The Triumphal Entry

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Text

Matthew 21:4–5 NKJV

4 All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying: 5 “Tell the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your King is coming to you, Lowly, and sitting on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey.’ ”

The Old Testament Fulfilled

I like old things.

There’s something very cool about thumbing through old record albums.

You never know what awesome old stuff you’ll find at a flea market.

I make coffee manually.

I shave with a single blade razor.

History interests me.

I think the body style of older cars and trucks are much cooler.

Also, I like the Old Testament.

Now, there are some people who enjoy saying, “The Old Testament is unnecessary.” So, what… all we need is the New Testament?

Here’s the problem with that: The Old and the New Testament require each other. They were made to be together.

For instance, in the New Testament, Jesus fulfilled over 300 prophecies that were in the Old Testament.

Zechariah and Matthew

One such prophecy is in our text we read.

Matthew 21:4–5 NKJV

4 All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying: 5 “Tell the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your King is coming to you, Lowly, and sitting on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey.’ ”

All right, now let’s go to Zechariah 9:9 and listen closely to this:

Zechariah 9:9 NKJV

9 “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, Lowly and riding on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey.

So Matthew was actually quoting the prophet Zechariah. So, whether you like the Old Testament or not, the New Testament needs it!

And for the Jews who were present, they had read the Old Testament prophets. And so it was like they had seen the first season to understand what’s happening in the second.

Zechariah and Genesis

BUT - Zechariah the prophet was actually pulling from a prophecy that Jacob had made in his last words to his twelve sons! So he’s at death and he’s talking to his sons… some of them didn’t exactly get rave reviews… but then he gets to Judah. And he says…

Genesis 49:8–12 NKJV

8 “Judah, you are he whom your brothers shall praise; Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; Your father’s children shall bow down before you. 9 Judah is a lion’s whelp; From the prey, my son, you have gone up. He bows down, he lies down as a lion; And as a lion, who shall rouse him? 10 The scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor a lawgiver from between his feet, Until Shiloh comes; And to Him shall be the obedience of the people. 11 Binding his donkey to the vine, And his donkey’s colt to the choice vine, He washed his garments in wine, And his clothes in the blood of grapes. 12 His eyes are darker than wine, And his teeth whiter than milk.

So here’s what’s interesting: Genesis 49:11 and Zechariah 9:9 are the only two places in the Old Testament where we read of a foal and a colt together. And then, all of a sudden, here is Jesus calling for the disciples to bring a foal and the colt to Him, and they obeyed.

It’s kind of like this age old principle… “If you’re watching a movie, and they show a gun on the mantle, you know at some point in this thing, someone’s going to be using it.”

So the person who’s read the Old Testament is going along in the New, and here’s the foal and the colt! “Oh, I’ve seen that before - this is important!”

Believe the Word of God

Every prophecy God has ever made has or will come to pass just as God declared it! BELIEVE THE WORD OF GOD!!!

Now, maybe He’s made you a promise in prayer, or He gave you a scripture to hold onto while you’re battling, but a minimum He’s spoken to you while your Pastor has preached the Word. But however and whenever you hear God’s voice, BELIEVE HIM! God always keeps His word!

The Meek Messiah

Confiscation

So, here’s a thing that actually happened: Grand Theft Donkey.

The disciples were at someone’s residence taking a donkey and a colt. Someone leans out front and says, “Just what do you think you’re doing? Those are mine.”

And they responded as Jesus told them to respond: “The Lord hath need of them.”

Here they come over the hill, with someone else’s donkey and colt, fulfilling Old Testament prophecy. Now the question is, would Jesus be able to ride an unbroken colt. Or even better: ride an unbroken, never-ridden colt for two miles.

The Unbroken Colt and Makeshift Saddle

So, let’s look at the way Jesus came in on this Triumphal entry.

First of all, he came, not on a horse, or some other powerful animal of choosing, but a donkey. This is important. The delivery system of salvation was by way of a donkey.

Our method of presenting the Savior to people can’t be by the horse. The horse is rigid, strong, useful in battle. It’s the warring and powerful type. You don’t see anyone riding a donkey into battle. But a donkey is the agricultural type. And sure-footed.

One day, the Bible says that He will come in on a horse: Judgement Day. And it will be a time for warring and setting things straight very swiftly. But until then, it is an age of redemption and mercy! Get off the high horse and present the savior the way He would have us present Him!

So, before He could saddle up, the disciples took off their coats and spread them across the back of the colt. And THIS was His saddle.

The One who sits on the throne in Heaven sat on some tattered clothes on a colt just outside of Jerusalem! You’d think if He was going to have to ride this unbroken animal, some affluent person would have paid for a proper saddle. No sir!

He was proving what He had told them before:

Matthew 20:28 KJV 1900

28 Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.

So all of this screams humility. And that may be one reason so many rejected Him as the Messiah.

He was born among animals.

Laid in a manger where animals fed.

Shepherds were the first to receive the news of His birth.

He was brought up in the home of a blue-collar carpenter in the ordinary town of Nazareth.

He recruits 12 ordinary men to follow Him.

This is not painting the picture of a conquering king who had come to overthrow the powerful Roman government. This a picture of MEEKNESS. And it was in this approach that He was going to overthrow the reign of sin and Satan.

But somehow, the crowd understood that this was a historical day for their generation.

Coats and Palm Branches

You’ve got people dropping what they’re doing and leaving home in a hurry. They’ve heard Jesus is in town!

So, I want you to see what happened here…

They either did not have the time or the money to bring an appropriate gift to Him like they wanted to. They came only with the clothes on their backs. But when they saw Jesus, they knew they couldn’t come to Him empty-handed.

So some of them took off their coats spread them on the road before Him. And some worshipers cut down palm branches and spread them on the road also.

And we call that Sunday “Palm Sunday” because of the palm branches they laid down or waved as He came through. But we would do no harm here in Scripture to call that Sunday “Coat Sunday,” “Cloak Sunday,” “Shawl Sunday,” “Light Jacket Sunday,” …or simply “This Is What I Have Sunday.” …because the crowd worshiped Jesus with what they had!

Now, I don’t have some Old Testament command to praise God with palm branches that I can give you today. All I know is that there were some people outside that day who said, “I know this is the man, and He’s fulfilling every prophecy. But what’s bothering me right now is: my worship is missing from this picture! I’ve got to do something - ANYTHING for Him!”

I Will Praise God with What I Have!

We clap our hands on the fast songs and raise our hands on the slow ones because that’s what we have! And we do have a biblical command to clap our hands:

Psalm 47:1 KJV 1900

1 O clap your hands, all ye people; Shout unto God with the voice of triumph.

And we’ve got a command to lift our hands:

Psalm 134:2 KJV 1900

2 Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, And bless the Lord.

And we sing because we’re commanded to sing:

Psalm 96:1–2 KJV 1900

1 O sing unto the Lord a new song: Sing unto the Lord, all the earth. 2 Sing unto the Lord, bless his name; Shew forth his salvation from day to day.

Some of us sing like a songbird on a Spring morning, some of us sing in three different keys on the same song and can’t carry a tune in a bucket… but you know what?! WE SING BECAUSE GOD HAS GIVEN US OUR SONG - AND WE SING IT FOR THE GLORY OF GOD!!!

It’s what we’ve got!!!

When the pandemic was going on, churches all over the world were closed because they weren’t able to hold services like they used to. Couldn’t play instruments they had paid thousands of dollars to play. Some pastors recorded services in their living room around a piano with no microphones - but they worshiped God with what they had! And God was pleased with their worship!

And at some point, when it all started lightening up, some people were saying, “Well, it looks like church is just going to have to be over video only now, and the way things are done is going to change forever.” But there were some other people who said, “I’m bringing my worship with the crowd!”

Some people make fun of real, raw, expressive worship… but I say when we worship, LET’S GIVE GOD ALL WE CAN GIVE HIM!!!

HE’S WORTHY OF OUR BEST!!! AND OUR BEST DOESN’T HAVE TO BE PROFESSIONAL AND POLISHED, BUT IT DOES HAVE TO BE SINCERE AND HONEST!!!

The Parade

Hosanna to the Son of David

Jesus is coming in on the colt - oh, it was a sight! People all around - their coats and palms!

Matthew 21:9 NKJV

9 Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying: “Hosanna to the Son of David! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ Hosanna in the highest!”

Hosanna comes from a Hebrew word meaning “save now” or “save us, we pray.” He was being praised because He was their salvation who had come!

And their calling Him “Son of David” gives us an even deeper insight that they really saw Jesus as the Messiah. The Messiah was going to sit on the throne of David. And you can see in Matthew 1 where the lineage of Jesus goes all the way back to King David.

The Religious Response

Now, Jesus had made His way into Jerusalem, it seemed like everyone was happy. Jesus was happy. The disciples were happy. The people along the parade were happy.

But the dignified religious experts that day were unhappy.

In fact, the Bible says they were “sore displeased” when they saw everyone - especially the children - crying out “Hosanna!”

Matthew 21:15 KJV 1900

15 And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David; they were sore displeased,

What was their problem? They didn’t understand how some random common man like this could get such praise and worship like He did. But they didn’t know Him to see that He wasn’t just a mere man.

There are people that don’t understand why you do what you do for God. But they don’t really know Him like you do! They don’t really know what He’s done for you!

And if they’re ever going to get it, they’re going to have to get that kind of relationship with Him for themselves!

I Will Have a Relationship with Jesus for Myself

In this same chapter, these religious rulers were looking for ways to arrest Jesus without inciting a riot.

It’s interesting how all that heartfelt praise and worship pulled so much anger out of these men. But it shows you: It is not enough to just be religious. There are people who call themselves Christian, go to Church, and pay their tithes, but they haven’t talked to Him in months, years.

Listen: we must have a close relationship with Jesus for ourselves.

I’ve got a mission for you: today, seek to be closer to Jesus than you were yesterday. And if He doesn’t come back before tomorrow, we need to seek to be closer to Him tomorrow than we are today.

And the closer we get to Him, the more we will see Him for who He truly is!

Conclusion