The Triumphal Entry

Introduction

Well, good morning!

Listen, this has got to be one of my favorite weeks of the year. I mean, obviously we should constantly be thinking about Christ and His resurrection…but it’s this week each year that we’re just reminded of the work Jesus did in bringing us Salvation. And honestly, this story that we’re gonna look at to kind of kick off holy week…this story of Palm Sunday, the way Jesus enters into His final days…with such humility…and willingness…compassion…and love…I mean, it’s such a great picture of grace and mercy. That’s what the entire Easter story’s all about. It’s about the God of the universe, coming to His people…humbling Himself…to save them from the darkness of this world…a darkness, as we looked at last week, we brought on ourselves.

But listen, before we do that this morning…let’s start with our mission verse. If you’re visiting with us, we’ve made it our mission “to become a church without walls.” And we wanna “deliver, disciple, deploy.” We wanna deliver the good news about Jesus to the people around us, we wanna disciple believers that God brings to FBC, and we wanna deploy believers back out into their mission field all for the glory of God. And why do we wanna do that? Because that’s what Jesus commanded us to do. That’s what it means to follow Him. And so, every week, we recite His command.

And so, the verses, they’ll be on the screen. I’ll get us started. Matthew 28:19-20:

Matthew 28:19–20 (ESV)

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

[Prayer]

Alright, if you have your Bibles and I hope that you do, open ‘em up with me to Matthew chapter 21…Matthew 21. Listen, for the past several month’s we’ve been walking through the Book of Genesis…looking at the foundations of the world…but because Holy Week is one of the most important weeks of the year, I wanted to pause for a couple weeks and just reflect on the events that led to Jesus’s crucifixion and resurrection.

And so, this is Palm Sunday…Palm Sunday marks the beginning of Holy Week…or Passion Week.

Listen, you ever wondered why it’s called Passion Week? Some of guys, maybe you’ve seen the Passion of Christ…it’s a great movie…it really captures the essence of what happened and what Jesus had to endure. But you ever wonder why the word passion’s used for these events? I mean think about what you’re passionate about…I’m an avid New Orleans Saints fan and I’m a huge Clemson Tiger fan. That’s my teams…that’s who my family pulls for… we’re passionate about ‘em…even when they’re having bad years. We just love ‘em! Maybe you’re a Steelers fan or unfortunately a Bills fan…or maybe you’re just passionate about a certain hobby or brand or whatever, right?

What do you think Jesus is passionate about? This week, its such an awesome week because its a reminder that Jesus, He’s passionate about you…He’s passionate about me…that’s what He cares about…that’s why He went through everything He did…to provide us with a path back to Himself. That’s why Easter’s such a big deal! It’s all about the redeeming work of Christ.

Listen, several years ago on Father’s Day…Brittany and the kids, they took me to an Atlanta Braves game. I was big into autographs and sports memorabilia at the time and they had this old World Series pitcher there on that day signing autographs…John Smoltz. Anyways, we got there and my family and I, we waited like 6 hours in the heat and the rain to get 4 items signed by this guy. And listen, when we got there and as we waited, we weren’t even guaranteed to even meet the guy. I mean, there were hundreds if not over a thousand people there waiting already. There was just so much excitement over this guy…so much so that there were people willing to wait hours just to get a 30 second interaction with this guy. People were just so excited.

Listen, in our passage today…we’re gonna see that people were excited to see Jesus as He entered into Jerusalem. They realized this wasn’t just any man…they realized there was something different about Him. And as He makes this entry…it’s a triumphal entry. It’s an entry of celebration and praise.

And so, if you’re there with me this morning…let’s stand as we read our passage together. It says this, starting in verse 1:

Matthew 21:1–11 (ESV)

Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage (Beth-page), to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.” This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying,

“Say to the daughter of Zion,

‘Behold, your king is coming to you,

humble, and mounted on a donkey,

on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’ ”

The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”

Thank you, you can be seated.

Listen this morning…as we walk through this passage together…it’s all about a prophecy fulfilled. It’s all about how Jesus fulfilled what was said about Him in the Old Testament…but listen, some of that prophecy, it’s not happened yet. It speaks about His return for the church…but what His entry into Jerusalem looks like, it tells us a lot about what’ll happen when He does come back…about the attitudes that’ll be present among the people when He comes back.

And so, there’s three questions I wanna look at this morning…number one, will you be prepared?…number two, will you be pleased?…or finally, number three, will you be perplexed?

1.) Will You Be Prepared? (vv. 1-7)

And so, question number one…will you be prepared?

Look at verse 1 through 3 with me again. It says, “Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.”

And so, the Passover crowds, they’ve gathered to come and worship Yahweh. There’s people from Jerusalem, there’s people making pilgrimage into the city. It’s Sunday morning at this point in the story…and Jesus and His disciples, they’re descending down the Mount of Olives and are now approaching Jerusalem. That’s kind of the scene here as we start off this story. And just before they get to Jerusalem, they stop at this village known as the “House of Unripened Figs” (Bethphage) and Jesus gives a command. He tells his disciples, two of them…to go ahead before them and find a donkey and her foal tied to a tree. They were to bring these two back to Jesus.

But why? What’s the big deal about these two donkeys? What’s going on here? Was Jesus just testing His disciples…to see if they’d be obedient? Was he testing the owner of the donkeys…to see if he’d give them to the Lord? I mean what’s the point here? Well, to really grasp what’s going on…we have to look at the prophecy Matthew includes with this passage.

Verse 4, “4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet,” And so, immediately Matthew tells us, this took place so that the prophecy about Jesus in the Old Testament would be fulfilled, right?

In verse 5, Matthew gives some of that prophecy, “5 “Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’”

This was the purpose for the command. The mission of the disciples that went, getting these donkeys…it was to reveal who Jesus was and what His mission was all about. This prophecy, it was actually prophesied by Zechariah. We see this prophecy in Zechariah chapter 9. Zechariah, he was a minor prophet…but listen there was nothing minor about his prophecy.

The people of Israel, they had waited thousands of years for a Messiah to come....the people had hoped for the future and they rejoiced at the coming King and the establishment of His kingdom. And the prophecy…it says, “Tell Daughter Zion, ‘See, your King is coming to You.” That’s good news, right?…But the verse doesn’t stop there. Notice the significance in the second sentence…It says, “He’s coming....but He’s coming humbly…mounted on a donkey, on a colt. He’s coming to you as a Suffering Servant.”

Now, we’ll look at the rest of Zechariah’s prophecy in just a moment…but if you’re reading this, as an Israelite…this might sound a little strange. Listen, after King Solomon started breeding horses during his reign…there’s never another example again in the Old Testament where royalty rode on a donkey. I mean, just envision Alexander the Great marching into Jerusalem pridefully on a warhorse…which he did about 500 years after this prophecy was given to the people. And here’s their awaited King…their Savior…riding in on a donkey. But this had to happen to fulfill what Zechariah prophesied about the coming Messiah.

And what I love about God and His Word…if you read it and pay attention, He tells us exactly what’s gonna happen…He gives us all the details we need to be prepared. Just like He did with the Israelites here. Now they would get this wrong in huge ways…even His disciples would get the prophesies surrounding Jesus wrong. But if you read and devote yourself to it, through the Spirit of God, He’ll reveal His plans and His will to you.

Zechariah chapter nine speaks about a coming human king, right? He speaks about a physical man coming humbly and gently…but then he swifts the prophecy and begins talking about a divine king…which is confusing…and probably what confused the Israelites. Zechariah chapter 9, verse 9:

Zechariah 9:9–17 (ESV)

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!

Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!

Behold, your king is coming to you;

righteous and having salvation is he,

humble and mounted on a donkey,

on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim

and the war horse from Jerusalem;

and the battle bow shall be cut off,

and he shall speak peace to the nations;

his rule shall be from sea to sea,

and from the River to the ends of the earth.

As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you,

I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.

Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope;

today I declare that I will restore to you double.

For I have bent Judah as my bow;

I have made Ephraim its arrow.

I will stir up your sons, O Zion,

against your sons, O Greece,

and wield you like a warrior’s sword.

Then the Lord will appear over them,

and his arrow will go forth like lightning;

the Lord God will sound the trumpet

and will march forth in the whirlwinds of the south.

The Lord of hosts will protect them,

and they shall devour, and tread down the sling stones,

and they shall drink and roar as if drunk with wine,

and be full like a bowl,

drenched like the corners of the altar.

On that day the Lord their God will save them,

as the flock of his people;

for like the jewels of a crown

they shall shine on his land.

For how great is his goodness, and how great his beauty!

Grain shall make the young men flourish,

and new wine the young women.

This prophecy, it was speaking about Jesus who’s the Son of David (He comes humbly and gently)…but it’s also speaking about Jesus as David’s Lord…both in one. And it’s speaking about two separate entries. In the first entry…what we’re reading about here, Jesus came in humility…a king, from the line of David, who would suffer and die for the sins of the world. He was the King that would bring spiritual salvation to His people. The second entry, which hasn’t happened yet…when He returns for His church…He’ll establish His physical kingdom…and He’ll rule over the earth in perfect righteousness and glory. And in this second coming, Jesus’ll actually be more like the warrior the Israelites expected…He’ll defeat the unrighteous…they’ll stand before Him in judgement.

But listen, Zechariah…through the inspired Word of God…he’s giving God’s people everything they need to be ready and be prepared for both entries of the King and Messiah.

And what we’ll see…there’s two kinds of people in this story this morning…a people that are pleased because they are prepared…they recognize Jesus is different…they realize there’s something special about Him…and there’s a people perplexed…they don’t understand anything about the prophesies given to them…and so, they’re not prepared.

And so, just a simple question…will you be prepared…will you be ready when Jesus comes back and reveals Himself again?

You know what it takes? Exactly what we talked about last week, you gotta be digging into His Word…because everything you need to get ready, it’s there. And so, will you be prepared?

2.) Will You Be Pleased (vv. 8-9)

Question number two…hoping that you’re ready…will you be pleased?

Look at verse 8 and 9 with me again. It says, “8 Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”

And so, you have these multitudes of people…people that had been following Jesus throughout His ministry…people coming from Jerusalem. If you’re familiar with the story, Jesus had just rose Lazarus from dead and of course, news had spread pretty quickly. And so, we have this large group of people coming to welcome Jesus into the city.

And listen, check this out…this is pretty cool…these people, they take their garments…their cloaks and they spread them across the ground…and others, they take palm leaves and they lay them before Jesus as He approaches the city. And in a way, these people, they were just following the example of the disciples…if they thought it proper to remove their coats so that Jesus could sit on them, why shouldn’t they throw their coats down before the feet of Jesus. It was a display of honor.

But listen, there’s also a spiritual meaning here. In Genesis, like what we’ve been looking at, we saw last week that a garment, it covers the disgrace of nakedness…of sin, right? That was exactly why Adam and Eve covered themselves. They were ashamed of who they were…they were covering their sin. The people here, they’re removing their garments and using palm branches (which symbolizes the fig leaves used in the Genesis account) they were doing this because the beast of burden, as Jesus rode into the city, He would trample them…He would trample them in the same ways He would trample sin and wickedness at the cross. This display from the people…it was showing that they believed Jesus was the promised Messiah which is why they all began shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”

Hosanna in the Hebrew, it signifies the redemption of the house of David. This crowd, they were claiming Jesus as their Davidic king. They were saying, “Jesus, not Caesar, He’s our king…Jesus, not the Roman Empire, He’s our Savior!” And listen, their actions and their words, it demonstrated their pleasure with His arrival. They were celebrating His entry…because they believed in who He was. They saw His miracles…they listened to His teachings…they were ready and they demonstrated that with how they responded. “Hosanna to the Son of David!”

And so, what’s this mean for us? Scripture’s very clear…that one day…Jesus is coming back. And this entry, this second coming, it’s gonna look a lot different. He’s not gonna be so gentle…He’s not gonna be so humble…He’s gonna take His rightful place and He’s gonna perform the work He means to do in bringing lasting salvation to His people. He’ll judge the wicked and condemn them to a fiery hell. Not only do you need to be ready…but will you truly be pleased when Jesus comes back? Some of us, if we’re honest…we don’t wanna let go of this world. Some of us, we’re not looking forward to the day Jesus comes back because it means we lose so many of the pleasures we’ve set up for ourselves. We’re so in this world, that we’ve placed our joy and our pleasure here…there’s no way we could find pleasure in the work Christ will do because righteousness and holiness are an afterthought to us.

If we’re honest…we’re not willing to lay down our garments…or what our garments symbolize and allow Jesus to trample over them. We’re not willing to give Him the things that bring us happiness. If we’re honest…we’re not gonna be there waiting on Him with pleasure. Some of us, we’re dreading that day…we don’t wanna lay down those things that make us happy. We don’t want a life that’s only about Him and His glory.

Guys, will you be pleased when that day comes? Will you be pleased when He comes back? Will you be there waiting on His arrival with the kind of pleasure we see here from these people? Are you looking forward to that day with anticipation? Will you meet Jesus there with pleasure and with joy?

3.) Will You Be Perplexed? (vv. 10-11)

Or will you be perplexed at the whole situation? That’s our final question.

Look at verse 10 & 11 again. It says, “10 And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” 11 And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”

Other translations say there was an uproar in the city. It’s the Greek word “theio,” which literally means “that which causes a violent movement or disturbance.” This word was used to describe the literal shaking of an earthquake or some kind of end of the world event, right? But in this passage, this word’s describing the emotional and mental state of the remainder of the people…those that weren’t there throwing garments and palm branches down. In other words, the entire city had been shaken up by the events described in the text here.

And listen, what’s interesting here…Jesus was no stranger to Jerusalem and the Temple. In fact, His disciples were afraid to go back because they were certain the Pharisees would kill them…but here He is, riding into the city on a donkey and the people say, “Who is this?” These people didn’t recognize Jesus as their King. They were still spiritually blind. On one hand, the spiritual leaders of that day, they had robbed the people of truth…they robbed them of God’s Word and substituted that truth for man-made traditions. The leaders weren’t interested in truth. I mean this event showed that. Here’s Jesus fulfilling prophecy to a “t” and they still didn’t want anything to do with that. They were only concerned with the religion they had set up for themselves…what had brought them power and wealth and joy. In John 11, speaking about the same events…they say, “We have no king but Caesar!” They were admitting their own spiritual blindness. And no matter how many miracles Jesus performed…no matter what He said or what He did…they would never see the God of Creation…the God of Salvation standing before them…they were blind and because of that, they were perplexed when Jesus came riding into the city on a donkey.

Guys, God’s Word was written so that we could know Him…know His nature…understand how to walk with Him…but it was also written so that we could be prepared for His coming. To be ready! And so, the Bible tells us, there will be a day when Jesus comes back…except this time, He won’t be riding on a donkey…He’ll be riding on a white horse…He’ll be riding into victory…to defeat His enemies…to judge those that have chosen themselves.

And so, the questions clear…when that day comes…and it’s coming soon…will you be perplexed? Will you know what’s going on…or will it just be mast confusion because you weren’t ready? And listen, the only reasons you wouldn’t be ready…its because you don’t know Jesus…or because you don’t know His Word.

Even at His entry in Jerusalem…in these accounts…there were only two types of people…There were those that said, “Who is this?” and there were those that said in verse 11, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”

Guys, when Jesus comes back…on which side will you be?

Closing

Every head bowed and every eye closed.

When Jesus came into Jerusalem on what we call Palm Sunday…some of the people, they were prepared…they were ready for their King…their Messiah…they were pleased and overwhelmed with joy…but on the other side…there was a whole lot more people left perplexed, confused…they didn’t understand what was going on. Notice, all of ‘em considered themselves Jews…they all felt they walked with God…but only a certain group of people actually recognized Jesus when He came to town.

Guys, when Jesus comes back…it’s gonna be the same for the people here. There’s gonna be some that are prepared and pleased and ready to lay down their garments and coverings and allow Jesus to trample sin and wickedness for good. And there’s gonna be some who claim to know God and walk with God…and go to church and all those things…but they’re gonna be left perplexed and find themselves not pleased at all. And so, as you pray, where you at…who will you be? On which side will you be?

Listen, if you claim to be a believer this morning…are you ready for the return of Christ? Are you ready for Him to establish His kingdom and make all things holy and righteous? If you struggle with that, or as you examine you life, maybe you realize you’re not living as if you’re prepared…what do you need to do this morning, to get right with Jesus? What do you need to let go of? What do you need to reorient or re-prioritize in your life? Maybe it’s leading your family spiritually.

I had a dad recently reach out to me and share that with me. They realized they were putting more emphasis in sports and school and other things and that they weren’t preparing their kids. They were doing the same thing these Pharisees were doing to the Jewish people…they were robbing them of truth and causing them to become spiritually blind. That dad asked me, “What can I do to shift my family toward Christ?” Listen, maybe that’s you this morning…the answer’s to prioritize God’s Word. Get involved in the church as a family. Care about your relationship with Christ, growing with Him. When your kids see it’s important to you, it’ll become important to them.

Listen, I don’t know what it is…but whatever’s on your heart right now…make sure you’re right with Jesus. Don’t be on the side of people that won’t know what’s going on.

Listen, for some of you…as you sit there, you know which side you’d be on…you know you’ve never been changed by the Spirit of God…none of this makes sense to you. Listen, the Bible’s clear…in the beginning, God created everything…and He created everything good. And mankind, He made them in His image…giving them the ability to choose their own way. He gave them freewill. But in their freewill, man chose themselves. They rebelled against God. They turned their back on Him and only wanted to glorify themselves. And that rebellion, it led to death. Because God can’t be in the presence of sin, our sin, it separates us from God’s goodness. And that separation, it leads to our punishment. And throughout the history of this world, God gave man ways to come back to Himself…this was seen through the sacrificial system we see step up in the Old Testament…but man, in their freewill, always turned and chose themselves. And so, God finally sent His Son, Jesus…who was entirely God and entirely man…He sent Him to live a perfect life…so that at the end of that life, He could be man’s perfect sacrifice. He was a holy sacrifice. God sacrificed Himself…He took on our punishment so that we wouldn’t have to experience death. He did that so that we could experience what was truly good for us…God Himself. He bridged the gap between us and Him at the cross. And the Bible says He rose to life again…three days after He died on that cross…showing us that He is in fact trustworthy and faithful. And it says that all we have to do is believe and repent. All we have to do is believe that He is Lord and turn from ourselves and turn to Him…repent of our sins…ask for forgiveness…and when we do that, we can be restored…we can become His. He makes us new…He changes us…He gives us His Spirit.

And so, listen…if that’s you this morning…let Him make you new…repent and believe. And here’s what I want you to do…I want you to stand up and I want you to come down to these steps…I’m gonna be down front…and I want you to say, “Pastor Steven, I wanna give my life to Jesus!” Would you do that?

Listen, Wendy’s gonna play…whoever you are this morning, His or not…you need to pray…seek God…ask for salvation…whatever it is, this is your time…so you come.

[Prayer]

Matthew 26:26 (ESV)

Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.”

Matthew 26:27–29 (ESV)

And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”