The grand celebration finally started. Thousands of people gathered in the city of Salem, and it was lively and jubilant. People came from all directions, making every street crowded. Jesus and all the disciples also left the village for the city of Salem. He did not hold the cane cut from a tree branch in his hand. On the night he met the two angels, he had already returned the staff to Moses. I need that artifact again.
The disciples said: "Respected guide, there are many people in Salem looking forward to your arrival, and everyone will come to welcome you. In order to be able to see you in the crowd, you should not walk."
Jesus thought for a while and nodded, "Go to the village ahead and borrow a donkey for me, and tell the master that Jesus will use it and return it soon."
Elijah and Moses had cleared the way ahead, but they had been persuaded away by Jesus, but Medanzo and Link were still following. Although Jesus discouraged their action, he did not order them to leave. At this moment Link suddenly said: "There seems to be a legend in the Plain of Salem that when the Messiah arrives, he does not gallop on a war horse, but on a docile donkey."
Mei Danzuo was stunned: "Is there really such a legend? Then it will be easy! I will become that donkey."
Link: "Didn't God Amon tell us not to meddle in the affairs of Jesus in the world?"
Mei Danzuo shook his head and said, "It's not called meddling, and we didn't do anything else. Anyway, Jesus has ordered his disciples to find the donkey. Go, let them find it!"
The two angels quickly walked around to the village in front of them. Medanzo turned into a donkey, and Link turned into the owner of the donkey and stood at the intersection leading the donkey. There are several donkeys in this village, but the donkey that Medanzo changed is the most conspicuous. The disciples came to borrow the donkey according to what Jesus had said, and Link happily gave it to them.
When people heard about the arrival of the Holy Son Jesus, they poured out of the city to line the streets to welcome them. The huge crowd cheered and shouted the name of the Holy Son, and some even bowed on both sides of the road to salute. The people in front took off their robes and spread them on the road, and others broke off twigs with leaves and spread them on the ground, so that Jesus, who was riding a donkey, could pass.
People cheered along the way: "Messiah, our savior, he has come!" The huge crowd moved forward slowly, and the Son rode a donkey into the city of Salem.
…
The elders in the Arhat Temple heard that Jesus had come, and gathered together to conspire to get rid of him. An elder said: "There are too many people to attack now. Many people believe that Jesus is the Son of God. If we arrest him in public, I am afraid it will spark a civil uprising, and he can easily escape, so he will be passive."
Another elder said: "We can wait until the last night of the celebration, when the crowds that have gathered from all over the place have dispersed."
The elder said again: "It's best to wait until he's on the order before capturing him. He has a lot of followers. We'd better buy a traitor."
Another elder nodded and echoed: "It should be done! What is more important is how to judge him. People must believe that he is a liar and pretends to be God's guidance! If that is the case, those who follow him will turn to hate him .”
At this time, another elder spoke: "Don't worry about judging him. If he claims to be the savior, but he can't even save himself, it will prove everything! But for these seven days, we will have to endure his death at the gate of the temple." Did you preach to the people before? No, I’m going to find him, don’t forget, there is also the governor of the Maro Empire here, what will the Maro people think of Jesus who claims to be the Messiah?”
…
Jesus finally came to the Temple of Arhat. This temple was first built in the era of David Solomon. After hundreds of years of repairs, it became more and more magnificent. It is far away from all the buildings, on a high ground in the city, with a very large square in front. This is also a place where people gather. As long as there are many people, there will be opportunities to make money. Naturally, small businesses and hawkers will not miss it, let alone those Salemites who are especially good at doing business
The disciples were a little surprised by what they saw before them. There were many itinerant vendors carrying parcels, baskets, and carts, yelling among the crowd, and the sound of hawking came one after another. These are second to none. Some people got the permission of the temple priests, or the temple priests cooperated with others, set up a shed on the temple square to sell various birds, and persuaded the pilgrims to buy them and let them fly. Offering sacrifices to the gods.
Birds flew around in the square, and feathers and guano were scattered from time to time. The captured birds were frightened and dying in the cages; many of the birds that were bought and released to fly fell tiredly in the small woods not far away, and some people caught them back and resold them.
When Jesus came to the square, he closed his eyes and heard the wailing of various birds. His expression was solemn and vaguely angry. Seeing him like this, the followers realized that the Son might have something to say, so they waited quietly aside. Sure enough, Jesus opened his eyes and said, "People who really follow me, go and destroy those stalls selling birds, and let all the birds fly out of the city!"
Jesus never gave any order to his followers, driving them to do something for himself, and today is the first time. All the people heard the Holy Son's words clearly, and they crowded up and knocked down the stalls, took all the cages, and sent the panicked birds to the city wall to let them fly. After the chaos, the square became clean again.
Some people were stunned by what Jesus did. He did this to offend the priests in the temple. To set up a booth here to sell the birds sacrificed to Aroha, you must get permission from the priests. The so-called "permission" to give benefits to the priests, in fact, many stalls were opened by the priests themselves, which is a way to make money during the celebrations.
A priest came out from the crowd and questioned Jesus: "Who are you? How could you do this! The birds sold in these stalls are for people to fly. Pilgrims bought those birds and let them fly to show Offering sacrifices to God; the freedom of the birds also symbolizes God’s salvation. You are blaspheming God’s brilliance by encouraging people to demolish the stalls!”
Jesus scolded unceremoniously: "If it is a domestic chicken, do people need to let people fly? Those are all birds caught from the wild by someone sent by the stall owner. I don't know how many innocent people died or were injured in the net. Tortured, flying in the square and being frightened by all kinds of frights, flying to the forest will be caught by these stall owners.
Some people do this in the name of offering sacrifices to the gods and showing the mercy of the gods. God didn't enjoy it all, the money just fell into the pockets of the greedy. Don’t think that the people here don’t know that the stalls selling birds are related to the priests in the temple, otherwise it would be impossible to set up on the temple square.
What they do with you is blaspheming the brilliance of God! If you think that releasing those caged birds to fly is a sacrifice to God and a display of God's glorious mercy, why do you keep them in cages for sale? You should have released the birds yourself, shouldn't you? "
There was a burst of booing from the crowd, and the priest blushed and trembled with anger, but he didn't know how to refute. In fact, many people know that many of the stalls selling poultry and birds are opened by priests, and even if they are not opened by priests, the priests have also received benefits. However, to be clear, Jesus told the truth in public, which is tantamount to offending all the priests who made profit from it—how bold he is!
Who on earth would have the courage to do that on Temple Square? He is defying the most powerful man in the land! The priest was also very puzzled. At this time, someone shouted: "Priest, you can see clearly, this is the Holy Son Jesus!"
When the priest heard the name, he shuddered for no reason, and walked into the crowd in desperation. The crowd cheered, shouted the name of Jesus, and gathered around the Holy Son. Jesus stretched out his arms to signal everyone to be quiet, and then he preached to the crowd in the temple square.
He does not know how many times he has preached in various places, but today he has the largest audience. His voice was so thick and sweet that everyone could hear it clearly in such a big square. Although he was wearing an ordinary robe, it seemed to be shrouded in a layer of sacred radiance. Followers firmly believed in his identity, so no matter how they looked at him, they felt solemn and sacred.
After the preaching, Jesus led the crowd to hold a prayer ceremony. When night fell, the city of Salem was still full of traffic and crowded. Pilgrims from all over the world could not find a place to live, so they rested on the side of the road or in the open space. Jesus led the disciples out of the city and returned to the village in the countryside of Bethany, and entered Salem the next day.
The next day, when Joshua continued to preach in the Temple Square, the crowd suddenly parted ways, and a middle-aged man in a white robe and a luxurious staff came up. Many people here know him. He is one of the twelve elders of the Araha Temple in Salem, and it is said that he is also a great magician.
People bowed to the elder one after another, which has been a habit for many years. The elder nodded to the people frequently with a humble expression, walked up to Josu, and said calmly, "Josu, I heard that you claimed to be the Messiah prophesied by Elijah, and you incited the people to demolish the square yesterday. All the stalls selling birds?"
Jesus replied frankly, "Elder, if you call me that, I won't deny it. As for why those stalls were demolished, you should know the reason better than me. Do you want to question me here?"
The elder shook his head repeatedly and said, "No, no, no, I don't want to blame that. You have your own reasons for doing that, and it will make it easier for you to win the hearts of the people. But those stalls are set up on the temple square, and they also won the favor of the Maro people. They also have to pay taxes to the Maro people when they sell birds. I’m here to ask you a question, should the people of Salem pay taxes to the Maro people? People buy those birds and let them fly. Sacrificial to Arhats!—Self-proclaimed Messiah, can you answer this question?"