When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?” Matthew 21:10
Long ago Daniel prophesied, “Know and understand this: From the time the word goes out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven ‘sevens,’ and sixty-two ‘sevens’” (Daniel 9:25).
Some students of prophecy have determined that the day Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey was the day that completed all the ‘sevens’ of Daniel’s prophecy. Furthermore, it’s believed that Jesus entered the city through the same gate as the sacrificial lambs that were being prepared for Passover. These lambs had to be examined to make sure they were “without defect” (Exodus 12:5).
Likewise, Jesus was ‘examined’ by the religious leaders of his day. But in the end, “No one could say a word in reply, and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions” (Matthew 22:46). God arranged the details of Jesus’ final days with such precision to fulfil not only many prophesies from the Old Testament, but also many of the customs.
God’s attention to detail is apparent in these events. In every possible way, Jesus fulfilled the requirements of the law so that “not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen” would disappear from the law until Jesus accomplished its fulfilment (Matthew 5:18). With this achieved through Jesus’ death, we are free from the requirements of the law and no longer need to continually make sacrifices for the forgiveness of our sins.
Now we can live without guilt or shame because our sins, past, present and future have been fully dealt with by Jesus, our Passover Lamb (1 Peter 1:19). We rest in the knowledge that God’s plan of salvation was fully accomplished.
