The Day the Lamb Is Selected and the Inspection Begins
The tenth day of the first month. The day the lamb is selected and the inspection begins. The day Jesus enters Jerusalem. The day Joshua entered the Promised Land.
"On the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb according to their fathers' houses, a lamb for a household. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month."
Jesus enters Jerusalem on the exact day the Passover lambs are being selected throughout Israel. He is the Lamb, entering the city where He will be inspected and slain.
The crowds shout Hosanna! They spread branches and cloaks. But hosanna means "Save us, please!" - they were asking for salvation from the very Lamb they were about to reject.
"Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD!" - Psalm 118:26, the Hallel psalm sung at Passover, now fulfilled as the Passover Lamb enters.
"Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace!" He weeps because they do not recognize the day of their visitation.
"The people came up out of the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month." The same date. The same mission. A man named Yehoshua (which IS the name Yeshua/Jesus) leads God's people through death into life.
Twelve stones taken from the middle of the Jordan - from the place of death - set up as a memorial. "When your children ask, What do these stones mean? tell them: Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground."
"Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you." Gilgal means "rolling." On Nisan 10, the shame is rolled away. The old identity is cut off. New life begins.
Just as the Passover lamb was inspected for four days to confirm it was without blemish, Jesus was examined by every authority in Israel - religious, political, and Roman - and none could find fault.
Pharisees test Him: Taxes to Caesar
The Pharisees and Herodians try to trap Him: "Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar?" A political trap - say yes and lose the people, say no and face Rome. "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." They marveled and went away.
Sadducees test Him: Resurrection Question
Seven brothers, one wife - whose wife in the resurrection? A theological trap from men who deny the resurrection. "You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God... He is not God of the dead, but of the living." The crowd was astonished.
A scribe tests Him: Greatest Commandment
A lawyer tests Him: "Which is the great commandment?" "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself." No one could answer Him.
Jesus asks THEM: Whose son is the Christ?
Now the Lamb inspects the inspectors: "What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?" They say, "David's." "How is it then that David, in the Spirit, calls him Lord?" No one could answer. From that day, no one dared ask Him any more questions.
Chief priests challenge His authority
"By what authority are You doing these things?" Jesus answers with a question about John's baptism they cannot answer. They say "We do not know." He says, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things."
Parables of judgment
The Sanhedrin seeks testimony and finds none
"The chief priests and the whole council were seeking testimony against Jesus to put Him to death, but they found none. For many bore false witness against Him, but their testimony did not agree." Even under illegal trial, no fault is found.
The Roman governor - the highest civil authority - examines the Lamb three times and three times declares: no fault.
"I find no guilt in this man"
"I did not find this man guilty of any of your charges." After sending Him to Herod and receiving Him back. "Having examined Him before you, I did not find this man guilty of any of your charges against Him."
"I have found in Him no guilt deserving death." "I will therefore punish and release Him." Three declarations. Three confirmations. The Lamb is without blemish.
"Have nothing to do with that righteous man" - Even in a dream, God testifies to the innocence of His Son. "I have suffered much because of Him today in a dream."
"Neither did Herod, for he sent Him back to us. Look, nothing deserving death has been done by Him."
"You were ransomed... not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot."