Passover and Palm Sunday
Those who don’t learn from history are condemned to repeat it.
The next day, John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. I have seen and I testify that this is the Son of God.” (John 1:29,34). John the Baptist had been preaching about the coming Messiah, identifying himself as the one Isaiah had promised: the voice of one calling in the desert, “Prepare the way for the Lord.” (Isa. 40:3 & John 1:23) Introducing Jesus as the Lamb of God was no doubt meant to prompt a comparison between Jesus and the Passover lamb in their minds. Reading about the first Passover (Exodus 12:1-20) from a Christian perspective makes the similarity so clear, we wonder how so many could miss it. In fact over 300 Old Testament Prophecies were fulfilled in the life of Jesus and many of these came in the last week of His earthly life during the two events we’re celebrating this weekend, Passover and Palm Sunday.
For Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed … 1 Cor. 5:7
The Passover story is so familiar. The final showdown was coming. Through 9 plagues sent to show God’s power Pharoah had remained obstinate as God had predicted. The 10th plague, the death of all the firstborn, would break Pharoah’s will and free the Israelites from their bondage, but first they had to be protected from the plague. On the10th day of the 1st month God had them select a male lamb for each household and inspect it for 3 days to be sure it had no blemish or defect. Then between dawn and dusk on the 14th it was to be slaughtered, and its blood applied to the door posts of their homes. That night each family was to eat the lamb quickly with some bitter herbs and unleavened bread behind closed doors in their own house, not venturing outside. At midnight the destroying angel came through Egypt and took the life of the first born of every family, sparing only those whose door posts were covered with lamb’s blood. The next morning the Israelites were released from their bondage, given the wealth of Egypt, and began their journey to the Promised Land with God in their midst. They weren’t spared because they were Jewish, or just because they had lamb for dinner, but because they applied the lamb’s blood to their door posts believing that it would protect them. They were saved through faith by the blood of the lamb.
Like the Israelites in Egypt we are slaves, held in bondage to sin. On that first Palm Sunday, the 10th of the 1st month, our Passover Lamb was selected, allowing Himself to be proclaimed as Israel’s King for the first and only time in His life. For the next 3 days He was subjected to the most intense questioning of His entire ministry lest there be any defects found in His words or deeds. Then between dawn and dusk on the 14th He was crucified. At midnight on the real doomsday clock, the one in Heaven, following a series of plagues similar to those in Exodus the world will be destroyed. The next morning, God’s kingdom having come, we will have been released from our bondage to sin and given our inheritance to begin our 1000 year reign with Him in our midst. We won’t have been spared because we called ourselves Christian, or just because we had partaken of the Lamb, but because we applied His blood to the door posts of our hearts believing that it would protect us. We have been saved through faith by the Blood of the Lamb.
The Son of Man Wept, The Son of God Warned
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 days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in from every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone upon another because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you” (Luke 19:41-44).
The prophet Daniel had laid out the schedule for them 500 years earlier. From the time the Jews were freed from Babylon and given permission to rebuild Jerusalem (it had been destroyed 70 years before) to the coming of the Messiah there would be 69 periods of 7 years each, or 483 years (Daniel 9:25). History tells us that this permission was given by the Persian ruler Artaxerxes Longimonus in March of 445 BC (Nehemiah 2:1-9). The Sunday when Jesus rode a donkey into Jerusalem to the shouts of Psalm 118:25-26 was exactly 483 years later, but by then most of the Jewish leadership no longer took the Bible literally and the validity of predictive prophecy was being denied. The Lord however, held them accountable for knowing when He would visit. They might not have known the day or hour but should have “recognized the time of God’s coming.” With over 300 clear prophecies being fulfilled in their midst, we can see His point. Remember all 300 were fulfilled in the span of one generation, the one in which He came. There are over 500 prophecies relating to His Second Coming, and again all will be fulfilled within the span of one generation (Matt 24:34). Just as before, the fulfillment of these prophecies began when Jerusalem became a Jewish city again in 1967 (Luke 21:24), and just as before our leaders no longer take the Bible literally and the validity of predictive prophecy is being denied. But just as before the Lord holds us accountable to “recognize the time of God’s coming.”
Israel was looking for the Lion of the Tribe of Judah to throw off the Roman yoke and restore Israel’s kingdom. When they got the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world they weren’t prepared and didn’t recognize Him. Because of the main line church’s liberal theology many in the world today are looking for the Lamb of God and will be totally unprepared when the Lion of the Tribe of Judah comes to defeat His enemies and restore God’s Kingdom. Like the man said, “Those who don’t learn from history are condemned to repeat it.” You can almost hear the footsteps of the Messiah.
Tags: Israel, Old Testament, Prophecy
Related Posts:
- Passover Question
- Outside The Camp, Or In The Temple?
- The Timing Of The Passover Meal
- Passover Confusion?
- Passover Cross
