PASSOVER AND THE KINGDOM

March 28, 2010 am
MF Blume

When Jesus was rejected the day He rode into Jerusalem as her King, it was about the time of PASSOVER, in John 12:

John 12:1 GNB Six days before the Passover, Jesus went to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, the man he had raised from death.

(Mary breaks the alabaster box and anoints Jesus’ feet.

Judas complains.)

John 12:12-14 KJV On the next day much people that were come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, (13) Took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord. (14) And Jesus, when he had found a young ass, sat thereon; as it is written,

MATTHEW 21 picks up on this and adds more information.

Matthew 21:2-5 KJV Saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto me. (3) And if any man say ought unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send them. (4) All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, (5) Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass.

Zechariah 9:9 KJV Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.

Matthew 21:9 KJV And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.

Passover and the Kingdom

There is a STRONG LINK TO THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES in this PASSOVER situation and scene.

Passover began the 7 Feasts and Tabernacles Ended the 7 feasts.

We already studied how Jesus cried out on the last day, the great day of the feast of Tabernacles and said whoever believes can come to Him and from his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
He was speaking about the Baptism of the Holy Ghost.
That river of living water is actually in the last vision of Revelation 22, after chapter 21 refers to the FEAST OF TABERNACLES and says the TABERNACLE OF GOD IS WITH MEN!
The idea was that as Israel celebrated the journey through Exodus was over by remembering the time they dwelt in tabernacles in the wilderness, by actually building a tabernacle in their yards and staying in them for a week, GOD HAS HIS TABERNACLE WITH THEM AS WELL!
Just like Rev 21 – 22 shows Tabernacles with the river of living water, Jesus cried out about rivers of living water on the last day of the feast of Tabernacles.

Now we find Jesus at Passover time riding in on a donkey as prophesied KING, as people shout HOSANNA, and…

HOSANNA is a term used often during the feast of tabernacles!

And the last day of the feast, the great day, when all the feasts come to a close for the entire year, they Jews march around the altar seven times and cry hosanna!
They are believing God for an abundantly prosperous year to come!
The phrase HOSANNA IN THE HIGHEST seems to point to that – in the highest, or in the great day of the feast!

HOSANNA MEANS “SAVE US, WE BESEECH YOU.”

Revelation 7:9-10 KJV After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; (10) And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.

The exact same picture is seen with only ONE NATION and people and tongue, in the Gospels.

Mark 11:7-10 KJV And they brought the colt to Jesus, and cast their garments on him; and he sat upon him. (8) And many spread their garments in the way: and others cut down branches off the trees, and strawed them in the way. (9) And they that went before, and they that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna; Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord: (10) Blessed be the kingdom of our father David, that cometh in the name of the Lord: Hosanna in the highest.

HOSANNA in this verse actually means SAVE US, WE BESEECH THEE,

It is actually a combination of words into one.
SAVE US, WE BESEECH THEE is made into one word in HEBREW… HOSANNA.
They all were hollering the phrase from Psalm 118!

Psalms 118:25-26 KJV Save now, I beseech thee, O LORD: O LORD, I beseech thee, send now prosperity. (26) Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the LORD: we have blessed you out of the house of the LORD.

These Jews took the words of Psalm 118:25-26 and recognized JESUS as the MESSIAH they knew would come from David’s family.

So they called Him SON OF DAVID as well as used the word HOSANNA.
They knew that any salvation would only come from one source… THE MESSIAH!
And they knew He would bring all salvation for anything they required because HIS KINGDOM was the one promised to David.

1 Kings 2:4 KJV That the LORD may continue his word which he spake concerning me, saying, If thy children take heed to their way, to walk before me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul, there shall not fail thee (said he) a man on the throne of Israel.

1 Kings 8:25 KJV Therefore now, LORD God of Israel, keep with thy servant David my father that thou promisedst him, saying, There shall not fail thee a man in my sight to sit on the throne of Israel; …

They actually believed that KINGDOM WAS COMING THAT DAY when Jesus came on the colt the foal of an ass.

They knew so much about the Kingdom that if we could learn it all, we would truly understand so much more of this great Kingdom He actually did bring 2000 years ago!

We’ve been in this kingdom and have not understood it all.
All this JEWISH understanding is so lacking today in churches.
We MISS THE KINGDOM EMPHASIS FOR TODAY due to that lack.

Remember that this RIVER of Life came as the result of His resurrection from the dead.

His Kingdom kicked into its fullness when he resurrected and sat on the right hand throne.
He rode into Jerusalem as King but had not yet sat on a throne.

It is RESURRECTION LIFE that is seen in both the river of life and the tree of life.

Both indicate RESURRECTION life.
It is God’s life that is eternal, but since it brings us back from death and gives us eternal life, it is resurrection life to us.

The idea of RESURRECTION is seen in the River of Life in Rev 22 because Jesus resurrected from the dead to fulfill SURE MERCIES OF DAVID, and sat down on the throne that issues forth river of life.

The TREE OF LIFE involves resurrection life as well.

This was spoken the same day He rode into Jerusalem as KING – so we see RESURRECTION involved in the KINGDOM, because His KINGDOM ENTRANCE has him speaking of resurrection:

John 12:23-24 KJV And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified. (24) Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.

Being glorified is sitting at the THRONE OF GLORY, and Jesus associated it with resurrection.

Notice that MANY identical KERNELS OF WHEAT result from ONE KERNEL DEAD AND BURIED IN THE GROUND.

We are those additional kernels!

Colossians 1:13 KJV Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:
Colossians 1:14 KJV In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:

Notice that instead of Israel carrying palm leaves and waving them in celebration, it is people from all nations in Revelation 7 carrying Palm leaves and crying SALVATION to Jesus.

When they said HOSANNA to the Son of David in the Triumphal Entry, it was the same thing as saying SALVATION TO GOD AND THE LAMB WHO SITS ON THE THRONE.
The Son of David was the KING in the Kingdom promised to Israel to David.
And SALVATION BELONGED TO HIM!
Jesus’ THRONE IS THE THRONE OF DAVID!

All these pictures in Revelation cannot possibly be about our unfulfilled future, since the salvation and the Kingdom that all these pictures show is the salvation we have right now!

And we are already translated into the KINGDOM OF JESUS CHRIST, according to Paul.

There are so many references to this picture of the KINGDOM we find in Revelation that are distinctly said to be involved in the church right now!
The book of Acts ch. 2 shows the Holy Spirit baptism as the shed forth waters that poured down solely due to the Lamb having gone to the throne, just as Rev 22 shows in picture form.
We are translated into the KINGDOM of the SON.
Revelation 7 is a perfect picture of NOW.

But because this is an invisible KINGDOM, AND CANNOT BE SEEN…

Luke 17:20-21 GNB Some Pharisees asked Jesus when the Kingdom of God would come. His answer was, "The Kingdom of God does not come in such a way as to be seen. (21) No one will say, 'Look, here it is!' or, 'There it is!'; because the Kingdom of God is within you."

It never said IT WOULD BE SEEN later.

John 18:36 KJV Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.

When it says “BUT NOW” it is contrasting one instance with one just previously mentioned.

It is not saying that at this time it is not of the world but it shall be at a later point in time.
It is saying a kingdom of this world would see his servants fight, but INSTEAD OF THAT His Kingdom is not from hence.
“In contrast to the condition already stated.”

John 18:36 CEV Jesus answered, "My kingdom doesn't belong to this world. If it did, my followers would have fought to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish leaders. No, my kingdom doesn't belong to this world."

BUT THINGS TOOK A BAD TURN.

Matthew 21:12 KJV And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves,

Matthew 21:18-19 KJV Now in the morning as he returned into the city, he hungered. (19) And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. And presently the fig tree withered away.

Have you ever heard that THE FIG TREE represents Israel?

Notice He cursed a fig tree and Jerusalem was cursed when Jesus wept over her and said he house is left desolate.
40 years later – ONE GENERATION - it was smashed to the ground.

REMEMBER, THIS WAS JUST BEFORE PASSOVER

Isn’t it wonderful that after He looked into the temple the first time they waved palm branches, and found people making money so he cursed the fig tree to represent her cursing, that the next time in Rev 7 He sees people serving him day and night in HIS TEMPLE!

Revelation 7:15 KJV Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them.

1 Peter 2:5 KJV Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.

1 Peter 2:9 KJV But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light