Sermon Tone Analysis

The following material is adopted from John MacArthur’s commentary on Matthew and his Study guide.

Additional material taken from sources listed at the end

Look for

— Prayers ( Blue )

— Promises ( Green )

— Warnings ( Red )

— Commands ( Purple )

Read and summarize

Q: Have you ever seen a coronation of a king or Queen?

What was it like ( 21:1-11 )?

The Humble Coronation of Christ ( 21:1-11 )

( 21:1-11 ) Now when they drew near Jerusalem, and came 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, and a colt with her.

Loose them and bring them to Me. 3 And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord has need of them,’ and immediately he will send them.” 4 All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying: 5 “Tell the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your King is coming to you, Lowly, and sitting on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey.’

” 6 So the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them.

7 They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, and set Him on them.

8 And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road; others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road.

9 Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying: “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 had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, “Who is this?” 11 So the multitudes said, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee.”

— A king or queen coronation is usually a large ceremony

— The king would be dressed in expensive robes and jewels and accompanied by dignitaries and soldiers and driven through the city in an ornate carriage with stately horses

— At the climax of the events the king would be presented with a scepter or stand on a sacred stone which represented the transfer of power into this hands

— At the coronation of Queen Victoria in 1838 she wore a crown encrusted with giant rubies and sapphires surrounding a 309-carat diamond

— Her scepter was capped with an even larger diamond, cut from the Star of Africa and weighed 516 1/2 carats

—Matthew 21:1-11 portrays the most significant coronation the world has ever seen

— It was a true coronation of a king, but unlike Queen Victoria, there was no pomp, no splendor, and a nondescript sort of pageantry

The End of the Pilgrimage ( 21:1a )

— Jesus stopped in Bethphage and John tells us that He visited with Mary, Martha, and Lazarus six days before the Passover ( John 12:1-3 )

— As He faced the coming week of pain and death, He sought out the comfort and companionship of those three beloved friends

— A great number of Jews came to see Jesus and also Lazarus who was a living testimony of Jesus’s supernatural power

— John also tells us that the chief priests also planned to kill Lazarus as well ( John 12:10 )

Going Deeper

— Mary, Martha and Lazarus visited Jesus in Bethany “six days before the Passover” ( John 12:1-3 ), making it probably Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath

— This is the occasion that Mary anointed the Lord’s feet with costly perfume and wiped His feet with her hair ( John 12:3-8 )

— It was probably on Monday, the day after the crowd visited Him in Bethany ( John 12:12 ) that Jesus came to Bethphage and prepared to enter Jerusalem through the East Gate

— According to this chronology, the triumphal entry was on Monday rather than “Palm Sunday” as Christian tradition has long maintained

Q: Was Jesus a victim of circumstances?

How did Jesus know to find the donkey and the colt (21:1-7 )?

The Exactness of Prophecy ( 21:1b-7 )

— From this text and many others it is clear that Jesus was always in control of the events that affected His life

— Only in His omniscience could Jesus have known that the donkey and her colt would at that moment have been where they were

— Matthew mentions a donkey and a colt, while the other Gospels mention only the colt.

— He shows how Jesus's actions fulfilled the prophet’s words, thus giving another indication that Jesus was indeed the Messiah

Q: What are the disciples to say if anyone questions why they need the animals ( 21:3 )?

( 21:3 ) And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord has need of them,’ and immediately he will send them.”

— Note that especially that Jesus is using the title Lord to designate Himself ( 11:27; 28:18 )

— Note also the Lord not merely “your” Lord; rather, the Lord of all, with the right to claim all for His own use

— Has the Lord asked something of you and you are reluctant to accept it?

( cf.

Lk 9:26; Jn 21:21, 22 )

Q: Why did Jesus come on a donkey rather than a grand stallion ( 21:5)?

( 21:5 ) “Tell the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your King is coming to you, Lowly, and sitting on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey.’

”

— This is a fulfillment of Zechariah 9:9 ( cf.

Is 62:11 )

This is a quotation from Zechariah 9:9 -- "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass."

— It seems totally inappropriate that any king, much less the King of kings, should make His triumphal entry mounted on a donkey

— He was not intended to come this time in earthly splendor or to reign in earthly power

— He did not come in wealth but in poverty; He did not come in grandeur but in meekness; and He did not come to slay Israel’s enemies but to save all mankind

— The precise fulfillment of this messianic prophecy would not have escaped the Jewish people, who responded with titles and accolades fit only for the Messiah ( 21:9 )

— Blessed is the Son of David

— Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord

— Hosanna in the Highest

— There are certain important omissions in the quotation in Matthew which a careful comparison will reveal

— "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion" is omitted.

Why?

— Because our Lord is not coming into Jerusalem for that time of rejoicing

— That will take place at His second coming

— Also omitted is "he is just, and having salvation"

— the word salvation has the thought of victory, which will be fulfilled at His second coming

— The conclusion to be drawn from these portions is that at His second coming there will be a true triumphal entry

— This same kind of omission is made in Luke 4:17-21 in the reading of the Isaiah scroll by Jesus

Going Deeper

— Jesus also fulfilled another OT prophecy

— “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.” ( Dan 9:24 )

— In the context of the passage, the idea is 69 weeks of years or 69 times 7 years, which comes to 483 years

— Two different systems of reckoning have endeavored to determine the chronology of the 483 after Artaxerxes’ decree to restore Jerusalem

— They are Sir Robert Anderson’s The Coming Prince and Harold Hoehner’s Chronological Aspects of the Life of Christ

— Missler puts the date of Artaxerxes decree as March 14, 445 B.C. and Christ’s entry into Jerusalem as April 6, 32 A.D.

The Epitome of Praise ( 21:8-9 )

( 21:8-9 ) And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road; others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road.

9 Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying: “Hosanna to the Son of David! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ Hosanna in the highest!”

— The account in Luke notes that they are singing Psalm 118, heralding Jesus as the Meshiach Nagid, the Messiah the King ( Missler )

— Spreading one’s garments on the street was an ancient act of homage reserved for high royalty ( cf. 2 Ki 9:13)

Then each man hastened to take his garment and put it under him on the top of the steps; and they blew trumpets, saying, “Jehu is king!” ( 2 Ki 9:13 )

— The people recognized Jesus’ claim to be King of the Jews

— Jesus boldly rode as the King of peace, and the crowd gladly join him

— But the same people would bow to political pressure and desert Him in just a few days

— Today we celebrate this event on Palm Sunday

— This should remind us to guard against a superficial acclaim for Christ

Food for thought: Did Jesus ever sit on the throne of David?

No, it didn’t exist then.

He will later (Cf. 1 Kgs 1:38-40: Solomon was brought to his coronation riding David’s mule

Going Deeper

— Hosanna means “save now”

— Btu the people were not interested in personal salvation rather salvation for the nation

Q: After the great shouts of Joy that which accompanied Jesus as He rode into the city had subsided, the people gave a very strange response.

What was it ( 21:10 )?

( 21:10-11 ) The Element of Perplexity

( 21:10-11 ) And when He had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, “Who is this?” 11 So the multitudes said, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee.”

— Who is this?

— Obviously most had paid little attention to what they were shouting

— They did not understand what they were saying