Shalom and welcome to this edition of Through the Lens. I’m Rabbi Eric Walker.
One of the wonderful parts about all the things that come in the spring is the anticipation of many for activities that happen when the weather gets warmer. Baseball has been named the American Pastime since so many kids and many adults take their baseball gloves and bats out of storage and begin to embrace the baseball season. One of the aspects of baseball that we can learn the most from is communications. There is an intricate systems of signs and signals that players and coaches give to one another. Plays and strategies are instantly communicated thorough a tug of an ear or a touch of the hat. Most of us are familiar with the relationship between the pitcher and the catcher. The catcher has information on each batter and can also see who is on base. The exchange between the pitcher and the catcher can determine whether to pitch to the batter, pitch away from the batter or try and pick off one of the runners on the bases. A missed signal can change the entire course of the game and a potential win into a loss.
In this season of amazing events we must be careful to weigh into the rich meaning of each sign and wonder given to us by G-D. This past Sunday represented to the non-Jewish world Palm Sunday corresponding to the 10th Day of Nisan – the day of the selection of the Lambs for Passover. For many that day had much meaning in that it is the celebration of what is most often entitled Yeshua’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem – but I have to ask what was so triumphal about His entry – was it the Palm Fronds and the shouts of Hosanna or the long awaited Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord from Psalms Ps 118:19-29 19 Open for me the gates of righteousness; I will enter and give thanks to the Lord. 20 This is the gate of the Lord through which the righteous may enter. 21 I will give you thanks, for you answered me; you have become my salvation. 22 The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone; 23 the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes. 24 This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. 25 O Lord, save us; O Lord, grant us success. 26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. From the house of the Lord we bless you. 27 The Lord is God, and he has made his light shine upon us. With boughs in hand, join in the festal procession up to the horns of the altar. 28 You are my God, and I will give you thanks; you are my God, and I will exalt you. 29 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.
Or was it because His riding on a colt was the fulfillment of Zech 9:9 Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
As this riding on a colt symbolized a King coming to bring peace the people were expecting something. Their response to His entry was the belief that Yeshua was coming to fulfill the Feast of tabernacles when He would take up his throne in Jerusalem and rule and reign forever. But he was not coming to do that he was coming to fulfill the Passover. And this could only be fulfilled by his death. The multitudes misinterpreted his riding into Jerusalem on that occasion.
While the masses were proclaiming him as the Messiah, the Pharisees responded as recorded in John 12:19 So the Pharisees said to one another, “See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!”
What had the people missed? They missed what had happened a year and a half prior when we read
Matt 12:22-32 Then they brought him a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute, and Jesus healed him, so that he could both talk and see. 23 All the people were astonished and said, “Could this be the Son of David?” 24 But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “It is only by Beelzebub, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons.” 25 Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. 26 If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? 27 And if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. 28 But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. 29 “Or again, how can anyone enter a strong man’s house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can rob his house. 30 “He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters. 31 And so I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. 32 Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.
This was already the Pharisees rejection of Yeshua as the Messiah. The had broken the 3rd commandment – which according to the Law of Moses, was cause for not being able to be found guiltless.
In light of this His entry now becomes the beginning of the Passover process and the ultimate fulfillment of Exodus Chapter 12 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, 2 “This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year. 3 Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household. 4 If any household is too small for a whole lamb, they must share one with their nearest neighbor, having taken into account the number of people there are. You are to determine the amount of lamb needed in accordance with what each person will eat. 5 The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats. 6 Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the people of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight.
The timing of his entry had great significance and was no accident – the 10th of Nisan the first month and the days that followed – Don’t misss the signals. God gave us the dates and seasons to prepare us for Messiah’s return.
Came as SON of JOSEPH Will return as SON OF DAVID!
And that my friends is this edition of Through the Lens. Visit ignitinganation.com for our guest lineup for our daily Broadcast of Revealing the Truth, seen Live Monday through Friday from 10:00AM to 1:00PM CST. Download our apps, subscribe to our YouTube Channel, and please consider supporting our ministry through the donate button on our website. Until we see you for the next edition of Revealing the Truth we thank you for watching and bid you Shalom.