The Advent of Easter, Part XVII by Pamela Christian—Copyright © 2019
Today in the life of Jesus is the day the lamb for the Passover meal is to be selected—the 10th of Nissan. It is also the same day Jesus makes His triumphal entry into Jerusalem—the day we commemorate as Palm Sunday.
On the same day the people were selecting the lamb they would prepare for the Passover meal to take place in less than four days, Jesus, The Lamb of God is hailed by the people.
Imagine the dirt roads leading to the city bustling with great numbers of people who’ve come to celebrate the Passover. The widespread talk among the crowd is about Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. As they see Jesus approaching the city on the way down the Mount of Olives riding on a donkey colt, (which fulfills Zech. 9:9 and Ps. 118:25-26), the whole multitude of His disciples make way for His passage, placing their cloaks and leafy branches they’d cut from the field on the road for Him to pass over. People were also waving palm branches symbolizing the notion of victory. These gestures indicate submission to Jesus as king—the Davidic Messiah. They acclaimed Jesus as the Messiah, but believed their delivery would be bring national victory from the authority of the Roman government.
They began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the miraculous works they had seen. Those who went before and followed after Jesus were shouting, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest! Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed in the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!”
As Jesus drew near to the city, He wept over it saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.” Amid all the celebration, Jesus knew the people were blind to the reality of His mission. Although the rejection of Jesus was prophesied in the Old Testament (Isaiah 53:1 and 6:10), Jesus still feels great sorrow over their rejection, expressing the heart of the Father over Israel rejecting His prophets, and now His Son.
When Jesus entered, the whole city of an estimated 20-30,000 people was stirred up asking Jesus’ disciples “Who is this?” And the crowd said “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.” Although Moses had predicted the coming of a “prophet like me to whom you shall listen” (Deut. 18:15-18) there is no indication the crowds here in Jerusalem, recognized Jesus as that prophet.
The jubilant elation among the people could be considered boarder-line riotous by the Roman government, subjecting the people to forceful control. Some of the Pharisees in the crowd spoke to Jesus saying, “Teacher rebuke your disciples!” Jesus replied, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.” No doubt this further infuriated the religious leaders who feared Jesus would usurp their power.
Understand, Jesus knows the celebration of Him is all for the wrong reasons. They worshiped Him for the miracles He had done. They believed He was a man, inspired by God who could potentially release the Jews from the political oppression of the Roman government. Jesus also knows, within just a few days these shouts of exuberant accolation would turn into angry calls for His crucifixion.
In these days leading to the celebration of Passover, the religious leaders vehemently opposed Jesus. They concluded the only way to return order to the Jews was to kill Jesus. The next post will explore the plot to crucify Jesus.
For April 7-8, 2019 read and meditate on the following Scriptures:
Matthew 21:1- 10; Mark 11;1-11; Luke 19:28-44 and; John 12:9-50. 
Note: All the books in the award-winning Faith to Live By series are written to help people discover and live in life-giving truth. Visit the Author Page to learn more about the different books. When you purchase any of my products, you are helping support the ministry and spread the gospel of Jesus.
Your privacy is always respected and protected.