And that is what appears to have infuriated the pharisees, who tell Jesus to silence his followers. Certainly, they don’t believe that Jesus is the long-awaited Messiah. And it’s one thing for these peasants to make claims about Jesus in the villages of Galilee: it is another thing entirely for them to do so in Jerusalem. It’s one thing for them to speak against the Romans in their homes in the hills: it’s another thing entirely to do so in the shadow of the Eagle standards raised in Jerusalem. No, “tell your people to be quiet, Jesus.” This kind of behavior is unacceptable.

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