HALIFAX, Nova Scotia, April 3, 2025 – Up until about a week before his resurrection, Jesus was very quiet about who he was. If he revealed his Messiahship at all, it was very hush-hush and to his disciples only, and that obliquely, never directly. If he knew he was targeted for arrest in one place, he avoided it and went to another. He kept a low profile and was always on the move, always looking over his shoulder and cautious in his words. He cautioned his disciples to keep certain things quiet. He cautioned those he healed not to tell anyone who’d healed them. He commanded the demons to shut the hell up about him. He proceeded steadily through his ministry, steadily, steadily, but at times as if walking on eggshells, not on water, and always keeping within the strict bounds dictated by God.

And then about a week before his glorification, Jesus was unleashed. It started with his triumphal entry into Jerusalem, riding a colt over an impromptu red carpet of strewn palm branches and bystanders’ garments, fit for a king. Because he was a king – JESUS IS KING! – and from that moment, he openly assumed his rightful role.

I used to get depressed about what the Catholics blandly call “Holy Week”, the days leading up to Jesus’ crucifixion. I hated thinking about what was done to Jesus, and the closer the memorial of that event drew near, the more depressed I got. And then one day God showed me another way to think about that week. He showed me not to focus on the crucifixion but on all the events leading up to the resurrection, as relayed in the gospels. From that perspective – God’s perspective – I came to see those days as the most action-packed and exhilarating of Jesus’ entire ministry.

After his triumphal entry, Jesus tore through the temple like a cleansing whirlwind, overturning the tables of the moneychangers and whipping any of them who refused to leave. He also stopped anyone from carrying vessels through the temple proper, commanding them to respect God’s temple as a house of prayer, not a place of commerce. And in that cleansed temple that he now rightfully lorded over, Jesus taught like he’d never taught before. He rebuked the hypocrites for being hypocrites. He directed to give God what is due God and to Caesar what is due Caesar. He told the temple elders and chief priests that by whose authority he did what he did was none of their business and accused them of being like greedy and murderous workers who’d been tasked by their master to maintain his property but instead had destroyed it. He set the Sadducees straight on the resurrection doctrine. He declared himself to be greater than David’s son. He declared the widow’s farthing to be of higher value than everyone else’s contributions to the treasury. And he gave his famed and detailed run-down of what to expect during Earth’s final days.

In short, Jesus owned that week in the same way he owned the temple – fully, unapologetically, and rightfully. The King had ascended his throne – the Highest Priest had entered the Holiest of Holies – and he danced like no-one was watching, like David danced when he brought the Ark of the Covenant into the City of David. And with Jesus’ every word and every movement during that most glorious of all weeks, God was not only fully onboard, he willed it, showing his signature and seal of approval by having his prophets record it in scripture long before it happened.

Jesus unleashed was God’s greatest creation. No-one before or since has come anywhere close to that breathtaking display of power and glory. Still, as Jesus’ followers, we should pray to be unleashed like Jesus was when our hour comes.

So consider this fair warning, all you hypocrites out there: Maybe not today, but one day… we’re coming for you.