And of course his sister's child, Mary, was the one who had brought forth this birth of the Christ. And Joseph of Arimathea had born witness that this one if not the Messiah was a born prophet, but he thought of him as the embodiment of God. And as Joseph of Arimathea talked to Joseph the husband of Mary he told him about the visit of the Angel Gabriel to the virgin, Mary. In fact Joseph of Arimathea felt so strongly that Christ was the Messiah and thinking that he would take over he put much of his fortune behind these preparations. In fact since he owned the tin mines of Cornwall in Britain, then his ships went up and down the coast of Europe and thru the pillars of Hercules, and around the Mediterranean sea. And into the shores of Palestine then these ships brought wares from all over the Mediterranean sea as well as from the British Isles. He invested some of his money in the uniforms that would be the army of the King.

Thus he brought the bolts of blue cloth from which they fashioned the blue uniforms and thus became the Blue Tunic Army of the Christ, this army of Barabbas. And there were crossed golden fish across the breast of those blue tunics. Thus, this was a beautiful dressed army. And over 3000 of them were in Jerusalem on the day that they would have crowned Christ King.  And they had also had attached the caravans of the false priesthood who were bringing in goods from all over the world, and were selling them on the steps and in the courts of the temple. They were out to make every dollar they could make off the steps of the temple which they operated like a massive Bazaar.  So the true Essenes and their armies would attack these caravans, and take from them their goods, and then suddenly be lost in the desert. In fact they took Roman caravans and they took a whole shipment of the short Swords that were being brought in for their Roman Soldiers. And thus Barabbas and his army had their short swords. But always there was a price on their heads for they wanted to capture these soldiers of the Essenes. But it was never known just where they would be since the Essenes were located out in the caves in the land of Palestine. Of course the true Priesthood was not in Jerusalem, it was out in the caves, and the Cainanites were in charge of the temple. But in the times of Christ the true Priesthood was kept secret. Altho the Synagogues and gathering places of the people were conduction areas of service.

            And so it is that we come to the declaration of John the Baptist.  For he had told the Essenes early in his life that this was the embodiment of God. That this was God come in the flesh, as Messiah. This would be the one who would take over the throne of David, and deliver the race. But I also remember that he was to take a Chalice. The wisemen who brought the gifts to Mary had brought the Jewels and they had now been worked into a beautiful crown. The Essenes had gathered other Jewels until the Rubies and the Emeralds and the Sapphires sat well in this crown. They had pearls in this crown, and it was the most beautiful crown that had ever been prepared. And the Essene company had worked on this, and then kept this crown for an auspicious hour when they could crown Christ King. And the disciples of Christ were also working upon this declaration. Joseph of Arimathea was very much interested for he had witnessed the unstopping of deaf ears, the lifting of the blind until they could see, the raising of the dead.  And said, ‘behold this man, my relative, is the embodiment of God, so crown HIM King.’  And he proclaimed this secretly to some of the true Pharisees who were in the Sanhedrin. The enemy we are told feared to do anything against Joseph of Arimathea because he had great wealth and great power.

            So we are to understand that the disciples were waiting also for this day when Christ would be crowned King.  And they thought that as King of Israel they would bring back the kingdom and cleanse their land and set the kingdom back in place, and all would then be well once more with Israel. That they would put the true priests back in the Temple and they would be free from Jewry. And they would once more be a rising nation in the earth until the message of Messiah should cover the earth, with Peace. So the disciples were ready any time as they came up to the time of the Passover.  Thus, they were ready to crown Christ king. They knew that if they could crown HIM king as close to the Passover as possible that there would be many people there who were of Israel. With these outside of Palestine now in attendance they thought that if they crowned Him King, they could then throw out the Jews easier and maybe even put out the Roman legions. So the drilling of these forces of the Kingdom had gone on night after night, those that Barabbas commanded and they were called the army of the KING.

            Now they thought that Christ did not know of these preparations, but if they had stopped to think they would have known that he knew ever thought that they had and knew every thing that they did. He had proved this when he called to Zacchaeus in the tree, or talked to Nathaniel under the fig tree. For these were some of the areas of his Omniscience. So the disciples as they were one day moving heard Jesus say:--we will move into Jerusalem on the morrow, or in that day. As he made this statement then two of the disciples immediately left. One went to the Essene company and the other one went to Jerusalem to prepare, and runners were sent out into all areas to suddenly bring people into Jerusalem. Some of them were already coming in for the Passover.

            Jesus then turned to his disciples and said, ‘You go over the hill, and near the village area you are going to find an ass tied to a tree, and with her a colt of an ass. You untie this ass and bring it to me. And if there is anyone who says you cannot do that then tell them that YAHSHUA thy master has need of this animal.’ And so it is that we have the story of Psalm Sunday in the book of Matthew as well as in the book of Mark and in the book of Luke, because this is a tremendous event. Because now Christ was entering Jerusalem and fulfilling the scriptures.

Back in the book of Zechariah we read these words:--"Rejoice oh greatly O’ daughter of Zion. Shout O’ daughter of Jerusalem, Behold thy king cometh to thee, HE is just and HE has salvation. But he is lowly for he is riding upon the foal of an ass and the colt of an ass. (Zech. 9:9)  And tho he has been talking about the burden of the LORD. And he suddenly stops and he talks about Judah. And then he inserts this story of how Christ will come and HE will be riding upon an ass. He goes on with prophecy as to Ephraim but this prophecy of Zechariah is supposed to stand out. And now his disciples as they discussed this realized that this was literally fulfilling that prophecy of Zechariah. 

So they went and released the animal and people said where are you going with this foal of an ass. And they said YAHWEH -YAHSHUA has need of this.  And they used the term as one who came in the name of the LORD. So they brought the foal of an ass to the Christ and they laid their cloaks upon it, and with Christ seated thereon and disciples on either side they started into Jerusalem.

            What a preparation there had been. All that day and thru the night, for the word had gone forth that the king was coming to Jerusalem. And they thought that surely he would take the kingdom, with his crown. Joseph of Arimathea who was one of the Essene company had also been preparing the Chalice, and the crown was already prepared. He did not know just what lay ahead, for he did not understand that the Christ had the crucifixion ahead. One of the mysteries to the disciples was that the Christ had told them about his crucifixion altho he did not mention it directly.  He had told them that he would have to lay down his life for them. But they did not understand this. At the same time Joseph of Arimathea had sent to Greece and hired one of the most brilliant silver smiths to come. And he placed him in the alcove in his home and when the Christ came with his disciples to dine, then the silversmith was to carve the Chalice. This man was Demetrius the Silversmith.

Thus there where the disciples and the Christ discussed things of the kingdom and so forth then this man worked. And Joseph of Arimathea thought that the silversmith was hidden but of course the Christ knew what was going on. But as they talked then the Silversmith engraved on the Chalice the picture of the Christ and his disciples. But every time he tried to make the face of Judas of Iscariot then he failed, time after time he tried but finally he just showed him as turning away. This of course as it should be. But the face of Jesus is one of those things which comes with inspiration.  For the face of Jesus was beautifully wrought and would be easily recognized. An Italian will paint the face of Jesus with brown eyes and hair.  And a Scandinavian will paint Jesus with pale hair and blue eyes. The fact remains it all comes out without color in silver. And anyone would recognize Jesus. So anyone will recognize Jesus whether painted by an Scandinavian or an Italian. There is a mystery concerning this is the fact that this is to keep the vision of the Christ alive, in the hearts of the people of the world, and especially of all of the house of Israel.

Thus working day after day then the silver smith had placed Christ and his disciples upon the Chalice.And then an inner cup was prepared to go inside this Chalice.

            Not knowing what the issue here was, and neither did the disciples understand, yet they knew of one writing in the word of the LORD and this was that 'the Lamb of God, who is to take away the sins of the world would come and would be rejected. But the Essene company could not understand just what that meant. What He would accomplish as he forgave their sins with a Fiat they did not know. But they did know that they were preparing a crown for a coronation.

            As Christ then approached the city of Jerusalem then we are told that multitudes came out to greet HIM. And as they came they shouted "Hosannah in the Highest---to the Son of David.” ----"Hosahannah, to HE who comes in the name of YAHWEH." And as they shouted out this declaration they said, ‘HE comes to take the throne of David. Thus, "Hosannah, Hosannah in the highest to He who takes this throne of David." And now from every street came the people saying, "Hosannah in the highest, for HE who comes in the name of YAHWEH, as YAHSHUA.”

And they cut down the palm branches and strewed them in his path and they threw their cloaks in his path.  And the whole community began to cry King Jesus approaches. The army of Barabbas then put on their blue tunics with the golden crossed fish on the front of them. And their short swords were belted around them. This army of Christ was growing, it was appearing among the multitudes. And now almost 3000 of this group were now forming around the Christ.  Thus, this was the picture as the parade was moving down one of the main streets of Jerusalem, toward the Temple. And the cry went before--"The king approaches, the King Approaches.”

From every side the Essenes were coming forth crying we must crown HIM king, for the Messiah has made himself known. And in all of this commotion then Christ continued making his way riding the Foal of an Ass thru the streets of Jerusalem on his way to the Temple. Here came the Essene company, and out of his own home came Joseph of Arimathea and with him the true priests of Israel and the high priest, who normally would have been the high priest of Israel. For this is the man the Essenes would have elected for he Came out of the Levitical house.

            As YAHSHUA approached the temple then here came Joseph of Arimathea and with him the Priesthood and some of the Essene company and they carried two beautiful pillows on one was the beautiful crown of Israel.  The sun was shining upon this beautiful crown and it was a beautiful sight. And on the other blue pillow was the Chalice. Somehow they hoped that he would take both, the crown and the Chalice.  Somehow they did not understand as to what the Chalice was, for they had come to this point and now here comes the Christ and they want so to crown him king. And a sharp cry rose up and the army of Barabbas raised their sharp swords until they shown in the sun. And they now moved to surround the Christ as people shouted "Crown HIM KING."

            High upon the temple steps stood this false priesthood and they trembled as they saw this scene below them. They knew they were usurpers of the true Priesthood of Israel. They knew there was no Messianic rule in their ministry. And as they looked down on The Christ and now this mob around him, then they began to worry. They were angry, they were furious.  But they were also afraid to come down the steps of the temple.  The mob was crying "Crown HIM King.’   And those high on the steps of the Temple gnashed their teeth as they watched what was going on down below.

            Therefore in this scene then as Christ turned to them, they brought forth the Crown.They held this crown high above his head and the High priest said, "We would crown you King, Oh, YAHWEH, WHO COMES AS YAHSHUA--savior---Messiah.”  Thus, YAHSHUA OF Nazareth we would crown thee KING.

            But the Christ said, 'I am your king and someday I will reign. But if I were to receive this crown now I would rule you still under bondage of sin. But I have only come to redeem my people and thru them the world I cannot then at this time take the crown.’  And he lifted the Chalice from its pillow. This was the beautiful Chalice engraved by Demetrius, paid for by Joseph of Arimathea and the Essene company. And with this Chalice in his hands, then The Christ said, "With this chalice then shall the redemption of Israel be complete. For as I drain this cup this symbol of the draining of his cup I shall take upon my self the redemption of the world. More than this not only for Israel but for the entire world.  That having paid the price for transgression for every man, then I will lay down my life for this people. And I shall raise again in three days.”

            Then he made this statement:--In time I shall take the crown, and when I come the earth then shall be from one end to the other under my kingdom, and shall be beneath my throne. And He said: I shall redeem my people Israel, and then the entire world. But for now I shall take this Chalice for this is the ministry for which I have come. Oh, they still cried, ‘take the crown also.’---And Judas Iscariot then thinking of what gold might pass thru his little conniving hands started to shout---take the Crown also.  But Jesus just turned and looked at Judas and said:--'You have no comprehension in this tter.'  Then turning he placed the Chalice in the arms of John the Baptist.

Then turning he looked up the steps of the Temple, and he noticed how the steps were covered with those who were doing business on the steps of the temple. There he saw the merchandise of many countries and the money changers. And Christ turned and started to knit together a scourge of many cords. And he started up the steps of the Temple, and overturned the money changing tables and using the scourge as he went.  And HE said, 'Thou hast made my fathers house a den of thieves and robbers.’ And HE overturned all of the money changing tables that they had placed in the court of the Temple. The High Priests from the top of the steps of the temple were gnashing their teeth but they dared not come down for fear of the people, as Christ drove the money changers from the Steps of the temple.

            Then approaching the disciples Jesus said, 'Let us go to Bethany.' And they went in a group down to Bethany. Later they returned to the house of Joseph of Arimathea located outside of Jerusalem. Of course the army had taken off the blue tunics They could not understand the mystery of the Chalice, but they thought there should be another time when he would take the crown. But the Blue tunics disappeared, and the short swords were sheathed, and the army was in the mob moving away. That night Barabbas was at the home of one of the sons of Zebedee. And then we have the story of that betrayal as Judas of Iscariot went to the high Priest of the Temple and told them where to find Barabbas.

He said to the priests of the temple, ‘you saw today that Blue Tunic Army, and their short swords, and you saw what Jesus did to the money changers, and you did nothing.  But would you like to capture Barrabas?’ Oh, they said, ‘of course we would like to capture this Barrabas for he has raided our caravans, and stolen our goods. Surely we would like to take Barabbas but better we turn him over to the Romans for he has stolen their short swords as well.  Let the Romans seize Barabbas, and thus they betrayed him into the hands of the Romans.’ This is why Barabbas was referred to in the scriptures as a robber.  But otherwise he was also a patriots and a zealot. Thus to those who had lost it then he was a robber, but to those who received it to them he was a hero. But now Barabbas was in jail, and the Priests of the Temple, hated Barabbas for he had been a constant thorn in their side. For he had been stealing the goods they were bringing in to sell on the Temple steps.

            But in that hour when we heard Pilate say, ‘who would you have released unto you, Christ or Barabbas?’  Knowing that Christ had done nothing but good in the area and many miracles, while Barabbas had been such a thorn in the side in their community, then Pilate thought that they would say release the Christ. But the hatred in the hearts of those who faced him. Those descendants of Cain said,--'Give unto us Barabbas'.

            On His release then Barabbas rejoined his men and for the next few years this army defended the Israelites left in that old land of Palestine, and we learn that most of them lost their lives in that area as they defended their people. But the Army of Barabbas was dedicated to the defense of Israel, as the Essene company were busy hiding their material from their libraries and those who were to leave the old land made good their escape.

            As Christ again returned to the home of Joseph of Arimathea, they again asked why he had selected this day the Chalice. And Jesus turned to Joseph of Arimathea and said, "Because my people must be free.” Don't you see it will take the blood of one without transgression, the blood of one like myself to accomplish this? And here I am embodied in a physical body as I should be to accomplish this task.0nly I am able to drink this cup and only I am able to redeem this people.

            Thus it was that in the garden of Gethsemane at a later hour as the disciples slept then the Christ took the cup and filled it with clear water. And lifting his head and looking into the heavens, then in his humanity he said, "If this be possible let this cup pass from me, But let it not be the will of the flesh, but the will of the spirit be done.”

And then Christ drank the water of that cup out of the Chalice. He drank every drop of water in it. And as he drank every drop of water in the cup then he assumed ever transgression of the world, and of course the transgressions of HIS people Israel. Thus this great event had been consummated by the drinking of every drop of water from the cup that had resided within the chalice. Earlier in the evening he had used this Chalice at the last supper with his disciples, and there he had poured the wine into this cup and passed it around to his disciples as he made this statement unto them: 'Drink of this cup for it is the covenant of my blood', in the New Testament.

            And so it was that as the army came into the Garden to seize Jesus that John again picked up this chalice and it was again returned to the home of Joseph of Arimathea. This chalice has had a long and eventful history. For it was later found in the church that Mark had in Alexandria Egypt. And here it was used in the sacraments of the Church in the days of Mark. And from there it moved to other churches of Christendom. And we do know that at one time it was in Constantinople, and there it was when the Muhammadans came in and they tore down that church there and built that Mosque on the spot of that great Christian church of that time, which was that church of San Sophia. But the Christians saved the chalice out of that church and took it down to Antioch, and hid it behind the altar. And in the battle between the Turks and Saracens and the Christians of Christianity that church also was burned down, but they did not find the Chalice. Later Archaeologists would discover the chalice beneath the altar of that burned down church. At that time it was much heralded for now Christendom had the chalice of the Christ.

And those who were proficient in silversmithing said yes, this was the Chalice made in the time of Christ. The beauty of the face of the Christ stood out and they knew that they finally had found the famous Chalice. Later Mr. Rockefeller bought the chalice and brought it to America, and placed it in the Museum of Art, in the Metropolitan Museum of the Arts, and there it has remained When several great churches were dedicated then this Chalice has been loaned unto them for their dedication.

            Now I understand that the Chalice is going to Europe for the dedication of a great church then will be returned to the United States. And this has been the ministry of this chalice which the church has revered and held all of these years.

            But going back to the time of that gathering of the people on Palm Sunday in old Jerusalem, the people were hoping that he would take the crown. And all of the time the Essenes and the disciples were working on this program the Christ knew, all of the time, what they were doing. And he knew of the agony of their thoughts as he said he would not take the crown at that time, but would instead take the Chalice. For he had come to redeem his people and that would come first. For he would not rule his people still trapped in their transgressions. No they should be free instead. No wonder then that we see prophecy, by prophecy literally being fulfilled. For the Most High had declared:---"I am YAHWEH, thy God, I am the husband of Israel I am the redeemer of Israel." All of these things he proclaimed as concerning himself.

            As we look back upon this first advent of the Christ, we also rejoice in recalling these events of great renown. And now we are looking forward to another event. We are looking forward to the event of seeing the sky filled with the flying ships of YAHWEH our GOD. And we are looking forward to again seeing the advent of the Christ. And people who are not looking forward to this because their hearts are filled with dross have other things in mind. But the true sons and daughters of God, those who are awake are waiting for the return of God our Father, Messiah the King.

            More than this I do not know of any other period of time that I would rather live in than right now. People say but I would have liked to have live at the time of Christ and beheld his miracles. But let me tell you something, this time in which we live is not going to pass away until we see this return of the Christ. And the enemy with all of his designs to prevent this, are so busy being negative that they are trying to stop all of your plans for another advent. But the Christians are moving forward, they want to see the kingdom of God come to pass want to see the nations of God arise, and they are waiting for their KING. One of these days the skies will be filled with the great flagships of the Almighty. And on the great flagship in the lead will be the KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORD'S. And as this fleet comes in with Michael the Archangel commanding the flagships, we will behold the great and mighty deliverance of Our God. And there shall be even a greater salutation than even at the other event in Jerusalem, as our people salute their KING. We can well say that we are happy in the selection of God's atonement that HE took the chalice in that hour, for because of that we realize that we are a free people because of that atonement. That our transgressions are removed from us as far as the east is from the west, and he remembers them no more.

            Now we look for the entrance into this world of our Great KING. It may be weeks, it may be months or years, but it is coming to pass for we are in the measuring cycle of 'The day of the LORD'. We may have many things yet to go thru but the end of this thing will be the victory of the LORD of Hosts.  And every knee is going to bow and every tongue proclaim before we are finished with this struggle which is just ahead. He has assured us that ten thousand can fall at our sides but no harm can come nigh to thee.

So as we lift up our heads in this hour then there is nothing as important as the days we commemorate as Palm Sundays.  For we look for a greater Psalm Sunday. And we look for the greater event of the return of our LORD, which is as sure as tomorrows sunrise. And in such an hour we will hear again:----"All hail the power of Jesus's name. And when they bring forth the royal diadem and crown him KIng that splendor shall surpass anything that has ever happened before. Oh, we hear some say that you are very foolish to be looking for something like that. But remember that was what the Priests high on the steps of the temple were saying in that day when they took HIM and Crucified HIM. And in the hour of his resurrection they were hiding for fear he would search them out. But as we stand here in 1967 we are looking for this to come to pass, and we shall see HIM who took the Chalice this time the crown.

            And over there in the land of old Palestine, today there would be no entrance for the embodiment of God unless he first split the Mount of Olives in two and turn it upside down.  But God has declared that he will be in the midst of his people. In the heart of a new nation of Israel, and His reign shall be over all, triumphant forever.

 

End of message.