April 9, 2023—The crowd begins to cry out from the streets, “Hosanna.” They lay their clothes and branches from palm trees on the ground as their King arrives in the city.
Hossana to the Son of David
Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!
Hosanna in the highest!
The Son of David, the King of Kings, and the Lord of Lords had arrived riding on a donkey’s colt into the city. But not all knew this King, and some asked who He was. The crowds responded, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee.” (Matthew 21:11).
Riding into the City
Upon His arrival in Jerusalem, Jesus Christ went to the temple in Jerusalem, but it was not a welcoming sight that He arrived at. Merchants sat near their tables, selling various things. Jesus became angry, and the Holy Bible says He “overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. And He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’ ” (Matthew 21:12-13).
When His anger subsided, Jesus healed the blind and the lame that came to Him (Matthew 21:14). Children could be heard saying, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” (Matthew 21:15). This angered the chief priests and the scribes who said to Jesus, “Do You hear what these are saying?” (Matthew 21:16).
Jesus responded, “Yes. Have you never read,
‘Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have perfected praise’?”
From the temple in Jerusalem, He left and traveled to Bethany six days before the Passover (John 12:1).
In Bethany
Jesus Christ had been in Bethany, where He previously raised Lazarus from death (article to come). Lazarus was the brother of Mary Magdalene and Martha. He had been sick, died, and was buried in a tomb for four days (John 11:17).
Just six days before the Passover, Jesus Christ, and His disciples stayed with them for supper (John 12:1). Lazarus joined them at the table while Martha served them. Using her hair and tears (Luke 7:38), Mary Magdalene washed Jesus Christ’s feet and anointed His feet with fragrant spikenard oil (Mark 14:3 and John 12:3), a very costly oil then and even today. However, Judas Iscariot, a disciple of Jesus Christ, “Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” (John 12:5). According to the gospel of John, Judas Iscariot did not care about the poor because he was a thief (John 12:6).
In response, Jesus Christ told him, “Let her alone; she has kept this for the day of My burial. For the poor you have with you always, but Me you do not have always.” (John 12:7-8). Another account says:
Let her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a good work for Me. For you have the poor with you always, and whenever you wish you may do them good; but Me you do not have always. She has done what she could. She has come beforehand to anoint My body for burial. Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her.
(Mark 14:6-9)
Five days before the Passover, Jesus, and His disciples traveled to Jerusalem, which were only two miles apart at the time (John 11:18). It was at this time that He rode on a donkey’s colt to fulfill what is written in Zechariah 9, “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, Lowly and riding on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey.” The gospels of Matthew and John quote this passage as fulfilling Scripture (see Matthew 21:5 and John 12:15).
As you already know, Jesus Christ rode into Jerusalem, went to the temple, shook things up, and then went back to Bethany, where his feet were anointed by Mary Magdalene just six days before the Passover. This action is repeated in all of the gospels (of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John):
“And when Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, a woman came to Him having an alabaster flask of very costly fragrant oil, and she poured it on His head as He sat at the table.” (Matthew 26:6)
“And being in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, as He sat at the table, a woman came having an alabaster flask of very costly oil of spikenard. Then she broke the flask and poured it on His head.” (Mark 14:3).
“Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.” (John 12:3).
Finally, the gospel of Luke tells us that a Pharisee asked Jesus to eat with him (Luke 7:36). This account tells us that:
And behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil, and stood at His feet behind Him weeping; and she began to wash His feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head; and she kissed His feet and anointed them with the fragrant oil.
Luke 7:37-38
Simon the Leper, the father of Judas Iscariot (John 6:71), was a Pharisee, and it was in this man’s house that Jesus was anointed in Bethany by Mary Magdalene. Mary Magdalene, Martha, and Lazarus were siblings, and they were from Bethany (John 11:1), as was Simon the Leper (Matthew 26:6 and Mark 14:3). Simon the leper was the one that Jesus Christ healed from leprosy in Matthew 8, Mark 1, and Luke 5.
While in Bethany, and leading up to the Passover, Jesus Christ spent His last hours preaching, going back and forth between Bethany and Jerusalem. Eventually, Jesus would have to leave Bethany and come to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover.
To Jerusalem
Many Jews went to Jerusalem to be purified, and many assumed that Jesus was there (John 11:55). People were amazed at the resurrection of Lazarus. Many Jews came to Jerusalem “not for Jesus’ sake only, but that they might also see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead. “ (John 12:9). According to the gospel of John, Caiaphas was the high priest of that year, and “he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, and not for that nation only, but also that He would gather together in one the children of God who were scattered abroad.” (John 11:52-53).
Luke 22:1 informs us, “Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread drew near, which is called Passover.” The next verse says, “And the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might kill Him, for they feared the people.” While the chief priests and the scribes were plotting, Jesus Christ sent Peter and John to prepare the Passover (Luke 22:8). Asking where to prepare it, Jesus told them, “Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, “My time is at hand; I will keep the Passover at your house with My disciples.” (Matthew 26:18).
Breaking Bread
The Holy Bible does not explicitly say where the last supper occurred. It mentions a “large upper room” of a home, but the person who owns the house is not identified (Mark 14:14). It talks about the events and the timing. It was the first day of the Feast of the Unleavened Bread when the Passover was to be slaughtered (Luke 22:7).
Some of the events that unfold around the supper are outlined below:
Jesus Christ takes the cup and gives it to His disciples (Luke 20:17).
A new covenant is established when Jesus gives the cup to His disciples and says, “For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” (Matthew 26:28).
Breaking bread Jesus tells them, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” (Luke 22:19).
A new commandment is given, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.” (John 13:34).
Jesus predicts Peter denying Him three times (Luke 22:34)
Jesus Christ identifies Judas Iscariot as the one who will betray Him (John 13:26).
Judas leaves the supper to betray Jesus Christ (John 13:30).
After supper ended, Jesus washed His disciples’ feet (John 13:5)
From the supper, Jesus and His disciples go to the garden of Gethsemane just outside the city walls. He tells them to keep watch while He prays because “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death.” (Mark 14:32). However, the supper filled them and made them sleepy, and it was nighttime. The Holy Bible says that after He prayed, Jesus returned to His disciples and found them sleeping. He woke them up and prayed again, but His disciples were asleep again.
At this time, Judas Iscariot arrived with troops and officers with lanterns, torches, and weapons (John 18:3). Judas betrays Him with a kiss, and Jesus Christ is arrested and brought to Annas first (a high priest and Caiaphas’s father-in-law), and Caiaphas second. From Caiaphas, Jesus is brought to Pilate.
However, Pilate’s wife sent for him because she had a dream and warned Pilate to have nothing to do with Jesus (Matthew 27:19). Pilate tried to get out of it. According to the Holy Bible, “Now at the feast he was accustomed to releasing one prisoner to them, whomever they requested.” (Mark 15:6). The crowds were gathered, and Pilate gave them a choice between Barabbas (a rebel and a murderer) or Jesus Christ. The persuasion of the chief priests and the elders in the crowd was enough to waiver their opinion, and the Jews wanted Jesus to be crucified and Barabbas to be freed. Symbolically, Pilate washed his hands and said, “I am innocent of the blood of this just Person. You see to it.” (Matthew 27:4). But the crowd pushed back even more, saying they wanted Jesus Christ crucified.
Accepting Jesus
Beloved, Easter is not about some easter bunny and dyed eggs from pagan traditions. No, it should be about remembering what Jesus Christ did on the cross and His resurrection. For He died for all of us and took the weight and the debt of our sins to give us the gift of eternal life (Romans 6:23). This gift comes freely, and all you need is to accept Him as your savior and repent from your sins. If you are ready, say this prayer aloud:
God, I confess that Jesus came in the flesh and blood, paid the price for my sins, died on the cross, rose on the third day, ascended to the heavens, and sent the Holy Spirit to help me understand Your ways. For that, I accept Jesus Christ as my savior and Lord, and I welcome the Holy Spirit in my life. In Jesus’s name I pray, amen!
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