Fleeting Fervor

After the early events in that Passover week, after the triumphal Palm Sunday entry into Jerusalem and after overturning the tables of the moneychangers, life continued on. In spite of the the damage He had inflicted on the commercial interests of the Temple, Jesus returned daily to teach the people and to goad the Pharisees and Temple rulers. Yet the authorities did not act until later in the week.

Does this make sense? Picture this: a trouble maker has been of concern and under observation for some time, when he arrives in the capital city with a huge fanfare, refusing to be quiet. The first thing he does is to create a public disturbance, disrupting the marketplace and bringing commercial activity to a halt. Perhaps he escapes capture at first, but he then returns to the scene of the crime day after day, continuing to upset the authorities each time. Somehow, in spite of being a thorn in their side, he avoids capture for almost a week. Does this make sense?

Comparing the Gospel accounts of the Holy Week, John is largely silent about Jesus' activities over that week, but Matthew, Mark and Luke tell of many teachings by Jesus in the Temple. Of these, Mark lists a careful chronology of daily activities, from which we gather that Jesus and the disciples spent the nights in Bethany, a neighboring town, and spent the days in the Temple, where there was ample opportunity to interact with the Pharisees and Sadducees. Mark lists what today would be seen as a campaign to discredit Jesus, first questioning His credentials, then repeatedly applying political litmus tests and finally resorting to trick questions, all to trap Jesus in an embarrassing answer. Together, these incidents amount to character assassination, but they were to no avail, for He outwitted his questioners in every opportunity, much to the crowd's delight.

So what changed, that the authorities were finally able to gain the advantage? Well, many things, to be sure. First, there is Judas and the perfume incident - betrayal by one in the inner circle is devastating - followed by Peter's denial, another inner circle failure. It's possible, too, that the opposition to Jesus took some time to become united, either in intent or in plan. Or maybe like politics today, it just takes time for the machine to be put in motion. It's difficult to know which of these is the most important.

There is one more factor. The Gospels aren't clear why (Mark blames the chief priests who hadn't been able to turn opinion earlier), but the public support that had protected Jesus for the rest of that week disappeared just when He needed it most. Perhaps the smear campaign finally took hold. Or maybe the daytime Temple crowd was away from the city when Pilate paraded Jesus out. Maybe people were offended when Jesus said the Temple would be leveled or they just got tired of the circus that was Passover in Jerusalem. Quite possibly, some thought Jesus deserved to be arrested. Whatever the reason, when things started to turn, everyone backed out and Jesus was left on His own.

This, then, is one reason that Lent is forty days. Christians clearly need stamina in their practices, for they did not have it on that Passover. The powers of evil acted strongly that night, arguably stronger than human resistance could have surmounted. But knowing the result of that particular corporate timidity has spurred believers ever since to keep their guard up. Injustice must be resisted and the more formidable the oppressor, the more important it is that people of conscience risk standing for what's right.

May God give you the strength to go against prevailing thought as He directs.