A LOOK BACK...

We spent time last week talking about the King and Kingdom teaching of Jesus. This week we start the final week of Jesus’ life. Holy Week. We are going to divide this up into 3 parts.

-- Today will be PT 1…the triumphal entry
-- Good Friday will be PT 2…the last supper, the garden, the betrayal, the arrest, the trials and the crucifixion…
-- And then EASTER Sunday will be PT 3…the glorious resurrection of Jesus!!!

CONTEXT AND CHRONOLOGY OF THE TRIUMPHAL ENTRY OF JESUS…

-- The Triumphal Entry took place in the context of the Passover Feast.

[1] Lazarus is raised from the dead in Bethany (JN 11:1-44)

[2] Chief Priests/Pharisees plot to kill Jesus…Caiaphas/High Priest prophesies Jesus will die for the nation (JN 11:45-57)

[3] On Saturday, Nisan 8th (Six days before passover), Jesus eats a sabbath meal in Bethany with Lazarus, Mary and Martha… This was the regular Jewish custom during the Passover feast. [Those who would come to Jerusalem for the observance of the Feast of the Passover would arrive in the Jerusalem vicinity on the 8th of Nisan.]…Jesus was keeping with that pattern. This is where Mary washes Jesus feet with expensive perfume and Judas Iscariot gets upset about it…Jesus said she did a beautiful thing and was preparing him for his burial (JN 12:1-7)

[4] Chief Priests plot to kill Lazarus to remove the miraculous event of his death and resurrection by Jesus (JN 12:9-11)

TRIUMPHAL ENTRY OF JESUS… COMBINED GOSPEL ACCOUNTS

-- All four gospels record the account of Jesus' triumphal entry...
MT 21:1-11, MK 11:1-11, LK 19:28-44, JN 12:12-19

-- This happened on Monday, the 10th of Nisan

-- In order to get a full reading I am going to combine the four gospels narratives to get one unified reading of all four accounts. The passages will be...
JN 12:12-13, MK 11:1-7, MT 21:4-5, LK 19:37-44, JN 12:17-19

COMBINED NARRATIVES...
JN 12:12-13…
12 The next day, when the large crowd that had come to the festival heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, 13 they took palm branches and went out to meet him. They kept shouting: “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord —the King of Israel!”
MK 11:1-7…
When they approached Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany near the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples 2 and told them, “Go into the village ahead of you. As soon as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it. 3 If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here right away.’” 4 So they went and found a colt outside in the street, tied by a door. They untied it, 5 and some of those standing there said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” 6 They answered them just as Jesus had said; so they let them go. 7 They brought the colt to Jesus and threw their clothes on it, and he sat on it.
MT 21:4-5…
4 This took place so that what was spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled: 5 Tell Daughter Zion, “See, your King is coming to you, gentle, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”
LK 19:37-44…
37 Now he came near the path down the Mount of Olives, and the whole crowd of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the miracles they had seen: 38 Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven and glory in the highest heaven! 39 Some of the Pharisees from the crowd told him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” 40 He answered, “I tell you, if they were to keep silent, the stones would cry out.” 41 As he approached and saw the city, he wept for it, 42 saying, “If you knew this day what would bring peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. 43 For the days will come on you when your enemies will build a barricade around you, surround you, and hem you in on every side. 44 They will crush you and your children among you to the ground, and they will not leave one stone on another in your midst, because you did not recognize the time when God visited you.”
JN 12:17-19…
17 Meanwhile, the crowd, which had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead, continued to testify. 18 This is also why the crowd met him, because they heard he had done this sign. 19 Then the Pharisees said to one another, “You see? You’ve accomplished nothing. Look, the world has gone after him!”

INTENTIONALITY OF THIS SPECIFIC DATE…(Nisan 10)

-- This was very intentional…because the 10th of Nisan was the day that the Jews were told to set aside the passover lamb.

EX 12:1-11 CSB
"The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, 2 “This month is to be the beginning of months for you; it is the first month of your year. 3 Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month they must each select an animal of the flock according to their fathers’ families, one animal per family. 4 If the household is too small for a whole animal, that person and the neighbor nearest his house are to select one based on the combined number of people; you should apportion the animal according to what each will eat. 5 You must have an unblemished animal, a year-old male; you may take it from either the sheep or the goats. 6 You are to keep it until the fourteenth day of this month; then the whole assembly of the community of Israel will slaughter the animals at twilight. 7 They must take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses where they eat them. 8 They are to eat the meat that night; they should eat it, roasted over the fire along with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. 9 Do not eat any of it raw or cooked in boiling water, but only roasted over fire—its head as well as its legs and inner organs. 10 You must not leave any of it until morning; any part of it left until morning you must burn. 11 Here is how you must eat it: You must be dressed for travel, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. You are to eat it in a hurry; it is the Lord’s Passover."

[1] On the 10th day of the month of Nisan the passover lamb was to be set aside.
[2] Between the 10th and the 14th of Nisan, the lamb was to be inspected and tested to be sure that it was without spot and without blemish
[3] Beginning on the evening of the 14th of Nisan, the Passover occurred.

-- So the Triumphal Entry was not the time that Jesus was offering Himself as the King, that was nothing new, but rather, what happened over the next several days was the testing of the Lamb to prove that the Lamb of God was without blemish and without spot

1 PET 1:18-19
“18 For you know that you were redeemed from your empty way of life inherited from your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of an unblemished and spotless lamb.”

THE RESPONSE OF THE CROWD TO JESUS RIDING INTO JERUSALEM ON THE FOAL OF A DONKEY…

-- The four Gospel accounts together give a full description of the responses of the multitudes. They responded in three ways.

[1] First, they cut off palm branches and laid them before the feet of the colt upon which Jesus was riding.

[2] Secondly, they cried out “Hosanna”…the actions of the multitudes showed that they were expecting the Kingdom of the Messiah to be set up on that occasion. —

ZECH 9:9
“Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout in triumph, Daughter Jerusalem! Look, your King is coming to you; he is righteous and victorious, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

[3] Thirdly, they shouted “Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord”. This comes from PSALM 118:26

PS 118:26
“He who comes in the name of the Lord is blessed. From the house of the Lord we bless you.”

-- This is a messianic Psalm. From a Jewish frame of reference, that particular phrase is an official Messianic greeting. The rabbis taught that, when the Messiah comes, He must be greeted with these words. When the people applied these words to Jesus, they were proclaiming Him, by the thousands, to be the Messiah of Israel.

THE RESPONSE OF THE RELIGIOUS LEADERS…

-- But while the masses were proclaiming Him to be the Messiah, the Pharisees did not go along with them. The Pharisaic response is recorded in JOHN 12:19 and LUKE 19:39-40...

JN 12:19
“You see? You’ve accomplished nothing. Look, the world has gone after him!”

LK 19:39-40
“39 Some of the Pharisees from the crowd told him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” 40 He answered, “I tell you, if they were to keep silent, the stones would cry out.”

THE RESPONSE OF JESUS…

LK 19:41-44
"41 As he approached and saw the city, he wept for it, 42 saying, “If you knew this day what would bring peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. 43 For the days will come on you when your enemies will build a barricade around you, surround you, and hem you in on every side. 44 They will crush you and your children among you to the ground, and they will not leave one stone on another in your midst, because you did not recognize the time when God visited you.”

-- If Jesus had simply offered the Kingdom as He rode into Jerusalem on that day of the Triumphal Entry, He would have been accepted as the Messiah by the multitudes right then and there! He was being proclaimed as the Messiah by thousands upon thousands of Jews. The objectors were the leaders, but the masses were proclaiming His messiahship.

-- But…no amount of “Hosannas” and “Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord” could change what had already occurred a year-and-a-half earlier.[MT 12] The unpardonable sin had already been committed by this generation. They had already rejected His Messiahship on the grounds of demon possession; and because that sin was exactly what He said it was, unpardonable, under no circumstances could the judgment now be removed. Otherwise, the unpardonable would have become pardonable, negating the very words of Jesus.

-- In spite of the many Hosannas, in spite of the many messianic proclamations, because the rejection had already occurred and the unpardonable sin had already been committed, the words of Jesus were words of judgment. Jesus once again reiterated that Jerusalem was destined for destruction. The Temple was to be torn down until not one stone stood upon another. Because Jerusalem had not recognized at the proper time that the Messiah had come, the judgment was still going to occur. And that happened in AD70 when Jerusalem was destroyed (along with the Temple).

-- After a manifold testimony of His Messiahship, after Jesus proved Himself by many miracles, signs, and wonders, after they heard Him teach and preach and proclaim for the past year and a half, they had rejected Him. Thus, they did not know the time of their visitation. Because of this, they were still under judgment.

-- Again, the purpose of the Triumphal Entry was not to offer the Kingdom, but the purpose was to set aside the Lamb of God in preparation for the Passover sacrifice.

MT 21:12-13...Jesus then went into Jerusalem and cleansed the temple

MT 21:10b-11... “the whole city was in an uproar, saying, “Who is this?” 11 The crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.”

MT 21:15-16...“15 When the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonders that he did and the children shouting in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant 16 and said to him, “Do you hear what these children are saying?” Jesus replied, “Yes, have you never read: You have prepared praise from the mouths of infants and nursing babies?” 17 Then he left them, went out of the city to Bethany, and spent the night there.”

-- The whole city understood the significance of what was happening. But, once again, the chief priests, the Sadducees, the scribes, and the Pharisees, objected

-- When the Pharisees objected to the worship Jesus received, His response was to let them know that the Messiah had these things coming to Him. Jesus’ acceptance of the praise and worship showed that He accepted their claims that He was the Messiah. At that point, Jesus left Jerusalem and returned to Bethany.

-- On that day, the 10th of Nisan, the Lamb of God was set aside. From the 10th until the 14th of Nisan, this Lamb would be tested to show that He was indeed without blemish and without spot.

THE TESTING OF JESUS (THE LAMB OF GOD) BY THOSE RELIGIOUS LEADERS…(Nisan 10th-14th)

-- JESUS IS THE LAMB OF GOD…Jesus had prophetically been called the Lamb of God before by John the Baptist…we read a few weeks ago about his baptism and the things that John the Baptist was proclaiming about him.

JN 1:29-34
“29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is the one I told you about: ‘After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me, because he existed before me.’ 31 I didn’t know him, but I came baptizing with water so that he might be revealed to Israel.” 32 And John testified, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and he rested on him. 33 I didn’t know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The one you see the Spirit descending and resting on—he is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.”

-- He was now identifying with the passover lamb and presenting himself as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

THE FOUR TESTS…

1. The FIRST TEST [MT 21:23-22:14] was by the PRIESTS and the ELDERS...it was a QUESTION of AUTHORITY
-- Jesus uses John’s baptism as a way to test them
-- Tells them three parables to emphasize repentance and acceptance of Messiah is the only way to enter the kingdom and not national or religious means

2. The SECOND TEST [MT 22:15-22] was by the PHARISEES and the HERODIANS...it was a QUESTION of POLITICS
-- Pharisees hated Rome…Herodians loved Rome
-- They only were unified on their hatred of Jesus
-- Used tax as a way to trap him
-- if he said pay tax, Pharisees would have judged him, if he denied tax, Herodians could have judged him...His answer shut both of their cases down

3. The THIRD TEST [MT 22:23-33] was by the SADDUCEES...it was a QUESTION of THEOLOGY
-- Sadducees used marriage and heaven as a way to trap Jesus (because they didn’t believe in the resurrection of the dead) and Jesus exposed their understanding of Heaven

4. The FOURTH TEST [MT 22:34-40] was by the PHARISEES...it also was a QUESTION of THEOLOGY
-- Pharisees tried to trap Jesus by asking him to narrow down the law…
-- Jesus summed it up and shut them down
-- They also tried to trip him up on asking who’s son the Messiah was…Jesus pointed them to PS 22 saying David called his son LORD…pointing to deity of Messiah…they dared not question him anymore.

AND THAT IS THE END OF PART 1...

-- Jesus passed the testing and presented himself as the Lamb of God, without blemish, without defect…

-- Friday we will read PT 2…The Last Supper, The Garden Prayer, The Betrayal, The Arrest, The Trials and The Crucifixion. 7pm Friday

-- Jesus lived an intentional life…he obeyed his Father at every turn…he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom until the very end…he proved in todays story that he is the perfect, sinless, spotless Lamb of God who is able to take away our sins

-- Today we can say ‘hosannah’ ‘blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord’…we acknowledge Jesus as King, as our Savior…and we will take communion to remember again all that was required of Jesus, our Lamb of God who gave his life for the sins of the world…all of mine & all of yours…

2 COR 5:17-21
"17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come! 18 Everything is from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation. 19 That is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and he has committed the message of reconciliation to us. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us. We plead on Christ’s behalf, “Be reconciled to God.” 21 He made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

RESPOND, REFLECT & COMMUNION

I would like to give you a chance to respond to God…

-- What did God reveal about who he is to you today in our time in God’s word?
-- What did God reveal about what he has done or is doing in our time in God’s word?
-- What did you learn about who you are as we looked at these stories today?
-- What did you learn about what you are supposed to do?

—> Let's take a minute to thank Him, respond to Him, confess our sins to Him, examine our hearts before we take communion...

—> WHAT IS JESUS SAYING TO YOU TODAY?
—> WHAT IS JESUS ASKING YOU TO DO?