is where men were cast out to, after the rebellion of Genesis 3 (Genesis 3:22-24; cp. 2:8, 15).
[4] N.T. Wright, Simply Jesus; page 130.
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