9:9); in the realm of nature (8:23-27); in the realm of sin (9:1-8); in the realm of death (9:18-26); in the realm of

blindness (9:27-34).

And yet, in spite of all this, He reveals that He must die at the hands of the leaders of the people! But there is

something that must take place first. He had said that He must go to Jerusalem (Matt. 16:21) not only to die there,

but before that to make His official presentation of Himself as Israel's King and so fulfil to the letter the prophecy of

Zechariah centuries before:

`Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the

foal of an ass' (Zech. 9:9; Matt. 21:1-5).

As a preparation for this the Lord appoints a band of seventy messengers who are sent ahead of Him to prepare for

the coming of the King:

`After these things the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before His face into every

city and place, whither He Himself would come' (Luke 10:1).

The mission of the Seventy was narrower than that of the Twelve. The latter were sent to all `the lost sheep of the

house of Israel' (Matt. 10:6). The Seventy are commissioned to go only where the King will come on His last

journey to Jerusalem. Once again they were to stress the nearness of the kingdom whether they were received or

not, saying, `the kingdom of God is come nigh' (Luke 10:9).

A combination of circumstances resulted in great crowds of the people of Israel being at Jerusalem. This is

stressed in the accounts of the four Evangelists, for each of them records this most important event in the history of

the kingdom. Great multitudes followed Him (Matt. 19:2). Luke says `the people were thick together' (11:29);

`there were gathered together an innumerable multitude of people, insomuch that they trode upon one another' (12:1)

and `there went great multitudes with Him' (14:25).

The raising of Lazarus had also caused a stir. `Much people' had come `that they might see Lazarus also, whom

He had raised from the dead' (John 12:9). The fact that Lazarus was alive made it impossible to deny the reality of

the miracle. On top of this the annual Passover was at hand which always brought large numbers of Jews to

Jerusalem both of those in the land and also of the Dispersion who lived abroad.

Thus the overruling of God saw to it that a large and important section of the chosen nation was assembled at

Jerusalem to witness the regal entry of the Messiah into the capital city as the King of Israel. The people's actions

showed their awareness of the occasion. `A very great multitude spread their garments in the way' (Matt. 21:8) thus

forming a carpet, an act reserved only for those of the highest rank (cf. 2 Kings 9:13). In addition to this they

strewed His path with palm branches (John 12:13), a demonstration in the East to welcome a king or conqueror.

Their joyous cries are recorded by each of the Evangelists `Blessed be the kingdom of our father David, that

cometh in the name of the Lord' (Mark 11:10). `Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord; peace in

heaven and glory in the highest' (Luke 19:38). `Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord'

(John 12:13). Up to this time He had enjoined silence upon His followers concerning His claims as Messiah. Now

He declares that `if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out' (Luke 19:40). The official

presentation had arrived.

Thus occurred the most outstanding day of Israel's history, when the Lord came in triumph to the capital city of

Jerusalem and presented Himself as their King, thus literally fulfilling Zechariah's prophecy. He then asserts His

Lordship by cleansing the Temple a second time and casting out all that sold and bought in it. Thus His authority as

King was asserted. This was followed by more evidential signs of healing, for Matthew says `and the blind and the

lame came to Him in the Temple and He healed them' (21:14).

The crisis point was reached in His moving lament over Jerusalem:

`O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often

would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would

not!' (Matt. 23:37).