The Four Gates

Jesus arrived in Bethany on the east slope of the Mount of Olives, across the valley from Jerusalem. As he looked at Jerusalem from the east, there were four gates before him. These four gates stood in almost a direct line. First, there was the Eastern Gate of the city, which led directly into the temple and the court of the Gentiles. Then there is the Beautiful, or Kosher Gate, which lead to the court of the Jews. Then there is the door of the temple itself, the Holy Place where prayers for the nation are offered. Finally there is the mysterious inner door of the Temple, the entrance of the Holy of Holies itself. These four gates were all that stood between Jesus and the leadership of the Jews. If Jesus had dared to enter those four gates with an army of people at his back, it is doubtful that Rome itself could have prevented his coronation. The Eastern Gate The Eastern Gate is in the outer wall of the city. It is the nearest gate to the temple, opening directly into the outer courts of the temple. As Jesus descended the slopes of Mount of Olives headed for the eastern gate, he passed the tombs of Haggai and Zachariah. These prophets both predicted that when the Lord Messiah came he would first come into his temple. All along that road are graves, some of them going back to New Testament times, where the Jews have been buried to welcome the Messiah. It was believed that when the Messiah would set foot on the Mount of Olives and head for Jerusalem that the graves of the saints would open up and the dead would live again. Jesus descended through this field of graves, but the time was not yet for them to open. As he went down the slope, he stopped a moment to rest on a rock about halfway down, he looked up at the city, and began to cry, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem! How often would I have gathered you into my bosom, and you would not!" The Jewish leaders though he was was coming to Jerusalem to dominate. He was not. This was the weeping of a lover. Still further down the slope, and he passed through an olive orchard. the Place of Gethsemane. It was a place where he often came to pray, but today he had other business. He would return to that spot in four days, for his final temptations. The Beautiful Gate A few feet inside that eastern Gate was the Kosher or Beautiful Gate. It separated the court of the Jews from the court of the Gentiles. Anyone could go in the eastern gate; only the Jews could come in the Beautiful Gate. By passing through the Eastern Gate He fulfilled the ancient prophecy. The Lord had come into his temple. The people shouted and cheered. They laid down their coats and palm branches and cried out "Hosanna" which means "Save us!" They wanted him to go on. He went in to the court of the Gentiles. This was the place where everyone congregated. Jew or Gentile. Most Jews would pass through this court quickly and get to the really important gate- -the Beautiful Gate. Behind the Beautiful Gate were only Jews, and only those Jews who were considered worthy. Women were not permitted, neither were any but the holiest. If Jesus was Messiah he would come to the Jews. When Jesus arrived at the Beautiful gate he did a strange thing. He looked around, and went back. One gate was enough for today, he had fulfilled the prophecy, and went back to Bethany. The next morning Jesus arrived again in the outer courts of the temple. This time, he did not enter the Eastern gate, but through the southern gate, where most of the Jews and the Gentiles entered. When he walked through that massive archway, he was confronted with a huge marketplace, right on the temple grounds Jesus ran furiously among the tables, overturning the merchants and scourging them The next day he returned to the Beautiful Gate. He went to discuss the law with the Rabbis. They tried, to make him say something that would get him in trouble with the Jews or the Romans. They showed him a coin with Caesar's picture on it which the Jews didn't use in that place because it bore the image of a man who was worshipped as a God, and said is it lawful to pay taxes with these. Jesus' reply was classic. Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar's but give to God the things that are Gods. They questioned him about the law, claiming that he had offended it. He replied that the law was to love God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself. They accused him of offending against Abraham and Jesus replied, "Before Abraham was "I Am" In that, he claimed to be God. Before they could stone him, he went back to Bethany. The Nicanor Gate Next was the door of the temple, the Nicanor Gate. It was the building which contained the holy place and the Holy of Holies. The priests alone went into the holy place to offer the incense offerings, which were the prayers of the all of Israel before God. All Jesus had to do to declare himself Messiah was to lead the people right into that holy place, and the Holy of Holies. If he emerged from those hidden rooms unscathed, then the whole nation would acknowledge him as their king. He never crossed those two gates, at least the way they thought he would. But, in a sense, he not only crossed the gates, but tore them off their hinges! Before a priest went into the holy place, two things must be done. First he must be washed, no one should come before God's presence unclean. Then he must offer up sacrifices. Blood sacrifices were required. In the holy place there was bread and there was light. Before Jesus enters the next gate, he and his disciples were washed. It was Jesus who washed them, by washing their feet. When was Jesus washed? He had been washed two days before, by a woman at Bethany, who loved him so much that she washed his feet with expensive perfume and tears, and dried them with her hair. He offered up the paschal sacrifice, the passover lamb and said to them, "This is my Body, this is my Blood". Thus prepared, he entered into the holy place of prayer. Down in the garden of Gethsemane he knelt and prayed. There, He offered up a prayer for his people, just as the priests in the temple were offering up their prayers for Israel. While he was there, pandemonium broke loose. From everywhere, his enemies poured out of their secret hiding places, led by one of his own disciples. Jesus was taken to the high priest's house and put on trial. The Holy of Holies The fourth gate was to the Holy of Holies. It wasn't a gate but a huge curtain. Behind that curtain only the High Priest could enter once a year, to offer up sacrifices before God as an atonement for sin. Jesus entered into that fouth gate on the cross. It was the Holy of Holies- -that place where only the High Priest can go. There he offered up the perfect sacrifice of all time, the only sacrifice that you and I ever needed for our sins, the sacrifice of the Cross. The earthly temple meant nothing to Jesus. It was just a pile of rock. Had he stormed those four gates, they would have worshipped him as Messiah, but they would not be changed. When his disciples commented on the magnificence of the temple, He said, "Tear down this temple, and I will rebuild it in three days". He was referring to his body, not brick. Jesus came not to enter the gates, but to open those gates, so that poor, lame, the blind, the retarded, the sinsick, the unclean could find themselves again in the presence of God. It is recorded that when Jesus died on the cross, inside the temple the huge curtain was torn from its rings and ripped down the middle. And for the first time since the foundation of the temple, the Holy of Holies was exposed to the world and anyone can go in.God has opened the Holy of Holies to you. He has bought out access into the presence of God with his blood. Now, everyone who can see it can cry, "Praise God, the Messiah has come.