Sermon Cloud

On this Palm Sunday, a day of triumphal entry, on the day we hear the crowds say, “Save Us, Son of David;” On the day they welcome Christ with royal dignity…we will discuss the fact that Jesus is also a Suffering Servant.  We will take a look at the Crucifixion of Christ that was very prominent to the Apostle John, who was a first hand witness of Jesus’ death; AND we will also discuss another piece of ancient literature referencing the Messiah as a figure who would suffer, die, and rise again.

First, John is the only Gospel writer who mentions a curious event related to the death of Jesus – A spear being thrust into his side -- which we read about in our NT reading, relating a fact that after at least 6 hours on the cross, Jesus died.  This was a little unusual because those who were crucified were known to languish upon crosses for days.  The crucified would not only be subjected to mockery, but also, in their naked estate, be exposed to the elements, including insects and carrion taking advantage of their exposed flesh which would often be marred with open sores.

Jesus and two other criminals were on crosses just prior to an important Jewish Sabbath observance – and this presents a problem for the Jewish leaders.  Why?

Leviticus 23 tells us that the Passover would officially begin a 7 day Feast of Unleavened bread.  Of course, the preparation for Passover and the Feast of Unleavened bread would begin days earlier as the people removed leaven from their homes and would also take in a one year old male lamb or goat into their homes 4 days prior to killing it for the Passover meal.

The Passover Lamb would be killed on the afternoon of the 14^th day of Nissan to prepare it for cooking for the evening meal, (This happens to be the same time that Jesus dies on the cross.)  When the sun went down, a new day began, and on that 15^th day of Nissan, that day was regarded as a Sabbath Day – If the 15 of Nissan was a Wednesday, it became a Sabbath day no matter what.  The 15^th day of Nissan was a holy convocation and a day of no working.

John 19:31 Since it was the day of Preparation, and so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away.

This High Day Sabbath was going to be the first full day of Unleavened Bread, a day of Sabbath resting, and by the ordering of the calendar that year, it was also the last day of the week: a real Sabbath day – It was a double Sabbath Day. 

Now as a side-bar, for those who want Jesus in the tomb for a full 3 days and 3 nights, they have Jesus dying on a Thursday.  Friday then is the Sabbath Day observance of the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and then the Sabbath day that followed would be an “end of the week Sabbath,” so that there would be two full days of Sabbath observance – ergo, 3 full nights of Jesus’ being in the tomb, and the women coming to the tomb early in the morning of a non Sabbath day – another theory to consider…

The fact does remain though, that some kind of Sabbath observance is upon us, and the Jewish leaders do not want 3 cursed men upon crosses – they suggest that their legs be broken so that their deaths would be hastened. {JAMA}

John 19:32 So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who had been crucified with him. 33 But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. 34 But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. 35 He who saw it has borne witness- his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth- that you also may believe. 36 For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: "Not one of his bones will be broken." 37 And again another Scripture says, "They will look on him whom they have pierced."

This designation of Jesus being the “pierced one” is very important to John! He references it as the test that removes all doubts from Thomas the disciple, and he mentions it again as the Calling Card of Jesus Christ in

Revelation 1:7 Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.

So the Apostle John wants us to have a category for remembering Jesus – He is the pierced one.  Why is this important?  Well, In the book of Revelation, it is associated with people weeping with remorse because they will regard themselves as being responsible for rejecting the Christ in the most graphic way.

I keep repeating this line, “Jesus reached out his hand, and we stuck a nail in it.”  Well, when Jesus returns, and when he reaches out his hand again, the unbelieving world will see his pierced hand, and body and they will know that they will come under judgment for rejecting him as the savior of the world.  “.. ALL the tribes of earth will wail on account of him!” 

So when we ask, WYTWTPHITS?  The unbelieving world will know on the Day of Judgment that THEY WERE THERE with those who wanted Christ crucified and they will feel the guilt of rejecting the redeeming work of the Messiah.

But of course, this language is NOT new.  We have already read about it in the OT, in the book of Zechariah.  In Zechariah 12 we read about piercing and crying.

Zechariah 12:10 "And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn.

Zechariah is the prophet who introduces us to ‘the pierced one’ who will produce mourning.  Well that is a very interesting passage!  The Apostle John says, “That’s Jesus!  I have a person who matches the prophecy of Zechariah, it is Jesus, and I’ll mention it twice in two books!”

But is that fair?  Is Zechariah the prophet REALLY talking about a Messiah?

Well, Zechariah is a unique prophetic book written with the genre of Apocalyptic literature.  In Zechariah, we read about the Messiah riding into Jerusalem on a donkey (Very apropos for a Palm Sunday message!).  We also read that 30 pieces of silver will be the price of betrayal that would be thrown to the Potter’s field; we also read about a shepherd being stricken and sheep fleeing from him.  So Zechariah ranks highly among prophetic literature for the NT authors.

Now, let’s look more closely at Zech. 12:10.  The beginning of Zechariah 12 discusses times of trouble coming upon Jerusalem.  God is gathering the enemies of Judah to battle against her; BUT as the battle engages, the Jewish people will recognize that they are being strengthened by God to destroy their enemies and to make Jerusalem truly a city of Shalom! And in vs. 9, God destroys all the enemies of Jerusalem.

In vs. 10, however, we read that these ‘spirit revived’ people in Jerusalem will mourn the loss of some leader who will be pierced, and will die!  And the chapter concludes with 5 verses of mourning this great loss.

That is what chapter 12 says: how should we interpret it?  Well the Jewish people have an interpretation, and the Christians have an interpretation.

The Jewish view is that a messiah figure has been slain – but that is a little bit of a disconnect for the Jews because there are too many victory passages and eternal life, dwelling in the land passages, for the Messiah to fulfill too.  Where do we go from here?

A tradition developed right at the time of Jesus Christ within the writings of the Jewish commentators that has stirred some controversy as of late, because the bridge for the disconnect of a dying Messiah is the introduction of a second messiah.  Rabbinic literature developed the space for TWO Messiahs.  One is Messiah Ben Joseph, the other is Messiah Ben David. 

Messiah Ben Joseph (not to be confused with Joseph, the step-father of Jesus, or Joseph Smith), is the Suffering Messiah – although he is a warrior and is able to return the 10 lost tribes of Israel back to Jerusalem, he will be betrayed, rejected, and handed over to the Gentiles – he will die a sacrificial death in order to restore rebellious Israel – His death will move the people to embrace the SECOND Messiah Ben David, who is the living and victorious king, and HE will bring Messiah Ben Joseph back to life.  Messiah Ben David will then reign as the  final king to rule the world with peace from Jerusalem.

What is really interesting is that this teaching has been uncovered on a 3 ft. stone thought to be from the first century and only recently translated – with GREAT CONTROVERSY – in recent years.  The stone has been called, “Gabriel’s Revelation,” (WFFP), [it is very controversial] and through some faded ink writing on stone, scholars believe it says this,

The Messiah ben David, who (as we hope) will appear in the near future. The Holy One, blessed be He, will say to him: Ask something of me and I will give it to thee, as it is written “I will announce the decree ... Ask it of me, and I will give,” But as the Messiah ben David will have seen that the Messiah ben Joseph who preceded him was killed, he will say before the Lord: “Lord of the Universe, I will ask nothing of Thee but life.” And the Lord will answer: “This was prophesied already for thee by thy father David ‘Life hath he asked of thee, thou gavest it to him.’ ”

So Zechariah 12 has become for the Rabbis who accept this interpretation, a prediction of the Messiah Ben Joseph being slain; But a reminder to anticipate Messiah Ben David to come to restore all things again.

What is the Christian interpretation?  Jesus is both Messiah Ben Joseph and Ben David – and quite literally!  Jesus is the Davidic Son who is both the suffering servant and the victorious King, and this brings us all the way to Palm Sunday where both of these aspects of the true Messiah are displayed.  We’ll conclude with Luke’s account of Palm Sunday, Chapter 19

³⁶ And as he rode along, they spread their cloaks on the road. ³⁷ As he was drawing near- already on the way down the Mount of Olives- the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, ³⁸ saying, "Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!" (MAT = Son of David)

³⁹ And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, rebuke your disciples." ⁴⁰ He answered, "I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out."

⁴¹ And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, ⁴² saying, "Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. ⁴³ For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side ⁴⁴ and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation." (Jesus weeping is a fulfillment of all the OT weeping over the fall of Jerusalem == AND Isaiah 53:5 But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastisement of our peace is on him, And by His stripes we are healed.

We associate a Parade with Palm Sunday – but rarely the ‘piercing’ of Palm Sunday as described in the gospel of Luke & the OT

God says to THE MESSIAH: Psalm 2:8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession.

^{ISAIAH 6.8} And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" Then I said, "Here am I! Send me." ⁹ And he said, "Go, and say to this people: "' Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.' ¹⁰ Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed."