In three dramatic scenes, the actions of Jesus speak louder than words. The long-awaited King has come to claim His kingdom. Irony set the stage at His entrance to the capital. When He suddenly appeared in His temple He was met with robbery. Now, in the last of these highly symbolic scenes of action, Jesus demonstrates the most eccentric of all His miracles. In the strokes of an acted prophetic parable, the anger of the Son—the Lord’s Anointed—is kindled but a little. More than some emotional exhibition we are to see that the Christ “came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.” We are to understand that this was highly offensive to His Majesty.

Jesus is the Messiah—meek and mighty, humble and holy. Deliberately and dramatically, He has presented Himself to Jerusalem, Israel’s headquarters for spiritual and political leadership. Now, He moves to the center. His actions boldly demand notice. His movements and manners are very symbolic, revealing His person and place. The scene of Jesus cleansing the temple is richly significant to the whole drama of His coming from heaven. In a stunning demonstration, Jesus fulfills and foreshadows prophecies that feature His most telling claims. Jesus is the LORD, suddenly come to His temple. And what He finds is a den of robbers—robbing Christ of the glory that belongs to Him.

The fullness of time had come. Jesus now presents Himself publicly as the long-awaited King to the capital city, Jerusalem. It is the first formal presentation of Jesus as the Christ. The whole scene is deliberately dramatic and intentionally ironic. Oxford defines irony as “a condition of affairs or events of a character opposite to what was, or might naturally be, expected.” Irony often prepares the observer for a contradictory outcome of events. This is precisely what is presented in this remarkable scene. Jesus’ sovereign majesty cloaked in deep humility, the crowds’ exuberant acclaim of Him, and both the city’s reaction and the crowds’ response are all highly ironic. The careful observer will stand in awe of this prophetic procession of the Prince of Peace entering His capital “city of peace” in a sort of acted parable. All serves to stress Jerusalem’s question, “Who is this?” The very nature of Christ and His kingship are being revealed. Tradition labels the scene “triumphal”—context suggests “ironic.”