Deborah (3 Apr 2012)
"The MIRACLE of Palm Sunday!"


Do you know what the is miracle of Palm Sunday?

Yes, its the day that Jesus Christ entered into Jerusalem on a colt donkey, and people threw down palm branches before him, and hailed him as the Messiah.  So where's the miracle?

The MIRACLE is:

For one thing, this was the first time that Jesus Christ allowed anyone to worship Him as the Messiah, without rebuking them.  Each time previously, when people would attempt to worship Him as the Messiah, He would caution them, My time is not yet.  Palm Sunday, is referred to as the Triumphant Entry because for the first time in His 3.5 year ministry He permitted anyone to openly and publicly worship Him as the long awaited Messiah.  The Jewish religious leaders of course, were furious, and admonished Jesus to rebuke those worshiping Him.  But Jesus said "The stones would cry out."

His entry into Jerusalem fulfilled several prophecies.  The Messiah was to arrive on a donkey's colt:

Zechariah 9:9 "Fear not, daughter of Zion; Behold, your King is coming, Sitting on a donkey's colt.[fn]

His entry on a colt donkey was a prophetic sign that He was the long awaited Messiah.

Mark 11:7-11:10 "Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their clothes on it, and He sat on it.  And many spread their clothes on the road, and others cut down palm branches from the palm trees and spread [them] on the road.  Then those who went before and those who followed cried out, saying: "Hosanna! 'Blessed [is] He who comes in the name of the LORD!' [fn]Blessed [is] the kingdom of our father David That comes in the name of the Lord! [fn] Hosanna in the highest!"  

Luke 19:33-40 "But as they were loosing the colt, the owners of it said to them, "Why are you loosing the colt?"  And they said, "The Lord has need of him."  Then they brought him to Jesus. And they threw their own clothes on the colt, and they set Jesus on him.  And as He went, [many] spread their clothes on the road.Then, as He was now drawing near 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 they had seen, saying: " 'Blessed [is] the King who comes in the name of the LORD!' [fn] Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!"  And some of the Pharisees called to Him from the crowd, "Teacher, rebuke Your disciples."But He answered and said to them, "I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out." 

Why did Jesus say this, that if His followers were silent, even the rocks would cry out?  

Because an even greater miracle was happening!  This particular date that Jesus came into Jerusalem on a colt allowing people to worship Him as the Messiah, was no ordinary date!  This date was extremely precise involving the fulfillment of an ancient prophecy from the book of Daniel, when God revealed through the angel Gabriel exactly, and precisely WHEN the MESSIAH would arrive, ......560+ years before it happened......to the day!

Daniel 9:25: "Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks [of years, or 7 years], and threescore [60 years] and two weeks [2 years]: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times."
This includes a mathematical prophecy. The Jewish calendars used a 360-day year; 69 weeks of 360-day years totals 173,880 days.  

In effect, Gabriel told Daniel that the interval between the commandment to rebuild Jerusalem until the presentation of the Messiah as King would be 173,880 days.  

The commandment to restore and build Jerusalem, after the Babylonian Captivity, was given by King Artaxerxes Longimanus on March 14, 445 b.c.5  

When we examine the period between March 14, 445 b.c. and April 6, 32 a.d., and correct for leap years, we discover that it is 173,880 days exactly, to the very day!  This is the great Palm Sunday MIRACLE!

How could Daniel have known this in advance? How could anyone have contrived to have this detailed prediction documented over three centuries in advance? But there's more.

Daniel 9:26: "And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself"

Jesus, the Messiah was, of course, executed at the Crucifixion. "But not for Himself."  This too was prophesied in in the old testament in Isaiah, long before Christ was born:

Isaiah 53:8 "He was taken from prison and from judgment, ... For He was cut off from the land of the living; For the transgressions of My people He was stricken."

Hosea 6:2  "After two days He will revive us; On the third day He will raise us up, That we may live in His sight.

All fulfilled in the New Testament:

1 Corinthians 15:3-6  "For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve.  After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once.."  

Acts 13:30  "But God raised Him from the dead.

1 Corinthians 15:19  "And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world.  But now Christ is risen from the dead, [and] has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.  ...For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive."

Romans 8:34  "Who [is] he who condemns? [It is] Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us."

1 Corinthians 15:55-57 "O Death, where [is] your sting? [fnHosea 13:14] O Hades, where [is] your victory?" [fn] ...But thanks [be] to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

If Jesus, the Messiah, hadn't come and died for our sins, we would have no hope of Heaven.