As Jesus made his triumphal entry into Jerusalem, the people shouted for their coming king:
“Hosanna!”
Mark 11:9-10
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!”
“Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
Jesus was entering and the people spoke of Jesus coming to conquer. They shouted for the new kingdom of Israel that would be realized through Jesus. They were proclaiming the return of their king, just as had been prophecied.
So you would expect that, if the king was coming to restore the kingdom of Israel, the first thing that he would need to do would be to throw off the oppressive Roman government. But this king… this king doesn’t go to conquer the Roman government. This one, instead, goes to the temple courts:
Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple courts.
Mark 11:11
I wonder if the people wondered where he was going. Wrong way, Jesus!, I wonder if they shouted at him. This way to the governor’s palace!, I wonder if they said. But Jesus went precisely where he wanted to go. He went to the temple.
Jesus wasn’t interested in political kingdoms. Jesus was interested in righteousness and the throwing off of the tyrrany of sin. Jesus was on a mission to destroy everything that stood in the way of the advance of the kingdom of God, and the first thing that must happen is the purification of the temple, of the worship of God.
Jesus goes to the temple courts upon entry into Jerusalem. He returns again the next day to drive out the money changers. And then once more the following day to teach the people and explain further to the Pharisees who he is.
Jesus had a completely different agenda. His agenda wasn’t for poltical change. His agenda was for spiritual change. Jesus’s kingdom isn’t of this world. His kingdom is the world, and the heavens, and the earth. Jesus is king over all.