For many, yesterday was a celebration of the historic moment when Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey’s colt, as the people arrived en masse to declare with one voice, “Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord (Yahweh).” It was the fulfillment of dozens of prophetic Scriptures (Isaiah, Zechariah, Ezekiel, and Daniel). It was the destiny of Jerusalem and her people Israel to accept Christ as not only their Savior, but also their KING.
What is meant to stun any studious son or daughter digging deeper into the story of Palm Sunday is this: Daniel, the prophet and exile in Babylon under King Nebuchadnezzar, predicted the arrival of Jesus Christ in Jerusalem, five centuries before Christ rode in on that donkey’s colt.
Kneeling in prayer after studying the words of the prophets available to him, including Jeremiah and Isaiah, Daniel not only received, but he also discerned an incredible day that would finally come, as a day of eternal celebration for his people.
The day when Christ would enter Jerusalem, 500 years from his time! As Daniel was seeking Yahweh, God the Father released Gabriel to tell Daniel that Jesus Christ, or the Son of Man and Messiah, would enter Jerusalem as King…500 years in the future. And He even revealed the actual day it would take place. You can study this further in Daniel Chapter 9 and the prophecy of the 70 weeks. Calculating the dates according to the special Passover during Holy Week when Jesus was crucified, in context of Daniel’s prophecy, and the time in which he was under exile in Babylon, we find the actual day when Jesus entered Jerusalem, to be Palm Sunday in 33AD, exactly as Daniel described it.
God revealed to Daniel the exact day of Christ’s entry into the City of Peace! It also reveals the destruction of the rebuilt temple, which was fulfilled in 70AD.
Daniel 9:24-27
24 “Seventy ‘sevens’ are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the Most Holy Place.
25 “Know and understand this: From the time the word goes out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven ‘sevens,’ and sixty-two ‘sevens.’ It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble.
26 After the sixty-two ‘sevens,’ the Anointed One will be put to death and will have nothing. The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed. He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven.’ In the middle of the ‘seven’ he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And at the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.”
It also makes the following passage make even more sense:
And he said unto me, O Daniel, a man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak unto thee, and stand upright: for unto thee am I now sent. And when he had spoken this word unto me, I stood trembling.
Daniel 10:11
Familiar with the history of Israel, and the first temple period (which was the golden era of Jerusalem), Daniel knew that a middle Eastern king traditionally rode in, for His coronation, on a powerful steed. Usually with great procession and fanfare. Daniel witnessed multiple middle Eastern kings performing the entry.
When King Solomon rode in for his kingly coronation, in that same city as Jesus many years earlier, on that same road, the entire country (every able-bodied man, woman and child) came to greet him.
Solomon’s celebration was so elaborate, hundreds of thousands attended, and tens of thousands of animals were slaughtered as blood sacrifices to honour the Lord, who had finally granted peace and victory to the namesake of Peace…the City of Jerusalem.
It’s possible, that all those centuries later, upon Jesus’ arrival, the streets were still stained from all the thousands of animals they sacrificed to mark the son of David’s occasion. And as they celebrated Solomon’s coronation, they looked, as humans always do, for sovereign rulership, prosperity, and victory. And they recognized that as King of Israel, Solomon was sitting upon the throne of Yahweh, their true Father.
And they offered sacrifices to Yahweh, and on that next day they offered burnt offerings to Yahweh: one thousand bulls, one thousand rams, one thousand lambs, with their libations and sacrifices in abundance for all Israel. And they ate and drank before Yahweh on that day with great joy. And they made Solomon the son of David king the second time, and they anointed him commander for Yahweh, and Zadok the priest.
Then Solomon sat upon the throne of Yahweh as king in place of David his father. And he prospered, and all Israel obeyed him.
So why did the arrival celebration for Jesus look so different? Why did the people and the priests who followed Solomon so willingly not follow the same pattern with king Jesus? Why did His coronation culminate in His arrest, flogging, torture, abuse and bloody crucifixion only days later?
Surely the prospects of the throne of Jesus, Son of David, were more promising than those of Solomon, son of David.
Consider the coronation ceremony of Christ in this way:
They looked for a king on a war-ready steed, battle-tested and strong… He arrived on a donkey’s colt, never ridden, still weak at the knees, fragile.
They hoped for a King who would do violence and use His awesome, miracle-working power (which had been fiercely on display for over a year of spectacular ministry)… But He turned Himself in without a fight, and the only violence that transpired was the violence He took upon Himself, when He was disfigured beyond the form of any man, and marred beyond human likeness.
They sought a throne of splendor for Him to sit upon, sceptre beside, kingly robe and wealth on display… He was hung naked on a tree, drained of strength, bleeding out, His robes gambled for by enemy soldiers.
And when they imagined a kingly crown at the coronation of Christ, not even His dear mother imagined that days later, Her Yahshua, would be bludgeoned on the head again and again, the devastating sight of inch long thorns forced into His brow. For the only crown He would ever wear on Earth, was a crown of thorns.
The Kingdom of Christ is upside down.
And thank Almighty God that it is! For if not for Christ’s eternal vision, our temporary realm would have become our forever. But because Christ was obedient…even to death…and that death on a cross! We, believers and followers of Christ, have the key to eternal life and perfect redemption. The placard has been raised, and the propitiation is Christ Himself.
We are now Abel (I mean able, because His blood speaks a better word!) to be RIGHT with GOD!
In Christ, our Messiah, we see a King more influential than every earthly ruler from the ages past and the ages to come put together. In Christ, we have a Servant King, who not only gave hope to our Biblical heroes, like Daniel, Solomon and David. He is also the light for all men, and the Giver of Eternal Life to all who believe.
And therefore, let us echo the cries that rang so clearly on the first Palm Sunday over two thousand years ago: ”Blessed is the King who comes in the name of Yahweh.” (Luke 19:38)
His Name is Yahshua, Jesus Messiah. And He wants all of our lives turned upside down. And we will all, in the turning, finally see things right side up.
Keep Breathing,
Daniel Kooman
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Thank you Daniel! When I am reminded of what Jesus did for me I know with His enabling I can face whatever He allows in my life!
Lord bless,