The Messiah Comes
Notes
Transcript
Today is a very special day! It was today, Sunday, March 29th, A.D. 33 that Jesus rode to Jerusalem! 1993 years ago, today, was when that tremendous moment happened!
Each year, our Palm Sunday and Easter celebrations move around the calendar because of how they decided to set the date centuries ago. But today is truly an anniversary of that momentous occasion!
Last week we were looking at the prophecies in the Old Testament about the One God promised would come: “The Messiah.”
We saw that Messiah is the Anglicized version of the Hebrew word which means, “Anointed One.”
The Jews knew from the prophecies that God was going to send a new king in the line of David who would establish his kingdom over all other kingdoms of the earth. They knew that this king would reign in power, righteousness, and justice.
Daniel was looking to the Lord concerning the fulfillment of the prophecies when God gave him a message.
“Seventy ‘sevens’ are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the Most Holy Place.
“Know and understand this: From the time the word goes out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven ‘sevens,’ and sixty-two ‘sevens.’ It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble.
Daniel 9.25 is significant, because we know from Nehemiah, that Artaxerxes issued that decree in the Jewish month of Nisan, 444 B.C.
Scholars much smarter than I, included Harold Hoehner have resolved this command to 1 Nisan 444 B.C. which would have been March 5, 444 B.C. in our calendar system. (It may have been March 4th, but they have good reason to choose the 5th.)
They have also resolved that Jesus died on the cross, April 3, 33 A.D. And, based on that, they know that Jesus entered Jerusalem on Sunday (John tells us in his gospel that is was 5 days before the Passover).
According to Daniel 9.25, we know that there would be seven ‘sevens’, and sixty-two ‘sevens’; that is, 7 periods of 7 years, and 62 periods of 7 years, which is altogether, 483 years.
Years in prophecies are based on the standard Jewish calendar year which had 360 days.
Other prophecies in Daniel and Revelation show us that the number of days do correspond with a 360-day year.
That means there are 173,880 days from the time of the prophecy until the Anointed One comes.
Now, going from 444 B.C. to A.D. 33 is 476 years (there is no year 0, so it is not 477). Now 476 years x 365.242 days = 173,855. Then, there are 25 days between March 5th the decree, and March 30th the coming.
173,855+25 = 173,880 days.
Now, today is March 29th… Sunday in A.D. 33 was March 29th. So, why March 30th?
Because the Jews count days as beginning in the evening. Mark tells us,
Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple courts. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve.
Jesus traveled from Bethany to Jerusalem on Sunday, March 29th, arriving in the later afternoon/evening, which for the Jews was the beginning of March 30th!
Wow! Could God have gotten any more specific when he told Daniel,
“Know and understand this: From the time the word goes out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven ‘sevens,’ and sixty-two ‘sevens.’ It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble.
Once again, we see that God tells the truth. When he says something is going to happen, it happens. When he puts a timeframe to what will happen, it happens just when he says it will happen!
Praise the Lord, we serve an awesome God, who is ever faithful, doing what he says, when he says!
Well, let’s look at what happened that day, and see what else we learn about God, about man, and about hope.
As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples,
saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me.
If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.”
This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:
“Say to Daughter Zion, ‘See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’ ”
The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them.
They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on.
A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.
The Time of the Messiah’s Coming
The Time of the Messiah’s Coming
There were huge crowds coming to Jerusalem. How many we do not know exactly, and estimates vary widely. Josephus says that one year it swelled to the millions. More conservative estimates have the normal population at 30,000, and about 150,000 additional people coming to Jerusalem for the Passover.
R. T. France, The Gospel of Matthew, The New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publication Co., 2007), 771.
150,000 people. That is more people than those who attend a Penn State Football game! Imagine those kinds of crowds walking on the roads into Jerusalem. It would have been a mass of people. Crowded beyond what we typically imagine.
As they are going to Jerusalem, they would typically sing Psalms 120-134, the songs of Ascent.
As they sang, their thoughts were on the covenant God made with David, and the coming Anointed One.
For the sake of your servant David, do not reject your anointed one.
The Lord swore an oath to David, a sure oath he will not revoke: “One of your own descendants I will place on your throne.
If your sons keep my covenant and the statutes I teach them, then their sons will sit on your throne for ever and ever.”
As they are thinking of the covenant with David, the coming anointed one, here is Jesus, riding on a donkey, the same way that David did when he rode into Jerusalem (2 Samuel 19-20), and the way Solomon went to his coronation (1 Kings 1.38-40).
Which was also a fulfillment of Zechariah’s prophecy.
Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
I will take away the chariots from Ephraim and the warhorses from Jerusalem, and the battle bow will be broken. He will proclaim peace to the nations. His rule will extend from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth.
The people longed for the Anointed One who would rule over Israel, and the other nations around them, establishing the kingdom that God had foretold through Daniel.
When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen:
“Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”
Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”
“I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”
Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord is a quote from Psalm 118. Psalms 113-118 are called the Hallel were a part of celebrating the Passover.
Look at Psalm 118.19-28
Open for me the gates of the righteous; I will enter and give thanks to the Lord.
This is the gate of the Lord through which the righteous may enter.
I will give you thanks, for you answered me; you have become my salvation.
The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone;
the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes.
The Lord has done it this very day; let us rejoice today and be glad.
Lord, save us! Lord, grant us success!
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. From the house of the Lord we bless you.
The Lord is God, and he has made his light shine on us. With boughs in hand, join in the festal procession up to the horns of the altar.
You are my God, and I will praise you; you are my God, and I will exalt you.
On the heels of the people saying, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD, the religious leaders tell Jesus to rebuke the people. They had already rejected Jesus and were plotting to kill him. Truly he was the stone the builders, the religious leaders rejected.
The Anticipated Messiah
The Anticipated Messiah
“The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land.
In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which he will be called: The Lord Our Righteous Savior.
A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord—
and he will delight in the fear of the Lord. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears;
but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.
Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist.
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.
The people anticipated the Anointed One to come and instantly be their king, to overthrow their enemies, and to establish a kingdom which would give them peace. The Anointed One was the Prince of Peace.
As they sang their songs, one of the themes was peace.
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: “May those who love you be secure.
May there be peace within your walls and security within your citadels.”
For the sake of my family and friends, I will say, “Peace be within you.”
Lord, do good to those who are good, to those who are upright in heart.
But those who turn to crooked ways the Lord will banish with the evildoers. Peace be on Israel.
May you live to see your children’s children— peace be on Israel.
I imagine that this is all hitting Jesus as he knows what is coming. What they expect, the Anointed establishing a kingdom which will overthrow their enemies, is not what will bring them peace.
As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it
and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes.
The Un-anticipated Messiah
The Un-anticipated Messiah
The people wanted the messiah, the anointed one who would establish the kingdom—a kingdom where they would be on top of the world, over all of the other nations. The times that they were singing about when they would have peace, when they would have prosperity, when they would enjoy all of the blessings of the Lord.
What they did not consider was that the king and his kingdom would be righteous and just.
If the king was truly righteous and just, who could possibly enter his kingdom?
As we have seen in our studies through the scriptures, Man is
Man
Prideful
Rebellious against the Lord
Self-seeking
Stubborn
Blames and accuses others, including God
Slow to repent and confess
If Jesus were to establish his kingdom upon entering Jerusalem, a kingdom of righteousness and justice, no one would be found who was righteous to be a part of his kingdom. We are all unrighteous.
There would be no peace. There would only be judgment and condemnation.
While the Jews thought peace would come when they were over their enemies, they did not realize there could be no peace until they were at peace with God.
And to be at peace with God, their sin, their rebellion, their pride had to be dealt with.
Thankfully, the prophets also heard from the Lord about the Anointed One who would deal with their sin.
Daniel had said,
“Seventy ‘sevens’ are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the Most Holy Place.
To Finish Transgression
To Put an End to Sin
To Atone for Wickedness
To Bring in Everlasting Righteousness
To Seal Up Vision and Prophecy
To Anoint the Most Holy Place
The Anointed One Comes to first finish transgression, put an end to sin, and atone for wickedness.
Not until those things were done, could he bring in the Everlasting Righteousness of his kingdom, seal up vision and prophecy and anoint the Most Holy Place.
Isaiah was told of this by the Lord as well.
Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.
Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.
We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.
By oppression and judgment he was taken away. Yet who of his generation protested? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was punished.
He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.
Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.
After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.
Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
The Messiah Comes to Bear Sin
The Messiah Comes to Bear Sin
Interestingly enough, when Jesus entered Jerusalem, they would have also been bringing in lambs—the Passover Lambs.
When God established the Passover, he instructed the people to choose a lamb on the 10th of Nisan that would live with them until the evening of the 14th, when they would slaughter it.
Jesus entered Jerusalem on the eve of the 10th with the lambs and would be with them until the eve of the 14th, when they would slaughter him.
As the Passover lamb was slaughtered so that the firstborn would not die at that first Passover, so Jesus would be slaughtered so that we would not die for our sins.
He was the lamb who would die in our place.
He would bear our sins in his body, so that we might be forgiven and declared to be righteous by God.
This is called justification—being declared righteous.
And those who are declared righteous, are at peace with God.
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
The people did not anticipate the Anointed One being despised and rejected.
The people did not anticipate the Anointed One bearing our Sins.
The people did not anticipate what the Anointed would do so that we could have peace, peace with God.
But that is what the Anointed One was going to do. He was the Shepherd King who would lay down his life for his sheep.
He is the Anointed One they were singing about without knowing it, in their song of ascents...
Israel, put your hope in the Lord, for with the Lord is unfailing love and with him is full redemption.
He himself will redeem Israel from all their sins.
Messiah God
Faithful
All-knowing and Sovereign
Wants man to know Him
Merciful, Patient, Gracious
Bears man’s sin and Redeems
Hope
Acknowledgement of Sin
Repentance
Faith
A song of ascents.
Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord;
Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy.
If you, Lord, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand?
But with you there is forgiveness, so that we can, with reverence, serve you.
I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope.
I wait for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning.
Israel, put your hope in the Lord, for with the Lord is unfailing love and with him is full redemption.
He himself will redeem Israel from all their sins.
The Messiah Comes to Redeem!
The Messiah Comes to Redeem!
