BIBLE REFERENCE:
John 12:12-13; “The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out: “Hosanna! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’The King of Israel!”
ENCOURAGING WORD:
Let us start out with the triumphal entry that took place six days before Passover. All four Gospels have a very good account of what the Bible refers to as “The Triumphal Entry.”
We read this in Johns account; John 12:12-19; “The next day (Referring to the day after “The Anointing at Bethany”) a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out “Hosanna! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ The King of Israel!” Then Jesus, when He had found a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written: “Fear not, daughter of Zion; Behold, your King is coming, Sitting on a donkey’s colt.”
Palm Sunday commemorates when Jesus entered Jerusalem and was greeted by people waving palm branches. On this day, many Christians celebrate this day as “Palm Sunday,” the last Sunday before Jesus death on the cross which was the following Friday. (Celebrated by some as “Good Friday”) (Jesus arose from the dead the following Sunday where we refer to as Resurrection Sunday)
This event that we call the “The Triumphal Entry, occurs one week before Jesus would rise from the grave and would once and for all defeat death. While all of this was taking place during this final week, Jesus was very aware that by the end of that week, He would be tried, sentenced, scourged, and crucified for crime that He did not commit. Knowing all this that would take place, Jesus welcomed His fate, knowing that He would rise from the grave on the third day and by doing so, He would provide a way for all humanity to be saved. Unfortunately, very few people would accept this propitiation for what Jesus accomplished on the cross and would reject this wonderful gift that we refer to as Grace!
In many churches, Palm Sunday is observed with the blessing and sharing of palm branches, symbolizing the branches placed in front of Christ as he entered Jerusalem. I was curious why they chose palm branches so I looked into it and here is what I found. In the Bible, as well as from other sources outside of the Bible, we see that the use of “palm branches” was often tied to “victory.” While not recorded in the Bible, history tells us that waving palm branches was done to celebrate kings and conquerors. We also know that in Greek athletic competitions, victors were often given a palm branch, which they would wave to celebrate their “victory.” Do you see the parallel to Jesus? I feel confident that the Jews had this event (and Hanukkah) in mind when they did exactly the same thing when Jesus came into Jerusalem. They were waving palm branches, and throwing them in front of Him to celebrate their “conquering hero,” who they believed was going to set them free from Roman oppression. Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem, called “The Triumphal Entry,” like I mentioned in the beginning of this message, this is recorded in each of the Gospels, However, only John records “palm branches” being used in this celebration.
We in Luke 19:28-44; “When He had said this, He went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. And it came to pass, when He drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mountain called Olivet, that He sent two of His disciples, saying, “Go into the village opposite you, where as you enter you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat. Loose it and bring it here. And if anyone asks you, ‘Why are you loosing it?’ thus you shall say to him, ‘Because the Lord has need of it.’ ”So those who were sent went their way and found it just as He had said to them. But as they were loosing the colt, the owners of it said to them, “Why are you loosing the colt?” And they said, “The Lord has need of him.” Then they brought him to Jesus. And they threw their own clothes on the colt, and they set Jesus on him. And as He went, many spread their clothes on the road. Then, as He was now drawing near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen, saying:
“ ‘Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!’Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”
And some of the Pharisees called to Him from the crowd, “Teacher, rebuke Your disciples.” But He answered and said to them, “I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out.” Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, “If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation.”
When we read “I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out.” I often wonder what would have happened if all of a sudden all the stones would start crying out ‘Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!’Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” That would have really caused a stir among the Jewish Authorities. They most like would still not have figured it out that Jesus Christ was their long awaited Messiah!
We need to understand that Jesus was in charge of everything that was going to happen. Jesus arranged everything that was going to happen during His final week on earth, including the scourging that He would go through and would ultimately end with Him being nailed to the cross. All this was preordained and prophesied by prophets of the Old Testament.
Here are two verse from the Old Testament that prophecy about the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
Isaiah 53:12; “Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, And He shall divide the spoil with the strong, Because He poured out His soul unto death, And He was numbered with the transgressors, And He bore the sin of many, And made intercession for the transgressors.”
Isaiah 53:5; “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities;The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.”
There are those that actually teach that Jesus messed up on His mission and got caught and the crucifixion was not supposed to happen. They obviously have never read the full counsel of God from Genesis through Revelation. The whole Bible was pre-ordained by Jesus Christ Himself. He wrote History in advance and knew everything that would take place from the beginning of the world to the end of the world as we know it today. Think about this for a moment. All this had to take place because of Adam and Eves sin in the Garden of Eden. Man was created in a perfect environment in perfect standing with God. No evil of any kind until Satan deceived Eve into eating from the tree of good and evil. That event triggered all that had to happen, so that mankind could be reconciled back to God. Yes, God had to enter His creation in the personage of Jesus Christ. He had to live a perfect sinless life and then He willfully went to the cross to pay for our sins and reconcile us back to Him. What a wonderful loving God we serve. He could have let us all parish into eternal separation from Him, but because of His love for you and I, He paid a price that He did not owe because we owe a price that we cannot pay. Only the spotless Lamb of God (Jesus Christ) could fulfill that requirement.
Now we read where Jesus was just about to enter Jerusalem!
The account from Luke 19:41-44 tells us this: “Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, “If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, and level you, and your children within you to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation.”
These verses in Luke should be a lesson to all who are rejecting Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and the truth of the Gospel of Salvation today. This is where Jesus predicted the fall of Jerusalem, and why, because they did not know Bible prophecy. They should have known the exact day that Jesus would proclaim Himself to be the Messiah.
We find this incredible prophecy in;
Daniel 9:25; “Know therefore and understand, That from the going forth of the command To restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, There shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; The street shall be built again, and wall, Even in troublesome times.”
When you do the math, this prophecy comes out to the exact day that Jesus road into Jerusalem on a donkey on the day that we call “The Triumphal Entry.” Jesus held the Jews accountable to know Bible prophecy, and yet, we are doing the same thing today for the most part, especially in most of the Christian churches. The result for not knowing Bible prophecy today will be different then what the Jews suffered. Israel was trodden down by Titus Vespasian and the Roman Legion just as Jesus prophesied would happen. As a result of this siege, the Jews were dispersed into the world for the last two thousand years, in which much of that time they were under heavy persecution, all because they did not Know Bible Prophecy. Those that reject Bible prophecy today and don’t understand the days in which we live, will most likely miss what has been prophesied and to happen in the end days, and may very likely be cast into the Lake of Burning Fire forever as a result of not being taught what to expect in these days in which we live. We need to be aware of how close we are to the second coming of Jesus Christ. God told us in advance all that was going to take place just before the return of Jesus Christ so we would be ready when that day came. Many will not be prepared for what is coming. I’m not saying that anybody will go to hell for not knowing Bible Prophecy, but for those that are procrastinating because they think we have a lot of time, may just wait too long. It is wise to know what is coming, so you will have a sense of urgency and get right with Jesus Christ before it is too late.
Now let’s move on, after Jesus had spent time with the Disciples teaching them in parables, we read in Matthew the following verses.
Matthew, 26: 1-6; “Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished all these sayings, that He said to His disciples, “You know that after two days is the Passover, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.” Then the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders of the people assembled at the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas, and plotted to take Jesus by trickery and kill Him. But they said, “Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar among the people.”
Jesus told His disciples over and over again that He would be tried, judged, and crucified. This was prophesied quite often throughout the scriptures of the Bible. Notice also, Jesus arranged His crucifixion to be on the feast of Passover even though the Jewish authorities didn’t want it to happen on a feast day. By doing this Jesus fulfill Bible prophecy as it was written.
This is symbolic of the Passover lamb that was slaughtered and spread over the door post the night of the First Passover. They took a perfect spotless lamb, killed it and when they spread it over the door post. All the first born that lived in those homes would be spared from certain death as a result of the blood of the Lamb. One verse that I refer to quite often is found in;
Daniel 9:26; where we read; “And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; And the people of the prince who is to come Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, And till the end of the war desolations are determined.”
This is prophesying the exact day that Jesus would be crucified, but, not for Himself as we clearly read. Once again, very few people understood the Daniel 9 prophecy, so therefore, they were not prepared for what was coming just as most of the church today doesn’t have a clue what is coming. The Disciples didn’t understand what Jesus was telling them all along until after Jesus Christ was crucified and had risen from the dead. Again, this is very significant in the days in which we are living. Very few people understand what is coming, because they don’t read or understand Bible prophecy. And once it comes, it will be too late and when that time has come and gone, a lot of people at that time will then believe what we have been trying to warn the world about today. History is in a sense, repeating itself, as often is the case. Someone once said, “If we learn anything from history, it is that we learn nothing from history.”
This reminds me of another conversation someone had. Someone asked, “What is the biggest problem in America today” the other person said, “I don’t know, and I don’t care!” Bingo! Very few people know what is going on and most people don’t care what is going on. It’s like a lamb being lead to the slaughter.
Now as we move on, right after the “Anointing at Bethany” we read where one of the disciples (Judas Iscariot) went to the chief Priests and betrayed Jesus Christ for thirty pieces of silver. We read this In;
Matthew 26:14-15; “Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, “What are you willing to give me if I deliver Him to you?” And they counted out to him thirty pieces of silver.”
This takes us to where Jesus Christ Celebrates Passover with His Disciples. This is what we refer to as the “Last Supper.” There are many artists that tryed to capture the magificence of this event. It is a very popular painting among Christians. We read this very pivotal event in history in the following verses. I need to read this whole account of what was said and what happened at the Passover Supper.
Matthew 26:17-30; “Now on the first day of the Feast of the Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying to Him, “Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?” And He said, “Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, “My time is at hand; I will keep the Passover at your house with My disciples.” ’So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them; and they prepared the Passover. When evening had come, He sat down with the twelve. Now as they were eating, He said, “Assuredly, I say to you, one of you will betray Me.” And they were exceedingly sorrowful, and each of them began to say to Him, “Lord, is it I?” He answered and said, “He who dipped his hand with Me in the dish will betray Me. The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.” Then Judas, who was betraying Him, answered, and said, “Rabbi, is it I?” He said to him, “You have said it.”
These next versea are where Jesus instituted Communion and the breaking of bread.
And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed, and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.” Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.” And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
This is very interesting for so many reasons. First of all, this by no means institutes the Eucharist, (A Catholic Tradition) When Jesus gave His life on the cross, He said it is finished, paid in full, He died once and for all for the sins of the world, but yet every time during the Eucharist, they take a wafer, declare that they turn the wafer into the body of Jesus and then they break it, symbolized the breaking of Jesus Chris on the cross, therefore being put to death over and over again. Jesus said to do this in memory of Him, not literally crucified Him over and over again.
We read in; Romans 6:8-11; “Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Enough on this, I’m sure that I ruffled some feathers, but believe what you will, you have that right just as much as I have a right to proclaim what I believe is the truth.
Also, something that I’m sure very many people miss when reading the following verse,” “But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.”
What is Jesus referring to when He said this. He is referring to the day where He sets up His one Thousand Year Millennial Kingdom. This is a New Testament picture of an Old Testament teachings. Let me explain. During the process of the Galilean wedding, When a man wanted to start the process of marriage, the first thing that took place was the betrothal or in our terms, the engagement. When the groom wanted to proclaim his intentions, he would have in his possession a cup of wine which would be offered as a bond between the groom and his bride to be. The groom would first offer the cup to the future bride and if she would take a drink from the cup, that would indicate that she was accepting his proposal. At that point, she had total control of whether or not she would accept or decline his betrothal. If she accepted it and took a drink, she would then give the cup back to the groom. At that point he would declare that he would not drink from that cup until they would celebrate their wedding feast.
See, Jesus did not drink of the cup at the Lords Supper, because the marriage ceremony would not take place until He sets up His Millennial Kingdom, where all believers will sit down with Him and celebrate “The Marriage Supper of the Lamb” Notice, Jesus gave to His disciples to drink, but he did not drink from the cup at that time. This would be symbolic of the betrothal that took place in the Galilean wedding. The disciples knew all too well what Jesus was taking about at this time because they were very familiar with the Galilean wedding.
Once the supper was over, Jesus washed the disciples’ feet as revealed in; John 13:3-10. Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God, rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself. After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded. Then He came to Simon Peter. And Peter said to Him, “Lord, are You washing my feet?” Jesus answered and said to him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but you will know after this.” Peter said to Him, “You shall never wash my feet!” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.” Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head!” Jesus said to him, “He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you.”
This also included Judas. Judas then left the group to betray Jesus, and Jesus taught them the words of;
John 13:31-17:26; You may read this on your own. "Then Jesus and the eleven went to the garden of Gethsemane of Gethsemane. During this time in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus was very sorrowful, to the point where He actually sweat blood. After being in agony and praying three times, Jesus arose to meet His betrayer.
We read this in; Luke 22:44; “And being in agony, He (Jesus) prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.”
We also read this account in; Matthew 26:36-46; “Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, “Sit here while I go and pray over there.” And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me.” He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.” Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “What! Could you not watch with Me one hour? Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Again, a second time, He went away and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done.” And He came and found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy. So He left them, went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words. Then He came to His disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going. See, My betrayer is at hand.”
I don’t think we have any idea how much Jesus suffered in agony. Sure we can read all about it, but I’m sure that none of us have ever felt what Jesus felt in garden of Gethsemane that night. Keep this in mind, At any time during the next 24 hours, Jesus could have said, I’m out of here, enough is enough, but He didn’t. He knew that the only way for man to be saved was by the shedding of innocent blood and He was the only one who could fulfill that requirement. In other words, Jesus did this for you and I because of His love for us.
What do we read in the following verse; John 15:13; “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.” How many of us would do this for a friend? There might be a few, but not many! Keep this thought in mind. Jesus was crucified on a cross of wood, but yet He made the hill on which it stood. Let that sink in for a few minutes.
And then we read; Matthew 26:47-56; “ And while He was still speaking, behold, Judas, one of the twelve, with a great multitude with swords and clubs, came from the chief priests and elders of the people. Now His betrayer had given them a sign, saying, “Whomever I kiss, He is the One; seize Him.” Immediately he went up to Jesus and said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” and kissed Him. But Jesus said to him, “Friend, why have you come?” Then they came and laid hands on Jesus and took Him. And suddenly, one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword, struck the servant of the high priest, and cut off his ear. But Jesus said to him, “Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword. Or do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels? How then could the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must happen thus?” In that hour Jesus said to the multitudes, “Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs to take Me? I sat daily with you, teaching in the temple, and you did not seize Me. But all this was done that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples forsook Him and fled.”
And then throughout the rest of that night Jesus was put through a series of trials, all, which I might add, went against the lawful protocol. You could say it was a kangaroo trial. (The term “kangaroo court” is an idiom referring to a court whose proceedings deviate so far from accepted legal norms that they can no longer be considered fair or just.)
Jesus was the only perfect human being to ever walk the earth. He had no sin, did no wrong and they He died the most horrific death known to man. It was a death that we deserved, but He took all our pain and sorrow on Himself and nailed it to a wooden cross so that we would not have to suffer for our sins. Jesus came to pay a debt He did not owe, because we owed a debt we could not pay. See, Jesus paid our debt in full, so, when we stand before Him in Judgement, we will be found innocent because Jesus wiped our slate clean. But, if you feel that you can pay for your own debt by performing good works, good luck with that one. It can’t be done.
This takes us up to Good Friday. I will continue in my next post to go through Good Friday, the crucifixion and finally the resurrection, which many refer to as Easter.
“The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace.”
God bless you all and take care!
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