12 The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast,
The next day after the chief priests made a definite decision to kill both Jesus and Lazarus, Jesus knowingly comes to Jerusalem. Jesus isn’t keeping it a secret either. The multitude hears about it. The word spread fast, and the people went out to meet and welcome him. I can’t imagine the same thing happening today. When the President of the United States decides to visit a city, his agenda is hidden from the people until the last minute. Roads are closed and he is surrounded by secret service agents. They don’t let people know exactly where he will be for functions like ribbon cuttings. But other functions like fundraising are well known. What a dramatic difference between that and when Jesus came to Jerusalem.
Why did Jesus pick this particular day do enter Jerusalem? The reason that this date was selected, I believe, is to fulfill the prophecy of Daniel 9:24-26.
24 Seventy weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place. 25 Know therefore and understand that from the going out of the word to restore and build Jerusalem to the coming of an anointed one, a prince, there shall be seven weeks. Then for sixty-two weeks it shall be built again with squares and moat, but in a troubled time. 26 And after the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off and shall have nothing (ESV).
Many people have attempted to discern the exact meaning of these weeks, but most believe that each week represents seven years. Therefore, if you are able to establish the exact date when the decree was made to restore Jerusalem after the Babylonian exile, you should be able to determine when the “anointed one” or the Messiah would be cut off or killed. According to Sir Robert Anderson the date for Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem was April 6th, A.D. 32.
1. The epoch of the Seventy Weeks was the issuing of a decree to restore and build Jerusalem. (Daniel 9:25.)
2. There never was but one decree for the rebuilding of Jerusalem.
3. That decree was issued by Artaxerxes, King of Persia, in the month Nisan in the 20th year of his reign, i.e. B.C. 445. [Neh 2:1]
4. The city was actually built in pursuance of that decree.
5. The Julian date of 1st Nisan 445 was the 14th March.
6. Sixty-nine weeks of years – i.e. 173,880 days – reckoned from the 14th March B.C. 445, ended on the 6th April A.D. 32.
7. That day, on which the sixty-nine weeks ended, was the fateful day on which the Lord Jesus rode into Jerusalem in fulfillment of the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9; when, for the first and only occasion in all His earthly sojourn, He was acclaimed as “Messiah the Prince the King, the Son of David.”[1]
Whether you agree with Sir Robert Anderson or not, the important thing to remember is that Jesus didn’t make any mistakes in math or interpreting Scripture. He knew when he had to enter the city to be proclaimed the Messiah by the people. This should bring us great comfort in knowing that God has each of our plans laid out in advance (Ps 139:16). There is nothing that will change what he has decreed for our lives. This is true even though we don’t understand how people can have free will and commit atrocities or have compassion and yet God still brings about his will.
13b When they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, 13 took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out: "Hosanna! 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! The King of Israel!’"
According to The IVP Bible Background Commentary New Testament, palm branches would have already been ready in Jerusalem to welcome people coming to the feast. They had to be brought from Jericho, called the City of Palms. “They had been one of the nationalistic symbols of Judea since the days of the Maccabees, were consistently used to celebrate military victories and probably stirred some political messianic hopes among the people.”[2]
Hosana means “oh save” and is quoted from Psalm 118:25. Clearly the people were calling on Jesus to be the Messiah. They quoted both Psalm 118:25-26, but the last words, “The King of Israel” are not in the Psalm. We must remember that most often the Old Testament used the words about salvation and being saved in the context of battles, hardships, and calamities. Seldom did it refer to eternal salvation. The clear indication from the circumstance and the crowd’s enthusiasm, they saw Jesus as their Messiah who would free them from the Roman occupation and restore Israel to the glorious state it enjoyed under King Solomon.
14 Then Jesus, when He had found a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written: 15 "Fear not, daughter of Zion; Behold, your King is coming, Sitting on a donkey's colt."
While it is obvious that Jesus had to fulfil this Scripture as well, it probably brings controversy for those who are trying to pick the Bible apart to find fault in it. John says that Jesus found a donkey. The Synoptic Gospels all report that Jesus sent two disciples to get the donkey colt. Both Mark and Luke report that the disciples were challenged when they started to take the donkey. When they answered the people that “The Lord has need of it,” they let them take the colt with its mother. I find no problem with John and the Synoptics because John doesn’t say when he found the donkey. He could have arranged this several days in advance.
Sometimes we get so absorbed in the details that we miss what is going on.
1. Jesus is obviously providing a sign to the people that he is their King. They would not have missed this prophecy.
2. He is coming on a donkey colt. One that had never been ridden before (Luke 19:30). Who is able to be the first to ride even a donkey without training it? Only a King sovereign over even nature.
3. The donkey also demonstrates that he is a unique King. Usually, the replacement king was given the previous king’s animal to ride as with Solomon who rode David’s mule (1 Kings 1:38). Jesus isn’t replacing the current king; he is establishing that he is King and God has always been king over his people.
4. He isn’t a conquering king. If he were, he would have come on a horse, a great white stallion, or maybe a mule, but not a donkey. He is a gentle king coming to save souls for eternity not a political leader. When he comes again, it will be on a white horse and it will be to conquer all who have refused to follow him (Rev 19:11).
16 His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written about Him and that they had done these things to Him.
His disciples understood point one above. They missed points two through four. They didn’t have the Holy Spirit and they couldn’t discern the whole truth of what Jesus was doing with the donkey. Only after Jesus was glorified did the Holy Spirit come to inform them of the meaning of these things. Jesus explained this to them later when he said he had much to say but they wouldn’t handle it until he was gone and the Holy Spirit has been sent to them (John 16:12-13). They didn’t understand that the palm branches, the donkey, and the shouting “Hosana” were all done to Jesus because God was working even in those who would call for his crucifixion in just a few days.
Likewise, until we are born again, we are unable to understand what the Bible says. We may understand what is happening, but we will never understand the why. Yet, as God’s word is read, the Holy Spirit uses it to work that mystery in us to regenerate us.
17 Therefore the people, who were with Him when He called Lazarus out of his tomb and raised him from the dead, bore witness. 18 For this reason the people also met Him, because they heard that He had done this sign.
These people who gathered to welcome Jesus were doing it primarily because they knew Jesus had raised Lazarus. They didn’t have the Holy Spirit, but they were able to understand at least enough to know that Jesus was no ordinary man. When we share Jesus with others, we should never downplay the miracles because they testify to who Jesus is. It is no wonder that those who don’t want to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior try to make all the miracles myths. If you can get rid of the miracles, then you essentially get rid of God.
19 The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, "You see that you are accomplishing nothing. Look, the world has gone after Him!"
The work that the Pharisees had done to try to keep the people from believing in Jesus had failed. They tried to reason with people, they tried to slander Jesus, they excommunicated believers, and they failed to kill him. They thought they were in control, but they weren’t. We get into the same situation sometimes when we think we should be in control. We do what we can, and it doesn’t go the way we want. This is especially frustrating when we are dealing with interpersonal relationships. The Pharisees appear to be about ready to quit. But they don’t; they are instrumental in prophecy that must be fulfilled.
The world hadn’t gone after Jesus. Did I just contradict Scripture? No way! The Pharisees were using the word world in the same way that Jesus used it in John 3:16. In this case, it is a lot of people but obviously not the whole world. It wasn’t even all of Jerusalem. It was those that God had called to participate in Jesus’ triumphant entry. It just reminds us that we must read in context.[1]Sir Robert Anderson, “Preface,” in Coming Prince: The Marvelous Prophecy of Daniel's Seventy Weeks Concerning the Antichrist, Kindle (Lawton, OK: Trumpet Press, 2014), p. 7.
[2]Craig S. Keener, “John 12:12-13,” in The IVP Bible Background Commentary New Testament (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1993).
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