Ride On, King Jesus!

Introduction:

The passage we have the privilege to cover this morning is one of the most fantastic declarations of our Lord’s Messiahship. This morning we cover the triumphal entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem.

Jesus’ entry was a dramatic warning to all the people celebrating him. They must change their concept of Messiah, to fit God’s concept and purpose. Jesus was not coming as the national hero to save the world physically and materially by overthrowing the Roman and Gentile governments of the world.

Jesus was coming as the King of Peace to save the world spiritually and eternally. Spiritual and eternal salvation must occur first, then He will return to bring peace and national salvation to all.

Jesus came first as the King of Peace, then He will coming again as the King of Conquest.

Before be dive into our passage this morning, it is important for us to understand some context of Jesus’ ministry in Jerusalem.

The first three gospels (Matt, Mark, Luke) say little about Jesus’ ministry in Jerusalem. The present passage is the first mention of a specific visit. The three synoptic gospels give only a little hint of Jesus being in Jerusalem.

The first three gospel concentrate on Jesus’ ministry in Galilee. John’s gospel tell us Jesus was in Jerusalem quite often, especially during the great feasts.

When Jesus visited Jerusalem, His minsitry differed entirely from HIs Galilean ministry. In Galilee Jesus taught many subjects, however in Jerusalem He focused only upon one theme: His Messiahship. Spending His time proclaiming strongly He was beyond any question the Messiah.

And there is a reason for this. Jerusalem was the capital the hub and center of Jewish life and worship. The population of Jerusalem and the surrounding suburbs and cities ranged in the hundreds of thousands.

For example Bethphage and Bethany were close by. Even Jericho, a city with a sizeable population, was only about seventeen miles away.

The temple required over twenty thousand priest alone, not counting the Levite helpers who must have numbered even more. If there was any place where Jesus would proclaim HIs Messiahship, it would be in Jerusalem. This city was a city which held every sort of person; and it need to hear the truth of God’s Son and of God’s great love for the world. The men of Jerusalem as all men born thereafter were to be left without excuse.

Matthew 23:37 NKJV

37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!

We all must come to the understand there will be no excuse for denying Christ.

I would like to quickly mention some of Jesus’ earlier visits to Jerusalem.

John 2:13: Jesus cleansed the temple proclaiming it to be “My Father’s house; He proclaimed He was the Son of Man (John 3:14); and God’s only begotten Son (John 3:16).

John 5:1: Jesus healed a man on the Sabbath, a man who had been sick for 38 years. Jesus went on to proclaim He had the right to break the Sabbath law because He was the Son of the Father. he was equal with God in every sense of the word (John 5:1–16; 17–30).

John 7:1–10: Jesus declared He was sent of God (7:16–17, 28–29; 8:18, 26, 29, 42); the Source of Life (John 7:37–39); the Light of the Word ( John 8:12; 9:5); The Messiah (John 8:24, 28); The Spokesman of God ( John 8:26–28,40); The Son of man (John 8:28); God was His Father (John 9:28, 36, 38, 39, 40); He had come from God (John 8:42); He was the great “I Am” (John 8:58); the Son of God (John 9:35–37); the Great Shepherd of Life (John 10:1–42); and on and on.

vv. 1–7) Christ coming with peace

This is Palm Sunday: This was the beginning of Jesus’ last week on earth. He had spent the night before in Bethany with Martha, Mary, and Lazarus. This last week of the Lord’s life has been known as Holy Week from the earliest times of Christianity. The triumphal entry was the first event of the week, taking place on the first day, calling the day Palm Sunday.

[1–7] This first scene of our passage involves a colt, and is very symbolic. Symbolizing Christ came in peace.

Something that might be overlooked is the fact these verses detail the painstaking which were to be followed by the disciples and they were followed to the minute detail. Christ had a reason for making such a detailed preparations to enter Jerusalem.

He was deliberately fulfilling the prophecy of:

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.

This prophecy said four things:

“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!” Jerusalem was to be told to rejoice. There is a threefold explanation which follows. Ultimately though, Zion (Jerusalem) was expecting the messiah to come in a certain way, and if she wasn’t paying attention they were going to miss it.

“Behold, your King is coming to you:” This was the first sign. Jerusalem’s rightful King was coming, and they were expecting this aspect. However, there is danger in their expectation, the danger of being so fervent in their own expectancy and ideas they missed what really happened. Because, He came somewhat differently than they expected.

[Application] What a lesson for us too! You must guard against reading into Scripture what is not there, especially in looking toward the return of our Lord. We must not dictate how Jesus is to return; we must not add to what God has revealed in His Word.

“Your king is coming to you…lowly:” The Messiah was coming in meekness, not as a reigning monarch. He was coming to win men’s hearts and lives spiritual and eternally, not physically and materially.

Ephesians 1:3 NKJV

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,

Matthew 11:29 NKJV

29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

“Your king is coming to you…riding on a donkey:” The Messiah was coming not as a conqueror riding a war horse, but as a King of peace riding a young donkey. He was coming to save the world, to reconcile the world to God. The Messiah was not going to kill men and overthrow their governments, He was coming to win men’s hearts and lives through the glorious news of the Gospel which preaches reconciliation between God and men.

This prophecy would be fulfilled by Christ. This was God’s will, prophesied generations before Christ came. God wanted His Son to proclaim His Messiahship so clearly people could not mistake what He was doing. God wanted the world to know He was bringing peace to earth through His Son Jesus Christ.

Luke 1:78–79 NKJV

78 Through the tender mercy of our God, With which the Dayspring from on high has visited us; 79 To give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, To guide our feet into the way of peace.”

John 14:27 NKJV

27 Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

Ephesians 2:14 NKJV

14 For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation,

Colossians 1:19–20 NKJV

19 For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, 20 and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.

Donkey: In ancient times the donkey was a noble animal. It was used as a beast of service to carry burdens. But more significantly, it was used by kings and their emissaries. When they entered a city in peace, they rode a donkey to symbolize their peaceful intentions.

In contrast, a conquering king would enter a city riding on a war horse. Jesus was dramatically demonstrating two things for the people. First, He was unquestionably the promised King, the Savior of the people. Secondly, He was not coming as the conquering king. He was coming to show men the true meaning of love and reconciliation. Needless to say, they missed it.

The donkey is a symbol of peace.

The donkey symbolizes service. It was a beast of burdens. Jesus rode upon the donkey demonstrating He came to serve men, to bear their burdens too.

The donkey symbolizes sacredness. This particular animal had never been ridden before. Animals and things used for sacred or religious purposes had to be animals and things which had never been used before. Num 19:2; Deut 21:3; 1 Sam 6:7.

[Discipleship] is rooted in obedience to Christ.

The disciples probably had little money and no clue why Jesus gave them specific instructions, yet they obeyed, not questioning or doubting.

Note another act of homage of the disciple in Matthews Gospel: There was no saddle for their master. They cared about Him and His comfort, so they took their own outer garments and threw them across the animal.

The point I want to make here is this: To be a true disciple of Jesus Christ requires obedience to the Word of God. If you are unwilling to be obedient to the Word of God—or unwilling to sacrifice your wants and desires for Christ. You are not a proper disciple of Jesus Christ.

[Expound more if the Spirit wills]

vv. 8–10) Christ came to save

[8] Note the word “many. There was a great multitude there proclaiming Jesus to be the Messiah, the Son of David, who had come to deliver them from the bondage of Roman and Gentile rule.

Of course by riding the donkey, Jesus was proclaiming He had come to save now, but to save by bringing spiritual peace, not military peace.

Also notice, Jesus is deliberately receiving the homage of the people. Apparently what happened was this:

Early in the morning the people began to gather, excitedly looking for Him who had raised Lazarus from the dead. John’s Gospel tells us this. In fact John says there were so many people the Pharisees said:

John 12:19 NKJV

19 The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, “You see that you are accomplishing nothing. Look, the world has gone after Him!”

There was the crowd of disciples already accompanying Jesus, the pilgrims on their way to the Passover Feast, the the residents of the nearby towns who had heard of His presence and miracles. Everyone flocked out to search for Him.

I believe we are led to imagine an enormous crowd of thousands lining the roadway as Christ was helped atop the donkey to begin His triumphal entry into Jerusalem.

Josephus noted, nearly two million people gathered in Jerusalem every year for Passover.

I believe the very atmosphere was electric with the exciting news Jesus was God’s promised Messiah. Multitudes had heard He was near and flocked to find Him and did two things:

They received Him as King. This was shown by two acts which were done for kings when they entered a city. Taking their cloaks and cut down tree branches, and spread both out on the roadway before Him. They did this wishing to show Jesus honor and to pay homage as a King.

They received Him as Messiah.

“Holy Holy Holy Lord God of all power and might

Heaven and earth are full of your glory

Hosanna in the highest

Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.”

[9] For most of His minsitry, Jesus did everything He could to discourage people from publicly celebrating Him as the Messiah. Here Jesus went out of His way to invite public praise and adoration as the Messiah.

In fact, when the religious leaders object, He told them:

Luke 19:40 NKJV

40 But He answered and said to them, “I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out.”

The statement from the crowd came from Ps 118:19–29. In this, their praise was Scriptural. It is important we praise God as He wants top be praised. So if God says we are to come to Him with words

Hosea 14:2 NKJV

2 Take words with you, And return to the Lord. Say to Him, “Take away all iniquity; Receive us graciously, For we will offer the sacrifices of our lips.

Then that is how we come. If God says we are to come to Him with song:

Psalm 100:2 NKJV

2 Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before His presence with singing.

Then that is how we should come. If God says we are to come to Him with hands raised up:

Psalm 134:2 NKJV

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

Then that is how we come. The whole point in worship is to do what pleases God, not what pleases you, but the beautiful truth is that when we please God, we find ourselves wonderfully pleased.

We call this event the Triumphal Entry! But it was a strange kind of triumph. If you spoke of Jesus’ Triumphal Entry to a Roman of that time, they would have laughed at you.

A triumphal entry for them was a honor granted to a Roman general who won a complete and decisive victory and had killed something like 5,000 enemy soldiers. And upon the general return to Roman, they had an elaborate parade.

Consisting of first of the treasures captured from the enemy, then the prisoners. The generals armies marched by unity by unity, and finally the general rode in a golden chariot pulled by horses. Priests burned incense in his honor and the crowds shouted his name and praise Him.

The procession ended at the arena, where some of the prisoners were thrown to wild animals for the entertainment of the crowd.

But that is per usual when it comes to the world. This Triumphal Entry was a Galilean Peasant sitting on a few coats set out on a donkey.

v. 11a) Christ coming in obedience

Jesus entered into the temple and looked around. Perhaps off the the side someplace where He had the vantage point of seeing all of the happenings. Evening was approaching and I’m sure He was tired.

Jesus came here first to look at the standing of the people of God, and to make an inspection. The rest of Mark 11, we see the result of this inspection.

Malachi 3:1–3 speaks prophetically of the Messiah coming to the temple in careful assessment.

The Jewish authorities were seeking some opportunity to kill Him. And they were more irate then ever, because He did not discourage the people worshipping Him.

I’m sure the Romans sensed a popular uprising might be boiling up.

The Herodians feared for being blamed and replaced.

The Pharisees were stirred to new depths of envy and malice.

Despite all that, Jesus was courageous. He had come to lay down His life, and it was God’s will. He was preparing salvation for anyone who would except Him as Lord.

Family, If Jesus being fully God and man obeyed His Father. We are to obey no matter the threat and opposition too.

v. 11b) Christ preparing spiritually

Jesus retired for the night in the surrounding area of Bethany. No doubt He spent a good deal of time in prayer. Much lay ahead of Him in this last week of His life. He knew it, He needed the strong hand of His Father upholding Him. He needed to prepare spiritually. This is something He consistently did.

Luke 5:16 NKJV

16 So He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed.

Luke 6:12 NKJV

12 Now it came to pass in those days that He went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.

More then every family, as I mentioned Wednesday, the true battle for our nation, community, and family begins now!

Reformation of the culture is contingent upon the revival of God’s people.

Want to see things radically change for the gospel, it starts with you.

Numbers 6:24–26 KJV 1900

24 The Lord bless thee, and keep thee: 25 The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: 26 The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.