AS WE GO BACK INTO THE PANORAMA OF THE GREAT DRAMA OF THE LIFE OF CHRIST, it is important that we see its impact upon us, even today as we review some of these situations, as we do year after year, for they are quite dramatic. This is a most beautiful and colourful story of the patterns of history. We have the beautiful records of the scripture concerning the events which took place. We have the writings of Nicodemus. We have the records of the Sanhedrin which were basically against Jesus. We have the records of the Roman Empire. And of course, we have the records that came out of the people who were symbolically writing at that time. And so it is that we can see the whole pattern, the whole picture of what took place in that time.
We want to point out that as the life of Jesus approached the time of Palm Sunday, that the land of Palestine was filled with excitement. This excitement came from the great hope that now they would overthrow the power of the Roman Empire. And that the day would come when they would be able to overthrow the power of organized Jewry which had taken control of their Temple. For the true Israelites of Judah and Benjamin, and the Galileans of the land, understood and recognize that the Jews (Canaanites) of Jerusalem were not the proper administrators of the Temple. That they were usurpers of the areas of authority. So it was that they wanted to see the removal of these people that held power over them.
We want to point out that a whole area of the community, a private group called a pastoral cult of Pharisees, were meeting outside the city of Jerusalem in the land of Palestine, in caverns and caves.