Jesus arrived in Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. He arrived knowing that he would be killed here and that this would be God's will. We know this as Jesus is seen prior to his arrival trying to convince some disciples that he was the suffering servant. We see that he is trying to follow prophesies of the Messiah closely even up to his death as he rides into Jerusalem on a donkey on the Passover. In this he is showing he is a Messiah of peace (symbolised by the donkey) and follow the prophecies thus trying to prove his Messiah ship.

On this day he wandered the streets of Jerusalem and entered the gates of the Temple's courtyard. What he saw would have taken Jesus by surprise

as the courtyard of the temple was being used as a market. The priests were charging massive money sacrificial animals and were exchanging foreign money for Jewish currency at ridiculous rates. They would sell "blessed" and "holy" items in the market, which would have been very tempting to someone trying to get into the religious "good books".

Enraged though he was, Jesus left the temple without saying or doing anything.

The following day (known as the day of the cleansing of the temple), Jesus returned, once again he became enraged by what he saw. In fury Jesus set loose the animals and turned over some tables shouting, "My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations, but you have made it a den of robbers".

As it was the Passover, there were thousands of people in Jerusalem, there to visit the temple. The priests were enraged and insulted by this outburst from Jesus and if it was any other day he would have been dragged to the back of the temple and stoned. However, if there was resistance and blood was shed inside the walls of the temple, it would mean a complete cleansing of the temple due to religious law. The priests did not need this hassle during Passover, however they were determined to have Jesus killed one way or another. So Jesus was allowed to leave.

The following day in the midst of the crowds around the temple, the priests had their chance to question Jesus and hopefully discredit him in front of the Jewish people. He was asked questions about authority, loyalty, life after death, and what is important. He gave a satisfactory answer to all questions, which probably upset the priests further. This day was called "the day of questions".

All of these days have involved a verbal battle between Jesus and the priests and have infuriated the priests, - so on the Wednesday the religious authorities bribed Judas Iscariot into betraying Jesus to them. This is a very interesting time as there are many different theories as to why this was done. One theory is that Judas didn't like Jesus and his teachings, so betrayed him. However, this can be dismissed as after Jesus was crucified, Judas returned the money and committed suicide. So, my theory is that Judas tried to corner Jesus so he would have no choice but to use his powers to save himself. Once again Jesus was tempted and once again he resisted temptation in the knowledge that it was all in God's will. By giving away Jesus' location, I think Judas was trying to spark Jesus up or perhaps Judas was one that wanted the Messiah to be that of a warrior King.

The plan set to arrest Jesus was set on Judas kissing the cheek of Jesus to let them know who and where he was. This was done out of the way of the temple and the crowds. Now Jesus had been arrested, he was to face six trials before his death.
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Jesus' first trial was in front of Annas, the father-in-law and predecessor of the high priest Caiaphas. In this trial there was no charge made, however the authorities took it further. The second trial was held before Caiaphas, son-in-law of Annas. Caiaphas was a High Priest. This trial, however, was not fair at all. It was illegal for the trial to be held at night, which it was. It was illegal for the trial to be held at the house of a priest, and Jesus was convicted on his own testimony. This also was illegal. There were two ...

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