3 Prophecies fulfilled by Jesus at his Triumphal Entry
The Triumphal entry refers to the moment when Jesus entered Jerusalem riding on a donkey, four days before his crucifixion, and his followers waved palm branches and worshipped him as King. This actually occurred on the Monday of that final week of Jesus’ life, but we commemorate it on Palm Sunday (this year, on March 29). This moment was actually an incredible fulfillment of 3 prophecies, that only God could orchestrate.
1. Jesus was fulfilling Zechariah 9
When Jesus entered Jerusalem riding on a donkey, “This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet [Zechariah]: “Say to the Daughter of Zion, ‘See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’” (Matthew 21:4–5). Hundreds of years earlier, Zechariah 9:9-10 predicted that the Messiah would declare his kingship by making a unique entrance into Jerusalem, not on a war horse, but rather on a donkey. So, in doing this, Jesus was sending a clear message to the nation that he was the long-promised Messiah. But notice what is said about him. He is gentle. In his first coming he came not to subdue people, but rather to die for people. Also, he came not just for Israel, but for all nations (Zechariah 9:10).
2. Jesus was fulfilling Daniel 9
On that day, Jesus also wept over Jerusalem (Luke 19:41) because he knew that the majority of the people of Israel, “did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.” (Luke 19:44). God had arrived, in the person of Jesus, and they hadn’t recognized it. This hints at another prophecy being fulfilled: Daniel 9:24-27.
“Seventy ‘sevens’ are decreed for your people …. 25 “Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven ‘sevens,’ and sixty-two ‘sevens.’ …26 After the sixty-two ‘sevens,’ the Anointed One will be cut off and will have nothing. (Daniel 9:24–26)
When Daniel spoke this prophecy, 600 year prior, Jerusalem lay in ruins and he was living in exile under Babylonian rule, and God told him that His dealings with the nation of Israel are prophetically tied into 70 ‘seven’ year periods of time, called ‘sevens’. This prophecy says there will be 7 + 62 (total 69) ‘seven’ year periods of time from the issuing of a decree to restore Jerusalem until the Anointed One comes. The expression ‘anointed one’ is an English translation of the Hebrew term Messiah. Jesus is not named in this passage, but he is the anointed one in view. How can we know this for sure? This prophecy is saying that a specific period of time would elapse between the decree to restore Jerusalem and the coming of the anointed one, also called ‘the ruler’. That period of time would be 7+62 seven year periods of time. If you do the math, 7+62 = 69, and if you multiple that by 7 because it’s talking about ‘seven’ year periods of time, you get a span of 483 years. Harold Hoehner in his book Chronological Aspects of the Life of Christ, explains that there was only one decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem, in the Bible, and it was the decree by the Persian ruler Artaxerxes to Nehemiah, recorded in Nehemiah 2, and this takes place on March 5, 444 B.C. If you count forward 483 years from that date (using the biblical year, which is a 360 day year as a basis for calculations, and making necessary adjustments for leap years), you arrive at an arrival date as March 30, 33 A.D. What is March 30, A.D. 33? It corresponds to the exact day of the Triumphal entry, when Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a donkey, announcing his kingship!
So, in an incredible fulfillment of prophecy Jesus enters Jerusalem declaring his kingship on the exact year and day prophesied in the book of Daniel. Interestingly, the Daniel prophecy goes on to say in Daniel 9:26 that after this, “the Anointed One will be cut off.” That can only refer to what happened 4 days later, when Jesus was crucified, on April 3, 33 A.D.
3. Jesus was fulfilling Exodus 12
Passover commemorates when the Israelites were slaves in Egypt, and God instructed them to set aside a lamb without blemish or defect and then slaughter it. He told them to apply the blood of the sacrificed lamb to the entrance way of their homes and when the angel of death saw it, he would Passover their home and not bring judgment upon them as he did upon the Egyptians, who were enslaving them.
Exodus 12:1–3 – The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, 2 “This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year. 3 Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household.
So, the idea was that the sacrificial lamb was to be set aside on the 10th day of the first month of their calendar. This was the month of Aviv, or from the Assyrian calendar it was called the month of Nisan. Celebrating the Passover each year was to take place in that month, because that was the month in which he delivered the people from bondage in Egypt (Ex.34:18). Do you know what is so significant about the 10th day of the month of Nisan, in the year 33 A.D.? It’s the day that Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey! It actually took place on the Monday of the Passover week, corresponding to March 30, 33 A.D. Now, there are additional details in the Passover prophecy about the Passover lamb, that are fulfilled down to the most precise detail. God also said: “Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the members of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight.” (Exodus 12:6).
So, the Passover lamb was to be set aside on the 10th day, but then sacrificed on the 14th day. What day was Jesus crucified on the cross? On the 14th day of the month of Nisan, which was the Friday of that week, corresponding to April 3, 33 A.D. That’s why the New Testament declares about Jesus, “For Christ our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed” (1 Corinthians 5:7). Passover was God’s way of pointing to Jesus.
Conclusion
So, in a very clear way, 3 prophecies were fulfilled by Jesus at his triumphal entry. You can have confidence that the Bible is completely true and reliable and trustworthy.
Having said this, if you know all about fulfilled prophecy but don’t turn to Jesus for salvation, then you’re missing the point of it all. The point of God’s written Word, the Bible, is to lead us to a personal relationship with the Living Word, Jesus. The way to begin a relationship with him is to call upon him in prayer to be your Savior and Lord. I love this promise that is given in Romans 10:13 – “Anyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
