Come follow in His steps and consider how you, too, can create significant memories of eternal value.Reference Book: Surprised by Jesus by Tim StaffordRead Zechariah 9:9-10; I Corinthians 11:26; John 13:2-17; Luke 22:7-20During His active ministry, Jesus often “flew under the radar.” The people wanted a Messiah who would liberate them from Rome. Jesus was giving them a Messiah who would liberate them from sin and create the Kingdom of God. Had He not been careful, the people may have seen Him as the great liberator. At the end of His ministry, however, He spoke symbolically, first to the people, then to the religious leaders, then to His disciples.Read aloud, Zechariah. 9:9-10. The people knew this Messianic passage. The passage indicated the Messiah would come either in a lowly fashion or in peace, both symbolized by the donkey. Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem on the day Christians call Palm Sunday was a definite symbol saying “I am your Messiah.” The people reacted appropriately!Why did Jesus make such a loud public statement when He did?Read aloud Jn 13:2-17. In what has become known to Christians as the Upper Room, Jesus did something unprecedented in the sight of His disciples … make that to His disciples. He washed their feet, the task of a servant. He already had told them to gain their life they had to lose it, and that He had come to serve, not to be served.What did the disciples learn from this selfless act of Jesus? Is there any application to the Church today?Read aloud Lk 22:7-20. The disciples had taken part in many Passover meals. They probably knew what it originally had meant per God’s instructions and the meaning eventually given to it by the people. God told the Theocracy when celebrating Passover that the meaning of the rite was a Passover sacrifice to the Lord who passed over the houses of the sons of Israel in Egypt when He smote the Egyptians but spared the Israelites (Ex 12:26-27). Then the Pharisees changed the focus to celebrate the Exodus and its lessons, which continues through today. Jesus built on the meaning of the celebration for the disciples at the time, i.e., liberation. He also re-focused the meaning of God when He said “Do this in remembrance of me.”What did Paul mean when he wrote “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the lord’s death until He comes”? (1Cor. 11:26)Read aloud Mt. 21: 12-13. This time, the context of His symbol-making was His Father’s house, a very hallowed place … instead of hallowed, replace it with special. The Temple was special to the religious leaders in Jesus’ day, special in their terms. Jesus was letting them know they had lost their holiness.Discuss the cleansing of the Temple from the perspective of a religious leader, a disciple, and a common Jewish citizen of Israel.Discuss the various questions and ideas found within this assignment description. Give fuller meaning and support your ideas with Scripture.How can you engage in the use of symbols to teach spiritual truth?Scholarly academic resources, textbooks, or other sources provided. Quoting or paraphrasing from any source in discussion posts requires APA 7 format by including an in-text citation and listing the reference at the end of the post.