Save America Ministries

Guest (Male): This is Viewpoint with attorney and author Chuck Crismier. Viewpoint is a one-hour talk show confronting the issues of America's heart and home. And now, with today's edition of Viewpoint, here is Chuck Crismier.

Chuck Crismier: Today we journey from the Mount of Olives, off to the mount of corruption, and then, indeed, to the Temple Mount. I hope you'll take that journey with us here today on Viewpoint as we follow Jesus in His triumphal entry. But before we get into the triumphal entry, we have to get into the place from which it began. It began in a place called the Mount of Olives. Now, you may not be aware of that, but that's where Jesus’ triumphal entry began. Indeed, it actually began in Jericho.

In Jericho, Jesus was being followed by many people on Saturday, immediately before His triumphal entry. Then they went from Jericho and drew near to Jerusalem and came to a place called Bethphage, under the Mount of Olives, where Jesus sent two of His disciples to go and find a colt. They were to loose the colt that had never been ridden by anyone and to bring it to Him immediately. You'll find that in the book of Matthew, chapter 21, starting with verse one.

And so, thus we begin Jesus' journey on the way to the cross. On the way to the cross, Jesus made His triumphal entry, and it took Him a half a day. Then the rest of the time and another three and a half days were spent in Jerusalem before the crucifixion. We're going to track all that here today on Viewpoint, and I'm glad that you've joined us. It's conversation, as always, with ever-increasing conviction, talk that transforms.

For those of you who are not totally aware of the import of the Mount of Olives, you might want to recall that it is a place where critical biblical events took place, including the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus' ascension, and the anticipated return of the Messiah. All from the Mount of Olives. Even the place where Jesus taught His disciples, called the Olivet Discourse in Matthew chapter 24, before His arrest and before His ultimate ascension into heaven. The Mount of Olives is critical to our understanding. It's prophetic in our understanding.

And so today, we're going to focus on the entire picture. Again, I'm so glad that you've joined us. It's always conversation with ever-increasing conviction, talk that transforms. You say, why would the Mount of Olives be a place of conviction for me? Well, it was a place of conviction for Jesus. It was a place of conviction for His disciples. In fact, it was from the Mount of Olives that every single one of His disciples fled. Did you know that? It was from the Mount of Olives that every single one of Jesus' disciples fled from His presence.

So, if you were in Jesus’ presence just before the betrayal by Judas and the arrest by the temple guards there in the Garden of Gethsemane, would you have been like His disciples and have fled? Even Peter fled, but he fled in a very different way from the rest of the disciples. He fled, but he followed afar off. That was Peter, Saint Peter, following afar off until he ultimately denied Jesus three times before His crucifixion.

And so, it puts the picture in place for us as we travel this journey here today on Viewpoint. I remember years ago as we were in Israel, and sitting up on the Mount of Olives, which is just under 3,000 feet elevation, about 2,700 feet elevation, which is not a high mountain really. But the whole area there is uplifted, and that's why the Bible always talks about going up to Jerusalem. Everything is going up to Jerusalem. The Mount of Olives is going up.

In fact, the Mount of Olives is a little bit higher than the Temple Mount itself. So, sitting on the Temple Mount, overlooking the Kidron Valley, you can see the Temple Mount in all of its glory, and it's the best place from which to view East Jerusalem, the biblical Jerusalem. It's quite spectacular, and what a view you get. But Jesus had that view, and His view was not necessarily one of glory. He did not glory from the Mount of Olives. Now, He did like to go to the Mount of Olives, particularly Gethsemane because it was like a garden, and He liked to go there.

But in general, the Mount of Olives was not a pleasant place for Jesus, nor was it a pleasant place for David, His predecessor. You say, why would you bring up David with regard to the Mount of Olives? Well, because it's with David that the Mount of Olives is first mentioned in the Bible. You can find it in 2 Samuel, chapter 15, verse 30. Here's what was going on. David was being betrayed, just like Jesus was betrayed a thousand years later by Judas. So David was being betrayed by his son, Absalom.

In fact, not just by his son Absalom, but by his great friend Ahithophel. So his son and Ahithophel conspired together against David in his older age, and it was a very dangerous time for David. So dangerous was the time that David had to flee for his life. So where did he go? He descended into the Kidron Valley and then up the Kidron Valley, up to the Mount of Olives. So when he ascended, when David ascended to the Mount of Olives, he was weeping and barefoot.

In other words, he was in great, great sorrow, fleeing from his son Absalom's conspiracy. So, as depicted, the Mount of Olives is a place of sorrow across the Kidron Valley. Now, the interesting thing about this is, from its appearance, the Mount of Olives is associated with mourning and grief, such as Jesus weeping over Jerusalem and His agony in the Garden of Gethsemane. And David, as we know, went up by the ascent of the Mount of Olives and wept as he went up. So the location, the Mount of Olives, is crucial in later prophetic and gospel accounts.

That's why we're talking about it here today on Viewpoint. You don't very often hear the Mount of Olives being spoken of prophetically, but indeed it is. In fact, it's so significant that if we don't understand that, we miss some of the greatest issues with regard to the Mount of Olives in Jesus' life, including His ascension back to heaven and His return at the Second Coming. Do you think that should be significant? Indeed, it will be. In fact, it will be so profound that the earth will shake and the mount will divide in half.

We'll talk more about that when we get back. But in the meantime, now, right now before us, the Mount of Olives is being reclaimed in historic events by Israel and world Jewry. We're going to talk about that here in just a moment. We'll be right back.

Once upon a time, children could pray and read their Bibles in school. Divorces were practically unknown, as was child abuse. In our once-great America, virginity and chastity were popular virtues, and homosexuality was an abomination. So what happened in just one generation? Hi, I'm Chuck Crismier, and I urge you to join me daily on Viewpoint where we discuss the most challenging issues touching our hearts and homes. Could America's moral slide relate to the Fourth Commandment? Listen to Viewpoint on this radio station, or anytime at saveus.org.

The Mount of Olives is a 2.2-mile-long mountain ridge located immediately east of Jerusalem's old city, that is biblical Jerusalem, and is separated by the Kidron Valley from the old city and the Temple Mount. It comprises three main peaks that rise to approximately 2,700 feet above sea level, and they form a barrier between the Judean hills and the Judean desert. The ridge consists of three summits, and we're going to talk about those a little bit more as we get into the program today because it's significant.

Historically, the mount was covered with olive groves, hence its name Olivet or the Mount of Olives, and the Garden of Gethsemane is at its base. Today, it serves as a holy site containing historic churches and a massive historic Jewish cemetery. So, last month in major events in Jerusalem, February 16th and 17th, the state of Israel and world Jewry celebrated the reclamation of the 3,000-year-old Mount of Olives. Now, olive trees are known to be very ancient trees and endure amazingly over the years. They're old. If you see the trees up there on the Mount of Olives, you can see how old they really are. It's pretty amazing.

So, it's an enduring place. It's a historical place. The historical burial site of more than 150,000 Jews over the ages, among them prophets and great rabbis and notable Israeli leaders. Well, back in February, the highlight of the two-day mission was the ceremony marking the completion of the first floor of the visitor education center in partnership with national and municipal government entities. The center is designed to serve not only as a gateway for the hundreds of thousands who visit each year, but as a permanent education and security anchor to preserve the sanctity of the mountain and protect the graves of so many great and holy people buried there.

Delegates saw the rehabilitation efforts, enhanced security measures, and ongoing improvements that now enable the hundreds of thousands who visit annually to do so with safety and dignity, something that was unthinkable just a few years ago. Chief rabbis spoke passionately about the unique holiness of the mountain as the only cemetery within the traditional borders of Jerusalem and stressed the vital importance of protecting its sanctity for future generations. President Isaac Herzog spoke of the historical and personal significance because he noted that his own grandfather, former President Chaim Herzog, is buried on the mount.

More than 20 members of the Knesset and six government ministers attended the events there, all to stand in support of the Mount of Olives. So, this is a big deal now. There's focus now being brought to the Mount of Olives. And as I saw this in Israel National News last week, I thought, you know what, I suspect that God knows this and that this is happening, shall we say, in preparation, focus for the events to come that are all prophetically significant and set forth in the scriptures.

So, Israel is being brought to attention with regard to the Mount of Olives. Now, if we were to go back to the Old Testament, we would find in Zechariah chapter 14, verse four, that the Mount of Olives is going to be split into two parts, east to west, one half moving north, the other half moving south to form a large valley. And that event is expected to occur upon the return of the Lord to Jerusalem. In fact, the Bible says that when His feet set place on the Mount of Olives, it's going to split wide open, forming a massive valley for escape.

And interestingly, there's a large geological fault line that runs directly underneath the Mount of Olives from east to west. Isn't that interesting? So, that event is generally perceived in religious context as a monumental, cataclysmic, and apocalyptic sign of the end times or the start of a new era of divine peace. Now, you can see then why the Mount of Olives is a big deal. Now remember, we said that Jesus began His journey, that is His triumphal entry, from the Mount of Olives.

We go back to Matthew, chapter 21, and when they, Jesus and His disciples and those that were following Him, came near Jerusalem, they were come to Bethphage and the Mount of Olives. And that, from there, Jesus sent two of His disciples to go find a donkey that was tied, a colt with her, and loose them and bring them to Him. And He said if any man says something against you, you just say the Lord has need of them, and immediately he will send them. And all that was done that it might be fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet, saying, tell ye the daughter of Zion, behold, your King comes unto you, meek and sitting upon a donkey and a colt, the foal of a donkey. Now, where are you going to find that spoken of? You're going to find that spoken of, referenced, in Zechariah chapter nine, verse nine, and in Isaiah chapter 62, verse 11.

So, they come down the mount and they're coming across the Kidron Valley towards Jerusalem, and something very interesting takes place. The disciples went and brought the donkey and the colt and put Jesus on there and their clothes, and they set Him thereon. In other words, they put clothes on top of the donkey, and there Jesus rode. Now, you might think, well, should if He's the King, shouldn't He be riding on a white stallion? Well, that's what we would think in a Western idea, but not for the Jews. For the Jews, He would come as a King on a donkey. And so, that's exactly what Jesus did.

And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way, others cut down branches from the trees and strewed them in the way. Now, we think of palm branches. We call it Palm Sunday. Remember that? Palm Sunday. There's no indication they were palm branches. We don't know what kind of branches they were. Maybe they were palm branches, maybe they were different kinds of branches. We don't know, but they cut down branches from the trees and strewed them in the way. And the multitude that went before and that followed were crying, saying this, Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He that comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest. Baruch haba b'shem Adonai. Blessed is He that comes in the name of the Lord.

Now, Jesus said that He will not come again until the Jewish people say the same thing. Blessed is He that comes in the name of the Lord. So something dramatic is going to happen eventually that is going to change the picture because at this point in Matthew chapter 21, there's a multitude of people, but the majority of the Jewish people, including the Jewish leaders, are not there. They're not part of this triumphal entry. Now, the multitude said, this is Jesus, the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee.

People asked, well, who is this? When Jesus was coming into Jerusalem, the city was all moved. People, you can imagine with all these multitudes of people crying out Hosanna to the one, the Lord in the highest, and He's on this donkey and they're paving the way and throwing straw branches and laying out their clothes in the way to make way for the King coming into Jerusalem. So, Jerusalem was stirred up, and they asked the question, who is this? And the multitude that was following Jesus said, this is Jesus, the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee.

Notice they did not say this is Jesus, the teacher. They did not say Jesus, the priest. Now, we know Jesus fulfilled three different callings of God: prophet, priest, and King. But the people identified Him as a prophet. He was not killed because He was a teacher. He was killed because He was a prophet. And so, Jesus, during the four days in which He was being presented as the Lamb of God who would take away the sin of the world, presented to the Jewish people to observe their lamb, He cried out, O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that persecutest the prophets.

Notice He didn't say thou that persecutest the kings, not those that persecuted the teachers or rabbis, but those who persecute the prophets. Now, why would people persecute the prophets? Because the prophets were telling them messages that God had for the people that their priests and rabbis would not teach them. They were too interested in power, perks, and position. So God had to raise up special voices to speak with poignancy, a piercing kind of poignancy to the people to call them to repentance. That was the goal of the prophet, and the people didn't like it. They don't like it any more today than they did then. It's the same issue today.

And so, Jesus was crucified as a prophet. He went into the temple, and the very first thing He did was go into the temple of God. You can read that in Matthew chapter 21, verse 12. This is Jesus' triumphal entry now. The very first thing He does is go into the temple of God. In other words, the temple, which is the second temple, the temple that was rebuilt at the insistence of a Persian king, Cyrus the Great, after the Babylonians had destroyed the first temple. So, Cyrus the Great is the one who helped to finance the rebuilding of the second temple.

And then later on under Herod the Great, the Temple Mount was expanded and built into the massive platform that is now the 17 acres of the Temple Mount. But Jesus went up there and it's called the temple of God. Now, people will say, well, how can you call that the temple of God? Because Herod added to the Temple Mount, and Cyrus is the one who also helped to build the temple, a Persian king. So why would you call this the temple of God? Jesus did.

On the other hand, people will say, but doesn't the Bible say God doesn't live in temples made with hands? Yes, He never did. God didn't live in temples made with hands when He ordered Moses to build the tabernacle in the wilderness. He knew, God knew that the people needed some sort of a visual space in which to be able to identify the presence of God. So in the tabernacle, God's presence was manifested by a pillar of fire and a pillar of cloud.

The same happened with the dedication of the first temple under Solomon. And now Jesus is directing His attention to the second temple and calls it the temple of God. But the people, the Jewish people under the auspices of the religious leaders, the rabbis, the high priest and so on, were buying and selling in order to provide the sacrifices for the people. And Jesus was terribly upset about it. So upset that He overthrew the tables of the money changers and He said, it is written, My house shall be a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves.

Jesus actually quoted Isaiah 56:7 where it talks about a house of prayer. Jesus said, it is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer. So, this is just the beginning of His triumphal entry into Jerusalem. So, first He makes His way down the Mount of Olives. We're on Sunday now. It happened on Palm Sunday because they weren't allowed to travel on the Sabbath. That's Saturday. So on Sunday morning, they take off from Jericho, go up to the Mount of Olives, down the Mount of Olives, and up to the Temple Mount.

Where did they go from there and why does it matter? You might be fascinated to find out why it matters and how long they took there, from Matthew chapter 21. We'll be back.

There is so much more about Chuck Crismier and Save America Ministries on our website, saveus.org. For example, under the marriage section, God has marriage on His mind. Chuck has some great resources to strengthen your marriage. First off, a fact sheet on the state of the marital union, a fact sheet on the state of ministry, marriage, and morals. saveus.org. Marriage, divorce, and remarriage, what does the Bible really teach about this? Find all of this at saveus.org. Also, a letter to pastors, the Hosea Project, saveus.org, and many more resources to strengthen your marriage. It's all on Chuck's website, saveus.org. Again, you can listen to Chuck's Viewpoint broadcasts live and archived at Save America Ministries’ website at saveus.org.

Chuck Crismier: The great travel of Jesus, His triumphal entry, began on Sunday morning. We don't know what time, but obviously, it had to be early enough to where they could go from Jericho up to the Mount of Olives, and then down the Mount of Olives to the Kidron Valley, and then up into the city of Jerusalem and then up to the Temple Mount. So, you're looking at about a half a day. So, Jesus gets up there and He overturns the tables of the money changers and said, it is written, My house shall be called a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves.

So, we're going to track from there. You're going to have to get on your chariot, friend, and fasten your seatbelt because we're going to have to move fairly quickly from there. We have three and a half days now. Why do I say we have three and a half days? Because the Bible said if you were to go back to the book of Exodus and you would find God's instructions to Moses concerning the Passover, you would find that they had to select a lamb for each family that was without spot or blemish, and they had to observe that lamb for four days.

Four days. Keep that number in your mind. They had to observe that lamb for four days. And when God said four days, He meant four days. He didn't mean three days, He didn't mean five days, He meant four days. And so, Jesus leaves Sunday morning and is going up to begin His amazing journey toward the cross for four days. It's called the triumphal entry. Now, before we go further into what happens in those four days, I want to take us back to the Mount of Olives. The Mount of Olives is one of three peaks of a mountain ridge that runs about 2.2 miles east of the old city of Jerusalem across the Kidron Valley in the area called the Valley of Jehoshaphat.

Now, the Valley of Jehoshaphat is spoken of in the scriptures that God is going to judge the people in the Valley of Jehoshaphat. In fact, if you go back to the book of Joel, you will find God says, look, I'm going to judge the nations for how they treated My people and My land, and I'm going to bring them to judgment in the Valley of Jehoshaphat. So that'll help us to get a picture here that goes all the way back now to the prophecy of Joel, and it's tying together what's going to happen in the end of the age.

On this 2.2-mile ridge are three peaks. The peak to the north is called Mount Scopus, while the peak to the south is called the Mount of Corruption or the Mount of Offense. Now, isn't that interesting? The Mount of Corruption or the Mount of Offense. What in the world does that mean? What could that possibly mean? Well, let's find out. The biblical designation Mount of Corruption or Mount of Ruination or Mount of Offense derives from the idol worship that began there under Solomon, who built altars to the gods of his Moabite and Ammonite wives on the southern peak, on the mountain which is before east of Jerusalem. You can find that in 1 Kings, chapter 11, verse 7.

It was just outside the limits of the Holy City. The site was known for idol worship throughout the first temple period until King Josiah finally destroyed the high places that were before Jerusalem. And so, this gives us a picture now of this central mountain, the Mount of Olives, between the Mount of Corruption that symbolized the horrible things that God judged Israel for under King Solomon, and then also Mount Scopus on the north, which also is the place then where Israel has its Knesset and so on.

All right, now let us go back to the trajectory of Jesus' triumphal entry. We're at somewhere around noon to early afternoon on Sunday. From there, after turning over the tables of the money changers, Jesus performs some miracles. He is teaching, He talks about the fig tree. You remember about the fig tree? He says if you have faith and doubt not, you shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if you shall say unto this mountain, be thou removed and be cast into the sea, it shall be done.

So, the religious leaders asked Him, by what authority do You do these things? Who gave You this authority? Now, remember, this is on Sunday, the first day of His triumphal entry. Well, then they tested Jesus. By what authority do You do these things? Jesus said, well, let Me ask you something, which if you tell Me, then I will likewise tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John, where did it come from? Was it from heaven or of men? And so, they reasoned within themselves. They said, well, if we say from heaven, He'll say then why didn't you believe him? And if we say of men, we fear the people because all hold John as a prophet. So they answered Jesus, well, we can't tell. So Jesus said, neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things.

But then Jesus went on to give a parable. In fact, a couple of parables. Again, we're talking here probably the very first day of Jesus' triumphal entry. So they sought to lay hands on Him. They perceived that Jesus was speaking about them in these parables, and so the religious leaders, the Pharisees, the scribes, the chief priests sought to lay hands on Him. But when they sought to lay hands on Him, they feared the multitude because they took Him for a prophet.

Prophet. That's the keyword. The people hate the prophets. Why? Because the prophets are God's divine process servers. That's why the people hate the prophets. They hated Jesus because He was God's only begotten Son, divine process server, and they hated Him for it. They hated the prophets in the Old Testament because they were God's divine process servers to call the people to repentance. And so, Jesus was crucified as a prophet. He went into the temple, and the very first thing He did was go into the temple of God. You can read that in Matthew chapter 21, verse 12.

This is Jesus' triumphal entry now. The very first thing He does is go into the temple of God, another word, the temple which is the second temple, the temple that was rebuilt after the Babylonians had destroyed the first temple. Jesus went up there and it's called the temple of God. Jesus then makes his way down the Mount of Olives, and we're on Sunday now. It happened on Palm Sunday because they weren't allowed to travel on the Sabbath. That's Saturday. So on Sunday morning, they take off from Jericho, go up to the Mount of Olives, down the Mount of Olives, and up to the Temple Mount.

The great travel of Jesus, His triumphal entry, began on Sunday morning. We don't know what time, but obviously, it had to be early enough to where they could go from Jericho up to the Mount of Olives, and then down the Mount of Olives to the Kidron Valley, and then up into the city of Jerusalem and then up to the Temple Mount. So, you're looking at about a half a day. So Jesus gets up there and He overturned the tables of the money changers and said, it is written, My house shall be called a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves.

So, we're going to track from there. You're going to have to get on your chariot, friend, and fasten your seatbelt because we're going to have to move fairly quickly from there. We have three and a half days now. Why do I say we have three and a half days? Because the Bible said if you were to go back to the book of Exodus and you would find God's instructions to Moses concerning the Passover, you would find that they had to select a lamb for each family that was without spot or blemish, and they had to observe that lamb for four days.

Four days. Keep that number in your mind. They had to observe that lamb for four days. And when God said four days, He meant four days. He didn't mean three days, He didn't mean five days, He meant four days. And so, Jesus leaves Sunday morning and is going up to begin His amazing journey toward the cross for four days. It's called the triumphal entry. Now, before we go further into what happened in those four days, I want to take us back to the Mount of Olives. The Mount of Olives is one of three peaks of a mountain ridge that runs about 2.2 miles east of the old city of Jerusalem across the Kidron Valley in the area called the Valley of Jehoshaphat.

The Valley of Jehoshaphat is spoken of in the scriptures that God is going to judge the people in the Valley of Jehoshaphat. In fact, if you go back to the book of Joel, you will find God says, look, I'm going to judge the nations for how they treated My people and My land, and I'm going to bring them to judgment in the Valley of Jehoshaphat. So that'll help us to get a picture here that goes all the way back now to the prophecy of Joel, and it's tying together what's going to happen in the end of the age.

On this 2.2-mile ridge are three peaks. The peak to the north is called Mount Scopus, while the peak to the south is called the Mount of Corruption or the Mount of Offense. Now, isn't that interesting? The Mount of Corruption or the Mount of Offense. What in the world does that mean? What could that possibly mean? Well, let's find out. The biblical designation Mount of Corruption or Mount of Ruination or Mount of Offense derives from the idol worship that began there under Solomon, who built altars to the gods of his Moabite and Ammonite wives on the southern peak, on the mountain which is before east of Jerusalem. You can find that in 1 Kings, chapter 11, verse 7.

It was just outside the limits of the Holy City. The site was known for idol worship throughout the first temple period until King Josiah finally destroyed the high places that were before Jerusalem. And so, this gives us a picture now of this central mountain, the Mount of Olives, between the Mount of Corruption that symbolized the horrible things that God judged Israel for under King Solomon and then also Mount Scopus on the north, which also is the place then where Israel has its Knesset and so on.

All right, now let us go back to the trajectory of Jesus’ triumphal entry. We’re at somewhere around noon to early afternoon on Sunday. From there, after turning over the tables of the money changers, Jesus performs some miracles. He is teaching, He talks about the fig tree. You remember about the fig tree? He says if you have faith and doubt not, you shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if you shall say unto this mountain, be thou removed and be cast into the sea, it shall be done.

So, the religious leaders asked Him by what authority do You do these things? Who gave You this authority? Now remember, this is on Sunday, the first day of His triumphal entry. Well, then they tested Jesus. By what authority do You do these things? Jesus said, well, let Me ask you something, which if you tell Me, then I will likewise tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John, where did it come from? Was it from heaven or of men? And so, they reasoned within themselves. They said, well, if we say from heaven, He’ll say then why didn’t you believe him? And if we say of men, we fear the people because all hold John as a prophet. So they answered Jesus, well, we can't tell. So Jesus said, neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things.

But then Jesus went on to give a parable. In fact, a couple of parables. Again, we're talking here probably the very first day of Jesus' triumphal entry. So they sought to lay hands on Him. They perceived that Jesus was speaking about them in these parables, and so the religious leaders, the Pharisees, the scribes, the chief priests sought to lay hands on Him. But when they sought to lay hands on Him, they feared the multitude because they took Him for a prophet.

Prophet. That's the keyword. The people hate the prophets. Why? Because the prophets are God's divine process servers. That's why the people hate the prophets. They hated Jesus because He was God's only begotten Son, divine process server, and they hated Him for it. They hated the prophets in the Old Testament because they were God's divine process servers to call the people to repentance.

And so, Jesus goes on to give some various parables and so on. Again, we're talking within four days. Four days. So, Jesus has a variety of conversations with the people, with the religious leaders and so on. And then one of the lawyers, the Pharisee, said, Master, what's the great commandment of the law? And Jesus said, well, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. And that's the first great commandment. And the second is like unto it: you shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two hang all the law and the prophets.

Now, again, this is all in the four days leading up to Jesus' crucifixion. Jesus then ministers to His apostles, and He talks to them, and in Matthew chapter 23, He excoriates the religious leaders. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, woe unto you. You make twofold the child of hell more than yourselves. Woe unto you, you blind guides, you fools and blind, and so on. It's the most amazing chapter for those of you who think of Jesus as gentle Jesus, sweet and mild. Once you read that chapter, you'll realize there's a different Jesus you didn't know.

Then He accuses the religious leaders of killing the prophets. He said you say you wouldn't have done that, but you would have done that. In fact, you did do that, and your children killed all the prophets. You are a generation of vipers, Jesus said. So much for His efforts to win friends and influence people, right? So Jesus cries out then and says, O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets. How often I would have gathered your children together, even as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, and you would not. So your house is left unto you desolate. And I say to you, you shall not see Me henceforth till you say, Baruch haba b'shem Adonai, Blessed is He that comes in the name of the Lord.

Then from there, two days before His crucifixion, Jesus is with His disciples. Guess where? On the Mount of Olives. And that's why in Matthew 24 it's called the Olivet Discourse. It is probably the most complete description, it is the most complete description of the end of the age that Jesus gives in the Gospels. His disciples ask Him, what will be the sign of Your coming and of the end of the age? And He says, take heed that no man deceive you. And two or three more times He says, look, the deception is going to be so great that if it were possible, even the very small remnant elect would be deceived. That's how serious it's going to be. That's why I wrote the book, Seduction of the Saints: How to Stay Pure in a World of Deception. If you don't have the book, I urge you to get it.

Because it's highly relevant, based upon Jesus' own words. It'll be yours for $15 on the website. It's an $18 book, yours for $15. Give us a call, 1-800-SAVE-USA, write to us at Save America Ministries, PO Box 70879, Richmond, Virginia 23255, writing a check add $6 for postage and handling. Seduction of the Saints, our third most best-selling book ever.

All right, now, then we have Matthew 25, in which Jesus says you should watch, for you don't know the day or the hour when the Son of Man is going to come and return. Get ready, in other words. He gives parables about the talents, the five foolish virgins, and so on. And then we come to the crux of His journey to the cross. We'll be right back.

Have you ever considered what the early church was like? Many people are developing a heart longing for a greater fulfillment in our practices as Christians. A recent study showed 53,000 people a week are leaving the backdoor of America’s churches in frustration. What is going on? Why has there not been even a 1% gain among followers of Christ in the last 25 years? Could it be that God is seeking to restore first-century Christianity for the 21st century?

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And it came to pass when Jesus had finished all those things that we've been talking about, He said to His disciples in chapter 26 of the book of Matthew, you know that after two days is the feast of the Passover, and the Son of Man is betrayed to be crucified. Now, Jesus told them right out front what was going to happen. He had already told them before, but now He tells them again.

But at that same time, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders of the people gathered to the palace of the high priest who was called Caiaphas, and consulted how they might take Jesus by subtlety and kill Him. Now, this is all taking place two days before the crucifixion. So Jesus made His triumphal entry on Sunday morning. What we've been sharing with you up to Matthew chapter 26 is from Sunday to Monday. Now we're at Tuesday. Monday and Tuesday, how many days is that? That's two days, right? Now, Jesus said there are two more days to the feast of Passover.

The feast of Passover is the feast that celebrates the killing of the lamb, the sacrifice of the lamb to paint the blood on the doorposts, which is a foretelling of the death of Christ, right? We've got to get this straight because there's so much deception that's gone on concerning God's calendar and how this happened. And when God gives us numbers, He means what He says, and there's a reason for it.

So now, on the first day of the feast of unleavened bread, the disciples came to Jesus and said, where do You want us to prepare to eat the Passover? So Jesus told them to go to such and such a man, and that he would point out the place where they would have their Passover meal. Now, the traditional place is a very, very large room. I've been in that room, it's huge. And it's possible that later on in the book of Acts, the 120 were gathered in that room. I can't say that for sure, but it's possible. The room would handle that many people. It was a big room.

Now, Judas was furious with Jesus because just before this, Jesus had been anointed with oil, an expensive oil from an alabaster box, very precious ointment, and she had poured it on His head as He sat eating with His disciples. Judas was furious because he was the moneybags, you see. And he said, well, this could have been sold and given to the poor. Judas wasn't interested in giving money to the poor; he was interested in siphoning money off for his own purposes. So that gave him the impetus to go into the high priest and betray Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. This is two days now before the crucifixion. It's on the third day of the triumphal entry.

Now, the disciples go in and they're going to have their Passover meal, not on the Passover because the Passover is the next day. And they can't wait till the next day because that's when Jesus is going to be crucified. So they're having the Passover meal, and Jesus took bread and blessed it and broke it and gave to the disciples and said, take eat, this is My body, and took the cup and so on. We're all aware of that language.

So then, when they had sung a hymn, they went out into the Mount of Olives again. They had come from the Mount of Olives three days earlier, and now they've gone back to the Mount of Olives. And Jesus said to them, all of you are going to be offended because of Me this night. For it is written, I will smite the shepherd and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad. But after I am risen again, I will go before you into Galilee.

Then He told Peter, you're going to deny Me. You're going to deny Me three times before the cock crows twice. Peter said, oh no, that's not possible. Jesus said, yes, that's exactly what's going to happen. So Jesus went with His disciples to the place called Gethsemane, which is on the lower slope of the Mount of Olives, and He said, sit here while I go and pray. And so, we know how Jesus was extremely sorrowful because He knew that He was expecting to be crucified. He knew why God had sent Him to the planet.

So He cries out to the Father, if it be possible, Lord, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will but as You will. And then He came to His disciples and He found them sleeping. He said, watch and pray that you enter not into temptation; the spirit indeed is willing but the flesh is weak. Can you relate to that? The spirit truly is willing but the flesh is weak. That's the reason why I believe the Lord led me to write the book, When Persecution Comes, because these disciples were all about ready to face their moment of truth regarding persecution. Fear of what the religious leaders were going to do to Jesus and then to them.

And then of course we know that Judas came at night with the temple guard. They arrested Jesus and took Him to the house of the high priest where they had been conspiring together to kill Him. And Judas had made it possible now for the betrayal, and he had betrayed Him with a kiss. Now, I want you to think about this. This has occurred now Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and now they are on Wednesday, because the trial took place early on Wednesday morning. Remember, the day for the Jews begins after sundown the day before. So now Jesus is being tried at the home of the high priest on Wednesday morning.

This is the fourth day, the fourth day since Jesus' triumphal entry from the Mount of Olives. They find Him guilty of blasphemy, and they lead Him from there to the pavement before Pontius Pilate. Now, when did they do that? They did that on Wednesday morning. Wednesday morning. And they led Him, when the morning was come, the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put Him to death, and bound Him, led Him away to be delivered to Pontius Pilate, the governor.

And we know about the trial. Pontius Pilate declared he knew that for envy these religious leaders had brought Him because they felt that Jesus threatened their power, perks, and position. But the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitude that they should ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus. So Pontius Pilate washes his hands and says, I find no, I'm innocent of the blood of this just person, I find no fault in this man.

Now, I want you to think about this now. Remember, the Jewish people were now finishing up their fourth day observing the lambs that they had prepared for the sacrifice of the lambs on Passover the next day. And so the Jewish leaders cried out, His blood be on us and on our children, right in front of Pontius Pilate. And Pontius Pilate had declared, I find no fault in this man. Jesus was declared then as the Lamb of God to be without fault, without blemish on the fourth day, just as the lambs were to be found without blemish in the homes of every Jewish person preparing for the sacrifice on Passover.

And so Jesus was killed. When? Well, let's look at it this way. They brought Him to Jesus on Wednesday morning in front of Pontius Pilate. The decree for execution was delivered. He was executed at Mount Golgotha, and by noon, the deed had been done. By 3:00, He was dead. There had been a great earthquake. Remember, this is the fourth day now. The fourth day from the triumphal entry. Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. And so they had to take His body down. He was buried in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea before sundown on Wednesday.

Then He was in the grave, the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, from Thursday to Friday to Saturday, three full days. He wasn't buried on Good Friday, He wasn't crucified on Friday. Come on, all that is just idle tradition. And then early on the morning of the first day of the week, in other words, after sundown on Saturday, which was the Sabbath—the Sabbath, not a Sabbath, the Sabbath—early on Sunday morning, the first day of the week, up from the grave He arose! Up from the grave He arose with a triumph over His foes.

And the rest is history. It began at the Mount of Olives. And friends, after Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection, He ascended with His disciples, in front of His disciples, from the Mount of Olives. And the Bible tells us through the prophecy of Zechariah that when He returns, He will return to the Mount of Olives. It will split wide open. You see why the Mount of Olives might be important?

And now we've tracked the entire trajectory of the triumphal entry of Jesus. Four days, as they were inspecting their lamb, and Jesus was inspected for four days, and then He was crucified on Wednesday. By Wednesday evening, before the sun went down, He was taken from the cross and buried in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea and was there just as Jesus had said concerning the prophet Jonah. As Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the belly of the earth.

Forget about all of that tradition jockeying around with regard to Fridays and so on. One of the reasons why that is so misunderstood is because of the word Sabbath. The passage says and a Sabbath drew nigh. That was the Passover that was drawing nigh, not the Sabbath. The Sabbath was on Saturday; the Passover was on Thursday. Therefore people thought, oh well, that must have been Saturday. No, it wasn't. It was Passover on Thursday, a Sabbath, because the Sabbath was on Saturday.

Hopefully, we've straightened this thing out, friends, and it makes a difference. When God speaks in His word, He means what He says and He says what He means. And if we can't get this straight, how are we going to get anything else straight? Thanks for joining us here on Viewpoint today. I hope this has been helpful. Let's take God at His word; it might make a difference in your life. God bless, be a blessing. Get a copy of that book, Seduction of the Saints. Don't miss it on the website, saveus.org.

Guest (Male): You’ve been listening to Viewpoint with Chuck Crismier. Viewpoint is supported by the faithful gifts of our listeners. Let me urge you to become a partner with Chuck as a voice to the church, declaring vision for the nation. Join us again next time on Viewpoint as we confront the issues of America’s heart and home.