Gtcotr/ss032413
Today
the western Christian world celebrates Palm Sunday. This marks the beginning of
the most important week of the Christian faith. This is the week Jesus was
crucified for the sins of all mankind.
A
little more than 500 years before Christ gave His life on the Cross of Calvary,
God raised up a prophet named Zechariah. Jews and Christians alike revere
Zechariah as a true prophet of God who spoke concerning the coming of Messiah
and the last days.
Often
prophecies are given to point us in the right direction and to pre-validate
milestones along the way so that we can better discern and confirm the times
and seasons in which we live. One such prophecy found among the writings of
Zechariah clearly points to Messiah.
Zechariah 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.”
Why
the religious leaders, the scholars, the well studied rabbis and/or the High
Priest of Jesus’ day did not see this coming and embrace Jesus as Messiah is
beyond my comprehension. Never had a more clear word been given and a more
perfect fulfillment of that word been observed than this particular prophecy.
As
I said, today the western Christian faith celebrates Palm Sunday. This is the
Sunday which remembers Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem riding that
little donkey, just as had been prophesied more than 500 years earlier. The
fulfillment account is well recorded in the Gospels.
The
chief priests of that day and the religious leaders were men who had given
themselves to the study of the Law and the Prophets. They, more than anyone else,
should have recognized what was going on around them and the part they were
playing in this unfolding plan of God. You see, the Prophet Zachariah did not
only speak concerning this King on a donkey, which was odd enough in its
fulfillment, but Zechariah also prophesied concerning other critical factors
which correctly described what was going on right before their very eyes and
confirmed Jesus as the Christ.
More
about Zechariah’s prophecies in a moment but first allow me to catch us up on
the Gospel accounts concerning the occurrences of this week in history.
Mark 11
7 Then they brought the
colt to Jesus and threw their clothes on it, and He sat on it.
8 And many spread their
clothes on the road, and others cut down leafy branches from the trees and
spread them on the road.
9 Then those who went
before and those who followed cried out, saying: "Hosanna! ’Blessed is
He who comes in the name of the LORD!’
As
Jesus was nearing Jerusalem, a few days before Passover, He sent two of His
disciples to loose and bring a young colt, the foal of a donkey, upon which He
rode in a triumphant processional from the Mount of Olives to the Temple Mount.
The multitude laid tree branches, often referred to as “palms” in the way and
cried saying, “Hosanna, Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD.”
The
religious leaders complained but felt there was nothing they could do in the
face of those who were leading the cheers. The processional concluded at the
Temple into which Jesus entered and overturned the tables of the money changers
and those who had made the House of God a den of thieves.
Jesus
spent the week days in Jerusalem teaching His followers about the Kingdom of
God while the evenings were mostly spent in Bethany with friends.
Matthew 26
6 ¶ And when Jesus was in
Bethany at the house of Simon the leper,
7 a woman came to Him
having an alabaster flask of very costly fragrant oil, and she poured it
on His head as He sat at the table.
One
such evening Jesus and His disciples were having dinner and a woman opened an
alabaster box of costly fragrant oil and poured it on His head. She also
anointed His feet and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the
beautiful fragrance.
John 12
4 Then one of His
disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, who would betray Him, said,
5 "Why was this
fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?"
6 This he said, not that
he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and
he used to take what was put in it.
Judas
Iscariot complained:”Why was this costly perfume wasted and not sold for the
poor?” Not because he cared for the poor but because he was a thief and wanted
the money for himself. The oil was worth about $40 in that day’s money. Jesus
rebuked Judas and let it be known that she had done a good thing and anointed
His body against the day of His burial. Judas left the house upset about the
loss of money he felt somehow entitled to and immediately sought how he could
make up that money.
Matthew 26
14 Then Judas Iscariot went
to the chief priests
15 and said, "What are
you willing to give me if I deliver Him to you?" And they counted out to
him thirty pieces of silver.
16 So from that time he sought
opportunity to betray Jesus.
Thirty
pieces of silver ??? What an odd price … the price paid to absolve responsibility
in the death of another man’s servant according to the Law recorded in Exodus
21:32.
This
is where the chief priests should have awakened to the fact that they were
players in an already settled prophecy concerning Messiah. This is the price
specifically spoken of by the prophet Zechariah.
Zechariah 11
12 Then I said to them,
"If it is agreeable to you, give me my wages; and if not,
refrain." So they weighed out for my wages thirty pieces of silver.
13 And the LORD said to me,
"Throw it to the potter" — that princely price they set on
me. So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house
of the LORD for the potter.
How
blind can we get to the things around us … Things which God has already spoken
to us about in His Word … Things written and studied for centuries … Just how
blind can we be???
This
30 Shekels of silver was the equivalent of $15. I suppose since Judas could not
get the $40 he felt entitled to from the oil Jesus wouldn’t let him have, he
decided to get whatever he could from betraying Jesus to His enemies and
selling Jesus out! $15 … that’s all it was … Judas betrayed Jesus for $15 and
then he didn’t even get to keep it … I guess Judas should have been better
studied in the Word, Will and Ways of God himself and he could have called that
one beforehand. $15 …
You
might say, “Pastor, are you telling me that Judas sold Jesus for $15?” No … No … No … not in any way did Judas
sell Jesus for $15. You see, Jesus was not for sale that night in the Garden!
Oh no!!!
Jesus was
not selling … Jesus was buying!
Jesus,
the Lamb of God, was not the one for sale, Judas sold himself, and for what?
Thirty shekels of silver … only $15 – and even then he later casts that into
the House of God which only goes to teach us that in the end:
We are
worth nothing without Jesus – but – We are worth everything to Him
And,
BTW … Jesus is not for sale today either … you
are … and Jesus is buying.
Don’t
sell yourself cheap …
·
Not
for Gold, Glory, Power, or Position
·
And
you should sell yourself to the highest bidder
·
Jesus,
King of Kings and Lord of Lords
·
He
gave everything, even His own life for you!
·
Recognize
the times in which we live and come to Christ!
