The Testing of Yeshuah-Jesus (2) & First-fruits.
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Palm Sunday • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 2:42:40
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· 7 viewsPart two of our study of Palm Sunday aka the Triumphal Entry, which is actually the Presentation of the Lamb for examination prior to the Passover crucifixion of Yeshua-Jesus. Examination of the Feast of Firstfruits corresponding
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Sunday March 24, 2024
Sunday March 24, 2024
John 12:12-22
Palm Sunday … when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem,
Palm Sunday … when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem,
12 The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem,
Introduction
Introduction
The Triumphal Entry occurs on what is known today among many as “Palm Sunday.” It is also called "Passion Sunday." This study will also cover what happened over the next several days, just before the last Passover or the Last Supper. The things that happened during the next few days following the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem are largely related to that particular event.
It is typical that the Triumphal Entry is interpreted to represent the time when Yeshua (Jesus) came and officially offered Himself as the King of the Jews and as Israel’s Messiah. But that is not the best interpretation of the actual significance of the Triumphal Entry, because Yeshua had already been offering Himself as the Messiah and the King of the Jews for the previous three and one-half years. Israel had already rejected the Messiahship of Jesus about a year and one-half earlier (Mat. 12:22–45).
At that point, Yeshua said that the generation of His day was guilty of committing the “unpardonable sin”; therefore, they were under the judgment that would come in the year a.d. 70. Furthermore, the Kingdom offer was then rescinded, to be re-offered to a later Jewish generation: the generation of the Great Tribulation. The Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem was not for the purpose of officially offering Himself as the King; there was a different purpose.
Let’s read the account to get our bearings, then study.
12 The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem,
13 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!”
14 Then Jesus, when He had found a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written:
15 “Fear not, daughter of Zion; Behold, your King is coming, Sitting on a donkey’s colt.”
16 His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written about Him and that they had done these things to Him.
17 Therefore the people, who were with Him when He called Lazarus out of his tomb and raised him from the dead, bore witness.
18 For this reason the people also met Him, because they heard that He had done this sign.
19 The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, “You see that you are accomplishing nothing. Look, the world has gone after Him!”
I. The Setting Aside of the Lamb of God
I. The Setting Aside of the Lamb of God
The Triumphal Entry took place in the context of the Passover. The significance of this particular Passover was that this was the Passover when Yeshua knew that the final atonement for sin would be made, by virtue of His death (Lk. 22:14 ).
14 When the hour had come, He sat down, and the twelve apostles with Him.
The date when this event occurred, insofar as the Jewish calendar is concerned, was the tenth of the Jewish month of Nisan. According to Exodus 12:3–6, it was on the tenth day of the month of Nisan that the lamb was to be set aside.
3 Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying: ‘On the tenth of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household.
4 And if the household is too small for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next to his house take it according to the number of the persons; according to each man’s need you shall make your count for the lamb.
5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats.
6 Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight.
Between the tenth and the fourteenth of the month, the lamb was to be inspected and tested to be sure that it was without spot and without blemish (Ex. 12:5 ).
5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats.
Beginning on the evening of the fourteenth 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, this was the day of the setting aside of the Lamb of God. 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. 1:19 ).
19 but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.
John 11:55 and John 12:1, 9–11 state that Yeshua arrived in the town of Bethany, which by then had become a suburb of Jerusalem.
55 And the Passover of the Jews was near, and many went from the country up to Jerusalem before the Passover, to purify themselves.
1 Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was who had been dead, whom He had raised from the dead.
9 Now a great many of the Jews knew that He was there; and they came, not for Jesus’ sake only, but that they might also see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead.
10 But the chief priests plotted to put Lazarus to death also,
11 because on account of him many of the Jews went away and believed in Jesus.
He arrived six days before the Passover, making it Nisan's eighth day. 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 eighth of Nisan. Yeshua was keeping with that pattern.
Two days later was the tenth of Nisan, the day of the Triumphal Entry, the day of the setting aside of the Lamb of God. Again, the purpose of the Triumphal Entry was not to offer Himself as the King or to re-offer the Kingdom.
These things had been rejected and, for that generation, the rejection was terminal. There would be no re-offer of the Kingdom until the Great Tribulation. What happened on this day was that the Passover Lamb of God was set aside for a period of testing to prove that He was indeed without blemish and without spot.
The Gospel accounts detail what happened. Between Bethany and Jerusalem there was a town called Bethphage. As Jesus left Bethany and was passing by the town of Bethphage, He sent His disciples to fetch a colt. Mark 11:2 states that they would find “a colt tied, whereon no man ever yet sat.”
2 and He said to them, “Go into the village opposite you; and as soon as you have entered it you will find a colt tied, on which no one has sat. Loose it and bring it.
They were to take this colt to Yeshua because this would be the colt on which He would ride into Jerusalem. A miracle takes place here, which few people notice.
The Gospels of Mark and Luke clearly state that this was a colt “upon which no one had ever sat.” Normally, if one rides a colt upon which no one has ever sat, the colt would buck because it has not yet been broken. In this case, the colt did not buck, showing Jesus’ authority as the Messiah and Creator over the animal kingdom.
In verse 3, Yeshua told His disciples that if anyone objected to their taking this colt, all they needed to say was “The Lord has need of him” and the colt would be immediately released, with no further objections raised. The colt was brought to Yeshua, and He rode into Jerusalem in fulfillment of a messianic prophecy found in Zechariah 9:9, which states that the Messiah would ride into Jerusalem upon just such a colt.
9 “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, Lowly and riding on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey.
Matthew 21:4–5 emphasized this as being the fulfillment of that prophecy.
4 All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying:
5 “Tell the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your King is coming to you, Lowly, and sitting on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey.’ ”
Just as He was riding the colt into Jerusalem, suddenly the buzzing of rumors began to spread that Jesus was coming, riding in as the Messianic King of the Jews. The Jewish people responded; and their response was something significant.
12 The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem,
13 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!”
8 And many spread their clothes on the road, and others cut down leafy branches from the trees and spread them on the road.
9 Then those who went before and those who followed cried out, saying: “Hosanna! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’
10 Blessed is the kingdom of our father David That comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”
8 And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road; others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road.
9 Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying: “Hosanna to the Son of David! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ Hosanna in the highest!”
37 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,
38 saying: “ ‘Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!’ Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”
The four Gospel accounts together give a full description of The responses of the multitudes.
They responded in several ways.
First, they cut off palm branches and laid them before the feet of the colt upon which Yeshua was riding.
Secondly, they cried out Hosanna in Hebrew: Hoshanah.
Thirdly, they said, Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord.
Normally, these are not actions that are performed during the Passover, rather, they are performed during the Feast of Tabernacles. The response of the multitudes showed that they were expecting the Feast of Tabernacles to be fulfilled on this occasion.
The Temple: Its Ministry and Services as They Were at the Time of Jesus Christ The Fruit and Palm Branches
The Fruit and Palm Branches
It has already been noticed that, according to the view universally prevalent at the time of Christ, the direction on the first day of the feast to ‘take the fruit of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and the boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook,’ was applied to what the worshippers were to carry in their hands. The Rabbis ruled, that ‘the fruit of the goodly trees’ meant the œthrog, or citron, and ‘the boughs of thick trees’ the myrtle, provided it had ‘not more berries than leaves.’ The œthrogs must be without blemish or deficiency of any kind; the palm branches at least three handbreadths high, and fit to be shaken; and each branch fresh, entire, unpolluted, and not taken from any idolatrous grove. Every worshipper carried the œthrog in his left hand, and in his right the lulav, or palm, with myrtle and willow branch on either side of it, tied together on the outside with its own kind, though in the inside it might be fastened even with gold thread. There can be no doubt that the lulav was intended to remind Israel of the different stages of their wilderness journey, as represented by the different vegetation—the palm branches recalling the valleys and plains, the ‘boughs of thick trees,’ the bushes on the mountain heights, and the willows those brooks from which God had given His people drink; while the œthrog was to remind them of the fruits of the good land which the Lord had given them. The lulav was used in the Temple on each of the seven festive days, even children, if they were able to shake it, being bound to carry one. If the first day of the feast fell on a Sabbath, the people brought their lulavs on the previous day into the synagogue on the Temple Mount, and fetched them in the morning, so as not needlessly to break the Sabbath rest.
According to Zechariah 14:16–21, the Feast of Tabernacles is to be fulfilled by means of the Messianic Kingdom. The declaration, Hosanna, and the actions of the multitudes showed that they were expecting the Kingdom to be set up on that occasion in fulfillment of the Feast of Tabernacles.
16 And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.
17 And it shall be that whichever of the families of the earth do not come up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, on them there will be no rain.
18 If the family of Egypt will not come up and enter in, they shall have no rain; they shall receive the plague with which the Lord strikes the nations who do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.
19 This shall be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.
20 In that day “HOLINESS TO THE LORD” shall be engraved on the bells of the horses. The pots in the Lord’s house shall be like the bowls before the altar.
21 Yes, every pot in Jerusalem and Judah shall be holiness to the Lord of hosts. Everyone who sacrifices shall come and take them and cook in them. In that day there shall no longer be a Canaanite in the house of the Lord of hosts.
However, they did not yet realize that Jesus was not coming to fulfill the Feast of Tabernacles, rather, He was coming to fulfill the Passover. The Passover was not to be fulfilled by the establishment of the Kingdom, but by the death of the Messiah. The multitudes misinterpreted the purpose of His riding into Jerusalem on that occasion.
Furthermore, one of the greetings they applied to Yeshua was, Blessed is he that comes in the name of Jehovah, which comes from Psalm 118:26, a messianic psalm of the Old Testament.
26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! We have blessed you from the house of the Lord.
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 proclaimed Him to be the Messiah of Israel by the thousands.
But while the masses proclaimed Him the Messiah, the Pharisees did not go along with them. The Pharisaic response is recorded in John 12:19:
19 The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, “You see that you are accomplishing nothing. Look, the world has gone after Him!”
Luke 19:39–40 adds: And some of the Pharisees from the multitude said unto him, Teacher, rebuke your disciples. And he answered and said, I tell you that the stones will cry out if these shall hold their peace.
39 And some of the Pharisees called to Him from the crowd, “Teacher, rebuke Your disciples.”
40 But He answered and said to them, “I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out.”
To the Pharisees’ objections, Yeshua responded that there must be a testimony to the fact that the Messiah had come. If the multitude had been silent, the stones would have cried out the very same lines.
That Jesus was not riding into Jerusalem to offer Himself as the King with the Kingdom is made clear by what happens next. In the context of the many Hosannas and greetings of Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord, in the context of many proclamations of His Messiahship, the words of Yeshua remained words of judgment.
41 Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it,
42 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.
43 For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side,
44 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.”
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. It cannot be claimed that this was a minority because Matthew 21:8 states that it was true for most of the multitude.
8 And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road; others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road.
The objectors were the leaders, but the masses were proclaiming His messiahship. If Yeshua was offering Himself once again as the King and re-offering the Kingdom, they accepted it. However, that was not the purpose of the Triumphal Entry. For 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.
This generation had already committed the unpardonable sin. 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 and the many messianic proclamations, because the rejection had already occurred and the unpardonable sin had already been committed, the words of Yeshua 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. We see this is at the end of verse 44, “because you knew not the time of your visitation.”
Because Jerusalem had not recognized at the proper time that the Messiah had come, the judgment was still going to occur. The time of your visitation, which they did not know, was in Matthew 12. After a many occasioned testimony of His Messiahship, after Yeshua 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 to set aside the Lamb of God in preparation for the Passover sacrifice. Mark 11:11 states that He went on and entered into Jerusalem.
11 And Jesus went into Jerusalem and into the temple. So when He had looked around at all things, as the hour was already late, He went out to Bethany with the twelve.
Greater details of what happened once He entered the city are given in Matthew 21:10–11:
10 And when He had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, “Who is this?”
11 So the multitudes said, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee.”
The whole city understood the significance of what was happening. But, once again, the chief priests, the Sadducees, and the scribes, the Pharisees, objected in Matthew 21:15–16:
15 But when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that He did, and the children crying out in the temple and saying, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant
16 and said to Him, “Do You hear what these are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes. Have you never read, ‘Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have perfected praise’?”
When the Pharisees objected to the worship Yeshua 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 He accepted their claims that He was the Messiah. At that point, per Matthew 21:17, Yeshua left Jerusalem and returned to Bethany.
17 Then He left them and went out of the city to Bethany, and He lodged there.
On that day, the tenth of Nisan, the Lamb of God was set aside. From the tenth until the fourteenth, this Lamb would be tested to show that He was without blemish or spot.
II. The Testing of the Lamb of God
II. The Testing of the Lamb of God
After the Triumphal entry, Yeshua returned to Bethany, where He spent every night. From this point on, He proceeded to Jerusalem on a daily basis. During the next three or four days, Yeshua was tested by four different groups to ensure that He was without blemish or spot.
A. By the Priests and the Elders
A. By the Priests and the Elders
The first attack or test came from the priests and the elders, and the question here is one of authority. This is recorded in Matthew 21:23–22:14; Mark 11:27–12:12; and Luke 20:1–19.
The priests and elders approached Yeshua and asked Him the question recorded in Mark 11:28:
28 And they said to Him, “By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority to do these things?”
According to Pharisaism, authoritative teaching required previous rabbinic authorization. Since Jesus was teaching the Scriptures with authority, they asked where He received the authority to interpret the Scriptures as He did.
Luke 20:1 describes the occasion as they approached Him, “he was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the gospel.”
1 Now it happened on one of those days, as He taught the people in the temple and preached the gospel, that the chief priests and the scribes, together with the elders, confronted Him
While He was teaching the multitudes, the Pharisees approached Him with this question to see if they could discredit Him before the very masses that had, on the day of the Triumphal Entry, proclaimed Him by myriads to be the Messiah of Israel.
It is a common procedure among the Jewish people to answer questions by asking questions of their own. There is a Jewish story that tells about a Gentile approaching a Jewish rabbi and asking him the question, “Why do you Jews always answer questions by asking questions?” The rabbi responded, “Why not?” So in keeping with this Jewish motif, Yeshua responded, answering their question with one of His own in Luke 20:3–4:
3 But He answered and said to them, “I also will ask you one thing, and answer Me:
4 The baptism of John—was it from heaven or from men?”
He asked them to answer a question first. Did the ministry of John the Baptist originate from Heaven? Was it a God-ordained ministry, or did John do it all by his own human efforts?
The priests and the elders were then caught in a dilemma. If they said that John’s ministry was not of God, it is they who would be discredited before the masses because the people had considered John to be a prophet and a martyr for the faith. But if they said that the baptism of John was of Heaven and that John had a God-ordained ministry, then Yeshua could say, “I received My authority from John.” It was John who baptized Jesus and identified Him as the “Lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world.” So, if they said that John’s ministry was from Heaven, then Yeshua could say, “I received My authority from John.” Being caught on these “horns of a dilemma,” they refused to answer the question. Because they refused to answer Jesus’ question, He refused to answer their question.
Then Yeshua-Jesus proceeded to tell three parables. The first is the Parable of the Two Sons, found in Matthew 21:28–32 .
28 “But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go, work today in my vineyard.’
29 He answered and said, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he regretted it and went.
30 Then he came to the second and said likewise. And he answered and said, ‘I go, sir,’ but he did not go.
31 Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said to Him, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you.
32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him; but tax collectors and harlots believed him; and when you saw it, you did not afterward relent and believe him.
The parable tells about a father who had asked his two sons to do something. One son said, “I will do it,” but did not; the second son said, “I won’t do it,” but did. So, in the end, it was the son who said he would not do it and yet who actually obeyed the father. The parable made two points. First, sonship is proved by obedience. While one can attain sonship purely by faith, the evidence of sonship is obedience. The second point made by this parable is that the publicans and sinners or prostitutes, the ones whom the Pharisees considered to be outcasts, will enter the Kingdom while the Pharisees will not. The Pharisees are like the son who said, “I will,” but never did; while the publicans and prostitutes are those who said, “I won’t,” but, in the end, they did obey. So sinners will enter the Kingdom while the Pharisees will not because obedience proves sonship.
The second parable is the Parable of The Householder, found in Matthew 21:33–46.
This parable is about a householder who leased his vineyard to the keepers of the vineyard, to husbandmen. They were, of course, to give back a percentage of the produce to the householder. They refused to do this, so three different sets of servants were sent.
All three sets of servants were mistreated. Finally, the householder sent his own son, assuming that they would indeed obey the son, but they killed the son.
The householder is God the Father;
the vineyard is a symbol of Israel in the Old Testament;
and the husbandmen are the leadership of Israel.
The point is that the Jewish leaders killed the prophets, and now they would kill the Son.
The three sets of servants of the householder are the prophets of God.
The first set was the pre-exilic prophets, those who came before the Babylonian Exile;
the second set was the prophets who came after the Babylonian Exile;
and the third set was John the Baptist and his disciples.
All three were rejected. God the Father sent His Son, and the Son would also be rejected. In fact, Jesus prophesied in this parable that the Son would be killed.
Having stated the parable, Yeshua then made the application. He pronounced the judgment in Luke 20:16:
16 He will come and destroy those vinedressers and give the vineyard to others.” And when they heard it they said, “Certainly not!”
The judgment that Yeshua described would come in the year a.d. 70 with the destruction of Jerusalem, the Temple, and the worldwide dispersion of the Jewish people.
By quoting Psalm 118:22–23, in Luke 20:17 Jesus also pointed out that what was happening was a fulfillment of prophecy. It was prophesied that the Messiah would be rejected.
17 Then He looked at them and said, “What then is this that is written: ‘The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone’?
22 The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone.
23 This was the Lord’s doing; It is marvelous in our eyes.
Then Yeshua made the application. First, there is a national application: the offer of the Kingdom given to this generation has been withdrawn. It will be re-offered to another Jewish generation, the Jewish generation of the Great Tribulation, according to Matthew 21:43:
43 “Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it.
This is not the Church because the Church is not a nation but is composed of individuals from many nations. He was speaking of a nation, which is Israel. It would be withdrawn from this generation of the nation and offered to another generation of the nation. Secondly, as for the individual application, those who stumbled over the Stone, Yeshua, would find themselves eventually crushed to dust by the Rejected Stone.
Then came the third parable, the Parable of the Wedding, found in Matthew 22:1–14. The point of this parable was that those who had been invited to the marriage feast would not partake of it. Because this generation rejected the Kingdom that had been offered, they would lose the benefit of having the Kingdom established in their day; they would miss the marriage feast with which the Kingdom is destined to begin.
B. By the Pharisees and the Herodians
B. By the Pharisees and the Herodians
The second attack was a question of politics from the Pharisees and the Herodians. This is recorded in Matthew 22:15–22; Mark 12:13–17; and Luke 20:20–26.
The Pharisees and the Herodians were at opposite ends of the political spectrum. The Herodians supported Roman rule through the House of Herod, but the Pharisees objected. Normally, these two groups would never have joined in any project. They felt they had no common ground, but because of their mutual animosity toward Jesus’ claims to be the Messiah, they sided together against Him. The Pharisees attacked His Messiahship because He did not follow the Pharisaic mold of what they expected the Messiah to be. The Herodians objected because, by claiming to be the Messiah, He was claiming to be Caesar’s competitor and, therefore, would not honor the House of Herod any more than John the Baptist did.
So they came to Yeshua to ask Him a question. This question is recorded in Mark 12:14:
14 When they had come, they said to Him, “Teacher, we know that You are true, and care about no one; for You do not regard the person of men, but teach the way of God in truth. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?
According to Pharisaism, to give tribute to Caesar was to own Caesar as king, and to own Caesar as king was to disown Jehovah.
Furthermore, from a political perspective, to pay taxes to Caesar was to recognize Rome’s rule over Israel. The Zealot Party, among the Pharisees in particular, objected to paying taxes to Rome because that would mean recognizing Rome’s right to rule over Israel. If Jesus had answered, “Yes, it is lawful to pay tribute to Caesar,” that would raise the people's anger, and Yeshua would be discredited among the masses who proclaimed Him to be the Messiah on the day of the Triumphal Entry. But if Yeshua had said, “No, do not pay tribute to Caesar,” then Jesus could be charged with sedition and rebellion against Rome. If Yeshua answered one way, the Pharisees would have a basis for accusation; if He answered another way, the Herodians would have a basis for accusation. That is why both groups were there asking this question.
In Matthew 22:18–19, Jesus responded by pointing out that He knew they were hypocrites and were trying to tempt Him, and then told them: Show me the tribute money. And they brought unto him a denarius.
18 But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, “Why do you test Me, you hypocrites?
19 Show Me the tax money.” So they brought Him a denarius.
Yeshua-Jesus did not ask for a Jewish shekel coin, but He asked for the Roman tribute coin, which had the inscription and picture of Caesar on it. It is also clear from the tense that no one there had the tribute coin. When Mark 12:16 states:
16 So they brought it. And He said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?” They said to Him, “Caesar’s.”
And they brought it, the picture is that someone had to go and fetch it because Pharisees, especially, were not allowed to carry a coin with the image of a man on it; that would have been considered idolatry.
So they brought the tribute money to Jesus, and He answered their question by asking one of His own. In Mark 12:16, the question was: … Whose is this image and superscription?…
The only answer they could give was Caesar’s. Since this coin contained the image of Caesar, it is obvious that, under Jewish law, such a coin could not be used for personal use or for Temple use. The only thing one could do with a coin like that was to return it to Caesar.
So Yeshua taught in Matthew 22:21: … Render therefore unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s.
21 They said to Him, “Caesar’s.” And He said to them, “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”
At this point, Jesus laid down the principle of separation of religion and state and pointed out that there are two areas of authority: divine authority and delegated authority. Divine authority comes from God, but delegated authority comes through Caesar. The payment of taxes to Caesar did not nullify God’s rule. It only recognized God’s delegated rule through this government. Eventually, Yeshua, as the Messiah, will replace Caesar.
Since this was also the clear teaching of the Old Testament that human governments have delegated authority from God, even Gentile governments can have authority over Israel. Luke 20:26:
26 But they could not catch Him in His words in the presence of the people. And they marveled at His answer and kept silent.
So, this attempt by the Pharisees and the Herodians to discredit Jesus also ended in failure.
C. By the Sadducees
C. By the Sadducees
The third attack was a question of theology from the Sadducees. This is recorded in Matthew 22:23–33; Mark 12:18–27; and Luke 20:27–40. The specific theological issue was the question of the resurrection from the dead.
There were a good number of differences between the theology of the Pharisees and the theology of the Sadducees, one of which was the belief in a future resurrection from the dead. The Pharisees believed in a physical, literal resurrection of the dead, but the Sadducees did not.
The Sadducees liked to ask tricky questions of the Pharisees to make them look stupid, and they often succeeded. One day they tried one of these tricky questions on Yeshua. They came to Him and hypocritically acknowledged Him to be a great teacher, and tried to “warm Him up” and “set Him up for the kill.” Then they told the story of a woman who married a man who had six brothers. The Mosaic Law taught that, if a married man died before fathering any children, his brother had the responsibility of marrying the widow and raising up children in his deceased brother’s name. She married the first brother, but he died. In keeping with Mosaic Law, the second brother married her, but he also died before producing any children. Again, in keeping with the Law of Moses, the third brother married her, but he also died before any children were born. She married the fourth, the fifth, the sixth, and the seventh brother, and the same thing happened. Eventually, she was married to all seven brothers, but she produced no children through any of them. All seven of them died, and, finally, she died as well. The question, then, was: If there is such a thing as a resurrection from the dead, whose wife is she going to be, since all seven brothers had been married to her?
This was a tricky question often asked of the Pharisees, and the Pharisees were incapable of producing an answer to it. Because of their failure, the Sadducees made them look stupid. As a result, the Pharisees were often embarrassed by those questions of the Sadducees. They were not able to deal with the issue of whose wife she was going to be in light of the fact that all seven brothers were married to her, but none of them produced children. Had they produced children, in the resurrection, she would have remained married to the one to whom she gave children.
But Yeshua bypassed that issue to deal with the real problem the Sadducees had; they were indeed mistaken because they did not know or understand the Scriptures (Mat. 22:29 ).
29 Jesus answered and said to them, “You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God.
So, what is the answer to this Sadduccean question? Yeshua responded by stating their problem: they err and they make mistakes because they do not know two things. First, they did not know what the scriptures taught on this issue, and second, they did not know the power of God.
He then gave a threefold answer in Matthew 22:30 .
30 For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven.
Appeal to the Power of God
Appeal to the Power of God
First, He appealed to the power of God by pointing out that the resurrection will not be a mere reawakening. It is not going to be a mere restoration back to natural, physical life as we know it; but when the resurrection occurs, that resurrection will be a transformation of the body. It will be a type of body that cannot reproduce itself. Because it is not a body that can be reproduced, there will be no need for marriage in the resurrection; resurrection bodies cannot be propagated through natural generation. Whereas the human race, as it is now, must have a marriage relationship with sexual intercourse by which it can be propagated, this is simply not going to be true with the resurrection body. The resurrection is not going to be a mere reawakening, a mere restoration back to natural life, but rather, a transformation into a new type of resurrection life; there will be no marrying or giving in marriage in Heaven with the resurrection body. So the answer is: She will be no one’s wife, for there will be no marital relationships in the resurrection.
Appeal to Covenant Relationship
Appeal to Covenant Relationship
Jesus' second answer was to appeal to the covenant relationship. In Matthew 22:32, Yeshua quoted Exodus 3:6–7, where God told Moses: I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.
32 ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”
6 Moreover He said, “I am the God of your father—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God.
7 And the Lord said: “I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows.
This was the official Old Testament formula for what is now called the Abrahamic Covenant. Part of the Abrahamic Covenant was that God promised certain things to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob which were not fulfilled in their lifetimes. God did not merely promise the Land to the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but God said to Abraham: To you and to your seed I will give this land; to Isaac, He said: To you and to your seed I will give this land, and to Jacob He said; To you and to your seed I will give this land. So, the Land was not merely promised to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; it was promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob personally. Yet the most that these three men ever owned of the Promised Land was one burial cave and several wells. Since these three men died without the promise being fulfilled, a resurrection is required. Contained within the concept of the promise of God is a concept of resurrection in that if God made certain promises to an individual and that individual dies before those promises are fulfilled, it automatically requires a future resurrection for God to fulfill His promises.
This is the point of Hebrews 11:17–19, which tells about Abraham’s faith.
17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son,
18 of whom it was said, “In Isaac your seed shall be called,”
19 concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.
When Abraham was asked to offer up Isaac, he knew God had made promises concerning Isaac. So, even if Abraham had proceeded to kill Isaac, he knew that God would raise Isaac back to life: God’s promises, which are unfulfilled in one’s lifetime, require a future resurrection for those promises to be fulfilled.
Appeal to the God of the Living
Appeal to the God of the Living
Jesus' third appeal is found in Matthew 22:32: … God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.
32 ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”
The point here is that God has a living relationship to the fathers and, therefore, He cannot leave them dead.
The result of this third attack and answer is threefold.
Result - People Astonished
Result - People Astonished
First, the people were astonished at his teaching (Mat. 22:33 ), because it was a brand-new view of what Exodus 3:6 meant.
33 And when the multitudes heard this, they were astonished at His teaching.
6 Moreover He said, “I am the God of your father—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God.
Result - Pharisees Impressed
Result - Pharisees Impressed
Secondly, even the Pharisees were impressed, because they could never answer the Sadduccean question, but Yeshua did, and this supported their view of the resurrection.
Result - Sadducees Silenced
Result - Sadducees Silenced
Thirdly, the Sadducees were silenced as Luke 20:40 states: For they dare not ask any more question. They were the ones who were made to look foolish.
40 But after that they dared not question Him anymore.
End of 2nd Service 3/24/24
End of 2nd Service 3/24/24
Sunday March 31, 2024
Sunday March 31, 2024
This picture seen through flowers is considered to be a possible site of the burial and resurrection.
Review
Review
Last week we began our study of the meaning, purpose and fulfillment of prophecy that occured on Palm Sunday.
Palm Sunday … when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem,
Palm Sunday … when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem,
12 The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem,
To take us into our Easter study for this year, we will finish our study of the real story behind the Entry of Christ into Jerusalem on what is typically celebrated as the Triumphal Entry or Palm Sunday.
In actuality Christ had been rejected as the ruling savior of the Jews by the leaders of Israel. So, contrary to popular understanding Christ Jesus or Yeshua Moshiac was not presenting Himself once again to the nation, but instead came for another reason: to be examined as the Lamb of God proclaimed by John the Baptist’s as the greatest prophet who inaugurated the public ministry of his cousin,
Yehoshua (יְהוֹשֻׁעַ) from Nāṣəraṯ” (נָצְרַת)
29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
,32-34
32 And John bore witness, saying, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him.
33 I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’
34 And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.”
So Yeshua-Jesus came to be inspected, examined, or tested as the lamb of God per the requirements of Exodus 12:3 on the 10th of Nisan.
3 Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying: ‘On the tenth of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household.
Exodus 12:5-6
5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats.
6 Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight.
So here is our outline that we have been following
I. The Setting Aside of the Lamb of God
the lamb was set aside for four days, beginning on the 10th of Nisan
II. The Testing of the Lamb of God
A. By the Priests and the Elders
who wanted to know by what authority Christ taught.
B. By the Pharisees and the Herodians
who wanted to know if it was lawful to pay taxes to Caesar
C. By the Sadducees
who asked about the woman who married a man who had six brothers, each died in marriage to her and she had no children - to whom would she be married in heaven?
In response Yeshua-Jesus
Appeals to the Power of God
Appeals to the Covenant Relationship
Appeals to the God of the Living
With 3 results
Result — People Astonished
Result — Pharisees Impressed
Result — Sadducees Silenced
D. By the Pharisees
III. The Testing by the Lamb of God
Whose Son was the Messiah
Conclusion
D. By the Pharisees
D. By the Pharisees
The fourth attack came from the Pharisees, and this was also a question of theology. This is recorded in Matthew 22:34–40 and Mark 12:28–34.
Initially, the one asking the question was attempting to trick Jesus. Matthew 22:35–36:
35 Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying,
36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”
The question was, “What was the greatest commandment? What is the most important commandment?”
The Mark passage gives the fullest answer. Verses Mark 12:29–30:
29 Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.
30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment.
The most important commandment is Deuteronomy 6:4–5 .
4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one!
5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
We studied this passage in James - as we are told to not be hearers of the word, but doers. We showed this as well in a study through the Prayer of Solomon at the dedication of the Temple in 1 Kings 8:22-61 and 2 Chronicles 7:1-18.
But then Yeshua went beyond the question and told them the second most important commandment in verse 31: The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
Since these are the same answers that the Pharisees themselves would have given and are what they believed, they were not able to take hold of Him at all.
So, at this point, the Pharisees were also silenced, as we find in Mark 12:34:
34 Now when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, He said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” But after that no one dared question Him.
So, four times, the Lamb of God was attacked and tested; four times, He responded to show that He was without blemish and without spot.
III. The Testing by the Lamb of God
III. The Testing by the Lamb of God
Jesus now turned to all of His attackers with a question of His own, recorded in Matthew 22:41–46, Mark 12:35–37, and Luke 20:41–44. According to Matthew 22:42, the question was: … Christ? Whose son is he?…
Whose Son was the Messiah supposed to be?
Whose Son was the Messiah supposed to be?
They answered correctly in verse 42: … The son of David.
But then Yeshua threw the trick question at them: If the Messiah was supposed to be David’s son, why, in Psalm 110:1, does David call the Messiah Lord?
1 The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.”
A father would never address his son as Lord.
So in Matthew 22:45, if David called him Lord, how is he his son?
45 If David then calls Him ‘Lord,’ how is He his Son?”
Their response, according to Matthew 22:46:
46 And no one was able to answer Him a word, nor from that day on did anyone dare question Him anymore.
They could not answer His question because the answer is in the concept of the God-Man. As to His humanity, He is David’s son, but as to His deity, He is David’s Lord.
It is interesting that although this story is found in all three synoptic Gospels, there is no record that Jesus gave an answer or explanation. The question alone was enough to shut the mouths of the Jewish leaders.
Did they understand what He was driving at? The text is silent on that. But study of the passage makes it clear that what Jesus is saying is that Messiah is not just the Son of David in the human sense (which is what the Jews believed), but that He was David's Lord.
The only way Messiah could be David's Lord would be if He was Divine, for no Hebrew father would ever call his own son "Lord."
So in quoting Psalm 110:1 which was familiar to all religious Jews, Jesus was using this Old Testament Messianic Prophecy to prove that Messiah was not just a man like David, but was also God.
Primarily, the title “Son of David” is more than a statement of physical genealogy. It is a Messianic title. When people referred to Jesus as the Son of David, they meant that He was the long-awaited Deliverer, the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies.
Jesus was addressed as “Lord, thou son of David” several times by people who, by faith, were seeking mercy or healing. The woman whose daughter was being tormented by a demon (Matthew 15:22 )
22 And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed.”
and the two blind men by the wayside (Matthew 20:30 ) all cried out to the Son of David for help.
30 And behold, two blind men sitting by the road, when they heard that Jesus was passing by, cried out, saying, “Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!”
The titles of honor they gave Him declared their faith in Him. Calling Him “Lord” expressed their sense of His deity, dominion, and power, and calling Him “Son of David,” expressed their faith that He was the Messiah.
The Pharisees understood exactly what the people meant when they called Jesus “Son of David.” But, unlike those who cried out in faith, the Pharisees were so blinded by their own pride that they couldn’t see what the blind beggars could see—that here was the Messiah they had supposedly been waiting for all their lives.
We saw this term, son of David, used earlier in Matthew to an interesting effect.
Matthew 9:27-31
27 When Jesus departed from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out and saying, “Son of David, have mercy on us!”
28 And when He had come into the house, the blind men came to Him. And Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to Him, “Yes, Lord.”
29 Then He touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith let it be to you.”
30 And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, saying, “See that no one knows it.”
31 But when they had departed, they spread the news about Him in all that country.
Theodulph of Orleans composed the following Hymn in 820 AD in Latin which was translated to English by John Mason Neale in the mid 1800s.
All glory, laud and honor,
To Thee, Redeemer, King,
To whom the lips of children
Made sweet hosannas ring.
Thou art the king of Israel,
Thou David’s royal Son,
Who in the Lord’s name comest,
The King and Blessèd One.
Conclusion
Conclusion
The Lamb of God had been tested on four occasions by Sadducees, Pharisees, Herodians, elders and priests. He was attacked four times and four times He responded. Indeed, He proved Himself to be without blemish and without spot. Even the Pharisees and the Sadducees were silenced by His response. The fact that He was now proved to be without blemish and without spot meant that He could proceed to the cross and become the final Passover sacrifice (1 Cor. 5:7 ).
7 Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.
The Feast of Hag Habikkurim (First fruits)
The Feast of Hag Habikkurim (First fruits)
The Feast of First-fruits is the third holy season on the Jewish calendar and will be studied in three main categories: the introduction, the Feast of First-fruits in the Old Testament, and the messianic implications.
I. Introduction
I. Introduction
There are four aspects by way of introduction: the names, the date, the biblical practice, and the Jewish observance.
A. The Names
A. The Names
1. Hag Habikkurim (חג הַבִּכּוּרִים):
The first name is Hag Habikkurim, which means the “Feast of First-fruits.” This is a derived name because this is when the first-fruits were offered.
2. Reishit Ketzirchem (רֵאשִׁית קְצִירְכֶם)
The second name is Reishit Ketzirchem, which means the “Feast of Your Harvest.” This is one of the biblical names found in Leviticus 23:10.
3. Yom Habikkurim (יוֹם הַבִּכּוּרִים)
The third name is Yom Habikkurim, which means the “Day of the First-fruits.” This is a biblical name found in Numbers 28:26.
4. Sefirat Haomer (סְפִירַת הָעֹמֶר)
The fourth name is Sefirat Haomer, which means the “Counting of the Omer.” The omer is the sheaf, and the counting of the omer or the counting of the sheaf would begin on this day and continue for forty-nine days until the Feast of Weeks or the Feast of Pentecost.
B. The Date
B. The Date
The date of this feast was a major point of conflict between Sadducees and Pharisees. The key issue was what was meant by the Sabbath mentioned in conjunction with the Feast of First-fruits as stated in Leviticus 23:11: and he shall wave the sheaf before Jehovah, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it.
1. The Sadducean View
1. The Sadducean View
According to the Sadducees, the Sabbath was Saturday or the seventh day of the week. Thus, the morrow after the sabbath was Sunday or the first day of the week. The Feast of First-fruits would therefore be on the first Sunday after the Passover.
2. The Pharisaic View
2. The Pharisaic View
The Pharisees interpreted the Sabbath to be the day of Passover itself, regardless on which day of the week it happened to fall. This would make “the morrow after the Sabbath” the day after Passover, therefore, it was the same as the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
3. The Biblical View
3. The Biblical View
The Sadducees based their view on what the biblical text said, while the Pharisees based their view on rabbinic tradition. In this case, the Sadducees were correct, for this would be the normal meaning of Sabbath. So the Sabbath of Leviticus 23:11 is Saturday, and the morrow after the Sabbath is Sunday.
C. The Biblical Practice
C. The Biblical Practice
Concerning the biblical practice, six things should be noted.
First — observed for one day
Second — day of first-fruits
Third — one sheaf offering
Fourth — day after the Sabbath
Fifth — acknowledgment of God’s bounty
Sixth — Begins two month Spring harvest
First, it was to be observed for one day only.
The second thing to note is that it was a day of first-fruits. On this occasion, the first-fruits of the barely and the grain harvests were to be offered, which would be a sheaf of the first grain.
The third thing to note is that it was to be a one-sheaf offering. The priest would hold the sheaf in outstretched arms while moving it from side to side. A handful of the sheaf was burned on the altar, and the rest was eaten by the priest, who could not partake of it until after the ceremony had been performed.
The fourth thing to note is that it was to be offered on the day after the Sabbath. This would mean that it would be the sixteenth day of Nisan if the sabbath were Passover in accordance with the Pharisaic view. But if it referred to Sunday per the Sadducean view, it could have been any time within the first seven days after the Passover. For example, if Passover occurred on Friday, the Feast of First-fruits would be observed on Sunday, but if Passover occurred on Monday, it would be observed the following Sunday, almost a week later. Again, this is the text's true meaning: the first-fruits were always offered on the first Sunday after the Feast of Passover. For that reason, Moses gave no specific day of the month for this feast to be observed as he did for all the others. Since this had to be on a Sunday, no definite day of the month could be assigned to it.
The fifth thing to note is that it was to be observed as an acknowledgment of God’s bounty because the whole harvest belongs to God, not to man.
And the sixth thing to note is that this feast marked the beginning of the two-month spring harvest.
D. The Jewish Observance
D. The Jewish Observance
The Jewish observance of the Feast of First Fruits will be divided into three parts: during the Second Temple Period, after 70 a.d., and in modern Israel.
1. During the Second Temple Period
1. During the Second Temple Period
The Second Temple Period covered the years from the completion of the Temple in 515 B.C., until the destruction of the Temple in a.d. 70.
During the Second Temple Period, on the fourteenth day of the first month, which was the day before the first night of the Passover, a special delegation from the Sanhedrin marked out the spot where the first sheaf was to be reaped. They tied the grain into bundles while still standing in the field. Then, just as the sun was beginning to set on the evening of the fifteenth day of Nisan, three men set out for the field. Although it was still Passover day, each man carried a sickle and a basket.
The ceremony would begin with the three men asking the bystanders five questions: “Has the sun gone down?” “With this sickle?” “Into this basket?” “On this Sabbath?” “Shall I reap?” Each question was asked three times.
When the answer to all five questions was “yes,” they cut one ephah of the grain from the ground that had already been marked out the day before. The ears were brought into the Temple Compound and threshed with cane and wood stalks. The grain was then parched in pans with holes so that fire could touch each grain. Next, it was exposed to the wind and ground on the barley mill. On the sixteenth day of Nisan, one omer, or 5.1 pints, was offered in the Temple.
2. After A.D. 70
2. After A.D. 70
After the Temple was destroyed in a.d. 70 and during the Dispersion, the feasts could no longer be observed in the same way. In fact, during the long period of the Dispersion, Gentile law forbade Jews to own land. Since they could no longer be farmers, this feast was largely ignored.
3. In Modern Israel
3. In Modern Israel
The Jewish observance changed again with the reestablishment of the Jewish State when Jews once again became farmers. The farming settlements, known as kibbutzim, began making new innovations in observing the Feast of First-fruits. Now, kibbutzniks, the Jewish farmers working in the kibbutz, go out to the barley fields carrying scythes and cut the ears of grain. Following the men are the women who bind the cut barley into sheaves and then carry it on carts decorated with fresh flowers. This is followed by dancing in the fields where the grain was grown. After lighting torches at nightfall, there is a special procession to the kibbutz dining hall, where the sheaves are heaped in stacks in the center as a symbolic offering. The observance concludes with an evening of singing of both old and new songs.
II. The Feast of First-Fruits in the Old Testament
II. The Feast of First-Fruits in the Old Testament
The Feast of First-fruits is mentioned in just two main passages of the Old Testament: Leviticus 23:9–14 and Numbers 28:26–31.
A. Leviticus 23:9–14
A. Leviticus 23:9–14
The Feast of First-fruits is introduced by the Word of Jehovah in Leviticus 23:9 : And Jehovah spoke unto Moses saying.
9 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
The timing of the feast is given in verse Leviticus 23:10
10 “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you come into the land which I give to you, and reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest.
It is to be observed after they have settled into the land, because only then will they be able to begin growing things for the first-fruits. When they have settled and reaped the harvest, which in this case is the spring harvest, then they have to give the offering.
The duty of the priest is given in Leviticus 23:11 :
11 He shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, to be accepted on your behalf; on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it.
The procedure was to wave the sheaf from side to side in outstretched arms. The priest was the mediator who made it acceptable to God.
The verse states the day of the week when this was to be offered on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it.
The Pharisees claimed that this referred to the day after the Passover meal regardless on which day of the week it might fall.
The Sadducees taught that the Sabbath was always Saturday. Here, the Sadducees were biblically correct.
The sheaf of grain was to be offered on the first Sunday after the Feast of Passover. If the Passover fell on a Friday, two days later would be the Feast of First-fruits. But if the Feast of Passover fell on a Monday, then almost a full week could go by before the Feast of First-fruits was observed.
12 And you shall offer on that day, when you wave the sheaf, a male lamb of the first year, without blemish, as a burnt offering to the Lord.
13 Its grain offering shall be two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering made by fire to the Lord, for a sweet aroma; and its drink offering shall be of wine, one-fourth of a hin.
The second offering was a meal-offering in Leviticus 23:13a:
13 Its grain offering shall be two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering made by fire to the Lord, for a sweet aroma; and its drink offering shall be of wine, one-fourth of a hin.
The third offering was the drink-offering in Leviticus 23:13b :
13 Its grain offering shall be two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering made by fire to the Lord, for a sweet aroma; and its drink offering shall be of wine, one-fourth of a hin.
A specific law and command were given in Leviticus 23:14 :
14 You shall eat neither bread nor parched grain nor fresh grain until the same day that you have brought an offering to your God; it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
Verse 14a spells out a specific law: a prohibition against eating any grain until this selfsame day, the day of the first-fruits. The prohibition against eating bread, grain, or fresh ears is removed only when the oblation had been offered to God. The command of the feast is given in verse 14b: it is a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
B. Numbers 28:26–31
B. Numbers 28:26–31
The second passage on the Feast of First-fruits is Numbers 28:26–31, which emphasizes the special sacrifices on this feast. This passage speaks of three things. First, the day of the feast is described in Numbers 28:26:
26 ‘Also on the day of the firstfruits, when you bring a new grain offering to the Lord at your Feast of Weeks, you shall have a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work.
The Feast of First-fruits was to a holy convocation, which is like a Sabbath; it was to be a day of rest.
Secondly, there were to be three offerings for this occasion in verses 27–30. The first offering was the burnt-offering in Numbers 28:27:
27 You shall present a burnt offering as a sweet aroma to the Lord: two young bulls, one ram, and seven lambs in their first year,
The second offering was the meal-offering in Numbers 28:28–29:
28 with their grain offering of fine flour mixed with oil: three-tenths of an ephah for each bull, two-tenths for the one ram,
29 and one-tenth for each of the seven lambs;
And the third offering was the sin-offering in Numbers 28:30:
30 also one kid of the goats, to make atonement for you.
The third part of the passage concerns additional offerings Numbers 28:31:
31 Be sure they are without blemish. You shall present them with their drink offerings, besides the regular burnt offering with its grain offering.
Besides the continual burnt-offering, and the meal-offering thereof, ye shall offer them (they shall be unto you without blemish), and their drink-offerings.
These offerings were not to be in place of the regular daily offerings, but in addition to them.
III. The Messianic Implications
III. The Messianic Implications
The messianic implications will be dealt with in two areas: the fulfillment and the date of the Resurrection.
A. The Fulfillment
A. The Fulfillment
The fulfillment of the Feast of First-fruits is spelled out in 1 Corinthians 15:20–23. The fulfillment of the Feast of First-fruits by the Resurrection of the Messiah is pointed out in 1 Corinthians 15:20
20 But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
The Passover was fulfilled by the death of the Messiah;
The Feast of Unleavened Bread by the sinlessness of His blood sacrifice; and,
The Feast of First-fruits was fulfilled by the Resurrection of Yeshua (Jesus).
This verse raises the question, “Since other people were resurrected before Yeshua, both in the Old Testament and the New Testament, how is He the first-fruits?”
The answer is that there are two types of resurrections.
The first type is merely a restoration back to natural life. This means that one would die again later; those who were raised before the Resurrection of Jesus all died again.
The second type of resurrection is true resurrection life when “mortality puts on immortality and corruption puts on incorruption” and one is no longer subject to death (1 Cor. 15:53–54 ).
53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
54 So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”
While others have undergone the first type of resurrection in which they were restored back to natural life, the second type of resurrection has only been experienced by Yeshua. Therefore, He is the first-fruits of that second type of resurrection. The term the first-fruits means “the first of more to come.” Since He was the first-fruits, this means there will be “more to come” later. Believers, should they die before the Rapture, will also be resurrected as He was; they are “the more to come.”
Paul presented the logical argument in 1 Corinthians 15:21
21 For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead.
The expression by man came death refers to Adam; by man came also the resurrection of the dead refers to Jesus. This verse gives one reason for the Incarnation: in order to provide life for all, He had to be able to die and then be resurrected after death.
22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.
This is why He is the first-fruits. The word all includes both believers and unbelievers who will some day be resurrected, although not for the same destiny.
In 1 Corinthians 15:23
23 But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming.
23, he points out the order: But each in his own order: Christ the first-fruits; then they that are Christ’s, at his coming.
The Greek word used here for order is tagma, which means “a military procession.” In a military procession, there is order: the infantry, the cavalry, and the battering rams. Each of these things has a certain place in the procession.
Likewise, not all believers are resurrected at the same time, but in stages. The first stage of the Resurrection was Yeshua, who was the first-fruits of the First Resurrection. The second stage will be the Church saints, who will be resurrected at the Rapture before the Tribulation. The final stage is Old Testament saints and Tribulation saints, who will be resurrected after the Second Coming at the end of the Tribulation. So, the Feast of First-fruits was fulfilled by the Resurrection of Yeshua.
B. The Date of the Resurrection
B. The Date of the Resurrection
Jesus was not resurrected on the proper day in accordance with the Pharisees, because the Pharisees made the first night of Passover to be the fifteenth day of Nisan, thereby making the first night of Passover the same as the first day of Unleavened Bread. Had the Pharisees done what the Sadducees did in making a distinction between Passover and the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, then the Messiah would have been resurrected in accordance with the Pharisees, which in turn would have been in accordance with biblical law.
The fifteenth day of Nisan that year, a.d. 30, was from Thursday evening until Friday evening; this is the first day of His death and burial.
The sixteenth day of Nisan was from Friday evening until Saturday evening; this is the second day of His death and burial.
The seventeenth day of Nisan was from Saturday evening until Sunday evening; this is the third day of His death and burial and also the day of His Resurrection.
Yeshua was resurrected on the seventeenth day of Nisan, not in accordance with the Pharisaic system, but in accordance with the Mosaic system. In this case, the Sadducees agreed with Moses.
The first Sunday after Passover in the year a.d. 30 fell on the seventeenth day of Nisan.
Jesus was resurrected on the first Sunday after Passover in keeping with the Sadducean interpretation and, more importantly, with the Mosaic command. So the first-fruits were offered on a Sunday, and it is no accident that the Messiah’s Resurrection, which fulfilled the Feast of First-fruits, also occurred on a Sunday