After His failure on the shores of Lake Galilee, Jesus decided to bring the message of God’s kingdom to Jerusalem – the centre of the Jewish people. This act was the greatest challenge and the most important decision in the life of Jesus.

The city of Jerusalem was the Jewish centre of politics, economics, religion and culture as well and the place where people of all sorts and sundry gathered. On important feasts, the Jewish people came from all places for celebration and Jerusalem became the ideal city for the dissemination of ideas or for the instigation of crowds. As a matter of fact, rioting often broke out in this city and the Roman Army had to be called in to repress the uprisings.

When Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey people who came from everywhere to celebrate the Feast of the Passover rallied around Him and welcomed Him ( Matthew 21:8-11）， making Him all at once a great celebrity. But Jesus did not accede to the requests of the crowds; neither did He compromise with those in power. On the contrary, He went into the Temple and chased away the traders and customers engaged in buying and selling. With this act, He proclaimed that God’s kingdom which the Jews were expecting had already come and that the system and activities of the Temple should cease. ( Matthew 21:12-13; Mark 11:15-17）

After this, Jesus stayed on in Jerusalem, debating with those who wanted to harm Him on various topics ( taxation－ Mark 12:13-17)，( rising from the dead－ Mark 12:18-27), relating parables about the direct conflict between the Pharisees and the Sadducees (parable of the two sons－ Matthew 21:28-32)，( parable of the tenants－ Matthew 21:33-46)，( parable of the wedding feast－ Matthew 22:1-14), and openly chastising the Scribes and the Pharisees ( Matthew 23:13-36）

When Jesus left this city, it was with a cross on His back making His way with great difficulty towards the place of execution where He was to be crucified. Those in power had finally found the excuse to pass the death sentence on Him.

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