Unstoppable Mission

Matthew 21:1–17 ESV

Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, 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. If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.” This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying, “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.’ ” The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 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!” And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.” And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.” And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant, and they said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes; have you never read, “ ‘Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise’?” And leaving them, he went out of the city to Bethany and lodged there.

Introduction:

There are some things you just can’t stop. The force behind it is just so great that it’s practically impossible to stop. It was around this time last year that you and I were sitting at home because of A stay at home orders given by Governor Cooper. We heard about the Corona Virus a couple of months before but never thought it would come to America. There was a lot of debate on wether to implement a travel band. That travel band was put into place because there were cases of covid 19 found in America. As you know we are year into this pandemic and it has had impact not only on America but the entire world. I heard from an IMB missionary this week of the that has been over seas for years and had to come back to care for his parents. He talked about how America may have been affected by this virus than most other countries. In particular the church and the pastors of those churches. He said that many missionaries over seas are praying for the pastors in America. Praying for wisdom as they are making decision. As we look back it probably would have been impossible to stop this virus from entering America. It is also impossible to stop the Messiah and his mission to redeem sinners from this spiritual pandemic of sin.

This unstoppable mission is the purpose of our message this morning. As we look at these verses we see that this is known as the

Triumphal Entry:

The term used to refer to Jesus’ climactic arrival in Jerusalem, which is recounted primarily in the New Testament Gospels (see Matt 21:1–11; Mark 11:1–11; Luke 19:28–40; John 12:12–19). In the narrative flow of the Gospels, the triumphal entry stands at the beginning of the Passion Narrative, which recounts the series of events during the last week of Jesus’ ministry leading up to His crucifixion and resurrection.

Markley, J. R. (2016). Triumphal Entry. In J. D. Barry, D. Bomar, D. R. Brown, R. Klippenstein, D. Mangum, C. Sinclair Wolcott, … W. Widder (Eds.), The Lexham Bible Dictionary. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.

Central Purpose of the Sermon: Because Jesus is the promised messiah on mission for glory, we must trust him and this mission!

We must then ask this important question:

Question? How can we trust that Jesus is the the messiah?

The issue of trust, that is the truthfulness of who Jesus is, is the most important question one can ask. Jesus ask the question who do man say that I am?

Matthew 16:13–20 ESV

Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.

This is the same question that we must ask ourselves today. How can you trust that Jesus is the Christ the promised messiah.

The command:

-prophet vs.1-3

Jesus is here commanding his disciples to go into the village to get a donkey and colt. This shows that Jesus is a true prophet like the prophets in the Old Testament. Notice Jesus said that you “will” find a donkey and a colt. There is no probably with Christ here. We serve a “WILL” messiah.

Are you not glad for those who have trusted Jesus that he is knows all things ? He knows what you are going through right now. You were on his mind when he gave the command to go find the donkey and colt.

If you haven’t embrace this messiah who is on a mission to redeem a people for his name and fame, you can be glad this morning too. Because the God who knows it all and predestined it all needed a donkey and a colt for you.

We see the fulfillment of this in the Old Testament which leads us to another reason to trust thatJesus as the Messiah, the Savior of the world.

-prediction vs. 4-5

Zechariah 9:9 ESV

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 is the truthfulness of the Word of God proclaimed in the Old Testament. Here we see the fulfilled as Christ command them to go and proceeds

-performance vs.6-7

The disciple goes and does as Christ commands in verses 6-7.

-posture vs. 7b

But I want you to notice something here. He sat down on this donkey. In humility He went into Jerusalem with us on his mind for salvation. But He will also be coming back also sitting on a white horse in judgment.

The crowd:

-cloak vs. 8a

-cut branches 8b

-speech 9-11

The cleansing:

-Temple vs. 12-13

-Blind vs. 14

-Lame vs. 14

The cry:

-children vs.15

-Religious Leaders vs.16a

The Christ:

-Prophecy vs. 16b

-Place vs. 17