Summary Jesus, coming from the direction of  Bethany on the east side of the Mount of Olives, prepares to enter Jerusalem; the entry is clearly staged as the accomplishment of an act and certainly the end of a journey.  The disciples are sent to bring a colt upon which Jesus will ride into the city: he is proclaimed Lord in the tradition of the "coming kingdom of David." On first entering Jerusalem, he enters the temple, looks around and leaves.  He is next reported as cursing a fig tree which has leaves but not fruit. This is followed by a return to and cleansing of the temple. After this cleansing, the narration returns to the fig tree and the reason for the curse, emphasizing the power of God over faith. In Jerusalem, Jesus is now confronted by Pharisees, scribes, and elders questioning his authority. Jesus deflects this question to one about whether John the Baptist had been authorized by heaven or by men.

What does one make of the triumphal entry into Jerusalem, coming in the eleventh chapter of Mark, signaling the end of the opening events and journey into the Holy City?

Jesus’ Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem

11 When they were approaching Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples 2 and said to them, "Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately as you enter it, you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden; untie it and bring it. 3 If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ just say this, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here immediately.’ " 4 They went away and found a colt tied near a door, outside in the street. As they were untying it, 5 some of the bystanders said to them, "What are you doing, untying the colt?" 6 They told them what Jesus had said; and they allowed them to take it. 7 Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it; and he sat on it. 8 Many people spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut in the fields. 9 Then those who went ahead and those who followed were shouting,

"Hosanna!

Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!

10 Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David!

Hosanna in the highest heaven!"

11 Then he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple; and when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.

Remember, Jesus has just been proclaimed Messiah in the tradition of David.  Now, suddenly, he sends his disciples to find a colt that has never been ridden and instructs them to untie it and bring it to him. This event, of course, signals for Christians the last week in the life of Christ.   For Jews, this events continues the lead-in to the celebration of Passover.   What is one to expect? Advocates of tradition go back to  Zechariah 9:9:

9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion!

Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem!

Lo, your king comes to you;

triumphant and victorious is he,

humble and riding on a donkey,

on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

When was Zechariah written? codified? Almost everyone recognizes it as post-exile (after the Babylonian captivity). Let's look at the Oxford annotation:

Zechariah, whose prophecies date from 520 to 518 b.c. and are found in Zechariah 1–8, was contemporary with Haggai (Ezra 5.1; Ezra 6.14). He shared Haggai’s zeal for a rebuilt temple, a purified community, and the coming of the messianic age (see "Introduction to Haggai"). Like Haggai also, Zechariah forms a link between earlier prophecy (especially Ezekiel) and mature apocalyptic thought (Daniel 7–12). But Zechariah differs from his contemporary in the form and presentation of his message, employing the literary style of night visions and dialogues between God, seer, and interpreting angel. With him, therefore, both the form and imagery of Jewish apocalyptic thought are significantly developed.

Zechariah 9–14, which nowhere claims to be from Zechariah, portrays nothing of the early Persian period but speaks rather of the Greeks (Zechariah 9.13). Instead of Joshua and Zerubbabel, unnamed shepherds lead the community. Instead of peace and rebuilding, there are expectations of universal warfare and the siege of Jerusalem. Style, vocabulary, and theological ideas differentiate these chapters from Zechariah’s work. Although they may contain some earlier bits, they were written during the Greek period, principally in the fourth and third centuries b.c., by unknown authors. Since the eschatological and messianic themes found in the first section are here further elaborated, the authors are spiritual disciples of Zechariah. The pictures of the messianic Prince of Peace and the Good Shepherd smitten for the flock are used in the New Testament in order to describe the person and work of Jesus Christ.

In the Greek period, the fourth and third centuries BCE, eschatology and Messianism have intensified.  Jesus is now placed in this tradition of expectation: as Prince of Peace and Good Shepherd.   His own understanding and prediction of the Passion has been that he will be smitten for the flock.  The Romans, by the era of Jesus, have replaced the Greeks; not being particularly religious, they have accepted hellenized religion.  Multiple gods are familiar; they often seem to be humans made into gods.  They symbolize forces of nature, and the ordinary mortal procedure is to sacrifice and pray to them in order to incur favorable human outcomes.  The Romans in this era are generally tolerant of the religions but suspect anything which is contrary to political allegiance.   Only when religion calls attention to itself as being in opposition to current rule is there likely to be a political backlash which includes overt overriding of rebellious cults.  To be proclaimed, even symbolically, as involved in any overthrow of contemporary rule in Jerusalem is judged to be in opposition to the established hegemony.   So, here comes Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a colt. The outcome is expected, although it is not immediate.  Jesus simply journeys into Jerusalem, ends up in the temple, and walks out.

Next, Mark records Jesus as again entering into the temple and acting immediately to clean it up:

15 Then they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling and those who were buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves; 16 and he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. 17 He was teaching and saying, "Is it not written,

‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’?

But you have made it a den of robbers."

18 And when the chief priests and the scribes heard it, they kept looking for a way to kill him; for they were afraid of him, because the whole crowd was spellbound by his teaching. 19 And when evening came, Jesus and his disciples went out of the city.

It needs to be clear here that the temple is permitting the Jewish obligatory shekel a year (from every male adult) to be used for taxes.  The Greek and Roman money must be changed into Tyrian currency   Additionally, the last part of verse fifteen indicates people are carrying baggage from their pilgrimage into the temple's outer court. Jesus is, also, fulfilling scripture; the first scripture alluded to is Isaiah 56:

6 And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord,

to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord,

and to be his servants,

all who keep the Sabbath, and do not profane it,

and hold fast my covenant—

7 these I will bring to my holy mountain,

and make them joyful in my house of prayer;

their burnt offerings and their sacrifices

will be accepted on my altar;

for my house shall be called a house of prayer

for all peoples.

8 Thus says the Lord God,

who gathers the outcasts of Israel,

I will gather others to them

besides those already gathered

This reference also clearly indicates that Gentiles are coming to the temple and finding it to be used for business rather than prayer.  The next reference if from Jeremiah, but to understand the implications clearly, one needs to recognize that Jeremiah is prophesying the destruction of the temple.  The Oxford annotation makes clear the connection between the apostasy of Judah and the destruction of the temple:

7.10–12: As Shiloh (Jeremiah 7.12, eighteen miles north of Jerusalem), the earlier central shrine, was destroyed (around 1050 b.c. in the days of Samuel; compare 1 Samuel 4–6; Psalm 78.56–72), so also this house, desecrated by idolatry, will be destroyed (Jeremiah 7.10; Jeremiah 7.11; compare Matthew 21.13). Immediately following this sermon, Jeremiah was arrested (see Jeremiah 26.8).

Now, read the entire section from Jeremiah:

7 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 Stand in the gate of the Lord’s house, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of the Lord, all you people of Judah, you that enter these gates to worship the Lord. 3 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Amend your ways and your doings, and let me dwell with you † in this place. 4 Do not trust in these deceptive words: "This is † the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord."

5 For if you truly amend your ways and your doings, if you truly act justly one with another, 6 if you do not oppress the alien, the orphan, and the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not go after other gods to your own hurt, 7 then I will dwell with you in this place, in the land that I gave of old to your ancestors forever and ever.

8 Here you are, trusting in deceptive words to no avail. 9 Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, make offerings to Baal, and go after other gods that you have not known, 10 and then come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, "We are safe!"—only to go on doing all these abominations? 11 Has this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your sight? You know, I too am watching, says the Lord. 12 Go now to my place that was in Shiloh, where I made my name dwell at first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel. 13 And now, because you have done all these things, says the Lord, and when I spoke to you persistently, you did not listen, and when I called you, you did not answer, 14 therefore I will do to the house that is called by my name, in which you trust, and to the place that I gave to you and to your ancestors, just what I did to Shiloh. 15 And I will cast you out of my sight, just as I cast out all your kinsfolk, all the offspring of Ephraim.

Like Jeremiah, Jesus will be arrested shortly after this cleaning of the temple.  The reader should recall, too, that Jesus had entered the temple when he first came into Jerusalem but merely observed and left.  His look must have been profoundly sad as his eyes swept through the Court of the Gentiles.

Mark next records what seems to be a bizarre event: Jesus curses a fig tree.  Why?  The first answer is, of course, natural: the fig tree has leaves, an indication of at least green fruit.  The fig tree shows leaves in March followed by edible knobs which drop off before the true figs form. Beneath the leaves, however, nothing is found.  Symbolically, Jesus has had this sad reality demonstrated in every city he has visited, and has heard it realized all too often in the religious hierarchy.   Jesus has wanted to see the invisible written into the physical manifestations; what he has observed is outward piety (show) and little substance.  He, thus, curses this instance of hypocrisy in the natural order.  This, of course, causes one to wonder if in the natural and mortal order hypocrisy is not the thin lacquer between the absolute and real. Jesus is further saying prophetically that the Jews with their rituals have failed to produce genuine spirituality.The withering of the fruitless fig tree becomes a prophetic symbol of the doom which is coming to the Jewish nation.

Jesus is now confronted by what appears to be an official delegation from the Sanhedrin made up of chief priests, the teachers of the law, and the elders. They want to know what his authority is for acting as he has. 

27 Again they came to Jerusalem. As he was walking in the temple, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders came to him 28 and said, "By what authority are you doing these things? Who gave you this authority to do them?"

They know obviously he has not been authorized by the Sanhedrin. Jesus turns the tables by stopping them short:

29 Jesus said to them, "I will ask you one question; answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. 30 Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin? Answer me." 31 They argued with one another, "If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ 32 But shall we say, ‘Of human origin’?"—they were afraid of the crowd, for all regarded John as truly a prophet. 33 So they answered Jesus, "We do not know." And Jesus said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things."

If they reply that John had been authorized from heaven, then they will be forced to acknowledge that John had also said one greater than himself was to succeed; to answer that John's authority had come from earth would have been to raise the wrath of the crowd.  Jesus, therefore, has answered the question without actually having said anything!

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