Ask the Pastor 153

What is so special about Palm Sunday?

We all know that what is known as “Palm Sunday” is the day in which our Lord entered the city of Jerusalem for His final week leading up to His crucifixion and then resurrection. The account of our Lord’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem is given in all four of the gospels. There are a couple of things at least worth thinking about, even if you do not agree. The first, are the events of the days leading to our Lord’s crucifixion. Our Lord’s entrance in Jerusalem was on Sunday 4 days before Passover on the 11th Nisan, when He cleansed the temple; on Monday the 3rd day, which is the 12th Nisan, He returned to Jerusalem and cursed the fig tree, Greeks came to see Him and the rulers continued to oppose Him and He returned to Bethany; on Tuesday, the 2nd day, the 13th Nisan, He returned to Jerusalem and gave the Olivet discourse; returned to Bethany and had supper at the house of Simon the leper; on the day before Passover, Wednesday the 14th Nisan, there is the Lord’s supper, the upper room discourse, prayer in Gethsemane, His arrest, trial and crucifixion by sundown Wednesday. Therefore, He was in the tomb for 3 days, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday and rose from the dead on Sunday. The second thing, we want to note is our Lord’s words in Luke 19:42, “If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace!” What day is that and why should they have known? The key is found in Daniel 9:25-27 where we read of the 70 weeks of Daniel. Sir Robert Anderson calculated the days of the first 69 weeks and came to the date in which our Lord entered the city on His triumphant entry. It is summarized as follows: From the decree of Artaxerxes on March 14 B.C. 445 to this date on April 6 A.D. 32 is a total of 173,880 days; 69 weeks x 360 days (see Genesis 7:11,24; 8:4) is a total of 173,880 days. Another, of hundreds of prophecies that came true concerning our Lord (see also Zech. 9:9). This day, that our Lord spoke of, was according to the sovereign plan of God for the purpose of accomplishing this great salvation.

Have questions about the Bible? Send them to Dr. Greg Koehn at gak4850@gmail.com and read the answer here in this article.