The King Nobody Wanted Part 17

The king for whom the Jews had been waiting had come at last to reign.

In the evening, Jesus and the disciples returned to Bethany to sleep.

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The next day Jesus returned to Jerusalem and again went to the Temple.

This time he carried a whip.

In the Court of the Gentiles the money was clinking as it had done when Jesus was a boy. At tables sat the men who grew rich by exchanging the money of visitors for coins used in Jerusalem. Others were selling doves for sacrifice. The poor had to pay heavily to wors.h.i.+p G.o.d in his own house.

Jesus strode down the room with the whip in his hand, and upset the tables where the money was. When the men jumped up from their chairs, he drove them out of the Temple. Then he drove the sheep and the cattle out after the men.

"It is written in the Scriptures: G.o.d's house shall be a house of prayer. But you have made it into a den of thieves and robbers!" he cried.

This was too much for the priests of the temple, and all the important men who ruled Jerusalem. The next day some of the rulers came to Jesus and said:

"What right have you to do these things? Who told you that you could act like this?"

So far, Jesus had never said that he was the Messiah. He had only acted as if he was the Messiah. The rulers hoped that he would say something they could punish him for. But Jesus was too quick for them.

He said:

"I'll answer your question if you answer a question of mine. When John the Baptist used to preach to you and baptize people, who gave him the right to do that?"

Then the rulers did not know what to say. They thought to themselves:

_Now if we say that John was sent by G.o.d to preach, he will say, "Why didn't you listen to him, then?_"

_If we say that John didn't have any right to preach, the people will be angry and will likely kill us; for everyone still thinks that John the Baptist was a great prophet sent by G.o.d himself._

So all they said was, "We don't know--we can't tell."

"Very well," Jesus retorted, "neither am I going to tell you what right I have to do these things!"

Every day that week, Jesus came and taught in the Temple. Several times his enemies tried to trick him into saying something that would turn the people against him, but Jesus always had an answer which silenced them. Once they came and asked, "Should we pay taxes to the Romans?"

That was a hard question. All the Jews hated the Romans, and if Jesus said that it was their duty to pay the taxes, everybody would hate him too. But if he said they should not pay the taxes--well, they could count on the Roman governor to settle with Jesus then.

"Show me a penny," Jesus replied.

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Someone handed him a piece of Roman money. There was a man's picture stamped on one side of it. Jesus said, "Whose picture is that?"

"Why," they answered, "that is a picture of Caesar, the emperor of Rome."

"All right," said Jesus, "do whatever your duty is to Caesar and his government. You will have to decide about that for yourselves. And also do your duty to G.o.d!"

It was such a clever answer that no one had a word to say. And Jesus still had not said anything that he could be punished for.

But he said a great deal to make his enemies angry. About the Pharisees he spoke the hardest words he ever said.

"Watch out for the scribes and the Pharisees," he told the people, "and don't be like them. They love to walk around in their long white robes, and to have everybody bow to them in the street, and to sit in the best seats in the synagogues and at dinners. All the time they are taking money from poor widows and they try to cover it up by making long prayers."

Turning to the Pharisees themselves, he went on:

"Woe to you Pharisees! You are like graves with rotting bodies in them, which people walk over without knowing what is underneath.

n.o.body knows how bad you are. You snakes! How can you escape the punishment which G.o.d is bringing upon you?"

He left the Pharisees and went into the Temple, where people were making their gifts to G.o.d. Many rich men came in, and put large sums of money in the money box. Then came a poor widow who put two small coins into the box.

Jesus called his disciples to him, and said:

"I tell you, this poor widow has given more than all these rich people are giving. For the rich have plenty of money, and it doesn't cost them anything to give what they do. But this poor woman needs her money, and she has given all she has."

With many words and stories he taught the people who thronged around him on the days of that week. And this was the last story he ever told:

"Someday I shall sit upon my throne, and judge all the nations of the earth. To some people I will say:

"'Come--my Heavenly Father loves you. Take the reward he has planned for you to have. For I was hungry, and you gave me food. I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger, and you took me into your homes. I had nothing to wear, and you gave me clothes. I was sick, and in prison, and you came to visit me!'

"Then these people will be surprised, and say, 'Lord when did we ever do anything for you?'

"And I will say: 'You were kind to the poor and the sick and the hungry, who did not count for anything on earth. You did not know it at the time, but when you did a kindness to them, it was to me you really did it.'

"Then I will say to others: 'Go away. G.o.d wants nothing to do with you! For I was hungry, and thirsty, and naked, and sick, and in prison, and you did nothing at all for me.'

"These people will also be surprised. They will say: 'Lord, when did we ever see you hungry, or thirsty, or naked, or sick, or in prison?

If we had seen you needing anything, we would have helped you!'

"And I will say: 'Many poor people needed your help, and you did not help them. When you failed them, you failed me. And now it is too late!'"

The priests and the rulers did not know what to do about Jesus. _The Messiah, indeed!_ they thought. They hated him, and they were afraid of him. They were afraid of the Romans too. What would the Roman governor say if he heard that there was someone in Jerusalem pretending to be King of the Jews?

The priests and the rulers wanted to kill Jesus. That was all they talked about. But they did not know how it was to be done. For whenever Jesus came to Jerusalem, great crowds gathered around him.

None of the priests dared to lay a finger on him in the open. The crowds would never let them. It seemed to the people as if the Messiah might have come at last.

But something had to be done, the priests and the rulers said. The week was going by. The Feast of the Pa.s.sover was nearly there.

"We shall have to do away with Jesus quietly," someone said.

"Yes," the others agreed, "we can't wait till the day of the Pa.s.sover.

If we should do anything to him on that day, there would be a riot."

They were at their wits' end to know how to get rid of Jesus. The craftiest men in Jerusalem could not think what to do.

There was a knock at the door. It was one of Jesus' twelve disciples, who had come to see the priests and rulers.