The King Rode In

Matthew 21:1-17

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. 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.”

Jesus Cleanses the Temple

12 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. 13 He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.”

14 And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. 15 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, 16 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’?”

17 And leaving them, he went out of the city to Bethany and lodged there.

Intro:

We’ve been walking our way through the Gospel of Matthew … trying to concentrate on the underlying current of the whole … that Jesus is the King … That’s My King … what are the implications, commands, consequences, evidence … and this morning is one of the key, if not The Key passage showing us

Jesus Is King … can’t miss it

Usually when we talk about the triumphal entry of Jesus it’s the week before Easter … so our heads are moving ahead … we are thinking about Egg Hunts, crucifixion, Resurrection … but I hope this morning we can really upack this, hear it for the earth/history shattering truth we can see here

Let’s make some observations before we get into the implications:

Context

v1 - Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage … Chap 21

in Chap 20:30 … story we didn’t read last week … two blind guys are sitting by the side of the road … as Jesus approaches they cry out … “30 And behold, there were two blind men sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!”

Is this just one more miracle in Jesus lead up to Jerusalem … great two more guys can see … there is more here … when they say Son of David … this is a make no mistake … Messianic title assigned to Jesus … so when Jesus … yep that’s me, what can I do for you

Everyone knew what the title meant … everyone … the crowd, the disciples, the religious leaders, Jesus Himself …

The Disciples/Apostles have been longing for this … begging for it …they’ve seen what He can do … the miracles, the food, the wisdom, the raising the dead … they’ve seen it all … and they haven’t understood, what are you waiting for … let’s get in there, let’s get the vipers out, lets get the Romans and the corrupt/oppressive religious leadership out … let’s get our guy in … we want to sit beside you, we want to rule, we’ve got stuff we want to fix …

So now in the midst of an open public declaration and the acceptance of it by Jesus … the clock has started … tick-tock Jesus …. you are either going to have to enter in and kick some booty … or they will crush you … this is the great moment of drama … every movie/book/story has it … when the hero finally says … ok … I’ll face the thing, the challenge, the insurmountable odds … Star Wars: Luke sees his aunt and uncle burned and knows he has to go be a part of the rebellion … LOTR: Frodo sitting around the council where they are debating who will take the ring to have it destroyed … HP: Harry finally realizes that he has to be the one to confront Voldemort at the cost of his own life … Jesus hears them cry out … and He knows … and everyone else knows

In Charge

I want to pick my words carefully … Jesus is in charge of His triumphal entry … sometimes we get the sense that Jesus was just wandering along and all the sudden folks started shouting and laying down their coats and cutting branches and He somehow just stumbled into His Jerusalem entrance … I think we can see nothing is further from the truth

Jesus sends two disciples into Bethphage to get the Donkey/colt

Bethphage and Bethany are villages next to each other just outside of Jerusalem

Bethany is where Mary, Mary & Lazarus (Raised from the dead in public Lazarus) live … these are some of Jesus best friends … He’s been here, he knows here and the folks know Him, they’ve seen him and witnessed him and heard him … he knew who had the animals, which street corner they were on … Jesus knows them and they know Him … power, majesty, miracle … they are the already convinced

And so Jesus sends his guys to get the donkey … expecting that the village is going to hear about it … they are going to ask … and He gives his disciples the answer … tell them - “The Lord needs them,”

So the crowd comes … the villagers come … Jesus is entering Jerusalem, riding on the donkey … it’s happening … grab your coats, cut the branches, line the streets, we aren’t going to miss this

the crowd is outside of Jerusalem … this is Bethany and Bethphage lining the route … and naturally inside Jerusalem they are stirred saying what is happening, who is coming, what do they know that we don't know

Do you see how Jesus has arranged it … the crowd arrives with the donkey … He knew that sending for one would bring the other … He is in control, He is setting it in motion … Jesus is in charge

even in the choice of animals … if He hadn’t been specific the disciples would have brought him a war horse, big white, tall … the steed of a conquering king … but Jesus is in charge … it’s the donkey, the ride of the servant …

v5 - fulfilling prophecy … 5  “Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey,

your king comes humble … different translation … your king comes gentle … your king is coming humble/gentle …

Now with those observations in our minds/hearts … I hope we are ready for the implications:

1) Jesus comes confronting

Jesus isn’t tricked or forced … this is arranged, intentional … something I read this week … Jesus is humble but not modest

He is sensitive, compassionate, tender … gentle, humble … He serves, cares deeply about others, asks questions, cares how they feel and about what they need … but He knows exactly who He is

walks into the temple (House of God) - says My House shall not be … and then cleans house, rearranges the furniture

He rides into Jerusalem … He doesn’t sneak in … slip in unnoticed … He makes it so that everyone, the whole city can’t miss it, the religious leaders can’t miss it, the Romans can’t miss it

You will either Crown Me or Kill Me - Jesus doesn’t leave room for fans … folks he thinks he’s just great … Jesus isn’t interested in being a consultant, guru, author of self-help and advice … He doesn’t want to be your co-pilot who sort of sleeps while you drive and then awakes to take the wheel when you’ve really screwed up… driven over the cliff and shake his shoulder - hey dude can you get me out of this

Kill Me or Crown Me … yes I am your friend, brother, shepherd, and guide … but I’m none of those things if I’m not King first

John (most would say Jesus best friend) in his vision Revelation says that Jesus says … be hot or cold, don’t be lukewarm … lukewarm makes me puke

that Jesus has set the confrontation … and I believe He has just as much desire to confront you in here this morning … you sitting in your living room streaming … you headed to work this morning, listening later … Jesus has to be the center, He is what everything else revolves around … we sometimes have this aw-shucks picture of Jesus … He’s jus this nice guy who loves everyone and wants us all to be happy and content and living our best lives … wrong … He shows up and says you have to account for me, I am the King … you will either fall down in worship, rearrange the entirety of your lives for me … of kill me, reject me … but you can’t just be my Facebook friend

When I was in college the early/mid-nineties… the height of Christian music … lots of bands, indi-stuff … band called “black eyed sceva” … comes from a story in acts … 7 brothers who hear of Paul’s success while planting the church in Ephesus … so they head out, to cast out some demons, make a name for themselves … they know that Paul casts out demons in Jesus name … so they show up, tell a demon to get out … in Jesus name, you know the one Paul preaches about … so the possessed man looks at them and says … I know Paul, I know Jesus … I don’t know you and beats them up

We don’t have a magic, Jesus … we don’t get to claim his authority and help and power … w/o knowing him as King … HIs isn’t magic power, it isn’t abstract .... it’s relational … I wonder do you know HIM … Has He confronted you?

2) Jesus comes confusing

He is a paradox … your king comes, humble/gentle … clearly He does it fulfilling the prophecy … Zechariah 9

Your King comes gentle, meek, humble … He has to if He is on a donkey … you can’t win any fight on a donkey, it is no way to go into battle … so He is riding in as a king, He’s got the crowd and the adoration and the miraculous reputation … and yet He rides in vulnerable, defenseless

Do you see the Gospel here?

Sin, all sin is servants putting themselves in the place of God, assuming His role, we know better, we don’t have to obey or follow … sin is missing the standards of God because we think we are smarter, know better … and here is the Jesus, the King, the ruler, the maker not just of heaven and earth but the very rules we flaunt and disobey … and He is taking our place, he has put Himself in the place of the servant, riding on the donkey

Sin is what causes all of the brokenness, certainly in history … war and holocaust and racism and prejudice and conflict but sin is also the cause of your worry this morning, of relational strife, and pride, greed, anger, lust … why are we sitting here this morning worried, anxious, frustrated … because we think we know, we know how are life should be going, what we need, and when we need it … so we put ourselves in the place of the King … every problem, every difficulty, all our misery, all our fighting … Sin

Sin is when we put ourselves in the place of the King - Gospel is when the King puts Himself in the place of the servant

Jesus is saying - “I’m the King, but not a king like you think. What if I did free you from the Romans? Do you realize if I freed you from the Romans, if that was the only liberation I gave you, you would turn around and enslave somebody else? You know why? If I liberate you from the Romans, what are you going to do about your guilt? What are you going to do about that deep sense of nakedness and spiritual emptiness you have? What are you going to do about the fact that you are desperately trying to prove yourself?”

I want you to see the paradox … see the twist … Here’s what’s so beautiful about this. If the gentle King, the dying King, the servant King, the King who is higher than the heavens and yet comes so low, the King on a donkey … if this King comes into your life, he will turn you into a gentle king. He will turn you into paradoxical royalty. The whole point of the gospel is we’re saved through weakness, not through strength.

We know how this story is going to go … Jesus is going to die, He is going to be crucified … Jesus saves us not through strength, not through might or power or battle, not through politics, or finances, not through manipulation or machinations … HE saves us by losing, He saves us through weakness, He saves us through Humility and gentleness … He saves us by dying

And if you’re a Christian if you know you’re saved by weakness, if you know you’re saved by the gentle King, you’ll be a gentle king. On the one hand, when things go wrong, you’ll say, “Well, I’m a sinner. I don’t deserve a good life.” On the other hand, you’ll say, “But I am loved by him. I am accepted by him. I am freely welcomed by him; therefore, this thing that is happening to me is not a punishment. God has some good thing he’s doing in my life through it.”

3) Jesus Comes Transforming

v5 - Behold, your king is coming to you, humble

Is coming … He is coming … on his way, not quite here all the way yet .... he hasn’t forgotten, HE isn’t absent but not yet totally here

let’s talk about Palms

Psalm 96:11  Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; let the sea roar, and all that fills it; 12  let the field exult, and everything in it! Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy

Is 55:12  “For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

We see in scripture that when Jesus is all the way back, when He is fully here and eternity is turned on … when the world is no longer a place of sin and death and disease … when that happens the world is going to burst in ways never seen … mountains and hills will sing … trees are going to wave and clap … earth rejoices, seas roar … the fields will exult

So think about you … think about how we worship now … some of us look mostly dead, lifeless, afraid someone will see show a bit of emotion as we worship … like a rock, like a stump … but then … then we will be transformed, all of creation is going to be transformed … our 5 senses might be a 100 or a 1000 … and I believe in that moment we will be overcome, we like all of creation will have no other option but to worship Him with all that we with all that possess .... we will have no desire but for all of us to serve and honor and declare the majesty of our King

But today … today He comes gentle, He comes humble, He comes comforting the weak, welcoming the estranged, washing the feet of the broken, forgiving the sinner … He welcomes the children to His lap, the leper to his arms and the unfaithful into Faithfulness

Let Him confront you this morning … Let Him confound you today … But be transformed

Friends I invite you to stand with us, to worship with us … Oh What a Day that will be …