CHAPTER 20 - Confronting and Provoking the Elite
CHAPTER 20
Confronting and Provoking the Elite
“. . . After [Jesus] entered the temple, he started driving out the sellers and their customers active in the temple. He overthrew the moneychangers’ tables and the seats of the dove-sellers.”
MARK 11:15
“What will the vineyard’s owner do? He will come and destroy those tenant workers, and entrust the vineyard to others.”
MARK 12:9
Because the Jesus Seminar explains away most conflict in Jesus’ life, it omits, as Craig Evans puts it, “a convincing explanation of what led to Jesus’ death.”1 We cannot unnaturally isolate the Jesus of the Gospels’ sayings from the significant martyrdom that certainly followed them.2
In light of the coherence of gospel tradition, Jesus’ behavior seems to exemplify his teaching. He was apparently ready for martyrdom, depending solely on the Father for vindication. Overturning tables in the temple was a prophetic act that knowingly shamed the elite, openly inviting retaliation — and ultimately martyrdom.3 It is thus reasonable to suppose, even apart from the more controversial evidence of his reported sayings, that Jesus came to Jerusalem not only to challenge the “rulers of this age” but also to face martyrdom.4 (Cf. also our discussion regarding the triumphal entry in ch. 18.)