Great commotion was created in the holy city of Jerusalem at the time of the Feast of the Passover. On that occasion worshippers came from all over the Mediterranean world to fulfill their obligations at the Temple. A carnival atmosphere filled the precincts of the Temple with the commercial traffic that was created with the sale of animals for sacrifice and the exchange of foreign currency. Today the Holy Gospel takes us to the city during the festival. We are not in the court of the Temple but somewhere out in the city which is not only crowded but bubbling with the excitement that Jesus had created when he entered the city with his entourage.

The previous Sunday the people had given Jesus a stirring welcome and applauded him with the kind of acclamation normally reserved for a king. …