The Beginning of the End

The Right Place - Jerusalem

We need to talk about - Lazarus

In the gospel of John the immediate context of the triumphal entry is the raising of Lazarus from the dead.

This miracle occured in Bethany which was very close to Bethphage and both of which are close to Jerusalem.

We learn from the narrative surrounding the raising of Lazarus that Jesus had a very logical reason not to go anywhere near Jerusalem. The religious leaders there were trying to kill Him.

John 11:6–8 “So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?””

Jesus knew exactly what He was facing by going to Jerusalem.

It is more than probably that the large crowd that welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem were largely gathered because they had heard about the miracle in Bethany, the raising of Lazarus. Many of them may have been from Bethany.

We need to talk about - Prophecy

O.T. prophecy is clear in many places that the Messiah would come in Jerusalem.

Jerusalem has always been a focal point of the worlds largest religions.

For millennia, Jerusalem has been an important city, often commanding the attention of much of the world, and the city figures prominently in both biblical history and biblical prophecy. Jerusalem is central to many important events in the Bible.

Jerusalem in history. The first biblical reference to Jerusalem is found in the story of Abraham’s encounter with Melchizedek, King of Salem (Genesis 14:18–24). Later, David marched on Jerusalem (2 Samuel 5:6–10, c. 1000 BC), and he “captured the fortress of Zion” from the Jebusites (verse 7). At that time, Jerusalem became the capital of Israel. It was in Jerusalem that Solomon built the temple and his palace (1 Kings 6–7). In 586 BC the Babylonians destroyed the temple and the city and deported the Jews to Babylon (2 Kings 24–25). After the Jews were allowed to return to Jerusalem, they rebuilt the temple, completed in 516 BC under Zerubbabel (Ezra 6). Under Nehemiah’s leadership the walls were rebuilt in 444 BC (Nehemiah 6). During the intertestamental period, the Selucid king Antiochus IV desecrated the temple. In c. 165 Jerusalem was liberated by Judas Maccabeus, and the Jews cleansed and restored the temple. In 65 BC the Romans besieged the city and destroyed the walls. Herod the Great was made “king of the Jews” by Caesar Augustus. Twenty years later Herod began a massive remodeling of the Jewish temple, a project completed in AD 66. That temple was destroyed by the Romans in AD 70, and the Jews dispersed throughout the world. In the seventh and eighth centuries, Islam came on the scene, and Muslims began building shrines and mosques in Jerusalem to commemorate certain events important in their religion. The Dome of the Rock is the most noteworthy shrine, built directly on the temple mount. Under Arab rule, Jerusalem prospered, and tolerance was at first extended to Christians. However, this tolerance began to wane over time. In the early eleventh century, a ruler of the Fatimid Dynasty ordered the destruction of all churches in Jerusalem. This outraged Christians throughout Europe and led to the First Crusade (1095–1099). After World War II, on May 14, 1948, Israel once again became an independent state, and President Truman duly recognized Israel’s restored status as a national homeland for the Jewish people. On December 5, 1949, Israel declared Jerusalem to be its “eternal and sacred” capital. Unfortunately, other nations have been slow in facing the reality of Israel’s independence and its right to choose its own capital. In December 2017 the United States officially recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Jerusalem in prophecy. The Bible predicted that the Jewish people would return to Israel, and Jerusalem figures prominently in prophecies concerning the end times (Joel 3:1; Jeremiah 23:3; 30:7; Ezekiel 11:17; 37:1–14). Someday, the Jewish temple will be rebuilt in the Holy City (Daniel 9:27; 12:11; Matthew 24:15; 2 Thessalonians 2:3–4). In the early part of the tribulation, a combined military force, will march against Jerusalem: this battle is outlined in Ezekiel 38–39 in the prophecy of Gog and Magog, and it will end in the destruction of those armies arrayed against Israel. During the tribulation, the two witnesses will be martyred in Jerusalem (Revelation 11). At the end of the tribulation, the nations of the world will mount a final assault on the city in the Battle of Armageddon. That battle will be ended by the arrival of Jesus Christ Himself. “The Lord will go out and fight against those nations, as he fights on a day of battle. . . . The Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones with him”. During the Millennial Kingdom, the Lord Jesus Christ will reign over the earth from Zion, and the nations will come to Jerusalem for instruction and blessing (Isaiah 2:2–4; 35:10; Psalm 102:20–22; Revelation 20). At His second coming, Jesus will descend to the Mount of Olives, just outside of Jerusalem (Zechariah 14:4). Jerusalem will be the seat of authority in Jesus’ kingdom, and judgment will be meted out from Zion (Micah 4:7; Isaiah 33:5; Psalm 110). With every passing day, we are closer to the Lord’s fulfillment of His promises concerning Jerusalem and His reign of true justice and peace (Isaiah 9:7). “Even so, come, Lord Jesus” (Revelation 22:20, KJV).

Zechariah 9:9 “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you...

There are many passages that speak of the Messiah coming to Jerusalem but for reasons that may be obvious or will become obvious we will use Zechariah 9:9.

One of the great historical proofs that Jesus is who He claimed to be was that He fulfilled every required O.T. prophecy concerning the Messiah. This being one of them.

Summary

Jesus knew exactly what He was getting into

Jesus was proving Himself to be the Messiah

The Right Time - Passover

We need to talk about - the Exodus

Passover (Pesach in Hebrew) is a Jewish festival celebrating the exodus from Egypt and the Israelites’ freedom from slavery to the Egyptians. The Feast of Passover, along with the Feast of Unleavened Bread, was the first of the festivals to be commanded by God for Israel to observe (see Exodus 12). Commemorations today involve a special meal called the Seder, featuring unleavened bread and other food items symbolic of various aspects of the exodus.

Passover is one of the most widely celebrated Jewish holidays. Along with the Feast of Weeks or Pentecost and the Feast of Tabernacles, Passover is one of the three “pilgrimage” festivals in Scripture, during which the Jews were commanded to travel to Jerusalem and observe the feasts together. Passover takes place in the spring, during the Hebrew month of Nisan. In Western countries, Passover is celebrated in early- to mid-April and is always close to Easter.

This tells us why Jerusalem was so busy at the time of Jesus’ arrival.

The book of Exodus tells of the origin of Passover. God promised to redeem His people from the bondage of Pharaoh (Exodus 6:6). God sent Moses to the Egyptian king with the command that Pharaoh “let my people go” (Exodus 8:1). When Pharaoh refused, God brought ten plagues on the land of Egypt. The tenth and worst of the plagues was the death of all the firstborn in Egypt. The night of the first Passover was the night of the tenth plague. On that fateful night, God told the Israelites to sacrifice a spotless lamb and mark their doorposts and lintels with its blood (Exodus 12:21–22). Then, when the Lord passed through the nation, He would “pass over” the households that showed the blood (verse 23). In a very real way, the blood of the lamb saved the Israelites from death, as it kept the destroyer from entering their homes. The Israelites were saved from the plague, and their firstborn children stayed alive. The children of Israel in Egypt followed God’s command and kept the first Passover. However, none of the Egyptians did so. All through Egypt, behind the unmarked, bloodless doorways of the Egyptians, the firstborn children died at midnight (Exodus 12:21–29). “There was loud wailing in Egypt, for there was not a house without someone dead” (verse 30). This dire judgment finally changed the Egyptian king’s heart, and he released the Israelite slaves (verses 31–32). Along with the instruction to apply the Passover lamb’s blood to their doorposts and lintels, God instituted a commemorative meal: fire-roasted lamb, bitter herbs, and unleavened bread (Exodus 12:8). The Lord told the Israelites to “observe this rite as a statute for you and for your sons forever” (Exodus 12:24, ESV).To this day, Jews all over the world celebrate the Passover in obedience to this command.

Passover and the story of the exodus have great significance for Christians also, as Jesus Christ fulfilled the Law, including the symbolism of the Passover. As it turns out the entire Passover process in the Exodus was a picture of the shed blood of Christ. So is it surprising that God in His sovereignty would have Jesus arrive in Jerusalem at Passover?

Jesus is our Passover Lamb. 1 Corinthians 5:7 “Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.”

He was killed at Passover time

The Last Supper was a Passover meal (Luke 22:7–8).

By (spiritually) applying His blood to our lives by faith, we trust Christ to save us from death. The Israelites who, in faith, applied the blood of the Paschal lamb to their homes become a model for us. It was not the Israelites’ ancestry or good standing or amiable nature that saved them; it was only the blood of the lamb that made them exempt from death (see John 1:29 and Revelation 5:9–10).

We need to talk about - His Enemies

Jesus allowed the animosity against Him to build at a steady rate to lead to this moment.

He knew that raising Lazarus from the dead would be the final straw.

We can see, if we look closely, the way that Jesus allowed things to build to this moment.

Notice how Jesus operated early in His ministry:

Matthew 9:27–31 “And as Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed him, crying aloud, “Have mercy on us, Son of David.” When he entered 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.” Then he touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith be it done to you.” And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, “See that no one knows about it.” But they went away and spread his fame through all that district.”

Mark 1:40–44 “And a leper came to him, imploring him, and kneeling said to him, “If you will, you can make me clean.” Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, “I will; be clean.” And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. And Jesus sternly charged him and sent him away at once, and said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, for a proof to them.””

Notice how he operated right before the triumphal entry

Matthew 20:29–34 “And as they went out of Jericho, a great crowd followed him. And behold, there were two blind men sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” The crowd rebuked them, telling them to be silent, but they cried out all the more, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” And stopping, Jesus called them and said, “What do you want me to do for you?” They said to him, “Lord, let our eyes be opened.” And Jesus in pity touched their eyes, and immediately they recovered their sight and followed him.”

This time when people in need call out to Jesus as the Son of David, a Messianic title, it seems that He embraces it. There was a large crowd and everyone heard it.

When He enters Jerusalem here he isn’t hiding. v. 10-11

The Right Person - Jesus

We need to talk about - His Authority

“Go to this specific place and get a donkey”

“And if anyone says anything say ‘the Lord needs them”

Somehow this worked

Fulfillment of Zechariah 9:9 “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

This may have been miraculous or it may have been prearranged by Christ.

Don’t get caught up in over interpreting the text.

We need to talk about - His Royalty

Ultimately the donkey points to Zechariah which points to Jesus as King.

“Behold your king!”

The crowds accepted Him as royalty in this moment by spreading their cloaks and palm branches on the ground.

They recognized His royalty in their cry “Hosanna, to the Son of David!”

Hosanna is often thought of as a declaration of praise, similar to hallelujah, but it is actually a plea for salvation.

The Hebrew root words are found in Psalm 118:25, which says, “Save us, we pray, O LORD!” (ESV). The Hebrew words yasha (“deliver, save”) and anna (“beg, beseech”) combine to form the word that, in English, is “hosanna.” Literally, hosanna means “I beg you to save!” or “please deliver us!”

The Wrong Conclusion - Political Deliverance

We need to talk about - the Crowd

What did their cry imply?

Hosanna! - save us, deliver us! but from what?

Rome

When it became clear that this is not what Jesus was offering they turned on Him, and their cries went from “Hosanna, to the Son of David, blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” to “Crucify Him!”

We need to talk about -Jesus

The deliverance He offered was not political, but spiritual.

The text doesn’t say but surely someone was wondering why the conquering king was riding a donkey.

A picture of His humility and willingness to submit to the will of God.

Summary: people are still coming to the wrong conclusion about Jesus