12 - King Nobody Wanted by Norman F. Langford

The King Nobody Wanted narrates the intriguing tale of Jesus in a relatable, everyday language. Drawing from the timeless King James Version of the Bible, this podcast weaves a captivating narrative thats both genuine and compelling.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Chapter twelve of The King Nobody Wanted by Norman F. Langford.
This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Chapter twelve.
In Jerusalem, the disciples went to the village, as Jesus
told them, and there they found a donkey. They untied
it and led it away. Some of them put their

(00:22):
clothes on the donkey's back, for a king must ride
in comfort. Others spread their clothes out on the street,
for a king should ride in state. Jesus got on
the donkey and started for Jerusalem. The disciples walked ahead.
When they had almost reached the city, the disciples began
to shout. Jesus used to say that they must not

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tell any one that he was the Messiah, but now
they could tell the whole world, for Jesus wanted everyone
to know. They were glad that they did not have
to be quiet any longer. They shouted Hosannah that meant
save us and was a cry of welcome. They shouted
the words of a psalm, Hosanna to the son of David.

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Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the
Lord Hosanna in the highest. The city was crowded with
travelers from all over Palestine, and from foreign countries too.
They were the pilgrims who had come for the Passover feast.
The crowds saw the procession coming, They saw the donkey,
and they remembered what the scripture said. They remembered that

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that was how the Messiah would come riding in. They
heard the shouting, and they understood the words. They knew
that that was what the people would sing when the
Mosiah came. Some of the crowds began to shout with
the disciples. A great cry of Hosanna went ringing down
the street. Everyone seemed to be saying it, Blessed is

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he that cometh in the name of the Lord. Some
cut branches from the trees and waved them before the Messiah.
It was a royal welcome. Only the priests and the
rulers and the pharisees were sorry to see Jesus come.
What is there we can do, they said to one another, Look,
the whole world has gone after him. The excitement spread

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through the city. There were strangers who had never heard
of Jesus. Who is this, they asked. Others who knew
him answered, why this is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth.
In Galilee, Jesus went into the temple and looked about
at the crowds which thronged in This was his father's
house and his house. These were his father's people, and

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his people. The king for whom the Jews had been
waiting had come at last to reign. In the evening,
Jesus and the disciples returned to Bethany to sleep. The
next day, Jesus returned to Jerusalem and again went to
the temple. This time he carried a whip. In the

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court of the gentiles, the money was clinking, as it
had done when Jesus was a boy. At the table
sat the men who grew rich by exchanging the money
of visitors for coins used in Jerusalem. Others were selling
doves for sacrifice. The poor had to pay heavily to
worship God in his own house. Jesus strode down the

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room with the whip in his hand and upset the
tables where the money was. When the men jumped up
from their chairs, he drove them out of the temple.
Then he drove the sheep and the cattle out after
the men. It is written in the scriptures God's house
shall be a house of prayer, but you have made
it into a den of thieves and robbers. He cried.

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This was too much for the priests of the temple
and all the important men who ruled Jerusalem. The next day,
some of the rulers came to Jesus and said, what
right have you to do these things? Who told you
that you could act like this? So far, Jesus had
never said that he was the Messiah. He only acted

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as if he was the Messiah. The rulers hoped that
he would say something that they could punish him for,
but Jesus was too quick for them. He said, I'll
answer your question if you answer a question of mine.
When John the Baptist used to preach to you and
baptize people, who gave him the right to do that,

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then the rulers did not know what to say. They
thought to themselves, Now, if we say that John was
sent by God to preach, he will say why didn't
you listen to him? Then if we say that John
didn't have any right to preach, the people will be
angry and they will likely kill us, for everyone still
thinks that John the Baptist was a great prophet sent

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by God himself. So all they said, was we don't know,
We can't tell very well. Jesus retorted, neither am I
going to tell you what right I have to do
these things. Every day that week Jesus came and taught
in the temple. Several times his enemies tried to trick
him into saying something that would turn the people against him,

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but Jesus always had an answer which silenced them. Once
they came and asked should we pay taxes to the Romans?
That was a hard question. All the Jews hated the Romans,
and if Jesus said it was their duty to pay
the taxes, everybody would hate him too. But if he
said they should not pay the taxes, well they could

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count on the Roman governor to settle with Jesus. Then
show me a penny, Jesus replied. Someone handed him a
piece of Roman money. There was a man's picture stamped
on one side of it. Jesus said, whose picture is that? Why?
They answered, that is a picture of Caesar, the Emperor

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of Rome. All right, said Jesus, do whatever your duty
is to Caesar and his government. You will have to
decide about that for yourselves, and also do your duty
to God. It was such a clever answer that no
one had a word to say. And Jesus still had
not said anything that he could be punished for. But

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he said a great deal to make his enemies angry
about the Pharisees. He spoke the hardest words he had
ever said. Watch out for the scribes and the Pharisees,
he told the people, And don't be like them. They
love to walk round in their long white robes and
to have everybody bow to them in the street, and
to sit in the best seats in the synagogues and

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at dinners. All the time they are taking money from
poor widows, and they try to cover it up by
making long prayers. Turning to the Pharisees themselves, he went on,
woe to you, Pharisees. You are like graves with rotting
bodies in them, which people walk over without knowing what
is underneath. Nobody knows how bad you are. Are you snakes?

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How can you escape the punishment which God is bringing
upon you. He left the Pharisees and went into the
temple where people were making their gifts to God. Many
rich men came in and put large sums of money
in the box. Then came a poor widow who put
two small coins in the box. Jesus called his disciples

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to him and said, I tell you, this poor widow
has given more than all these rich people are giving.
For the rich people have plenty of money, and it
doesn't cost them anything to give what they do. But
this poor woman needs her money, and she has given
all she has. With many words and stories, he taught

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the people who thronged around him on the days of
that week. And this was the last story he ever told.
Some day I shall sit upon my throne and judge
all the nations of the earth. To some people, I
will say, come, my heavenly father loves you. Take the
reward he has planned for you to have. For I

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was hungry, and you gave me food. I was thirsty,
and you gave me something to drink. I was a
stranger and you took me into your homes. I had
nothing to wear, and you gave me clothes. I was
sick and in prison, and you came to visit me.
Then these people will be surprised and say, Lord, when

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did we ever do anything for you? And I will
say you were kind to the poor and to the sick,
and the hungry, who did not count for anything on earth.
You did not know it at the time, but when
you did a kindness to them, it was really to
me that you did it. Then I will say to others,

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go away. God wants nothing to do with you, for
I was hungry and thirsty, and naked and sick and
in prison, and you did nothing at all for me.
These people will also be surprised. They will say, Lord,
when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty, or
naked or sick in prison? If we had seen you

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needing anything, we would have helped you. And I will say,
many poor people needed your help, and you did not
help them. When you failed them, you failed me, and
now it is too late. The priests and the rulers
did not know what to do about Jesus the Messiah. Indeed,

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they thought they hated him, and they were afraid of him.
They were afraid of the Romans too. What would the
Roman governor say if he heard that there was some
one in Jerusalem pretending to be King of the Jews.
The priests and the rulers wanted to kill Jesus. That
was all they talked about, But they did not know

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how it was to be done. For whenever Jesus came
to Jerusale, great crowds gathered around him. None of the
priests dared to lay a finger on him in the open.
The crowds would never let them. It seemed to the
people as if the Messiah might have come at last.
But something had to be done. The priests and the

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rulers said, the week was going by, the feast of
Passover was nearly there. We shall have to do away
with Jesus. Quietly, some one said yes, The others agreed.
We can't wait till the day of the Passover. If
we should do anything to him on that day, there
would be a riot. They were at their wits end

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to know how to get rid of Jesus. The craftiest
men in Jerusalem could not think what to do. There
was a knock at the door. It was one of
jesus twelve disciples who had come to see the priests
and rulers. His name was Judas Iscariot. What will you
give me, Judas said, if I turn Jesus over to you.

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The priests and the rulers could hardly believe their ears.
Thirty pieces of silver you shall have, they cried, If
you give us. Jesus so for thirty pieces of silver.
Judas agreed to show them where Jesus was at some
time when there was no one around. But the twelve
disciples send soldiers when I tell you, Judas said. The

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other disciples will all be there, and the soldiers won't
know which man to take. But I will go up
to Jesus and kiss him. The man I kiss will
be the one you want. Some dark night, soon, a
quiet place with no one around to see, and nobody
would have to worry about Jesus of Nazareth any more.

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And of chapter twelve,