The Unexpected King

Introduction - Idealized Scotland

Open up in your Bibles to Matthew 21, verses 1-11. That’s page 916 in the provided Bibles, if you’re using those.

I have a deep affinity for Scotland

Maybe it’s because part of my heritage is Scottish

Maybe it’s because my name is Scott

But, mostly it’s because I love the beauty and history of Scotland.

I love looking at pictures of the highlands, pictures of castles, watching Braveheart… The true stuff

However, I think that if I were to go to Scotland and see it today, I’d be disappointed. Beyond the tourist-y spots that the pictures I look at show, Scotland is actually a pretty rough area of the United Kingdom

There’s political unrest, frequent strikes from unionized labor, and let’s not even look at the crime rate in some of the rougher cities of Scotland // And this is just from popping up BBC this morning for Scotland!

Sometimes, the things that we expect and the things we want are different from the things that are.

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Today, we’re going to be looking at a passage often titled “The Triumphal Entry.” It’s also known as Palm Sunday because of how the Apostle John describes the entry in John 12.

Anybody who has been in the church for very long knows that our text today marks the beginning of the final days of Jesus’ life and ministry on earth. What we’re going to read today is a gruesome dichotomy to what happens on the day of Jesus’ death. He enters with great shouts of acclamation and joy, but will be put to death with shouts of condemnation and disappointment.

Let’s read. Matthew 21:1-11

Matthew 21:1–11 ESV

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.”

A Kingly Entry (Matthew 21:7-11; 2 Kings 9:13)

Remember last week when Jesus was called “Son of David” and did a miraculous work of healing a blind man? This was probably just a day or two previous, and the emotions may have been running high for the rest of the trip. Therefore, when Christ enters Jerusalem He is met with a procession of those who had decided to travel with Him, and many probably spread the news of His coming

When a king enters a city after a victorious battle, or when he is being recognized as king, he would enter his capital city triumphantly. Meaning, he would ride in on his war horse, he would have garments thrown out for him, and he would have people shouting for the longevity of his reign.

These are all common occurences in the Near East, and even carry some of that culture into today. Like how those in the UK still should “God save the queen!” They want her rule to last a long time, and it has really lasted a long time for her...

In 2 Kings 9:13, we have something similar happening to a king named Jehu. If we were to read the context, Jehu hears a prophecy of his demise, but he ignores it and goes about his kingly procession. We read: 2 Kings 9:13 “13 Then in haste every man of them took his garment and put it under him on the bare steps, and they blew the trumpet and proclaimed, “Jehu is king.””

Kings would parade about in their capital cities like this, evoking amazement and letting their people know who was in charge.

It’s important to remember that Messianic term “Son of David” as this occurs for Jesus. That really is the key to understanding what the people expected of Christ when He entered here. We must get in the minds of those who were shouting out to get at the heart of why they were so disappointed when Christ was being executed.

What The People Expected (Zech. 9:9-13)

I opened with these verses to help us see what would’ve been fresh in the minds of the Jews of Jesus’ time.

If we were to turn to Zechariah 9:9-17, which involves the the promise of God defending His people in full, we’d get a fuller picture of what was happening in the minds of the Jews.

They were expecting a triumphant king, who will stop battlements from attacking Ephraim (Israel) and Jerusalem (Judah)

Zechariah 9:10 “10 I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall speak peace to the nations; his rule shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.”

They were expecting a rescuing king, who would set captives free from surrounding nations

Zechariah 9:11-12 “11 As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit. 12 Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope; today I declare that I will restore to you double.”

They were expecting a warrior king, who would lead armies against occupying nations

Zechariah 9:13 “13 For I have bent Judah as my bow; I have made Ephraim its arrow. I will stir up your sons, O Zion, against your sons, O Greece, and wield you like a warrior’s sword.”

They were expecting a righteous king, who would evoke God’s help to wipe their most dastardly foes

Zechariah 9:14–17 ESV

14 Then the Lord will appear over them, and his arrow will go forth like lightning; the Lord God will sound the trumpet and will march forth in the whirlwinds of the south. 15 The Lord of hosts will protect them, and they shall devour, and tread down the sling stones, and they shall drink and roar as if drunk with wine, and be full like a bowl, drenched like the corners of the altar. 16 On that day the Lord their God will save them, as the flock of his people; for like the jewels of a crown they shall shine on his land. 17 For how great is his goodness, and how great his beauty! Grain shall make the young men flourish, and new wine the young women.

Of course, all these things happened or will happen.

Christ is the triumphant King who brings peace through His gospel, reconciliation between God and man. Our own sinful flesh is our greatest enemy, and He wipes out the enemy’s battlements by redeeming us despite our sinfulness.

Christ is the rescuing King who rescues us as captives to sin and darkness. His weapons are good doctrine, so says Paul in 2 Timothy 2:23-26.

Christ is a warrior King who does battle with Satan and defeats him and his armies once and for all, consuming them in righteous fire and throwing them into the lake of fire to be tormented by God’s wrath day and night (Rev. 20:7-10)

Christ is the righteous King who is Himself God and has the power of God to do all these things perfectly.

But none of that is what the Israelites expected. They were deceived by thinking that they knew who this promised Messiah was. They had stopped searching the Scriptures to see if they were right, but were satisfied with their own knowledge.

We read in Matthew 21:8 that only “most of the crowd” spread their cloaks on the ground.

We read the word “Hosanna” shouted and Him called “Son of David”

Hosanna most properly means “Save us, please!” But in conjunction with Jesus being called the “Son of David” again, it was the crowd shouting out praise that salvation had come

In Matthew 21:10 we read of the surprise of the city of Jerusalem, and they go around asking what the uproar is about

The surprise deepens in Matthew 21:11, where Jesus is called “the prophet from Nazareth” // Remember that most people think nothing good can come from Nazareth (John 1:46), so this would’ve increased the shock

Most of the so-called “Messiahs” of Jesus’ day never even came in to Jerusalem, but remained on the outskirts of society where they could abuse their power over people instead of being held accountable to the Pharisees’ interpretations of things // Contrast that with Jesus who is often engaging and correcting the Pharisees

Over all, what we read in Matthew 21:1-11 is exactly what was prophesied in Zechariah 9:9-13, but not in the way that the Jews expected. How did He fulfill these things?

What Jesus Did

I already addressed how Jesus was the King that was prophesied, but let’s look at some other paradoxes the Jews missed.

The King is righteous, has salvation, and humble (Zech. 9:9)

Kings are not often known for their humility, yet this King is described as humble

Jesus is “gentle and [humble] in heart” (Mt.11.29) - Christ was not the King the Jews expected, but He was exactly who was promised

The King rides a donkey

Kings ride impressive war-horses, but Jesus rides a beast of burden

Nobody riding a donkey into battle would strike fear in their opponents, but the war that Jesus wages against sin regards humility as strength, and pride as weakness (Prov. 8:13)

He sets prisoners free from “the waterless pit” (Zech. 9:11)

Jesus rescues those held captive by the exhausting and dehydrating religion of self-made righteousness

The Jewish people were drowned, they were being crushed by their religious elite who had a graceless and destructive religion made by men over about 400 years.

They had lost an idea of how gracious and kind God is because they began relying on the opinions of men rather than the Word of God

We, in our more-modern days had a similar return, by God’s grace, to relying on God’s Word rather than the traditions of men. We call this the Reformation, which historians say lasted from 1517-1648. It was a recovery of good, gospel doctrine rescued from the abuses of the Roman Catholic church.

God is who He is

What we need to take away from our passage today is the sentence in your bulletin listed as the “Sermon Summary.” It is this: God is who He is regardless of who we think He is.

The Jews did not expect Jesus, which as we’ve been going through Matthew we realize is astounding. Time and time again Jesus taught with perfect knowledge, perfect wisdom, and perfect intentions (unlike the Pharisees). He has healed, cast out demons, and showed Himself exactly what King the Jews needed.

Jesus is King. He is the triumphant King, the rescuing King, the warrior King, and the righteous King. He is who He is. He was who He was. He will be who He will be.

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We need to remember that God is always doing as He intends, not doing what we might expect. He is a humble King, a kind King, and will one day get justice for all the sin and evil in the world.

God is and will do all that is promised in Zechariah 9, but not in the way the Pharisees expected.

My application from this moment in Christ’s ministry is this: Do not be like the Pharisees and assume you know who God is if you are not constantly comparing your view of God to who He says He is in the Bible.

It is far too easy to make a God in our own image, never checking it with the original

Test your theology with the Bible, test your heart to see if it would rather have a God in your own making and pray that the Lord would give you a measure of grace to see God in His Word