by Ptr. Art Calaguas<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shalom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We will pause for a while from the Olivet Discourse to consider some additions to an earlier topic related to our observance of Palm Sunday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As I have written earlier (see my Reflections for Jan. 30 and Feb. 6), the triumphal entry into Jerusalem (Matthew 21:1-11) is one of the just 3 events in the life of our Lord Jesus (aside from the Passion, Death and Resurrection accounts) that is narrated in all<\/em> the Gospels; informing us of its great significance. To review, Matthew 21:5 quotes a part of Isaiah 62 and parts from Zechariah 9 in these 4 lines:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u0395<\/em>\u1f34<\/em>\u03c0\u03b1\u03c4\u03b5 \u03c4<\/em>\u1fc7<\/em> \u03b8\u03c5\u03b3\u03b1\u03c4\u03c1<\/em>\u1f76<\/em> \u03a3\u03b9\u03c9\u03bd;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u1f38<\/em>\u03b4\u03bf<\/em>\u1f7a<\/em> <\/em>\u1f41<\/em> \u03b2\u03b1\u03c3\u03b9\u03bb\u03b5\u03cd\u03c2 \u03c3\u03bf\u03c5 <\/em>\u1f14<\/em>\u03c1\u03c7\u03b5\u03c4\u03b1\u03af \u03c3\u03bf\u03b9<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u03c0\u03c1\u03b1<\/em>\u1fe2<\/em>\u03c2 \u03ba\u03b1<\/em>\u1f76<\/em> <\/em>\u1f10<\/em>\u03c0\u03b9\u03b2\u03b5\u03b2\u03b7\u03ba<\/em>\u1f7c<\/em>\u03c2 <\/em>\u1f10<\/em>\u03c0<\/em>\u1f76<\/em> <\/em>\u1f44<\/em>\u03bd\u03bf\u03bd<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u03ba\u03b1<\/em>\u1f76<\/em> <\/em>\u1f10<\/em>\u03c0<\/em>\u1f76<\/em> \u03c0<\/em>\u1ff6<\/em>\u03bb\u03bf\u03bd \u03c5<\/em>\u1f31\u1f78<\/em>\u03bd <\/em>\u1f51<\/em>\u03c0\u03bf\u03b6\u03c5\u03b3\u03af\u03bf\u03c5.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n My formal translation follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Say to the daughter of Zion,<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Behold your King comes to you<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Gentle and after having mounted on a donkey<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Even on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Psalm 118 was also quoted in the 2nd<\/sup> line of Matthew 21:9, with the crowds shouting:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u1f69<\/em>\u03c3\u03b1\u03bd\u03bd<\/em>\u1f70<\/em> \u03c4<\/em>\u1ff7<\/em> \u03c5<\/em>\u1f31\u1ff7<\/em> \u0394\u03b1\u03c5\u03af\u03b4\u00b7<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u0395<\/em>\u1f50<\/em>\u03bb\u03bf\u03b3\u03b7\u03bc\u03ad\u03bd\u03bf\u03c2 <\/em>\u1f41<\/em> <\/em>\u1f10<\/em>\u03c1\u03c7\u03cc\u03bc\u03b5\u03bd\u03bf\u03c2 <\/em>\u1f10<\/em>\u03bd <\/em>\u1f40<\/em>\u03bd\u03cc\u03bc\u03b1\u03c4\u03b9 \u03ba\u03c5\u03c1\u03af\u03bf\u03c5\u00b7<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u1f69<\/em>\u03c3\u03b1\u03bd\u03bd<\/em>\u1f70<\/em> <\/em>\u1f10<\/em>\u03bd \u03c4\u03bf<\/em>\u1fd6<\/em>\u03c2 <\/em>\u1f51<\/em>\u03c8\u03af\u03c3\u03c4\u03bf\u03b9\u03c2.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n My formal translation follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hosanna to the son of David;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Hosanna in the highest. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Together with thee quotes from Isaiah, Zechariah, and Psalm 118, we saw the parallel from 2 Kings 9 with the use of outer cloaks to line the streets. We also saw the remembrances narrated in 1 Maccabees and 2 Maccabees of the use of palm and tree branches to celebrate the Jewish victory over the Syrians and the Seleucid Empire. The consequent liberation of Jerusalem historically brought about the 100-year independent Hasmonean Kingdom in Israel during the Second Temple (Intertestamental) Period. <\/p>\n\n\n\n There was truly a conflation of types, images, memories, Biblical quotes (both canonical as well as non-canonical), and peoples\u2019 experiences in the triumphal ride of the Lord Jesus into Jerusalem. People were shouting \u201cHosanna!\u201d and recognizing the Lord Jesus as King (son of David\/Messiah). They were praising God and blessing him with \u201cBlessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD!\u201d And the Lord Jesus did not rebuke them and publicly accepted them as he no longer asked the disciples or the people who knew or experienced his miracles to keep silent about them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Matthew\u2019s Gospel and all the other Gospels thus make the explicit point of fulfillment of prophecy about the coming Messiah-Son of David- King of Zion (Jerusalem\/Israel) in the person of Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And now, let me share another precedent that resonates with the scene of our Lord riding into Jerusalem on a donkey. I found this article from a nearly 20 year-old book I have: E. Michael and Sharon Rusten, \u201cMarch 30 – Messiah, King, and Lamb\u201d in The One Year Christian History<\/em> (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 2003), 180-181.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 1 Kings 1:32-48 (esp. vv. 33, 38 and 44), King David made his son, Solomon king (over his usurper brother Adonijah) and let him ride his own mule (\u05e4\u05b4\u05e8\u05b0\u05d3\u05b6\u05bc\u05d4 \u201cpirdah,\u201d a female offspring of a cross-breed between a horse and a donkey) and had him anointed by the Gihon (Spring) by Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet. They blew the trumpet and all the people cheered and acclaimed King Solomon. It is recorded that all the people followed Solomon back to Jerusalem, playing on flutes and greatly rejoicing \u201cthat the earth shook at their noise.\u201d When this occurred, Israel was still a united kingdom, King David was nearing the end of his life in old age, and Solomon had yet to build the First Temple. As such, this happened over a millennium before our Lord Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. Isaiah\u2019s as well as Zechariah\u2019s prophecies came centuries later and they may have been inspired by God\u2019s Spirit to see this event as a foreshadowing to the future time when the Messiah would ride into Jerusalem on a lowly beast of burden. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The same source also pointed out that the prophecy of Daniel 9:25 and the historical narratives of Nehemiah 2:1-8 must have played a significant role in the timing of the Lord\u2019s triumphal entry. Daniel 9:25 is part of the famous prophecy about the Seventy Sevens and the Messiah (which we will discuss further as part of the Olivet Discourse). This verse prophesies a timeline of 483 years ((7 x 7) + (62 x 7)) from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuilt Jerusalem until the Messiah comes. On the other hand, Nehemiah 2:1-8 narrates the events that occurred on the 20th<\/sup> year of the reign of the Persian King Artaxerxes in the month of Nisan when Nehemiah, the cupbearer to the king, requested for his permission and help to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. By God\u2019s sovereign hand, the king agreed and set Nehemiah off. If this decree was issued on the first of Nisan (March 5, 444 B.C.), it would be 483 years (of 360 days in the Hebrew calendar) to March 30, 33 A.D. when the Lord Jesus triumphantly entered Jerusalem as the Messiah the Jews were all waiting for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The article also stated that it would also turn out that this date was also when the lambs for the Passover sacrifice would be selected. Upon checking with Exodus 12:3, the scheduled time for selection was mandated by God to be on the 10th<\/sup> of the month of Aviv\/Nisan. This date would indeed turn out to be March 30, 33 A.D., given that Passover is reckoned to have fallen on Friday, April 3, 33 A.D. (15th<\/sup> of Aviv\/Nisan). All 4 Gospels (Matthew 27:62; Mark 15:42; Luke 23:54; and John 19:14, 31, 42) also called that Friday as \u03c0\u03b1\u03c1\u03b1\u03c3\u03ba\u03b5\u03c5\u03ae<\/em> (\u201cparaskeu\u00e9\u201d), Preparation Day (for the Sabbath). Exodus 12:6 also tells us that the lamb is to be kept until it is slaughtered on the 14th<\/sup> of Aviv\/Nisan at \u201ctwilight\u201d right before Passover.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Recall that John the Baptist called our Lord Jesus the \u201cLamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.\u201d Our Lord Jesus therefore presented himself as the Passover Lamb on the 10th<\/sup> of the month of Aviv\/Nisan on that fateful day which was a few days before the Friday evening celebration of Passover (15th<\/sup> of Aviv\/Nisan). The Lord was reminding the people of the significance of the Passover sacrifice in redemptive history and how he himself was its ultimate fulfillment. May we ponder these things as we remember our Lord\u2019s triumphal entry into Jerusalem this Palm Sunday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We will continue with the Olivet Discourse after the Holy Week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n God bless us all.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Ptr. Art Calaguas Shalom. We will pause for a while from the Olivet Discourse to consider some additions to an earlier topic related to our observance of Palm Sunday. As I have written earlier (see my Reflections for Jan. 30 and Feb. 6), the triumphal entry into Jerusalem (Matthew 21:1-11) is one of the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[6,7,9,8,5],"class_list":["post-289","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ptr-art-calaguas","tag-church-of-the-risen-lord","tag-crl","tag-spiritual-refreshment-of-the-day","tag-upcemi","tag-upcrl"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/289","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=289"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/289\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":290,"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/289\/revisions\/290"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=289"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=289"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}