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Instruction Concerning the Kingdom
Luke 19: 1-28

On His way to Jerusalem to be slaughtered as the Passover Lamb, Jesus stopped at Jericho. It was a necessary resting place before entering the dangerous, rocky, robber-haunted gorge that led from there to the Holy City of  Tziyon, and formed a rough, almost continuous, climb of six hours, from 900 feet below to nearly 3,000 feet above sea level. Jericho was a Levitical city, and therefore the residence of a great many priests. In addition, its position as the center of an exceptionally productive district, and also the import and export trade between the two sides of the Jordan, also made it a city of Jewish tax collectors. They were all under the control of a local Jew named Zacchaeus. As Jesus and His talmidim made their way toward the Throne of the LORD (Jeremiah 3:17), the Twelve were sure that Messiah was going there to receive a crown, to be acknowledged as king and to institute the messianic Kingdom. It was then that Christ told them a parable in order to correct their misunderstanding.1225