Jerusalem, Jerusalem

Jerusalem is named 13x in Matthew’s gospel, the last of them in 23:37 where the name is doubled in Jesus’ lament (the city’s name is spelled differently in 23:37). Both at the beginning and end, Jerusalem is troubled by the coming of Jesus: All Jerusalem is upset with Herod at the announcement of a king’s birth (2:3), and when Jesus enters Jerusalem at Passover “all the city was stirred” (21:10). Jerusalem the troubled city is the city that kills her king; apart from 5:35, Jesus mentions Jerusalem only in connection with His coming death (16:21; 20:17-18; 23:37).

The turning point in Jesus’ relations with Jerusalem comes in 15:1 (the first reference to Jerusalem after 5:35), where Pharisees and scribes come from Jerusalem to challenge Jesus because He doesn’t wash before meals. It’s not the last time some come from Jerusalem complaining about cleanliness and table fellowship: The Judaizers are a second visitation from Jerusalem, repeating the trek of the Pharisees in Matthew 15 (Gal 2).