The Triumphal Entry

Main Texts: Matthew 21:1–11, Luke 19:28–44, Zec 9.9

Key Concept: Jesus is welcomed into Jerusalem as King.

Lesson Aim: To show that Jesus did not accidentally enter Jerusalem this way. He deliberately revealed Himself as the promised King, yet many who praised Him did not truly understand Him.

Big Idea

Jesus openly presents Himself as the promised King, but people must decide whether they will truly receive Him.

Introduction

When a king arrives, people prepare. They make announcements. They gather crowds. They celebrate.

On the day we call the Triumphal Entry, Jesus entered Jerusalem in a way that fulfilled prophecy and clearly declared who He is. This was not random. This was not merely emotional excitement from a crowd. This was God’s appointed day for the King to come.

Yet even in the middle of praise, there was unbelief. Some welcomed Him with joy, and others rejected Him. So this lesson is not only about what happened in Jerusalem. It is also about what each person does with Jesus the King.

Matthew 21:1–11 NASB95

1 When they had approached Jerusalem and had come to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied there and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to Me. 3 “If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord has need of them,’ and immediately he will send them.” 4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: 5 “Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold your King is coming to you, Gentle, and mounted on a donkey, Even on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’ ” 6 The disciples went and did just as Jesus had instructed them, 7 and brought the donkey and the colt, and laid their coats on them; and He sat on the coats. 8 Most of the crowd spread their coats in the road, and others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them in the road. 9 The crowds going ahead of Him, and those who followed, were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David; Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest!” 10 When He had entered Jerusalem, all the city was stirred, saying, “Who is this?” 11 And the crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth in Galilee.”

Emphasize:

Jesus sent for the colt

the disciples obeyed

Jesus rode into Jerusalem

the people shouted

the Pharisees objected

Jesus accepted the praise

I. Jesus Deliberately Set the Stage

A. Jesus sent for the colt

Jesus told two disciples to go into the village and bring Him a colt.

This matters because:

it was an unbroken colt

no one had ever sat on it

Jesus was acting with purpose, not by accident, it was planned.

He was not caught in a wave of public excitement. He was directing the whole event.

B. Jesus was fulfilling prophecy

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.

Jesus chose to enter Jerusalem exactly as Scripture said the King would come.

The prophet said the King would come humbly:

not on a war horse

not as an earthly conqueror

but lowly, humble, and bringing salvation

That is the kind of King Jesus is

WORD UP - JESUS IS KING

1. Prior to this time Jesus had deliberately discouraged any kind of public demonstration or public acknowledgement of Him as the Messiah.

2. After Jesus had fed the multitude with the 5 loaves and the two fish they were saying, This is truly the prophet that is to come into the world

John 6:15 NKJV

15 Therefore when Jesus perceived that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, He departed again to the mountain by Himself alone.

C. Why did Jesus tell people to be quiet before this; to keep the people from publicly acknowledging that He was the Messiah?

This helps the children see that this day was unique.

1. Many times, He said His hour had not yet come

Examples:

When Jesus cleansed the leper in Matthew 8 he told him to tell no man, but go and show himself to the priest.

In Matthew 16 He charged His disciples to tell no man that He was the Messiah.

When James, John and Peter came down from the mountain of transfiguration with Jesus, He commanded them not to tell anyone what they saw, until after He was risen from the dead.

In healings he told them not to go and tell.

2. God had obviously appointed a particular day in the history of man when the Messiah would be presented to the nation.

a. As we read in the Psalm 18.24, "This is the day that the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it."

Psalm 118:24 NKJV

24 This is the day the Lord has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it.

b. in Luke 19.42 "Jesus lamented,

Luke 19:42 NKJV

42 saying, “If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.

3. The hour had now come, the day had arrived, the time when the Messiah would come riding into the city on a donkey.

D. The Timeline of Prophecy

There is one other prophecy that refers to this day, it is found in Daniel 9.

1. From the study of the prophecies of Jeremiah, Daniel knew that the time of their deliverance from the Babylonian captivity had come.

a. Jeremiah had declared they would serve the King of Babylon for 70 years

b. They had been in the land for 490 years without giving the land the sabbath rests. That equates to 70 years of rest from planting that the land had coming.

c. Knowing these prophecies Daniel was seeking the Lord when the angel of the Lord visited him and declared,

Daniel 9:24–26 NKJV

24 “Seventy weeks are determined For your people and for your holy city, To finish the transgression, To make an end of sins, To make reconciliation for iniquity, To bring in everlasting righteousness, To seal up vision and prophecy, And to anoint the Most Holy. 25 “Know therefore and understand, That from the going forth of the command To restore and build Jerusalem Until Messiah the Prince, There shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; The street shall be built again, and the wall, Even in troublesome times. 26 “And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; And the people of the prince who is to come Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, And till the end of the war desolations are determined.

2. God gave a countdown

Explain simply:

a. Daniel said that from the command to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there would be a set period of time.

That means God did not just say, “Someday Messiah will come.”

God told Daniel there would be 69 weeks

these are not seven-day weeks, but weeks of years

69 x 7 = 483 years

from the command to rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah comes

The first 7 weeks, or 49 years, likely describe the first phase of Jerusalem’s restoration in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah, when the city was rebuilt in difficult times.

Point to the image and say:

“So when Jesus rode into Jerusalem, this was not random. This was the day God had planned.”

Teaching Point

“The Bible does not guess. The Bible tells the truth ahead of time.”

“Only God can tell the future with perfect accuracy.”

WORD UP - JESUS IS KING

Lets continue reading...

Luke 19:36–38 NKJV

36 And as He went, many spread their clothes on the road. 37 Then, as He was now drawing near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen, 38 saying: “ ‘Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!’ Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

II. IT is now OBVIOUS that JESUS is ENCOURAGING the DISCIPLES to make a PUBLIC DEMONSTRATION as they HAILED HIM as KING.

A. The people cried out, they shouted with a loud voice- but NOT everyone believed.

His disciples began to rejoice and praise God with loud voices for the mighty works that they had seen.

there are so many miracles God has done there are not enough books to record the marvelous work He has done. John 20.30; Matt15.30; Luke7.22

1. Surely the Pharisee's could put two and two together, He is riding on a donkey as Jesus’ disciples and followers are rejoicing and shouting for joy.

2. The people were calling Him the King, "Blessed be the King who comes in the name of the Lord."

3. Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest.

4. Matthew tells us that the multitude that was going in front of Him and those that were following

were crying "Hosanna to the Son of David." Which was a Messianic title.

The Hebrew word Hosanna means save now.

They were singing and calling out a portion of Psalm 118, which was recognized by all as a prophecy of the Messiah.

Psalm 118:26 NKJV

26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! We have blessed you from the house of the Lord.

B. But many still misunderstood Him

Some wanted:

a political king

a national deliverer

someone to overthrow Rome

But Jesus came first:

to save sinners

to go to the cross

to bring peace with God

C. The Pharisees REJECTED the King

The Pharisee's told Jesus to rebuke His disciples because they considered their acclamation of Him as the Messiah as being blasphemous.

Jesus was being PRAISED as the promised MESSIAH

JESUS’ ANSWER:

He said, "I tell you that if they would hold their peace, the very stones would immediately cry out."

The Cornerstone Rock

“if people refuse to honor the King, creation itself knows He is worthy”

Will you praise the King, or will the rocks have to do it?

D. Jesus wept over the city of Jerusalem

why did Jesus cry over jerusalem?

because they did not know the time of their visitation

or the things that belonged to their peace

I believe that when that day comes, when a person rejects for the last time the opportunity God has given them to be at peace with God through Jesus the Messiah, that Jesus weeps, for He can see the costly consequences of that rejection.

Think about this for a moment. Jerusalem had:

the OT scriptures

the Prophets

the Promises

now, the Messiah in front of them

yet many still refused Him

2. is it possible to be very near to God’s visitation and still reject Him?

The Gospel Connection

The King came into Jerusalem, but He did not come to be cheered. He came to die for sin, and to rise again in victory.

THE WORDLESS BOOK

Gold represents the King: God is holy and heaven is glorious. The King belongs there.

Black heart - the Dark page represents our sin- Our sin separates us from God. Jerusalem needed more than excitement. They needed peace with God.

Red represent the blood of Jesus that was shed for our sin, Jesus the King went to the cross and shed His blood for sinners.

White represents those who trust in Jesus, all sin past present and future is forgiven and made clean.

Green reminds us that our faith means action - Now we grow by knowing, loving, and obeying the King.

“Knowing God and making Him known”.

Tie it back:

“The right response to the Triumphal Entry is not just ‘Hosanna’ with your mouth. It is trusting Christ as your King.”

Word up - Jesus is King