“Palm Sunday”
March 11th, 2008The Christian calendar marks Sunday, March 16 as “Palm Sunday.” It is the day many churches will remember Jesus’ “triumphal entry” into Jerusalem. There are many details in this event that are useful to our understanding of him as the Messiah.
Each gospel writer records this event. You may read of it in Matthew 21:1-9; Mark 11:1-10; Luke 19:28-44; and John 12:12-15. The writers remind us that, as Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the borrowed donkey, he fulfilled the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9. We are also reminded that he came from the direction of the wilderness (beyond Bethany) which was a fulfillment of the prophecy in Isaiah 40. But, there is more.
Remember the occasions when Jesus told his mother, the disciples, and others that his time had not yet come? When we read of this event, we know why he waited to be crucified. God used the symbolism of this week to illustrate what he was doing in his son. Take a minute and read Leviticus 23:4-14 before continuing.
Remember that the Passover symbolized the deliverance of the Hebrews from Egypt. That feast was to take place on the fourteenth day of the first month. Notice in the reading that on the tenth day of the first month the people were to select their lamb for sacrifice at Passover. Among the things taught by the “triumphal entry” is that GOD had selected his LAMB on the tenth day to be sacrificed on what we refer to as “Good Friday.” This was “Lamb Selection Day” and Jesus was indeed “the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.”
In addition, Jesus would be in the tomb as the Feast of Unleavened Bread began on the fifteenth day of the first month. It was a reminder of Jesus’ sinlessness and that the grains of wheat must be planted in the ground. Here is when it gets exciting — The Feast of First Fruits occurs the day after the Sabbath after Passover. That could be one to six days, depending on the year. We easily see the fulfillment of this feast in that Jesus is God’s “first fruits from the dead” (1 Corinthians 15:20-23). The Jews were to present the initial grains of their crop to God as an act of faith. God presents his son as his first fruits as a sign of his promise of life to us.
There are few years that all three of these feasts would occur on the same weekend. The year that Jesus died was one of those rare years. He would be in the tomb three days — just like he said. He would visually fulfill the symbolism of the three feasts at the same time.
This was no coincidence. Jesus fulfilled prophecy after prophecy. He lived out the words of God. He displayed the life God wants us to live. Do you select the Lamb this “Lamb Selection Day”?
Keep The Light Burning!
Perry Greene
