​Many Christians know that the death of Christ took place at the “ninth” hour of the day – about 3:00 pm – at exactly the time of the afternoon sacrifice in the Jerusalem Temple. Christ’s death was, of course, what the physical sacrificial system had pointed to, but relatively few Christians have noticed the extent to which the sacrifice of Jesus tied to those Temple offerings.

According to the Law of Moses, sacrifices were made in the Jewish Temple three times each day – at the third, sixth, and ninth hour of the day. The daylight part of the day was reckoned to start at 6:00 a.m., so these are the hours we would call  9:00 a.m., 12 noon, and 3:00 p.m.  When we look closely at the Gospel accounts, we see certain events at the death of Jesus corresponded exactly with these three times of offering.

1) The Gospel of Mark tells us that “ … it was the third hour when they crucified him” (Mark 15:25 ESV). This is when the actual crucifixion took place when Jesus was nailed to the stake or cross  on which he offered up his body – at the exact time of the morning sacrifice – although it was a number of agonizing hours before Christ died.

2) Mark also tells us “And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour” (Mark 15:33 ESV). This darkness – that began exactly at the time of the mid-day sacrifice and lasted till about 3:00 pm – symbolized the weight of all sin that was placed upon Christ, as he temporarily was separated from God, sacrificing his relationship with the Father. This separation was expressed “about the ninth hour” in his anguished words “My God, my God, Why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46).
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3) Finally, Luke tells us, at the ninth hour or 3:00 pm, at the time of the so-called “evening prayers” and the last sacrifice of the day:  “Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, ‘Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!’ And having said this he breathed his last” (Luke 23:46) – he gave up his very life.

So the sacrifice of Jesus literally spanned all three of the sacrificial offering times of the day of his death – the morning, noon and evening offerings.  At the third hour he was crucified and offered up his body. At the sixth hour  he was cut off – he temporarily sacrificed his relationship with God.  At the ninth hour he died – he gave up life itself.
Interestingly, in his epistle to Titus the apostle Paul tells us, regarding Christ’s sacrifice, that “He gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to cleanse for Himself a people for His own possession, eager to do good works” (Titus 2:14).   Although Paul was not speaking directly of the three aspects of the sacrifice of Christ in saying these three things, his words are relevant in reminding us of how the three aspects apply to us.

When Paul writes that Christ “… gave himself to redeem us…” we should remember that, biblically, redemption is accomplished by  substituting one person or thing for another. In offering up his body, Christ acted as a substitute and redeemed us – the first point Paul makes.  In the same way, when Paul says it was to “cleanse for Himself a people for His own possession” we should remember that Christ temporarily sacrificed his relationship with his Father because of the burden of sin placed upon him, in order that we could have a relationship with God – to be a part of the people of God. Finally, when Paul says the people of God would be “… eager to do good works” we see a result of the third sacrifice – of Christ’s life – and we see how this applies to us in Paul’s words in his letter to the Romans:

“Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness” (Romans 6:13). 

In saying we should sacrifice ourselves as “an instrument of righteousness” Paul means, of course, to do good works – exactly as he writes in Titus 2:14 (and see Titus 3:8, and Ephesians 2:10).  It is a command that is clearly echoed in the Book of Hebrews: “Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God” (Hebrews 13:16).

So while Paul’s mention, in his letter to Titus, of the three aspects of the sacrifice of Christ are not tied directly to the three sacrifices of the day of the crucifixion, his words give us cause for reflection and remind us of our own responsibilities in accepting the three parts of Christ’s offering. We too need to offer our bodies as a sacrifice to God, we too need to do whatever we can to help others find fellowship with him, and we too need to offer the sacrifice of our lives – the time we are given – to the cause of good works.  To the extent that we are following him, the three aspects of Christ’s sacrifice will be reflected in our lives also.

“Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion!  Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey” (Zechariah 9:9).

The Gospel of Luke recounts how Jesus fulfilled the words spoken by the prophet Zechariah as he entered Jerusalem in a “triumphal entry” during the climactic week ending his ministry (Luke 19:28-44).   Luke tells us how Jesus instructed two of his disciples to go to a nearby home where they would find a young donkey and to bring it to him. He told the disciples that if anyone challenged them, they were to simply say: “The Lord needs it” (Luke 19:31).  The disciples did this – explaining to the donkey’s owners what Jesus had told them. 

This initial part of the story is interesting in itself.  Jesus was, in effect, invoking the ancient principle of angaria (from a Babylonian word meaning “mounted messenger”) by which kings, rulers and other individuals with official responsibilities could requisition property for official use.  Angaria originated in the earliest postal systems in the ancient Persian, Greek and later Roman cultures where an animal could be “requisitioned” from its owner to carry the mail on the next stage of its multiple-staged journey, somewhat equivalent to the “Pony Express” of the American frontier.  In the Judea of Jesus’ day, under Roman rule, animals could be commandeered in this way for the emperor’s service, and the right was also expanded to include the needs of the king, and even magistrates and rabbis. 

This incident was, then, the “royal” prelude to the actual triumphal entry in which the crowds provided what we would call today a “red carpet” entry for Jesus by covering the road with their capes and the branches of trees to welcome him as he rode on the donkey into the city (Luke 19:35-37).   The scene was actually not unlike a humbler version of the great Roman “Triumphs” in which the grateful citizens celebrated the procession of heroes who had served the people.  In fact, the similarity with a Roman Triumph is more than  superficial, because the Triumph was a civil and religious ceremony which was held to publicly “celebrate and sanctify” the success of a commander who had led his forces to victory in the service of the people.  

It is clear that Jesus rejected the aggrandizing nature of the pagan Triumphs which fed the cult of personalities in Roman and other cultures, and he did this by riding humbly on a young donkey – the antithesis of the great horses of conquering kings and heroes – while fulfilling the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9 in every detail. Yet Jesus did accept the people’s praise (Luke 19:40), and the details of the story from beginning to end show that a triumphal entry – a symbolic victory celebration – was intended.

The words of the crowds who welcomed Jesus in this triumphal entry are important. Luke tells us that they quoted from the great Messianic Psalm 118 (Luke 19:38) – which is why the Pharisees attempted to silence them (Luke 19:39). This is the psalm that contains the statement so significantly quoted by Jesus: “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone” (Psalm 118:22), but it also contains the clear references to the triumphal entry of the Messiah: “I look in triumph on my enemies” (Psalm 118:7), “I will not die but live, and will proclaim what the Lord has done” (Psalm 118:17), “Open for me the gates of the righteous; I will enter and give thanks to the Lord” (Psalm 118:19), “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. From the house of the Lord we bless you. The Lord is God, and he has made his light shine on us. With boughs in hand, join in the festal procession up to the horns of the altar” (Psalm 118:26).  Although Luke only cites a few of the words from Psalm 118, the psalm is in fact a full prophetic description of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem.

But if this was a triumph, what was the victory? Jesus had not yet defeated sin and death on the cross, he had not yet completed the work he came to accomplish in this regard, yet there was one way in which a victory was surely celebrated.  The primary purpose of the angaria, by which Jesus obtained the donkey on which he rode, was to deliver a message. And at this point, at the end of his ministry, Jesus had successfully delivered the news of the Kingdom of God to the point that it was now established and would continue to spread throughout the world.  He had also lived the perfect life needed in order that he could give himself as a sacrifice for all people.

In that sense, Jesus had fully triumphed in his work as he came to Jerusalem as “… your king who comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey” (Zechariah 9:9, emphases added). The entry of Jesus into Jerusalem prior to his death was indeed a triumph, and Jesus had delivered the only message that in the end really matters.