Matthew 21
King James Version (KJV)
21 And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were
come to Bethphage, unto the mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples,
2 Saying unto them, Go into the village over against
you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose
them, and bring them unto me.
3 And if any man say ought unto you, ye shall say,
The Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send them.
4 All this was done, that it might be fulfilled
which was spoken by the prophet, saying,
5 Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King
cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass.
6 And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded
them,
7 And brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them
their clothes, and they set him thereon.
8 And a very great multitude spread their garments
in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strawed them in the
way.
9 And the multitudes that went before, and that
followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the son of David: Blessed is he that cometh
in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest. 1
[Also] Hosanna;
Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord:2
Blessed be the kingdom of our father David, that
cometh in the name of the Lord: Hosanna in the highest. 3
Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the
Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest.4
10 And when he was come into Jerusalem, all the city
was moved, saying, Who is this?
11 And the multitude said, This is Jesus the prophet
of Nazareth of Galilee.
Luke 21: 39-40
39 And some of the Pharisees from among the
multitude said unto him, Master, rebuke thy disciples.
40 And he answered and said unto them, I tell you
that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.
1. Matthew
21:9 interrupted here for multiple witness clarity of things said.
2. Mark
11:9 (The witness of the Apostle Peter
as Mark interpreted his testimony at Rome) 3. Mark 11:10
4. Luke 21:38, the testimony of various Apostles other than Peter and Matthew who also were there. Luke’s circa 50 A.D. Gospel published in Achaia while Peter and Paul were jointly in Corinth of Achaia, actually precedes Matthew of 55-56 A.D. and Mark of 57 A.D.
When Jesus / Yeshua of Nazareth entered Jerusalem in
triumph prior to the Cross on a day we traditionally celebrate as Palm Sunday,
He did so enter Jerusalem to the ear deafening praise and shouts of over 2 million
Hebrews on Palm Shabbat (Saturday), not on a Sunday -- which though can be taken as quite innocent, it is historically erroneous, and may be a means of excluding the Jewishness of our Christian Faith into Yeshua / Jesus.
Historically, we are informed that Jesus died upon the Cross at the ninth daylight hour
on March 23, [presumably in a year we reckon as A.D. 30]; the tenth of the Kalends of April (Lactantius, Letter to
Donatus, .2).
By literally accepting
that Jesus was in the earth for at least 3 full 24 hour days (3 days and 3 nights) --
Matthew 12:40 (King James Version)
For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the
belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in
the heart of the earth.
John 2:18-19
(King James Version)
18 Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What
sign shewest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things?
19 Jesus answered and said unto them,
[Likely pointing to Himself for these next 3 words]
Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise
it up.
-- we must de facto say that Jesus was crucified on
a Wednesday, the 14th of Nisan. Because
Jesus is presented as the Passover Lamb substitute, like the Passover Lamb, He
MUST be examined for 4 days according to the ritual (Exodus 12:3-6).
That gives us 3 nights and days to the next festival, First-fruits. Wednesday night through Thursday daylight, Thursday Night through Friday daylight, Friday Night through Saturday daylight, the Festival of First-fruits (Leviticus 23:9-14). It is a day from which Pentecost / Shavuot must be counted from, and is ignored by modern Judaism because of its clear and explicit Biblical testimony of Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 15:20-26 (King James Version)
20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become
the firstfruits of them that slept.
21 For since by man came death, by man came also the
resurrection of the dead.
22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall
all be made alive.
23 But every man in his own order: Christ the
firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.
24 Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered
up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule
and all authority and power.
25 For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies
under his feet.
26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.
Returning now to the descent of Christ on the Mount of Olives...
After fulfilling Zechariah 9:9 --
Rejoice
greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King
cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an
ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass. -- Jesus / Yeshua then spent 4 days teaching and being
open to examination by all at the Temple Court in Solomon’s Portico in the East
which is of the Court of the Gentiles, so that whosoever will of the House of
Israel might freely come and examine Him, even as the Lamb of Pesach, found
without spot and without blemish. On
the days following His triumphant entry on Palm Shabbat (Palm Saturday) --
which Christians observe on Sunday because that is the day it was adapted to
for the sake of congregations that removed themselves a little bit more from
the Jewishness of their Gentile accepted faith – Jesus / Yeshua entered in as
the first through the Eastern Gate of Solomon’s Porch in the morning, and was
the last to leave by it, in order to fulfill prophecy.
Ezekiel 43: 1-2 (King James Version)
1) Afterward
he brought me to the gate, even the gate that looketh toward the east:
2) And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel
came from the way of the east: and his voice was like a noise of many waters:
and the earth shined with his glory.
Ezekiel 44: 1-3 (King James Version)
1) Then
he brought me back the way of the gate of the outward sanctuary which looketh
toward the east; and it was shut.
2) Then
said the Lord unto me; This gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, and no
man shall enter in by it; because the Lord, the God of Israel, hath entered in
by it, therefore it shall be shut.
3) It is for the prince; the prince, he shall sit
in it to eat bread before the Lord; he shall enter by the way of the porch of
that gate, and shall go out by the way of the same.
Ezekiel 46:8 (King James Version)
8) And when the prince shall enter, he shall
go in by the way of the porch of that gate, and he shall go forth by the way
thereof.
That Eastern Gate through which Jesus entered and
exited was sealed / shut from the first century at a time after Jesus / Yeshua
entered by it, to our day; and it remains sealed, in fulfillment of the
prophecy that the LORD spoke unto Ezekiel.
Easily over 2 million people cheered Jesus into
Jerusalem on Palm Shabbat / Palm Saturday.
The First Map is that of the Moslem Abomination that now sits on the Jewish Temple Mount. But it is important to note that where the Golden Gate is, on the Eastern Wall, that is the Eastern Gate by which Jesus came in and out and is still sealed to this day.
The Second Map is the approximate location of the Temple in the First Century. You will note that the eastern Gate enters immediately upon Solomon's Porch, and after the death, burial, resurrection and ascension of Jesus into Heaven (the last action by at least 120 witnesses at minimum), the disciples of Jesus were drawn to this location (e.g., Acts 3:11, 5:12) because this was where Jesus loved to go and teach when He was at the Temple.
Question: What was involved in the removing of and then laying down of one's clothes to
place before Jesus, perhaps as much if not moreso than that of the Palm Branches cut down?
In both Leviticus 23:40 and Nehemiah 8:15, we see that Palm Branches are representative of dwelling places, or personal temporary tabernacles / booths in which a Hebrew devotes himself to GOD at Jerusalem for 7 days. In John 14:2, Jesus tells his disciples that there are eternal dwelling places for them in Heaven, but we also know that it should not be viewed as simply a small thing because
“since the beginning of the world men have not
heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee,
what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him.” (Isaiah 64:4 KJV)
The casting down of Palm Branches effectually represent the sound of the wind when motioned in unison by many, and is symbolic of a living life dwelling upon the earth.
It was viewed as essential in Temple ritual in regard to the dedication of the "living water" as the means of creating the sound of a rushing mighty wind, symbolizing a spiritual life of living rushing power, or something to this effect.
To lay down the branch is symbolic of laying down one's life. By laying them before Christ, it was a hope and aspiration to lay their lives down in such a way as to find resurrection in and because of Him. Most were probably thinking in Earthly terms and a restoration of Israel and the Davidic Kings...or least that is a popular consensus that we draw of the past, which may not necessarily be the majority view the crowds had, but it certainly was likely one of them with at least a sizeable percentage, even if a minority view.
Well then, what about the clothes cast down. What is that all about?
The word
himation not only means an outer garment or poncho like blanket or cloak...but
also the regular clothes, shirts, AND undergarments as well. It had recently rained, and would do so again
before the hours of Jesus' arrest.
Luke 19:33-38 (King James Version)
33And as they were loosing the colt, the owners
thereof said unto them, Why loose ye the colt?
34And they said, The Lord hath need of him.
35 And they brought him to Jesus: and they cast
their garments [(h)imatia] upon the colt, and they set Jesus thereon.
36 And as he went, they spread their clothes
[(h)imatia] in the way.
37 And when he was come nigh, even now at the
descent of the mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to
rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had
seen;
38 Saying, Blessed be the King that cometh in the
name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest.
Mark 11:8-10 (King James Version)
8 And many
[Matt. 21:8 clarifies this as "most" of the crowd] spread
their garments [(h)imatia] in the way: and others cut down branches off the trees,
and strawed them in the way.
9 And they that went before, and they that followed,
cried, saying, Hosanna; Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord:
10 Blessed be the kingdom of our father David, that
cometh in the name of the Lord: Hosanna in the highest.
And again,
Luke 19:39-40 (King James Version)
39 And some of the Pharisees from among the
multitude said unto him, Master, rebuke thy disciples.
40 And he answered and said unto them, I tell you
that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.
So it seems that Israel delighted to see Jesus as the Redeemer as He was fulfilling Zechariah 9:9.
It was cold and damp, and likely the ground soaked and slippery. In order to prevent the animal from loosing its footing on its downhill descent, in spite of the cold month of March morning air, many thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of Hebrews threw off their
clothes and passed them down front to be trodden upon by the colt carrying King
Messiah. Just how many layers of clothes
were laid out to cover the road or pathway is a matter of subjection. The calculation of clothes required to cover square footage and distance the amount that it probably did is incredible. The wetter and muddier or soiled the road, the greater number of clothes needing to be laid out as the lower layers soaked through. In effect, the people of Israel were laying out a carpet of garments, as if itself were a road.
Isaiah 40: 3-4 (King James Version)
3 The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness,
Prepare ye the way of the L-RD, make straight in the desert a highway for our
G-D.
4 Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain
and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the
rough places plain:
Isaiah 40: 3-4
(Alternate Word Pictures with Reiterations - AWPR)
“(The) Voice urgently calling out, encountering and
confronting
at the mouth and entryways of:
oases (and
their towns or cities),
the open fields,
the pasture-lands,
the alluvial plains,
the deserts,
and all manner and sort of uninhabited
lands.
Prepare: face, turn and look (to)
(the) wide open and general course
of YHVeH!
Make straight, upright, level, and even
in the desert plains,
among the Steppes,
in the disorder and confusion of night,
(even) in (and amongst) the Poplars
a road on a raised and exalted embankment
for our G-D.
Every Valley shall be borne up, lifted and raised;
And every mountain and hill shall crouch and bow
down to lowliness;
And the foothills shall become a straight and level
place,
And the banded up, the impassable and rough places,
a plain."
When John the Baptist preached in the Wilderness, he
preached Isaiah 40:3-4 in which we are told to go into the desert and build up a
straight exalted embankment for our G-D. Why?
At the Second Temple, we know that there was a
bridge that stretched forth across the Kidron Valley in direct line to the Holy
of Holies...beginning on Moriah and ending eastward on Mount Olivet. At the end
of that bridge, the Red Heifer was offered up and sacrificed. John was preaching
Isaiah, and telling Israel that a truly prepared Israel would build an exalted
embankment -- not just across the Kidron Valley -- but all the way into the
Desert and to Mount Nebo itself!
In Deuteronomy 33:2 we see the descent of a warring
Yeshua in Revelation 19:11-16 with supplementing passages such as Zechariah 9:14
and Psalm 18:13-14.
"YHVeH came from Sinai [northward],
and rose up from Seir unto them;
He shined forth from Mount Paran,
and He came from the myriads of the holy ones at the
Right Hand
as His FIERY HILLSIDES [ashedath] went out to meet
them."
Although the singular "ashed" is used only
in Numbers 21:15, "ashedot" (pluralized as -"ravines" and
"valley slopes") is used of that area around Nebo's peak of Pisgah
(Deut. 3:17, 4:49; Joshua 10:40, 12:8). Therefore, though it might be
translated as "fiery law" in Deuteronomy 33:2, the more correct Hebrew Word
picture is hooked to a WAY or PATH...the Mecillah or exalted embankment (lifted up like that of a levy holding back a river) of Isaiah 40:3.
At the end of Days, with Jesus' return at the end of
the 7 Year Trib and Great Trib Period, will the valleys and hillsides become
molten, and prepare a fiery Mesillah (an exalted embankment) in a straight line
from Nebo/Pisgah to the Holy of Holies in Jerusalem. Over this straight line
will be a ramp of clouds, also in a straight descent, from Nebo to Olivet.
The last obstruction to be cleared in that line of
sight, Olivet, will be split wide open -- north and south -- by Messiah's own
feet (Zechariah 14:4). In effect, if I understand all of this correctly, a path
perhaps like molten glass will be created in the earth that serves as a visible
example of a "path" or "way of Law". This will in turn
perhaps be in a slight but direct line valley, and eventually covered by waters
flowing from the side of Messiah, even from beneath His coming throne, through
the newly made Valley of Azal (at that time), ending at Mount Nebo / Pisgah.
In the Kingdom, there will be YHVeH / the LORD GOD in the Holy of
Holies, ever beholding (for 1,000 years) Mount Nebo / Pisgah, as a type of Mizpah
-- a type of holy heap, a witness of the scales of Heaven. This is holy heap of
Nebo will act as a testimony of the Mosaic Torah, until the Messianic Age of
the 1,000 years ends, and even the very concept of Time (apparently) is
removed, and the Judgment of the Damned begins.
The Mecillah will run from Nebo to Jerusalem, not
built up by the people, but built up by the LORD Himself. The Law and the LORD
are inter-connected by faith and obedience done in the heat of love, and
strengthened in the resolve of legacy. Not our legacy, but the LORD's legacy.
We live, and die, and are for the most part, forgotten. But the WORD of our GOD
shall endure forever.
Thus, the difference is, that the One who was
sacrificed as our True Passover and True Red Heifer -- that is, our True
Redeemer, HASHEM Christ Jesus -- will also be the One beholding (and upholding)
that molten perfectly level and even memorial Mecillah (exalted levee like
embankment) that will one day run from Jerusalem to Nebo / Pisgah until all is
fulfilled. And we who believe will see and behold, and think on Isaiah 40:3-4,
as well.
But to the Hebrews who laid out their clothes before Jesus, they likely did so more after the conscious remembrance of the words of Isaiah that John the Baptist, whom they greatly respected and knew that he singled out Jesus / Yeshua to them, would have preached unto them, and it thus being still fresh in their minds.
Isaiah 64:4-6 (King James Version)
4 For since the beginning of the world men have not
heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee,
what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him.
5 Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh
righteousness, those that remember thee in thy ways: behold, thou art wroth;
for we have sinned: in those is continuance, and we shall be saved.
6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our
righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our
iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
By placing the clothes under Messiah to be trampled on, it seems that many believed this action was of such a way that Jesus made a symbolic act of benign judgment and the clothes became symbolic of the sins of the people. Their righteousness, like filthy rags, were walked upon by the coming Prince who they assumed would soon be King, being the first in line by genealogy for Kingship in all Israel, and by the act of symbolic physical submission and praise, all iniquity was to be taken away, freely and without price, by FAITH and WITHOUT TEMPLE SACRIFICE.
Hosea 14:2 (King James Version)
Take with you words, and turn to the Lord: say unto
him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously: so will we render the
calves of our lips.
There were two main bridges that attached the Temple Mount to Olivet across the Kidron in this period of history: the Golden Gate Bridge that ran between Gethsemane and the Temple's eastern Gate area, and that of the Water Gate that attached Olivet to the Gihon Spring area. At the time of Jesus visitation, it was a wet season in Israel. Perhaps one of the wettest it had ever seen in a very long time. The Kidron wadi was flowing high and rapidly as a torrential river under the two bridges from Olivet to the Temple Mount. That this wadi was full and torrential, we know it was so at least 4 days later through John 18:1.
So upon the passing of Jesus over the clothes laid out by the multitude upon the road, it would be apparent that they then probably
made their way down to the Kidron to do some clothes washing. While most would have taken only the outer garment off, it is quite possible that many hundreds may have had only one layer or taken off multiple layers of clothing to the point of nakedness, and wearing nothing but sandals. It must be noted that this was a people who were accustomed to the public exhibition of revealing their privates when they would dig a hole and squat to defecate, and think nothing of it, perfectly able to carry on a conversation as if nothing unnatural or offensive were occurring. But the shock of seeing people throwing off their clothes to the point of nakedness, to a group of leaders like the Pharisees who ingrained the rituals of washing and cleanliness as what the Puritans later adopted in the phrase "cleanliness is next to godliness", the Pharisees beholding the multitudes with perhaps thousands naked holding filthy garments, and tens of thousands more holding filthy garments they too laid out to be trampled on by Jesus' animal as He came down Olivet to the Temple Mount, probably thought that myriads of their nation
of Israel had suddenly lost their minds.
But these Hebrews, who were baptized by John the baptist for the remission of sins, now moved into a next phase, where they took to an act of symbolism and faith, and again washed their sins away: even as
their great king Asa did wash away their
idols, which were first GROUND to powder, many centuries earlier, in this same
brook Kidron (2 Chronicles 15:16). Cf. Hezekiah in 2 Chronicles 30:14, and Josiah in 2
Kings 23:1-6.
In the Old Testament, two important words for
garments are Lebush (Lamed-Beth-Vav-Shin) and Me'il (Mem-Ayin-Yod-Lamed), of which
Me'il is simply "trespass" with a yod inserted after the Ayin. When the abbreviate of YHVeH (the Yod) is inserted into the "Trespass", it
changes into a "robe", or outer priestly vestment.
In Psalm 93:1, (when we read the Greek of this
Psalm) we see that the LORD (i.e., YHVeH, whom Gentiles call "Jehovah") is clothed with, or
"enedusato", honor and strength. He inherently already has these qualities,
but the LORD has done something...He has inserted Himself into events or
happenings, and girded Himself with "glory" in regard to those
events. What might be like a medal to a
soldier, is transferred to being like another garment layer of greater glory to
the LORD. The LORD saved mankind through
Noah and the world-wide Flood...add another layer of glory. The LORD created the heavens and the
earth...add another layer of glory. The
LORD redeemed Israel out of Egypt...add another layer of glory. (And so on.)
In Job 27:16, we see garments being laid down as
the clay.
Job 27:15-16 (King James Version)
15 Those that remain of him shall be buried in
death: and his widows shall not weep.
16 Though he heap up silver as the dust, and prepare
raiment as the clay;
The Greek Septuagint or LXX alters the word "garment" into the word "gold", as if
the wicked were to lay gold as if a clay street or path...something we see in
Revelation about Heaven that is exclusively done by GOD Almighty for the righteous. In the Hebrew, the word for garment here in
Job 27:16, is "MaLBUSH", which can be any kind of clothing the hides
nakedness.
In Isaiah 63:6, when it says, "Our
righteousness is as filthy rags / cloths", the essential word in Hebrew is
"BeGeD", which is used far more as "treachery" and
"unfaithfulness / infidelity" than it is for "cloth".
So in effect, as King Messiah upon His never before sat upon animal would
trod on the filthy garments of the repentant wicked, He would righteousify them
by inserting His goodness into the their wickedness, and purify them...just as
much as being baptized by John for the remission of sins righteousified
them...because they were obedient to reverse that next / following verse in Isaiah
63:7 - they did call upon His Name, and seek his face, and laid their garments
in repentance before Him, and joyed that their iniquities were now as if blown
away by the wind.
While the Palm Sunday of modern Christianity is really
being Palm Saturday in history, the very
historical fact of which Palm Sunday relates is still faithfully shared and
passed on in a right and trusting faith, its veracity is rightly believed into
and trusted by hundreds of millions of Christians the world over, and it is
indeed a day to celebrate and rejoice, as we reflect upon the LORD Jesus Christ,
YHVeH Yeshua HaMesshiach; for “Neither is there salvation in any other: for
there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be
saved.” (Acts 4:12)
Perhaps there may be debate about the date, but in
the end, it is not something we even need to argue about, as the Apostle Paul
says,
Colossians 2: 16-17a (King James Version)
16 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in
drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath days:
17 Which are a shadow of things to come….”
To which I say now, both a Happy Palm Sunday
as well as a post- Happy Palm Shabbat in Christ Jesus;
as well as a post- Happy Palm Shabbat in Christ Jesus;
and,
Shalom.
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