I offer this further interpretation:
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Why the ‘Date’ of Palm Sunday Is so Profound
Karen Engle |
Mon, April 15, 2019 |
Articles
I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come.
—
Isaiah 46:10, NIV
The significance of Palm Sunday was lost on me as a child. I suspect it’s lost on most Christian adults, too.
My first memories of Palm Sunday were of sitting patiently in Sunday school next to my friends, holding palm fronds. When signaled, we waved them high while singing “Hosanna! Hosanna in the highest!” to a slightly off-key piano.
I understood enough about Palm Sunday as a child to know it was the day Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey and was hailed King of the Jews.
But it wasn’t until a few years ago I began to comprehend the significance of what happened on that date and why it’s so profound for followers of Jesus. (Notice I wrote “date,” not “day.”)
Let’s start in the book of John, the week before Jesus was crucified.
Six days before Passover
Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. So they gave a dinner for him there. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at table. . . . When the large crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus was there, they came, not only on account of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. . . .
The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. (
John 12:1–2,
9,
12)
John 12:1–2 says that six days before Passover Jesus went to Bethany, a small village a few miles outside of Jerusalem just beyond the
Mount of Olives. There he shared a meal with Mary, Martha, and Lazarus.
Word had spread that Jesus had recently raised Lazarus from the dead, and curious crowds had begun to gather (9, 12).
But it’s the first three words of verse 12 that I want to focus on: “The next day.”
The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. (emphasis added)
What is so important about these three words?
To better understand their significance, journey back with me 3,500 years to the time of the Exodus.
A lamb, without blemish
At the tail end of Israel’s 400 years of slavery in Egypt, God gave the nation some specific instructions:
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. . . . Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. . . . Take care of them until the
fourteenth day of the month, when all the members of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight. (
Exod 12:3 and
6, emphasis added)
On “the tenth day of this month” (Nisan 10, the first month of the Israelite calendar),
1 each family was to choose a one-year-old lamb “without blemish” (no defect),
2bring it into their home, and care for it for five days. On Nisan 14,
3 they were to slaughter it just before sundown and put its blood on the lintel and doorposts of their home (
Exod 12:21–23; see also
Lev 23:5;
Num 9:2–5,
28:16;
Josh 5:10–11).
It was an act of obedience and trust.
That same night, the Lord would “pass over” every home he saw with the lamb’s blood:
On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn—both men and animals—and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD. (
Exod 12:12; see also
Exod 12:42)
Because a new Hebrew day begins at twilight,
4 “that same night” would have been Nisan 15.
5 It was on this date Israel left Egypt and passed through the Red Sea—the date God redeemed the Israelites out of slavery.
Passover has been Judaism’s transformative event ever since. It’s celebrated every year on Nisan 15—falling in March or April on our Gregorian calendars.
Now, let’s circle back to the scene in John 12 and connect some dots.
cont...
