Palm Sunday:

The Day Jesus Rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, proclaiming he was the Messiah.

Prophesied to the day and week.

 

Matthew 21: 1Now when they drew near Jerusalem, and came to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Loose them and bring them to Me. 3 And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord has need of them,’ and immediately he will send them.”

4 All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying:

 

5 “Tell the daughter of Zion,
‘Behold, your King is coming to you,
Lowly, and sitting on a donkey,
A colt, the foal of a donkey.’ ”

 

6 So the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, and set Him on them. 8 And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road; others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying:

 

“Hosanna to the Son of David!
‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’
Hosanna in the highest!”

 

10 And when He had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, “Who is this?”

11 So the multitudes said, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee.”

 

Everyone understood from the Scriptures, the Son of David is referring to the Messiah. We this in Matthew was prophesied by Zechariah more than 500 years Before Christ. Daughter of Zion and daughter of Jerusalem refers to Jerusalem and its people.

 

Zech. 9:9 “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.

 

We see that the angel Gabriel told Daniel the exact time when this would occur.

 

Dan. 9: 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.

25 "Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree 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 cut off and will have nothing. The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary.

 

The Hebrew word translated weeks (or sevens) refers to a period of 7 years, like our word decade refers to a period of 10 years. It literally means "a week of years." So 70 weeks (or sevens) is 70 x 7 years or 490 years. This period is divided into three parts, 7 sevens (49 years) and then 62 sevens (434 years) for a total of 69 sevens or 483 years. Then there’s the last week (or seven), 7 years, which hasn’t been fulfilled yet, which should be obvious from the fact what we are told from verse 27 that is to occur during this last 7 years have not occurred anytime in past history. These last 7 years are the 7 years of the Tribulation. I have a more in-depth study on the Bible Lessons page.

 

We can see there is a clear prophecy of the Coming of the Messiah. Counting forward for 7 weeks of years (49 years) and 62 weeks of years (434 years), each from a decree giving the Jews permission to restore and rebuild Jerusalem and its walls which had been destroyed by the Babylonians, they should expect the Messiah. That's a total of 483 years after the decree is issued. It was 483 years from this decree of (444 B.C.) that Jesus rode into Jerusalem and proclaimed himself to be the Messiah. That same week he was crucified, cut off. With the 444 BC decree of Artaxerxes, If one uses "prophetic years" of 360 days each, it is exactly 483 years from the day of Artaxerxes decree in 444 BC (Neh. 2:1) to the day of Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem during the last week of His earthly life (Mt. 21). The use of a 360-day prophetic year is taken from the Jewish calendar. The Jews used a calendar of 30 days each month, 360 days in a year. It was on that day in AD 33 that Jesus officially announced to the Israelites that He was the Messiah. Later that week He was "cut off" or crucified. Daniel's prophecy clearly reveals that the Messiah had to come in the time predicted in verses 25-26, that is, 483 years into the 490 years. That’s why we see from the Gospels that not only did the religious rulers, but all the people had an expectancy of the Messiah. This is why we see so much talk about the coming of the Kingdom. We also see with verse 26, after the 483 years but before the last 7 years, the people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. This occurred in 70 a.d. when the Roman army destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple.

 

Jesus fulfilled 109 specific prophecies of the Messiah as a suffering servant. There’s more than that, if you count duplicate prophecies made by other Prophets. You can’t even calculate the odds of one man fulfilling this many specific prophecies.

 

So, you should be able to see, the Bible is the Word of God and Jesus is who he and the Bible says he is. Jesus is Lord, the only true God and Savior.

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