Urantia Book 86. The life of Jesus of Nazareth, Joshua ben Joseph, Yeshua, Christ Michael, Sovereign God of Nebadon. Regarding Jesus’ humble entrance into Jerusalem, the reaction of the apostles to this was depression. They were disappointed that he didn’t give a fiery sermon to the multitudes gathered in the temple. In fact, they questioned the whole idea of the entrance on the donkey. John was the only disciple to remember the passage in Zechariah and understand what Jesus was doing, so he enjoyed the drama. The UB says that John has a mind that naturally tended to think and feel in symbols, and we know this by his Gospel. Philip at first was afraid that the Master might want him to feed the multitude, otherwise he was sad that the crowd would not be hearing the gospel. Nathaniel figured out why Jesus was surrounding himself with crowds; he would have been arrested and thrown in jail without the crowds, so Nathaniel was not disappointed when Jesus did not make an important pronouncement in the temple. Matthew was ecstatic at Jesus’ triumphal procession into Jerusalem, so he was the most disappointed when nothing happened at the temple. Thomas regarded the whole performance as a bit childish, if not downright foolish. He wondered what could be the Master’s motive for participating in such a peculiar demonstration. To the Alpheus twins it was a perfect day. They enjoyed it all the way through, and not being present in the temple, they avoided the depressing anticlimax. Of all the apostles, Judas Iscariot was the most adversely affected by this processional entry into Jerusalem. He was disgusted with the whole spectacle. To him it seemed childish, if not indeed ridiculous. As this vengeful apostle looked upon the proceedings of this Sunday afternoon, Jesus seemed to him to resemble more a clown than a king. He almost deserted, but he carried the money, and he couldn’t desert with the money. He decided to wait another day (172.5.1-12).***************** Animals for temple sacrifice were bought within the temple walls. Animals bought outside the temple walls were often rejected as blemished in some way. But this was a scam because the priests took most of the money from the sale of the animals, leaving somewhat less for the temple itself. So the temple was full of animals: cattle, sheep, birds, caged animals, defecating animals, cow manure, sheep manure, bird poop. And then there were the many tables for the sellers of these animals. So with the noise of the animals there was the jingle, jangle of coins. Then there were the money changers and their tables. Pilgrims did not bring the correct coins with them and had to exchange them for temple coins, coins that were acceptable to the temple authorities. These money changers also were allowed to do banking. They would have various amounts of foreign coins and they performed the same functions a back would perform; of course, the priests benefited from this business, too. On this Monday morning in the midst of the noise of this bedlam, Jesus tried to teach the gospel of the heavenly kingdom. Jesus was not alone in resenting this noise and profane activity in the temple. Pilgrims didn’t like their symbol of unity used in this way. Even the Sanhedrin had to put up with it in their chamber surrounded by this babble and confusion. As Jesus started his address, two things caught his attention. There was a loud argument at one of the tables about the alleged overcharging of a Jew from Alexandria while at the same time there was a tremendous bellowing of 100 bulls being moved from one pen to another. Jesus also saw a man he liked being ridiculed by supercilious Judeans. All of these things triggered a reaction in Jesus, and he took the whip from the boy driving the bulls and drove them out of the temple. Next, before the wondering gaze of the thousands, he went to the cattle cages and opened them one after another. By this time the pilgrims were electrified and, and with uproarious shouting, moved toward the bazaars and turned over the tables of the money changers. In less than five minutes all commerce had been removed from the temple. By the time the near-by Roman guards had appeared on the scene, all was quiet, and the crowds had become orderly. Jesus, returning to the speakers stand, spoke to the multitude:”You have this day witnessed that which is written in the Scriptures:’My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations, but you have made it a den of robbers.’ When the chief priests and scribes heard about these happenings, they were dumbfounded. They feared the Master all the more and all the more they determined to destroy him. But they didn’t know how to arrest him because they feared the multitudes. Meanwhile, the apostles were stunned into silence. They huddled at the bottom of the speakers stand and took no part in the ‘cleansing’ of the temple. They said nothing–not even to each other. This act of Jesus was totally beyond their comprehension. In this act we can see Jesus’ attitude toward commercializing religion, profiteering at the expense of the poor, and that he would use force to protect the poor against the enslavement by the elite who may be able to entrench themselves behind political, financial or ecclesiastical power.