The threat of arrest never stopped Jesus from going to Jerusalem … The evangelist Mark concentrates on his last visit to the holy city and emphasizes his determination to reach it in time for the Passover feast.
Formation And Struggles: The Birth of the Church Ad 33-200, by Veselin Kesich
Despite spending much time in Galilee, Jesus would avoid two of its large cities: Tiberias and Sepphoris. Tiberias, on the Sea of Galilee, was built by Herod Antipas and dedicated to the Roman emperor. With Herod, the threat of arrest always hung over Jesus.
But this same threat never stopped Him from going to Jerusalem. He visited the city more than once, according to John. And, of course, it was the last city He would visit before His crucifixion.
Jerusalem at the time of Jesus’ final Passover was charged with hope and fear. The population swelled from about 25,000 to 125,000 due to the influx of pilgrims from the surrounding provinces and the Diaspora.
Keeping in mind the situation: messianic expectations, opposition to what was seen as Roman cruelty, revolutionaries among the Jews and against the Romans. In such an atmosphere, any provocation, no matter how slight, was of concern to the Romans and deserving of response.
The Sadducees in particular had concerns about any prophet – considering all prophets (even those in the Scriptures) as false prophets. They believed that such false prophets would appear in Jerusalem, riling up the crowds to expect God’s intervention.
Jesus was aware of the consequences for himself that his preaching could produce. … Jesus regarded his death as an inevitable outcome of his last visit to Jerusalem.
Overturning the tables of the moneychangers at the temple wouldn’t improve the situation. In the Synoptic Gospels, this event is placed at the end of His ministry, leading directly to His death on the cross. John places this event early, therefore indicating that this event cast the shadow of the cross over Jesus’s entire ministry.......
