04-01-07-Palm Sunday--The Kingship of Jesus
Today is what we call Palm Sunday. It is called that because of the palm branches that were used to celebrate the triumphal entry of Jesus into the city of Jerusalem. This event begins what we call holy week—the last week of Jesus’ life on earth leading up to the crucifixion on what we call Good Friday. Next Sunday we will celebrate the resurrection from the dead by Christ. But for today, I’d like to look at the importance of the Triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. All four gospels record this event, but I’d like to use Matthew as our primary text.
§ Matthew 21:1-11 (NIV) 1 As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, tell him that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.”
4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: “Say to the Daughter of Zion, ‘See, your King comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’ ”aThe disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt, placed their cloaks on them, and Jesus sat on them. 8 A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.
9 The crowds that went ahead of Him and those that followed shouted, “Hosannab to the Son of David!” “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!”c“Hosannad in the highest!” 10 When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?” 11 The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”
When we read this story, we may think, what does it have to do with me? I wasn’t there. This is just history that has been recorded in the Bible of something that happened almost 2000 years ago. Well, I believe it has to do with our understanding and caring about the kingship of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Let’s set the stage for this understanding by looking at just what was happening on this Palm Sunday. On this day, we see that Jesus finally has arrived at Jerusalem. Remember that for that past few weeks we have seen how Jesus took His disciples on a retreat to Caesarea Philippi where He revealed to them that He was the Messiah—the Son of God—and that He must go to Jerusalem to suffer and die. So now we see Jesus at the place that He had been talking about with His disciples.
But before He gets to Jerusalem, Jesus tells two of His disciples to go to a nearby village and find a donkey and its colt and bring them to Him. He tells them that if anyone asks why they are taking the animals they are to tell them “the Lord needs them.” Matthew tells us that this happened to fulfill the prophecy given by Zechariah over 500 years earlier.
§ Zechariah 9:9 (NIV) Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your Kinga comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
Notice that this prophecy clearly talked about a King coming to Jerusalem to bring salvation to God’s people.
The two disciples who went and brought the donkey and its colt to Jesus, probably told the rest of the disciples what Jesus had said and how it happened exactly as He had said it would. All of them would have been familiar with Zechariah’s prophecy and this would have left no doubt in the disciple’s minds about who Jesus was—the Messiah.
Imagine for a moment what the disciples must have been thinking. Especially the Zealots (Judas Iscariot & Simon—not Simon Peter) must have been so excited to see the people shouting and recognizing Jesus for who He truly was—the Messiah. They had heard Jesus talk about going to Jerusalem to suffer and die, but maybe He had been wrong and the people would prevent that from happening. They thought maybe He would be accepted as the King and free them from the bondage of Rome. Other disciples may have also thought that Jesus had been wrong and would be finally recognized as the Messiah and their King.
Then think about Peter, James, and John who had seen Jesus transfigured and heard the voice of the heavenly Father speak to them, saying that Jesus was His Son and that He was well pleased with Him. The Father had told them to listen to Jesus. So surely, they must have wondered if what Jesus had told them was really going to happen, or maybe the Father Himself would intervene and declare to all present who Jesus was just like He had to them. Maybe Jesus would be shown in all His glory to the people and everyone would hear the Father speak!
But there were many others there besides the 12 disciples. In the chronology of time, this event took place shortly after another very significant event—the raising of Lazarus from the dead. In fact John says this,
§ John 12:17-19 (NIV) Now the crowd that was with Him when He called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word. 18 Many people, because they had heard that He had given this miraculous sign, went out to meet Him. 19 So the Pharisees said to one another, “See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after Him!”
The miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead sealed it in many people’s minds that Jesus was the Messiah because of the power that He had. They went everywhere telling the news and inviting people to come see Him. Even the Pharisees saw that Jesus was being followed by everyone because of the miracles He had done. The Jerusalem Times headlines that morning must have had read something like “The King is coming!”
So when Jesus arrives in Jerusalem riding on a donkey, in fulfillment of prophecy, there is a great stirring among the people—their King has come! The Messiah—The Anointed One of God—has come to bring salvation to them!
If you have ever watched the coronation of a king or when our president is sworn into office, it is a parade full of great fanfare and splendor. People line the sides of the street just to get a peek at the great leader. This is what I imagine the streets of Jerusalem were like on that special day. The crowd that gathered was excited, joyful, probably dancing and signing—because anytime the Jews celebrated an event there was singing and dancing (e.g. remember when David brought the ark into Jerusalem how he danced wildly before the Lord). Let’s face it, this was something they had waited for over 5 centuries to see happen.
The scripture tells us they were spreading their coats on the ground and waving palm branches and shouting, “Hosannab to the Son of David!” “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!”c“Hosannad in the highest!” (vs. 9)
The word “hosanna” means, “Save us now!” They knew the scripture in Zechariah said their King would come to save them, so that is what they cried out to Him. “Oh, our King save us now!” would be more accurately what they shouted. If we read this story in Luke’s gospel we see another picture of what the people were saying and how it angered the Pharisees.
§ Luke 19:37-40 (NIV) 37 When He came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen: 38 “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!”a “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” 39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!” 40 “I tell you,” He replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”
Notice, that Jesus did not rebuke the people or correct them for calling Him their King. The Pharisees told Him to rebuke them, but He did not do it. Why? Because they were telling the truth, that truly He was—the Messiah—the Anointed One of God, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. In fact, Jesus says if they don’t praise Him then the rocks will cry out. Friends, I don’t want any rock praising my God more than I do! Amen?
But the people, just like Jesus’ own disciples, wanted Him to be like any other earthly king to establish peace and prosperity for them. They did not understand that the kingdom Jesus was coming to establish was not an earthly kingdom, but the Kingdom of heaven on earth. They did not understand that Jesus had come to Jerusalem to do just that as their King—bring them salvation by the way of the cross.
We also have to remember that there was a great crowd of pilgrims coming to Jerusalem to celebrate the annual Feast of Passover. Scholars believe that there may have been as many as 300,000 pilgrims arriving in Jerusalem for the festival. So there would have been many who may not have known about the resurrection of Lazarus and all that was going on. They asked in vs.10 “Who is this?” and in vs. 11 The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.” Probably many had heard of His miracles and teachings as He had traveled throughout the land for the past 3 years. There obviously was a crowd that followed Him everywhere He went, because many times Jesus had tried to get away from them to find rest. So He was not unknown to many people who lived outside of Jerusalem and they would have gladly joined in on the celebration of their King who had finally come.
Well, now that we have a clear picture of the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, we need to go back to the question of how it affects us today. Kingship is the key to understanding this passage. Now we do not know a lot about kingship in America, since we do not have a king, but we have a representative of the people who we elect as our president. But kingship is exactly what Jesus said many times that He came to establish. He talked about the kingdom of heaven continually. Any kingdom has a king and Jesus knew that He was the king of a heavenly kingdom so therefore He proclaimed the kingdom of God everywhere He went. Kingship = Kingdom!
There are 3 truths about kingship or a kingdom that we must understand:
1. The king is recognized as king by His people.
2. The king’s will is obeyed.
3. The king’s obedient subjects reap the benefits of His reign.
So the kingdom that Jesus came to establish is one where:
1. Jesus is recognized as King by His people
2. Jesus’ will is obeyed.
3. Jesus’ obedient subjects are blessed because of His reign.
When ever a man or woman fulfills these requirements, then the kingdom of God is established in His life.
1. We bow our knee before Jesus as our King.
2. We submit our will to His will and live in obedience to it.
3. We receive the blessings of being a child of the King and living under His reign.
Yet, often times we are no different than the crowd on that Palm Sunday. You see the truth behind the story or as Paul Harvey would say, “the rest of story” is that the same crowd that cried “Hosanna” to their King on Palm Sunday just a few days later, cried “we have no king but Caesar, Crucify Him!” They were ready to throw Him away because He did not do what they thought He should do—set up His Kingdom and overthrow Rome.
We want the kingdom of God in our lives, but we do not want to submit to the King. We cry out “God save us now!” and then when He does, we go our way and don’t submit to His will. We don’t like the words He spoke about trusting Him in every situation. We disagree with the way He wants us to live holy lives and be separate from the rest of the world. We get disappointed when things don’t go the way that we expect them to. We complain when it seems that our needs are not being met by our King. We want to demand that He do something to help us and then when it seems that He does not do what we want or when we want it, we are ready to cry out that He is not our King!
Oh my friends, how different would our lives be if we truly understood that our King Jesus Christ is worthy of the worship and the honor—much more honor than He received in Jerusalem or that we give Him today in our daily walk or church services. How different our lives would be if we truly recognized that once we have given our lives to Him, He is our King to rule and reign over us as He chooses—because He is the King of all heaven—King of King and Lord of Lords! How different our lives would be if we truly understood that the kingship of God has been established by Jesus and He invites us to be a part of it and receive all its blessings.
Think about it—would Jesus Christ—our King and Savior—the Messiah—the God-Anointed Son of God who rules the universe say that you are obedient to Him? Or would He say that you are just like those fickle Jews who proclaimed Him as King one day and few days later rejected Him because He did not fulfill their expectations as their King? Would He see you submitted to His kingship and willing to trust Him as your king no matter what? Today, let us renew our commitment to our King, by taking a moment to reflect on this thought: When Jesus the King comes to your town, your job, your school, your workplace, etc. what do you want His thoughts to be about you?
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a Zech. 9:9
b A Hebrew expression meaning “Save!” which became an exclamation of praise; also in verse 15
c Psalm 118:26
d A Hebrew expression meaning “Save!” which became an exclamation of praise; also in verse 15
a Or King
b A Hebrew expression meaning “Save!” which became an exclamation of praise; also in verse 15
c Psalm 118:26
d A Hebrew expression meaning “Save!” which became an exclamation of praise; also in verse 15
a Psalm 118:26