Triumphant entry Nisan 9
Let’s review the course of events thus far, Jesus prior to the Passover goes to Bethany on Friday, the next day (Saturday) goes to Jerusalem to the temple. It is during this trip to Jerusalem That the people who were assembled in the city in observance of the Feast, receive word that Jesus is on the road to the temple this particular road traveled was called the Way! We now look back to the gospel of John chapter 12
John 12:13-16 13 Took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord.
14 And Jesus, when he had found a young ass, sat thereon; as it is written,
15 Fear not, daughter of Sion: behold, thy King cometh, sitting on an ass's colt.
16 These things understood not his disciples at the first: but when Jesus was glorified, then remembered they that these things were written of him, and that they had done these things unto him. KJV
To better understand these events we pause from the present and now go back to the history and the law. In the book of Exodus, God required the males to appear before him in Jerusalem Three times a year (this topic is thoroughly explained in my book Three the Signature of God). Note the following scriptures:
Ex 23:14-18 14 Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto me in the year.
15 Thou shalt keep the feast of unleavened bread: (thou shalt eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded thee, in the time appointed of the month Abib; for in it thou camest out from Egypt: and none shall appear before me empty:)
16 And the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in the field: and the feast of ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field.
17 Three times in the year all thy males shall appear before the Lord GOD.
18 Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread; neither shall the fat of my sacrifice remain until the morning. KJV
Deut 16:16 16 Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles: and they shall not appear before the LORD empty: KJV
We can better understand why there were so many people assembled in Jerusalem at this time. The people gathered in the Holy city to celebrate the feast of unleavened bread which was a combination of Passover on the 14th and the seven days of unleavened bread this was required under the law. This now explains the multitudes that had assembled in Jerusalem along the way. We can not move forward without giving time and place to this word Way. It was a part of Jewish custom that once a year the High Priest would journey to Bethlehem to the tower of the flock. There he would select a lamb from among the sheep, this would be the lamb that would be sacrificed in the temple and that blood of the lamb would cover the sin of Israel for another year. Note I said it only covered the sins for year, it served as a temporary solution for a real permanent problem. This religious practice was repeated year after year, it did not have the power to remove the penalty for sin. With that in mind one can see that this time of the year was very important this lamb was their only hope to keep and maintain a relationship with a Holy God. The facts that remain are these; the road traveled by the high priest from Bethlehem to the temple at Jerusalem was in fact called the way. The lamb could be viewed as he traveled from the City of David back to the temple were he would be sacrificed for the sins of Israel. AH! I see a similarity here this lamb was being lead to the slaughter yet he opens not his mouth, sound familiar? So we have Jesus traveling on this road on the Sabbath ,the climax builds ,they begin to speak one to another this Jesus this is the one that raised Lazarus from the dead, others exclaimed this is the Messiah . The crowd was ready to have an earthly king ready to thrust Jesus into that position they now begin to cry out Hosanna as seen in John 12:17-19 The people therefore that was with him when he called Lazarus out of his grave, and raised him from the dead, bare record.
18 For this cause the people also met him, for that they heard that he had done this miracle.
19 The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, Perceive ye how ye prevail nothing? behold, the world is gone after him. KJV The atmosphere is properly charged yet the multitudes along with the Pharisee’s did not understand exactly what was about to take place. While the multitudes were actually awaiting the arrival of Chiapas who was the high priest that year to arrive in the city with the yearly sacrificial lamb only to be interrupted by the appearance of the Lamb of God. Jesus the true lamb had to walk the exact steps of the earthly lamb. How so ? Jesus was born in Bethlehem the first year male, and now travels the the same path that the earthly lamb traveled as it was led to the temple. The appearance of Jesus instead of Chiapas on this sacred road called the way immediately draws controversy and sets the stage once again for Jesus to do what he does best, traditions can’t stand up against the truth!
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