If Matthew’s Gospel were being performed as a drama, this is the point where the orchestra would suddenly strike an ominous chord. Something bad is about to happen.
Up north in Galilee, Jesus had been confronted at times by Pharisees and scribes. But how he is in the big city, and in the Temple area. Suddenly, for the first time, the chief priest and the elders appear on the scene.
These people have power. These people are the most threatened by what Jesus has just been doing – entering the city like a messiah, predicting the destruction of the Temple, driving the sellers and buyers from the Temple area.
These are the people who will succeed in having Jesus executed. And now, here they are looking him in the eye.
Why do we have a Gospel like this – which seems like it belongs in Lent – when we’re 10 days away from Christmas?!
Because we’re preparing to celebrate the birth of the child whose death will make our death a birth.
The Boar’s Head
Over time, the wild boar became a symbol of evil. Killing, roasting and eating the boar was the celebration of the victory of good over evil. This came to be associated with Christmas because the birth of Christ was the turning point in the great struggle between good and evil.
Henry VIII made wild boar the official Christmas dish in England. Eventually the wild boar was hunted to extinction in England, and was replaced at Christmas by pig, turkey, or goose.
The Wassail Bowl
The word “wassail” comes from Old Norse “vas heil” – a toast meaning “good health.”
The wassail bowl was a wooden bowl into which people dipped their cups for a beverage in preparation for a toast on ceremonial occasions.
At Christmas, the poor in England would “go wassailing,” which meant dancing and singing in the neighborhood streets, hoping that householders would give them a warm drink from their wassail bowl.