America’s great child-philosopher, Dennis the Menace, offered this observation as his mother washed his dirty hands: "Margaret’s Mom must like me. I heard her say, ‘I just wish he was my child for five minutes.’"

The people of Jerusalem had a similar kind of love/hate attitude toward Jesus. They cheered him on the first Palm Sunday as he entered Jerusalem, but then shouted "Crucify him" the following Friday. The Palm Sunday crowd was enthusiastic but fickle. As the politicians would say, Jesus’ support was broad but shallow. The big money and the power structure were against him. Many in the crowd were not really yelling "Hurrah for Jesus." They were using his parade as a way of saying, "Down with Rome." In verses 28 through 36 we are told about the transportation arrangements made for Je…