We come, now, to Jesus’ so-called Triumphant Entry into Jerusalem. I say so-called, because by the end of the day, Jesus will be rejected by the Jewish pilgrims, because they didn’t understand how Jesus could be the Messiah, if he was slain (cp. John 12:32-34). Jesus warned them to walk while they had light (John 12:35), meaning walk, while they had him and believe (John 12:46), but he was rejected, and, therefore, he hid himself (John 12:36), vis-à-vis the Light was consequently hidden from their hearts.
In other words, they knew Jesus was sent by God (John 12:18, 29), because of the miracles he did before them. However, once they began arguing with Jesus, expressing their disbelief in what he said (John 12:34), they could no longer believe, because in leaning on their own understanding, they embraced their faithlessness. When this is done, the Lord will let them alone (Matthew 15:14) and permit them to experience the end of their error (cp. Deuteronomy 32:20). Once the Lord hides himself, folks standing in opposition cannot understand the truth, unless the Lord grants them repentance, and they turn to Jesus and are healed (John 12:32; Numbers 21:8-9; cp. 2Corinthians 3:14-16).
Keeping in mind that, when Jesus came to Jerusalem on the 11th day of the first month (Matthew 21:18), his entry was from Bethany. While on the way to Jerusalem, he cursed the fig tree (Matthew 21:19). If we compare Matthew with Mark’s narrative at this point, we’ll find that immediately following Jesus’ cursing of the fig tree (Mark 11:13-14), he entered Jerusalem and cast out those who bought and sold in the Temple (Mark 11:15-17). This was Jesus’ Triumphant Entry. Overturning the tables and casting out those who bought and sold, angered the Jewish leaders, and they wanted to arrest and slay him, but they feared the people, who wanted to listen to him (Mark 11:18). The Triumphant Entry is so defined because the pilgrims in the city came out to meet Jesus and bring him into the city (John 12:12-13), something not done when he came from Jericho on Friday afternoon (Matthew 21:9-10).
Just after Jesus began teaching the people, the Jewish authorities came to him to question him, about his authority to do the things he did (Matthew 21:23), vis-à-vis casting the businessmen out of the Temple. Jesus replied to them with a question of his own. If they would tell him whether John’s baptism was authorized by God or done out of his own volition, Jesus would tell the chief priests by what authority he cast the businessmen out of the Temple (Matthew 21:24-25).
The problem was that Jesus, as a private citizen, had no right to make changes in the affairs of the Temple. Such things fell under the authority of the leading priests of the Temple, and they hadn’t authorized Jesus to do any of the things he did. Of course, technically speaking, since Jesus was a miracle worker, as a prophet of God, he did have such authority. Nevertheless, the Jewish authorities didn’t recognize Jesus as a prophet, because they claimed his miracles were done through the power of Beelzebub, the prince of demons (Matthew 12:24). Hence, their question: “By what authority do you these things” (Matthew 21:23)?
Jesus’ reply, however, put the Jewish authorities between a rock and a hard place, because, if they said John was authorized by God to do what he did, Jesus would ask why they didn’t believe his witness, vis-à-vis that he, Jesus, was the Messiah. If they believed John, they would have known by what authority Jesus did the things he did, when he entered the Temple. As the Messiah, Jesus had supreme authority from God, which means he had the right to cast out whomsoever he wished from the Temple. On the other hand, if they said John wasn’t sent by God, the people would have stoned them, because they were convinced that John was a prophet (Matthew 21:24-26).
The chief priests replied by saying, they couldn’t tell whether John’s ministry was authorized by God or not (Matthew 21:27). Thus, although they were given the authority by God to teach the people, they were forced to acknowledge that they were not equipped to judge the work of any prophet, which, technically speaking, they also acknowledged that they weren’t qualified to judge Jesus’ work, as a prophet of God, yet they did judge him to be a demonic (Matthew 12:24; cp. Mark 3:21-22).
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