PROPHECIES OF THE KING AND PASSOVER PREPARATION

RETURN TO SYLLABUS

Matthew 21:1-11

Lesson #50
PROPHECIES OF THE KING AND PASSOVER PREPARATION

• Memory verse: John 1:36
• This chapter begins the last week of Jesus’ ministry on earth before the crucifixion. The events begin on what we call, Palm Sunday, one week before Easter Sunday.
• Read Mat 21:1-11
  • The setting in Jesus’ time:
    • It was the beginning of the time of the celebration of the Passover.
    • Passover was a Jewish feast day instituted by God. The purpose of the festival was to remind the Jews of how God had delivered them from Egypt and slavery under Moses.
    • Jewish Law said that every adult male within twenty miles of Jerusalem must come to Jerusalem to participate in the Passover celebration. An estimate of about two and a half million people were in Jerusalem at this time. Many Jews came from much greater distances to participate.
    • Because of the crowded conditions in the city, Jesus and his disciples lodged in Bethany, a small town on the other side of the Mount of Olives. Evidently Jesus had made arrangements ahead of time regarding lodging, the use of the ass and colt, and the use of the upper room where they ate the last supper.
    • The ass and her colt:
      • We can assume the arrangements were made ahead of time regarding these animals because the disciples were simply to say that “the master has need of them“.
      • The animal was to be one that had never been ridden. This was to indicate that it was to be used for a sacred purpose. We find the same indications of sacredness in the Old Testament. (Num 19:2 Deu 21:3 1Sam 6:7)
    • Jesus’ dramatic message:
      • In the Old Testament, God frequently impressed prophets to emphasize their Godly message by calling attention to it in some dramatic way. In that way, people could not ignore God’s message to them.
      • Jesus, as the ultimate prophet, dramatizes God’s message through this incident of what we call the triumphal entry into Jerusalem.
  • The message of peace
    • It was not unusual for a king to ride such a lowly beast as a donkey. In fact it was common if the king was coming in peace rather than war. A conquering king coming in war would ride a horse, but a king wanting to portray peace would ride a donkey.
    • Jesus message is a message of peace! The prophecy of the King coming in peace is in Zec 9:9.
  • The message of cleansing
    • In 175 BC an evil Syrian king, Antiochus Epiphanes IV, defiled the Jewish temple by offering a pig on the altar. The Maccabee family raised an army, rebelled against him, and captured the temple. The historic book of 2 Maccabees 10:7 describes the joyous festival. The description sounds just like this incident on Palm Sunday. There were palm branches then, as well. It was a festival of the cleansing of the temple. The Jews still celebrate it. It is called Hanukkah.
    • Jesus’ message is that He is the King who has come to cleanse the temple of a dead religious system. When he threw the money changers out of the temple the next day, it was a symbolic act of the cleansing of the temple just as the Maccabbes had done 200 years before.
  • The message of the lamb of God
    • We must keep the events of Jesus’ last week in a Jewish context. For the preparation of the Passover, the high priest would bring a lamb from the Mount of Olives, through the Kidron Valley, and through the Eastern Gate into the city. When he did that, the people would line the streets and wave palm branches to greet the sacrifice lamb. The lamb was taken to the temple where it remained tied to the altar for four days.
    • Jesus comes into Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, through the Kidron Valley, and into the Eastern Gate on the very day that the Passover lamb made this same journey.
      • Jesus Christ is the sacrifice Lamb of God. He came to offer himself to the people.
      • We will see him spend the next four days in the temple, just like the Passover lamb.
      • John the Baptist called Jesus the Lamb of God who came to take away the sins of the world. (Joh 1:29)
  • The message of “Hosanna”
    • Jesus was greeted with “Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord”.
      • This was how you would greet a pilgrim entering the city for Passover.
      • This prophetic statement comes from Psa 118:26.
    • Jesus was greeted with shouts of “Hosanna“.
      • Hosanna means = save now!
      • The people are calling for the Messiah King to come and save them.
        • Hosanna in the highest = let even the angels in the highest heights of heaven cry unto God “save us now”.
        • This prophetic statement comes from Psa 118:25.
  • The message of the Eastern Gate
    • The most direct way into Jerusalem from the east (from the Mount of Olives) was through the Eastern Gate which led directly into the temple area. The Old Testament prophecies said that the Messiah King would use this gate to enter Jerusalem and offer himself as their King. (Eze 44:1,2 Eze 43:1-2)
    • This was the gate that Jesus used on Palm Sunday. He was offering himself to the nation of Israel to be their Messiah King. Because he was rejected a week later at the crucifixion, God said the gate would be shut until the second coming of Christ.
    • The gate was shut by the Muslims 1,200 years ago to prevent the Jewish Messiah from coming to establish his earthly kingdom. The Muslims put a cemetery in front of the gate. They thought Jesus Christ would not walk over a cemetery.
    • There have been several attempts to open the gate, but God was not ready.
      • 1917, Dec 9
        • Jerusalem had been under the Turks for 400 years. When the British attacked in 1917, the Arabs shut all the gates to the city because of the British tanks that were advancing. The Arabs needed one gate open for access. They thought to open the Eastern Gate because it was on a hill. At that time, tanks were not able to climb hills easily.
        • Before the attack of Jerusalem by the British, General Lord Allenby did not want to destroy the sacred places. Therefore, he flew a plane over Jerusalem. He dropped leaflets that said, “Flee Jerusalem, Allenby”. The Arabs had a prophecy that they would not lose the city until a prophet of Allah came and told them to leave. The Arabs saw the leaflets that were signed by Allenby and translated it “Allah” and “Bey” which meant, the prophet of God. They fled the city before they could open the Eastern Gate.
      • 1967, June 5
        • King Hussein of Jordan wanted to construct a grand hotel on the temple mount. He decided to open the Eastern Gate to facilitate construction. That day was the day of the famous 6-day war. Israeli air forces stopped the opening of the Eastern Gate. King Hussein’s workers fled.
        • The eastern gate will remain closed until God opens it with an earthquake at the second coming of Christ.
  • What do we learn about Jesus, the King, from this passage?
    • The King came the first time to bring peace. At the second coming He will bring war.
    • The King came to cleanse the temple of dead religion so that He could bring life.
    • The King is the sacrifice Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the people.
    • Hosanna, the King is the Messiah who comes to save us.
    • Jesus Christ is the King, the Messiah, who is worthy to come again through the Eastern Gate.
  • The price of rejection:
    • Read Luk 19:39-44
    • Despite the joyous shouting at the triumphal entry, Jesus knew that He would eventually be rejected. He weeps over the city of Jerusalem because He knows that destruction is coming upon them in 70 AD when the Romans would destroy the city and the temple. The Romans dug a trench around the city to facilitate the siege. According to this passage, the event in 70 AD was a punishment from God because of their rejection of Christ as their Messiah.

Homework

Matthew 21:12-22

• Application of Mat 21:1-11
  • One week the Jewish people hailed Jesus as the Messiah King and the next week they rejected Him.
    • Does your Christian life follow this same unstable pattern?
    • Explain the unstable ways of your Christian life.
    • What is the remedy for such an unstable relationship with the Lord? (Read James 1:1-8,22-25)
• Preparation for Mat 21:12-22
  • Read Mat 21:12-14
    • Why do you think Jesus became angry with people in the temple?
    • What does this incident tell you about Jesus’ character?
  • Read Mat 21:15-22
    • What do you think the fig tree is supposed to symbolize?
    • (Read 1Kin 4:25 Micah 4:4 Zec 3:10 Psa 105:33 Jer 8:13 Hos 2:12)
  • This is the only destructive miracle we have seen Jesus do. What was the message Jesus was teaching us?
  • What do you learn about prayer from Mat 21:12-22?
• Memory verse: Matthew 21:22