We have discussed (in Chapter 7) the event at CaesareaPhilippi, when the disciples became aware that Jesus was not only the Messiah, but a Messiah (strange notion!) who would suffer.
The upshot of this was that Jesus took them to Jerusalem, to the very center of the organized opposition. The most significant event on the way was an amazing sight seen by Peter and James and John. They went with Jesus up a mountain and there, in a kind of vision, saw him transfigured, present before them in the glory he would one day have. The significance of this event is undoubtedly Messianic. Elijah, so the Jews felt, would return before the Messiah came, and here was Jesus conversing with Elijah, and a voice saying, "This is my beloved Son; listen to him" ( Mark 9: 7). It was all very strange and mystifying, but it was clearly seen as a sort of divine stamp of approval on the understanding Jesus had of his vocation.
Three times, so it is recorded, Jesus told the disciples clearly that he must suffer and die, and that he would be raised from the dead. Three times, so it is recorded, the disciples were unable to understand what this strange talk was all about.
And so they came to Jerusalem. The events of the week in Jerusalem are recorded in full detail in the Gospels. We have more information about that week than about any other part of Jesus' life, so we need not recount all the details here. A glance at a few will show how the net was closing in.
What was the meaning of the strange entry? Jesus rode into Jerusalem upon the back of a donkey, with crowds waving and cheering, a sort of first century equivalent of a ticker-tape parade up Broadway. He did not enter on a white charger as a great military hero would have done; he came on a lowly beast of burden. Matthew's account of the event gives us a clue: Jesus was consciously fulfilling a Messianic prophecy from Zech. 9: 9, that the "king" would come "lowly, and riding upon an ass." Not a warlike Messiah, in other words, but one who would be servant of all. The people spectacularly failed to get the point, with the result that in a few days those who had been shouting "Hurrah!" were shouting "Kill him!"
During the hectic days in Jerusalem, Jesus was besieged by questioners, who tried to back him into a corner so that he would make a damaging statement which could be used against him. Jesus met these questioners with astonishing adroitness, parried the thrusts of the questioners skillfully, and left them to retire befuddled from the scene. Behind the scene, however, the stage was being set, and the alliances against Jesus were forming a stronger coalition. They even had a "fifth column" at work within Jesus' band itself, in the person of Judas, the treasurer of the organization. Why Judas turned traitor is no easy question to answer. He may have become genuinely convinced, after a period of intense devotion, that Jesus was a fraud and should be put out of the way. At all events, he went over to the opposition and helped them keep track of Jesus' movements so that when the moment was ripe they could pounce.
While the final plans of the enemy were forming, Jesus was having a last meal with his disciples, probably the traditional preparatory meal for the coming of the Jewish Passover.
Soon they left the upper room where they had been eating and went to a hill on the edge of the city. And Jesus, apparently the only one who realized how imminent was his capture, went apart to pray. He did not want to die, and he told God so. But he added to that prayer some of the most significant words he ever spoke, "Not what I will, but what thou wilt" ( Mark 14: 36). He was willing to make his will one with that of his Father.
And then, suddenly, the garden was full of clanking swords, cursing men, shouts, lanterns, and jeers. Jesus was surrounded by those who hated him. His friends fled in the darkness. He was a prisoner.
He was alone, and his doom was sure.
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