The Day the Lord Has Made — Chuck Smith

Palm Sunday Scripture Reading: Jesus’ Entry into Jerusalem

Let's open now our Bibles to Luke's Gospel, Chapter 19. Our scripture reading this morning will begin with verse 29 and it will go through verse 44. So I'll read the 29th and the outnumbered verses and we ask you to join with Pastor Brian in the reading of the even-numbered verses through verse 44.

Shall we stand as we read the Word of God? And it came to pass, when he was come near to Bephagi and to Bethany, at the mount called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples,.

Saying, Go ye into the village over against you, in the which, at your entering, ye shall find a colt tied, whereon yet never man sat. Loose him, and bring him hither.

And if any man ask you, Why do you loose him? Thus shall you say unto him, Because the Lord has need of him.

And they that were sent went their way, and found even as he had said unto them.

And as they were loosing the colt, the owners thereof said unto them, Why do you loose the colt?

And they said, The Lord hath need of him.

And they brought him to Jesus, and they cast their garments upon the colt, and they set Jesus thereon.

And as he went, they spread their clothes in the way.

And when he was come near, that is, now to the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and to praise God with a loud voice for all of the mighty works that they had seen.

Saying, Blessed be the king that cometh in the name of the Lord, peace in heaven, and glory in the highest.

And some of the Pharisees from among the multitude said unto him, Master, rebuke your disciples.

And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.

And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and he wept over it.

Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace, but now they are hid from thine eyes.

For the days shall come upon thee that your enemies will cast a trench about thee and come past thee round and keep thee in on every side.

And shall lay thee even with the ground and thy children within thee. They shall not leave in thee one stone upon another because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation. Let's pray.

Father, we ask, Lord, that we will not be spiritually dull, that your day of opportunity should come and we would, Lord, not recognize it and we would just go on in our lethargy and in our blindness. Father, we pray that even this day your Holy Spirit will speak to our hearts, showing us the opportunities that are before us this day to do service unto you.

And so, Lord, we ask your blessing upon the study of your word. Open now our hearts, Lord, to your truths. Cause us, Lord, to just really grow in our knowledge and understanding of your purposes and of your plan for our lives.

We thank you, Father, in Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated. This is traditionally known as Palm Sunday. It is the Sunday before the crucifixion of Jesus He made his entry into Jerusalem, presenting himself to the nation as their promised Messiah.

Palm Sunday and the Promised Messiah

This is a special day that had been prophesied in the scriptures when God would provide their savior to them. And he did provide, but unfortunately, they were blind and they did not understand what was going on, and thus they missed this special opportunity to receive the blessings of God, the anointed Messiah, who did come on this day, even as was predicted and promised by God.

Daniel’s Prophecy of the Messiah’s Coming

Back in the prophecies of Daniel, chapter 9, there, beginning with verse 24, the Lord had prophesied that there are 77 that are determined upon thy people and upon the holy city to finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, to make the reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness.

These things would be accomplished within these 77. But then to seal up the vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy. But then he went on to say, Know therefore and understand that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to rebuild Jerusalem unto the Messiah, the Prince, shall be 77s, or 7 -7s and 62 -7s, and the street shall be built again and the wall, even in troublous times.

And after the 62 -7s shall the Messiah be cut off, but not for himself, and the people of the Prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary, and the end thereof will be with the dispersion unto the end of the war.

Desolations are determined. And he will confirm the covenant with many for one of the seven-year cycles, and in the midst of the week that he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblations to cease, and for the overspreading of the abominations he will make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that which is determined will be poured out upon the desolate.

Note that in the promise of the coming of the Messiah, it would be a period of 69 seven-year periods, and it would be after the commandment to restore and to rebuild Jerusalem. When Daniel was writing this particular prophecy, Jerusalem was actually flattened.

It had been destroyed by the Babylonian army. The walls of the city had been torn down. The temple had been destroyed, and it was just a rubble. And so he is prophesying that from the time the commandment would go forth to restore and rebuild Jerusalem.

To the coming of the Messiah, the prince, would be a period of 62 seven-year cycles. Actually, 69 seven-year cycles, seven and then 62, or 69 seven-year cycles. But it gives you a beginning of the marking of time, and that would be when the commandment would go forth to restore and rebuild Jerusalem.

Unto the coming of the Messiah would be the 69 seven-year cycles. Interestingly enough, in the Bible, in the book of Nehemiah chapter 2, it gives us the very date in which the king Artaxerxes gave to Nehemiah the commandment to restore and to rebuild Jerusalem.

Nehemiah was a servant to the king of Persia, and as he was serving the king, he got word from someone who had just returned from Jerusalem how that the morale of the people that were there in Jerusalem was very low because there was just no real defense, and they were being harassed by the neighbors round about them and the great difficulties that they were facing.

And so this troubled Nehemiah. He was praying and just fasting and seeking the Lord. And he came before the king, and the king said, What's your problem? You know, you're usually very cheerful, and I've not seen you looking so glum.

And he said, Well, he said, You know, it's the fact that Jerusalem is laid waste, and I received a report of how things are not doing well there. And the king said, What would you like to do? And he said, Well, I would like to go back and sort of organize the people and rebuild the walls of Jerusalem so that they would have some protection from their enemies that were arounding and surrounding them there.

And so he gave to Nehemiah the commandment to restore and to rebuild Jerusalem, to go back to Jerusalem to take a look at it and to, you know, go ahead and restore and rebuild Jerusalem. It is interesting that the Bible gives us the date that that took place.

It happened, and of course, he tells us there in the 2nd chapter, the month of Nisan, and it was in the year 445 B .C. that this commandment went forth. So we do know that on the 6th of April in 445 B .C. that the commandment went forth to restore and to rebuild Jerusalem.

So you've got the starting date for this particular prophecy. Now, according to the prophecy from this starting date, April 6, 445 B .C., that 173 ,880 days later, according to the Babylonian calendar, that the Messiah would come.

From this date of April 6, 445 B .C., the Messiah should come in 173 ,880 days, or 69 seven-year cycles. And so you've got the starting date, and people should have been looking for the Messiah at the time that would be, you know, around 32 A .D.

They should be looking for their Messiah to show up if the prophecies of the Word of God are true. It's an interesting thing. There is a fellow, Isaac Asimov, and he's, well, he was a science writer, and he is, of course, no longer alive, but he was a sort of a skeptic, and he wrote an article on this particular prophecy of the coming of the Messiah, but he actually used a different prophecy.

He used the one that was back, given to, earlier to the Zerubbabel, who was sent back to rebuild the temple, and that was, of course, given back in about 556 B .C., and he counted the 173 ,880 days from that prophecy, and he said, nothing happened, and thus, you know, the Word of God is not true.

It doesn't stand, and it was a mistake that he made in taking the wrong prophecy. This was a prophecy that was to restore and rebuild Jerusalem rather than the prophecy to restore the temple and to rebuild the temple.

That was given 111 years earlier, and so it was one of those things that he made a tragic mistake, and so he knows the truth now, but it's a little late for him. So in his book, The Coming Prince, Sir Robert Anderson, a British mathematician, worked out the computations showing that the day that we call Palm Sunday was exactly 173 ,880 days from the decree that was given to Nehemiah to restore and to rebuild the walls of the city of Jerusalem, and so as we were reading this morning the account that Luke gave us of that day that did happen, there are some interesting things that we need to note about this day that Luke writes about.

Jesus’ Public Revelation as Messiah

As we read Luke's account, we realize that this was the first day that Jesus allowed any public acknowledgement of who he was. Prior to this, Jesus had been telling the people, don't tell anybody. In John 6, 15, when Jesus therefore perceived that they were going to try to come and by force make him king, he departed into the mountain himself alone.

In Matthew 8, 4, and Jesus said unto him, that is, the leper that he had healed, see that you tell no man, but go your way, show yourself to the priests, offer the gift that Moses commanded for a testimony unto them.

In Matthew 16, 20, as Jesus revealed to his disciples who he was, he said, who do people think that I am? And they told him the various stories that were going around about him as to whom people thought he was.

He said, but who do you say that I am? And Peter said, well, you are the Messiah, the son of the living God. And he said, blessed art you, Simon, son of Jonah. Flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father which is in heaven.

And I say unto you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. And then he began to tell them how that he was going to supper, and he would be turned over to the Gentiles, they would crucify him, but the third day he would rise again.

And here is Peter who had just been commended because of a spiritual revelation, and he said, be that far from thee, Lord. And Jesus turned and said, get thee behind me, Satan, you offend me. You can't tell the difference between things that come from God and the things that come from man.

Well, how many Peters do we have here today? You know, where the problem of really, is the Lord speaking to me or is that coming from my own heart? Is that something that's just coming from within my own mind or am I really hearing from God on this one?

And so when Jesus charged his disciples, when they then knew who he was, as he declared unto them the truth, he said that they should tell no man that he was the Messiah. In Matthew 17, 9, when they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, tell no vision to any man this was the Mount of Transfiguration until the Son of Man is risen again from the dead.

And so on this particular day, though, that we've been reading about here in Luke 19, notice how Jesus actually no longer was hiding. He sent the disciples into the town to get a donkey and bring it to him.

And he began to ride this donkey into the city of Jerusalem as the people were shouting out, Hosanna, Hosanna, blessed is the King, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Provoking the Pharisees to say to him, Lord, quiet them.

Do you hear what they're saying? And Jesus said, I'll tell you the truth. If they would hold their peace at this moment, these very stones would cry out. And so Jesus is riding in the donkey, on the donkey on into Jerusalem.

Zechariah’s Prophecy and the Triumphal Entry

In fulfillment of the prophecy of Zechariah, who said, behold, your king is coming to you, but he is lowly. He is riding on a donkey. And so here he is riding on this donkey and receiving the acclamations of the people as they were saying, Hosanna, Hosanna, blessed is the King, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

And so the acknowledgement of Jesus as the King, as he rides on the donkey, and surely the minds of the people should be attuned to this as they are there acknowledging the King riding on the donkey, fulfilling the prophecy of Zechariah.

But also it is fulfilling other prophecies of the Old Testament concerning the Messiah. And so it is a very exciting time. But it is interesting that as Jesus comes into the view of the city from the Mount of Olives, descending down the Mount of Olives, he begins to weep.

And as he is weeping, as he views the city of Jerusalem, he says, if you had only known in this thy day, at least, he said, in this thy day. This was the day prophesied by the prophet Daniel, the day, exact day, that is 173 ,880 days from the commandment to restore and to rebuild Jerusalem.

And here he is making his entry into Jerusalem, riding on a donkey, just like was prophesied by Zechariah, the prophet, concerning the coming of the Messiah. Your King comes to thee. He is lowly. He's riding on a donkey.

Spiritual Blindness and the Day of Visitation

So Jesus went on to say to the people that the days were going to come in which they were, the enemy was going to cast a trench about them, and they would be shut in on every side. They would be laid even with the ground, your children within you, and not one stone will be left upon another because you did not know the day of your visitation.

The high cost of the spiritual blindness, here is the fulfillment right before their eyes, but they can't realize or don't really recognize it because they are spiritually blind to it. And so when the Pharisees heard the disciples saying and calling him the king and so forth and Hosanna, Hosanna, when they said, Lord, you better shut your disciples up.

Don't you hear what they're saying? That's blasphemy. And he said, I'll tell you the truth. If they would be quiet, these very stones would cry out. So he was weeping over the city, lamenting over it, because if they had only known the things that belonged to their peace, this was the day, this was the most exciting day in the history of man, the day that God fulfilled his promise of sending the Messiah, the Savior, into the world, and here they are, oblivious to what is actually happening right before their eyes.

And so as he is weeping, it isn't because they were rejecting him. It was because what they had lost as a result of rejecting him, what they could have gained had they only recognized that this was God's plan being fulfilled and the promises being fulfilled, the Messiah was coming right there before them, and yet they were blind to it, and as a result of their blindness, the city of Jerusalem would soon be overtaken again by the Romans.

The city would be destroyed. The Jews would be dispersed, and they would be cast out of the city, out of the nation, and the problems they would face because they did not know the day of their visitation, because they were blind to the fulfillment of the prophecies that were taking place right before their eyes.

And so we look at this whole picture here, and we see how God's word coming to pass right before their eyes, and yet they are not really aware of what's going on, blind to what God is doing, blind to the work of God that was being accomplished for their sakes, and it was a tragic and sad thing.

I look at our world today, and I see the same kind of a blindness in the minds of people concerning Jesus Christ. Surely if a person would examine carefully all of the evidence, and as I say, examine carefully, not like Asimov, who actually missed the prophecy completely.

He was looking at a different prophecy that took place as he actually was looking for the coming of the Messiah and said, no, you know, that date passed, and the Messiah didn't come, and thus Jesus could not be the promised Messiah.

But it's his miscalculation that was wrong, not Jesus. He didn't miss it. It was his calculation that was off, not Jesus' timing. And so it's one of those things that people oftentimes make serious mistakes, but the tragedy is sometimes those mistakes are fatal as far as their salvation is concerned because they've got some little quirky thought in their mind, and, you know, what is happening doesn't sort of fit with what they are thinking is going to happen, and thus they miss the thing completely.

So we find that Jesus did come right on time. He did fulfill all of those prophecies concerning him and that he made his entry. He presented himself unto the nation as their Messiah, and their king did come to them even as was promised, and they missed it, though, because of their prejudice and because of the blindness that had happened to them spiritually, the spiritual blindness to the things that God had promised.

The Messiah Cut Off for Sin

So as you go on and back to the prophecy of Daniel in the beginning, it tells us that the Messiah will be cut off, but not for himself. It is interesting that Jesus made his triumphant entry into Jerusalem, or the entry in which he presented himself as their Messiah on Sunday.

By the time the week was over, he was hanging on a cross, and they had crucified him, and before the week was out, he had been crucified by them. But even as Daniel had prophesied that the Messiah will be cut off, but not for himself, and the people of the prince that shall come will destroy the city and the sanctuary, and the end thereof will be with a dispersion.

So even as it was prophesied by Daniel, when Christ was cut off, not for himself, but for you and for me, it was for our sins that he was cut off. And so what happened, of course, with the Jews is that shortly thereafter, the Romans came again under Titus, the Roman general, and at this point, they were driven out of the land completely, and they were dispersed from the land, and have been out of the land for over 2 ,000 years until we saw the rebirth, according to the prophecies of the nation of Israel, which is, of course, a modern miracle of our day.

And so, actually, it speaks of the prince that shall destroy the city and the sanctuary, and Jerusalem was destroyed, the temple was destroyed, and the people were dispersed. And he will confirm the covenant, he said, with many for one week.

The Future Seventieth Week and the Rapture

This is yet future. Remember, there were 77s that were determined upon the nation of Israel. 69 of these seven-year cycles would take place from the commandment to restore and rebuild Jerusalem to the coming of the Messiah, the prince.

They were fulfilled. At that point, God's time clock sort of stopped as the Jews were then driven out of the nation, and we've gone through this long period of time in which the time clock of God has more or less been standing still, but now that they are back in the land, again, God's time clock starting again, we have a one seven-year cycle yet to be fulfilled.

And that one seven-year cycle yet to be fulfilled has not started yet. It will start when the church is removed out of the earth, what we call the rapture of the church. That will be, again, the final seven-year cycle prior to the coming again of Jesus Christ with His church to establish the kingdom of God here on the earth.

And so exciting days are ahead, and we're just waiting for that day when the Lord will catch away His church, and we call it the rapture of the church, and how then this final seven-year cycle of time will take place.

The Antichrist and the Great Tribulation

During this seven-year cycle of time that is going to take place, the Antichrist will be revealed, and he will establish his power here on the earth, and the Jews will actually hail him as their savior because he will lead them in the rebuilding of their temple, and they will acclaim him as the Messiah.

But after three and a half years, he will come to the rebuilt temple in Jerusalem. He will stand in the Holy of Holies and cause the daily sacrifices to cease, and he will set up an abomination which will cause the desolation.

That is, he will set up himself in the Holy of Holies of the rebuilt temple, declaring that he is God and demanding to be worshiped as God, and that will be the abomination that will cause the desolation or the great tribulation period.

And thus, the last part of this seven-year cycle will be a time the Bible talks about Jacob's trouble, a time of great trouble such as the world has never seen before or will ever see again, and you don't want to be here when that takes place, and by the grace of God, you don't have to be here, and if you are here, it's because you just are too hard-headed to listen to the truth, and thus you're going to suffer from your own ignorance, really, and not necessary.

You don't have to, but, you know, that's up to you. I can't do anything about that except just warn you, and if that day should come, and you're still here, and you see it, you say, well, you know, that pastor, he told us, but we just didn't think, you know, that he knew about it, but he was right, and you...

Well, the Word is right, and it's not that I'm so smart. It's just that God has given us advance warnings of what's going to be taking place. So, exciting days ahead, and, you know, God's program is going to go ahead.

It's going to be fulfilled, and we are very close to it. The final act is about ready to take place. I look at it as sort of a theater, and the curtain is closed right now. We've been watching the drama unfold upon the stage, and now we're coming to the final act, and they're about ready to pull the curtain, and the final act is going to begin, and that's just about where we are.

About time for the curtain to be pulled, and the final seven-year cycle take place where the church is out of here, and we're with him in his glorious kingdom. Father, thank you for the fact that you've given us advance warnings as to what is going to transpire in these days so that that day would not catch us unprepared or unaware, but, Lord, we would know the times in which we were living as we would see, Lord, these events taking place that you warned us about, and so, Lord, we pray that today those that are here within the sound of our voice, those that are here, Lord, that cannot deny that you've called the shots so accurately up to this point, Lord, may they now use their good common sense, realizing that if you have been accurate, so accurate, right to the day accurate up to this point, you're going to continue until it is all consummated, and so, Lord, we're waiting for you to just really do your work in these last days in the hearts and lives of the people, and, Lord, may we as your church be a witness to the world and to our friends of the things that are transpiring are not just happenstance, but, Lord, they are all according to your plan, predetermined plan that you're working out in this world in which we live, and so, Lord, help us that we might live in accordance to these things that we see transpiring before us and that we might be ready, Lord, when that day should come when you call for us to be with you there in your kingdom, and, Lord, the final act takes place here on Earth as we, Lord, are gathered together with you in that glorious, glorious day, and so, Lord, thank you for the hope that you have given to us that even in these dark days in which we presently live, when there doesn't seem to be any kind of certainty as far as the future is concerned, but everything is so confused, that, Lord, you're not confused, and your word is not confused, but, Lord, you are right on time, right on schedule, and what you have said is transpiring before our face, and, Lord, may we just be lifting up our heads and rejoicing because, Lord, you know what's transpiring.

You told us in advance so that when these things did take place, we might believe, and so, Lord, we pray that today, as people look carefully at these events, realizing, Lord, that you have actually prophesied of these events so clearly, so definitely, and knowing, Lord, that your word is true, that these things that you have promised would take place are taking place before our eyes, may we then so live, Lord, in such a way that when you come for your church, we'll be ready, Lord, caught up to meet you in the air and ever be with you in your kingdom, and, Lord, thank you for this blessed hope that we have in Christ Jesus today.

Amen. Shall we stand? The pastors are down here at the front to minister to you today, and so we would encourage you, if the Lord is dealing with your heart, maybe there are issues in your life that need to be taken care of.

You don't want any unfinished business when the Lord comes for his church, and you don't want to be left behind, and so we would encourage you, you know, get right or get left. You know, I mean, that's about where we are today.

So we would just invite you to come on forward and just to say to these men, you know, I'm not exactly sure of just where I'm and how I'm standing before the Lord. Just pray for me. They'll be happy to do that and happy to minister to you today that you don't need to be in a question mark, but you can be certain and be sure that, you know, the Lord will be taking you when he comes for his church, and so God bless you.

God be with you and keep you just filled with his spirit and with his love, and may you just have a wonderful week. This week is looking forward to being just a glorious, special time of just watching the Lord work and just celebrating some of the greatest events in the history of the church.

The, of course, the death of our Lord for our sins there on the cross and his resurrection from the dead, and so a great, great week, and may we just have a wonderful time as we celebrate these special events of the church in these days.

The Lord bless thee and keep thee. The Lord make his face to shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee, and be gracious unto thee. The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee and give thee.