26th Sunday OT, A

So the literal sense.

We've got another of Matthew's parables this week, but there's something a little different about this one.

And it's the setting, the context, if you like, in which it's taking place.

We're in chapter 21 of Matthew's gospel.

And at the beginning of chapter 21, Jesus made his triumphal entry into Jerusalem.

We read, If anyone says anything to you, just say this, the Lord needs them.

And so Jesus enters the city of Jerusalem riding on a donkey.

We go on to read, A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.

The crowds that went ahead of him and that followed were shouting, Hosanna to the Son of David.

So it's very much a triumphal entry into Jerusalem, a royal entry.

And so really it's a fitting culmination to the period of Jesus's public ministry, which, as we've seen over the past few weeks from our Sunday gospel readings, is characterized by teaching on the kingdom of God, often in the form of parables.

So we read in the Catechism, in paragraph 560, Jesus' entry into Jerusalem manifested the coming of the kingdom that the King Messiah was going to accomplish by the Passover of his death and resurrection.

So the kingdom that Jesus has taught about and preached about in his public ministry is now being fully manifested in his person, in his actions as he enters Jerusalem, the place where his passion, death and resurrection is to take place.

And what happens next? We read, when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking, who is this? The crowds were saying, this is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.

So the first thing that Jesus does on entering Jerusalem is to provoke questions, to provoke people to think, who is this man? And we see that this is a controversial question that is causing, as we read, much turmoil.

Now, it's worth bearing this in mind, this question of who is Jesus that his entry into Jerusalem is provoking.

it's worth bearing it in mind as we go deeper into this Sunday's gospel.

Because after all, it's been the function of the parables throughout Matthew's gospel to make us question, what is the kingdom of God? Who do I believe God to be? Where am I in my relationship with God? So here we have the theme of questioning.

Jesus' parables have provoked questions about who God is, and now his very presence in Jerusalem is provoking questions about who Jesus, this man who claims to be God, is.

And then another theme emerges, conflict between Jesus and his people, the Jewish people, the people of Israel.

Because Jesus' first act on entering Jerusalem is to cleanse the Jerusalem temple.

We read, Then Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who were selling and buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves.

And at this, the Jewish crowd around him become angry and the conflict soon escalates.

When Jesus comes back into the temple the next day, he's confronted by the chief priests and the elders.

So not just the ordinary Jewish people now are questioning who he is, but the Jewish authorities are in turmoil in the face of Jesus' words and actions.