The Triumphal Entry

If you have a bible open it up to Matthew 21. I have titled the message The Triumphal Entry. Pray with me.

So here we are on Palm Sunday a week before Easter.. well not really but here we are talking about a week before Jesus resurrection and studying the last week of Jesus life for our church will feel like an eternity like VBS this week lol Howdy.

Because we will be looking at it for several months and we see that Matthew focuses the last 1/4 of his book on the last week of Jesus life. And we see in the last week of his life He is first making this Triumphal Entry.

So this text matters greatly, because its showing that the King is here and he is about to do a mighty work that no King has ever done before..

This is our text this morning. Matthew 21:1–11 “1 Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, 2 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. 3 If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.” 4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying, 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.’ ” 6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. 8 Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. Matthew 21:9–11 “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!” 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.””

In light of VBS this week I wanted to share this story with you I read from another pastor.

MY EARLIEST MEMORY of the Easter season is as a child visiting a rather large church. All of us little children were given palm fronds, and we then lined up and walked down the aisle of the church with the choir singing at the top of their lungs. We stood on either side of the aisle, with our palm fronds extending out and above us, forming a canopy. This seemed to me like a very fun way to do church! Then I was absolutely stunned, because down the aisle came a man in a long robe riding a donkey! Riding a donkey into church! That is a good memory. It was a happy procession of children and choir and a man on a donkey, almost like a celebration. It seemed like everyone loved Jesus on that Palm Sunday. But memories of childhood aren’t all exactly correct. Several years ago someone gave me a story of a Sunday school teacher who decided to ask her little preschool class what they remembered about Easter. The first little fellow suggested that Easter was when all the family came to the house and they ate a big turkey and watched football. The teacher thought that perhaps he was thinking of Thanksgiving, not Easter, so she let a little girl answer. She seemed to think that Easter was the day when you come down the stairs in the morning and saw all the beautiful presents under the tree. At this point the teacher was really feeling discouraged. But after explaining that the little girl was probably thinking of Christmas, she called on a little boy with his hand tentatively raised in the air. The teacher’s spirits immediately perked up as the boy said that Easter was the time when Jesus was crucified on a cross and buried. Finally, she felt that she had at least gotten through to one child. Then the little boy added, “And then he came out of the grave, and if he sees his shadow we have six more weeks of winter!” Well, when I was a little boy, I thought Palm Sunday seemed to say that everyone loved Jesus. Now that Jesus arrived on a donkey, everything is going to turn out all right. But like the little boy who confused Easter with Groundhog Day, I got only about half the story right. Palm Sunday does speak of celebration, but we have already seen that people were celebrating for a variety of reasons, not all of which reflect Jesus’ purposes for entering Jerusalem. Lots of people did shout for joy because they loved Jesus, but not all them really cared for him above their own dreams. In just a few days many of the same ones shouted with anger to have Jesus crucified. Because of Jesus’ redemptive sacrifice, things will turn out right for his disciples. But for the people of Israel a different future now commences, and for many of them it spells doom.

Its amazing what the crowd and kids will again say about Jesus but again what we see is Jesus is not just a mere prophet though he is one or an ordinary man though he is one, or anything else one of our kids may say he… but he is the King the King of Kings.

In fact what you need to see as our main idea is this…

Jesus, the one true King, entered Jerusalem in humility to fulfill God’s promises.

There are several things we are going to see as we look at this text together, and that starts first with again looking at the context. Now the road from Jericho to Jerusalem was about 17 miles long, and rose about 3000 feet. It passed through Bethany and nearby Bethphage (known as the “house of figs”), which lay on the southeast slope of the Mount of Olives, then crossed over the mount and the Kidron Valley and entered Jerusalem (Mt 21:1). The mount itself stands about three hundred feet higher than the temple hill and about one hundred feet higher than the hill of Zion, having a spectacular, panoramic view of the city. Jesus sent two disciples (unnamed, but cf. Luke 22:8 we see that its John and Peter ) ahead to Bethphage to fetch the animals (v. 2).

Now why was it important for this to be carried out. Well first point is this…

Jesus is the fulfillment of prophecy.

You are probably tired of me saying this but one of the unique things about Christianity is prophecy and how our religion was not made up on the fly but a fulfillment of the promises of God, and here we see another fulfillment of prophecy.

And in this prophecy we see Jesus tell two of his disciples what they are to find a donkey tied up and a colt with her. And they are to untie them and bring them to the Lord. And whats so incredible about that is they do that very thing.

This wasn't like Jesus hopped on his smart phone and rented this ahead of time this was strait up prophecy fulfilled in Jesus Christ. He doesn’t want them because he is tired of walking he is doing this to fulfill prophecy. These animals specially the colt show who he is and what his mission is about.

and this specific prophecy comes from Zechariah 9:9 “9 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.”

This not so minor prophet Zechariah is giving a glimpse that the king coming is one who is humble and mounted on a donkey.

This is not what people think about when they think about kings.

Listen to this one perspective…

C. F. Keil claims, "the whole of the lowly, miserable, suffering condition, as it is elaborately depicted in Isaiah 53."' So, in contrast with the arrogance and violence usually associated with earthly kings, this king, we are told, will be poor and afflicted; he will be a sovereign Lord and yet a suffering servant.] This description and prediction of humility is superseded in its strangeness only by the description and prediction that this king would come"mounted on a donkey."

Let's go back to the little donkey for a little while. To prophesy that a king would come in this specific manner must have sounded bizarre to Zechariah's original audience (perhaps as bizarre as it sounds to us), for since the time of King Solomon, when the breeding of horses was introduced, we are given no example in the Old Testament of ANY royal figure riding upon such a beast. In fact in all of antiquity we would be hard-pressed to find an example of any sort of ruler mounting a colt. The only example comes, oddly and importantly enough, in Genesis 49:11 which says… “11 Binding his foal to the vine and his donkey’s colt to the choice vine, he has washed his garments in wine and his vesture in the blood of grapes.” , which talks about the coming king as from the tribe of Judah.

Incredible is it not.

The same man said.. It's laughable to think about a Roman emperor straddled over such a slow, dirty, undignified, and unpretentious beast. It would be like the President coming into Chicago and traveling down the Magnificent Mile on a tricycle.

When a king comes to town, the expectation is that he will ride proudly upon a battle steed at the head of a parade of decorated troops, as Alexander the Great did when he rode into Jerusalem in 332 BC. And yet the prophet Zechariah envisions a king who will ride into Jerusalem "mounted on... the foal of a donkey." How interesting, to say the least.

Five hundred years passed from the time Zechariah wrote those words. Five hundred years passed from his penning that peculiar promise. Five hundred years passed until, as all four Gospels tell us, Jesus asked for a colt, he was brought a colt, and he sat on it. The phrase "he sat on them" (v. 7) refers, I think, to the cloaks, not to the two animals at once. This is why Mark, Luke, and John all say that Jesus "sat on it" (Mark 11:7; cf. Luke 19:35), referring to “a young donkey" (John 12:14). He sat on it. The Prince of Peace who comes in peace, who will one day bring the peace of the consummated kingdom , sat on it. He sat and steadied this unbroken beast (an animal “so young that it had never been ridden", just as he did the winds and the waves.

If you remember last week I said you needed to have the faith of a child and the mind of a scholar and when you have both

Something like this makes your heart stir in excitement and that is what happened to the crowd at-least some of them, One part of the crowd did atleast one thing correct.

The Triumphal entry shows Jesus kingship.

You picture the scene you see Jesus riding in…. the crowd gathers and some of them see Jesus as the king. It is believed that if you throw your garment down at the foot of a king you will submit to the king. You are showing some sign of submission.

But there were others who put down Palm Fronds and put them down on the road before Jesus. Palms symbolized this Jewish nationalism and victory, this happened when Judas Maccabeus and his followers got back Jerusalem and the temple after it was desecrated by Antiochus.

The Palms symbol got so famous during their time you would see it on Coins.

So the crowd had this mixed perception on Jesus this is the King whom we are going to submit to and this is the king who provides victory. Both all right kinda, and crowds were so big during that time for a few reasons one it was passover season, and another because the miracle of Lazarus had just days before. So we have disciples who had been following Jesus from Bethany and those coming from all around.

And though there is mixed reaction to Jesus their cry is one that is one of great desperation. They say Hosanna which means O Save. Every passover they would read from Psalm 113-118, and in Psalm 118:25–26 you read.. “25 Save us, we pray, O Lord! O Lord, we pray, give us success! 26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! We bless you from the house of the Lord.”

They were praising God in the highest places for sending Jesus their messiah and they were crying for deliverance. They were crying out to the Son of David… They were long awaiting a King to come and rescue them as of the day of Old God sent time and time again. Yet Jesus is different king hold that thought..

Those who know Jesus know He is King.

In verse ten as he entered into the Jerusalem the whole city was stirred up saying, Who is this? And the crowds said, This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.

When you read that or listen to that as Christian that does not sit right because he is more than a prophet Yes he is the prophet of whom Moses speaks about in Deuteronomy 18:15–18 “15 “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen— 16 just as you desired of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God or see this great fire any more, lest I die.’ 17 And the Lord said to me, ‘They are right in what they have spoken. 18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him.”

But what the crowd said makes me believe that Matthew did not believe they truly believed he was The prophet. Better yet that he is the Son of God. I am sure that some did believe that, but Matthew does not say it does he.

But those who know Jesus know who HE is Prophet, Priest, King, Son of David, Son of God second person of the Trinity.

See they missed that the King entering town was not a King that was coming swinging a sword, but being a suffering servant.

What did Jesus say right before this triumphal Matthew 20:28 “28 even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”” He was not going to do that in battle he was going to do that at the Cross. He is not just a prophet he is a priest the last Aaron, sacrificing not goats, not rams but himself.

Hebrews says.. In chapter 7:24-25 Hebrews 7:24–25 “24 but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. 25 Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.”

and as we see here he is the King.

And he is God. I got to preach the gospel of John to the Folks of Agape a few years back, and what I love alot about that book is all those I am statements and though there has been this stupid arguement going on that Paul started Christianity that is so wrong. See the one entering into the city of Jerusalem with less than a week left to the cross is God. And he said it all the way to the cross and he said it in a multitude of ways. In fact he talked about himself highly.. Those verses that make you Pause and see his greatness are these.

John 6:35 “35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.” He is the bread to which Isreal lived on.

John 8:12 “12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”” He is the light in which the world can truly see.

John 10:7–9 “7 So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.” He is the door in which we enter into eternal life..

John 10:11–14 “11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me,” He is the shepherd who lies down for his sheep, and whom his sheep know.

John 11:25 “25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,” He is the reason of belief.

John 14:6 “6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” IN a world with all these options he shows that he is the only one.

John 15:1–5 “1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” He is the one whom we get all our strength from.

Listen to this.. We usually disdain people who talk so much about themselves. We are repulsed by anyone who demands our love and obedience, our total allegiance. And yet what is it about Jesus that makes him not only likable but also believable? There is perhaps nothing so remarkable about Jesus than the fact that he advanced himself as the object of faith, love, and obedience, and yet he comes across as the most humble man to walk the face of the earth.

When Muhammad Ali claimed to be the greatest, we all just rolled our eyes and smirked. But when Jesus claims to be the Savior and Judge of the world, to be "the greatest" by dying and rising again, we somehow are prone to bow our heads and agree. Why?

Deluded people usually "delude no one but themselves."' You only have to be in the presence of such persons for a few minutes before you recognize that their claims are bogus and they are living in a fantasy world. But with Jesus this is not the case. His first disciples didn't see in him such a delusion.

Neither have the millions of people (is it billions now?) throughout history who have and do and will bow the knee to this son of a poor Jewish maiden.

John Stott calls what I'm talking about simply "the paradox of Jesus." Stott writes that Jesus' "claims sound like the ravings of a lunatic, but he shows no sign of being a fanatic, a neurotic or, still less, a psychotic. On the contrary, he comes before us in the pages of the Gospels as the most balanced and integrated of human beings?" That's the paradox of Jesus. He covers himself with disturbing claims (disturbing because they are so self-focused), and yet we see him clothed with utter humility. That, my friends, is the profound paradox we see in our passage. And it is one of those things that you really don't notice unless you pay careful attention.

Jesus arranges the whole scene. He determines the details. He decides to ride slightly above the crowd into Jerusalem upon a foal of a beast of burden, which is an action little different than how he started his earthly ministry in Luke's Gospel (Luke 4:16-21), taking up the scroll of Isaiah, reading it in the synagogue, sitting down to teach, and then expounding the text, saying in essence, "If you want to know to whom the prophet was referring, he was writing about me." Jesus rode into Jerusalem that first Palm Sunday announcing that Israel's Messiah had arrived, just as Zechariah said he would. By mounting that beast, Jesus in essence said, "If you want to know to whom the prophet was referring, he was writing about me." It's all quite mind-boggling.

So who is Jesus to you? Now I hate to tell you this if he is not your Lord you then missed Jesus like many in the crowds. The one riding into town on a colt is King Jesus.. In just a few days time Jesus is going to the cross to deal with the bigger problem the Jews had and it wasn’t the Romans through they thought it was.. the biggest problem that Jesus deals with is sin, and because he is not just a prophet, not just a priest, and not just a King, because he is Lord, he deals with the consequences of Sin and death. We all that kind of savior who is the suffering servant king who was willing to go to a place you and I could not go to achieve something no prophet priest or king could do before him which is die for the consequences of sin, yet live because he is Lord over it… And those who believe that he is Lord, the Son of God, and believe that he died on that cross for sin, you can have eternal life, and you can enter into eternal life.

And for those who do call him Lord the call is simple today, obey the king submit to him as your king, and sing his praises.

Hosanna, Hosanna Hosanna in the highest Let us pray….