WHEN JESUS COMES TO TOWN MATTHEW 21:1-11

Introduction

Today we begin a short series leading us up to Easter entitled The Final Days of Jesus. The journey of Jesus to His predicted earthly appointment with the cross is just a few days away.

This is the beginning of the end. That is the best way to describe Matthew 21. This journey began in Bethlehem and then went down to Egypt. From there it continued to Capernaum and Gennesaret into the Gentile areas of Tyre and Sidon. It further traveled into Magadon, Caesarea Philippi and finally into Jericho and Judea into Jerusalem. Our passage today marks the end of three years of ministry.

The title of the first message in our series on the final days of Jesus is found in Matthew 21:1-11 and is entitled, “When Jesus Comes to Town.” There are three attitudes that are presented as Jesus makes His way into Jerusalem that day.

I. When Jesus Comes to Town, Some Will Be Prepared (1-7).

In these verses we are presented with the theme of prophetic fulfillment. First, Jesus fulfills a current command (1-3). The Passover crowds have gathered. Both the inhabitants of Jerusalem and those making pilgrimages into the city experience a heightened sense of messianic expectation. It is Sunday morning and Jesus and His disciples are descending down the Mount of Olives and are approaching Jerusalem (1). They approach the village known as the “House of Unripened Figs” (Bethphage) and Jesus gives the current command that will fulfill Scripture, “Go.” Once they get to their destination they will find a donkey tied along with her foal. They are bring both back to Jesus (2-3). Through this symbolic action Jesus intentionally and clearly communicates His kingship to the expectant crowds gathered in Jerusalem for Passover.

What is going on here? Was this entire thing set up by Jesus as a test of obedience? Was the owner of these donkeys given some sort of revelation as to the plan? Was this man a follower of Jesus and gladly gave them what they needed because “the Lord” needed them? The text does not reveal that to us because that is not the issue Christ wants us to see. What is the point? To fully understand that we must observe not only the current command of Jesus, but there is a second thing we must observe.

Second, Jesus fulfills a past prophecy (4-7). The current command concerning the donkeys is necessary for this past prophecy to be fulfilled. This was what the mission of the two disciples was all about. It was all about revealing who Jesus is and what His mission was all about. Only Matthew quotes the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9 (4-5). Zechariah may have been considered a minor prophet, but the prophecy here, as is true with all biblical prophecy, is of major importance. The people have hope for the future and are to rejoice at the promise of the coming King and the establishment of His kingdom. We are given the significance of His coming :“Tell Daughter Zion, ‘See, your King is coming to You.” That is good news indeed. However, the verse is not finished. Notice not just the significance of His coming, but also the manner of His coming. He is coming “gentle and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” He is coming in humility on a humble beast of burden? The Sovereign Lord is coming as a Suffering Servant.

Hearing this would have been bizarre to Zechariah’s original hearers. Since the time of King Solomon, when the breeding of horses was first introduced, there is no example in the Old Testament of any member of royalty riding of a donkey. We envision an Alexander the Great marching into town pridefully riding a warhorse. Five hundred years had passed since that prophecy was penned by Zechariah. Now that same prophecy is being fulfilled (7). They phrase “and he sat on them” does not refer to Jesus sitting on two donkeys at the same time as he is riding into town. That would be ludicrous. This is a reference to the clothes they put on the donkey on which Jesus rode. Jesus fulfilled Zechariah’s prophecy made in the past when he sat on the donkey colt that day.

Zechariah spoke in chapter nine of the coming of a human king. Yet, he also spoke of the coming of a divine king as well (14:4). These are two pieces of the same prophetic puzzle. Jesus is the Son of David, and Jesus is David’s Lord. The first time Jesus came, He came in humility, the king who would suffer and die for the sins of the world. He was the King who would bring salvation. The next time He comes, He will consummate His kingdom and rule over the earth in perfect righteousness and glory.

When Jesus comes to town, will you be prepared?

When Jesus Comes to Town Some Will Be Pleased (21:8-9)

The multitude who followed Jesus and the multitude who came forth from Jerusalem to meet Jesus, both groups spread their garments and palm branches before Jesus and cried, “Hosanna (Save Now), Son of David. Blessed is He that comes in the name of the Lord.” As Jesus made His way westward down the Mount of Olives and toward Jerusalem, the crowds correctly interpret His actions with great expectation and joy. Therefore, they bring out the royal magic carpet, if you will. This brings us back to 2 KIngs 9:13 “Each man quickly took his garment and put it under Jehu on the bare steps. They blew the ram’s horn and proclaimed, “Jehu is king!”” This is what the people were saying by their actions as Jesus rode into town. They were claiming Jesus as their Davidic king. They were saying, “Jesus, not Caesar, is King.” This was the cry of the American Revolution: “No King but Jesus.”

The people were giving this praise and acclamation to Jesus and by His reception of it, Jesus was affirming their words and actions to be true and accurate. By riding into town on that donkey the way He did, Jesus was making a bold statement about Himself. He was claiming to be the promised Messiah. He was claiming to be the fulfillment of Zechariah’s prophecy. He is the great “I Am.” He is the “Bread of Life (John 6:35).” He is the “Light of the World (John 8:12).

Are you pleased with Jesus? The more important question is, “Is Jesus pleased with you?” When He returns will He be pleased? When He returns, will you be ready? Give Him the worship and service He deserves now so that you will not be embarrassed when He comes without warning like a thief in the night.

When Jesus Comes to Town Some Will Be Perplexed (21:10-11)

We could say that there was a “whole lot of shaking going on.” Matthew uses a term for “uproar” that is the Greek term “theio.” It literally means, “that which causes a violent movement or disturbance.” It describes the literal shaking of an earthquake or some apocalyptic upheaval. In context, it refers to the emotional and mental state of some of the people gathered in Jerusalem as Jesus rode into town. It carries the idea of inciting a riot or causing an uproar. In other words, the entire city has been shaken by the events described in the text. The growing crowd further intensifies the emotion of the day as they continue to spread the word to any who may not have heard who Jesus is. Some of the Pharisees in the crowd tell Jesus to rebuke the crowds for their verbal and dangerous messianic proclamation and actions. The Pharisees were taken by surprise and were helpless to respond (John 12:19). This was the negative impact of Christ’s coming to town.

There was also a positive aspect. Note the answer of the crowds (11). In their momentary zeal, they had professed Jesus as the Jewish Messiah and KIng. One group was shaking while the other group was shouting. Is not our earth quaking against the backdrop of dead religiosity and political correctness? In the midst of the shaking, can this world hear the shouts of those crying out the praises of Him who is the Son of God who once sat on the child of a donkey, the one who came to save us. Is He not the one who promised to return for us?

Conclusion

When Jesus came to Jerusalem on what we call Palm Sunday, some people were prepared, others were not. When Jesus came to town that day, many were pleased, many were incensed. When Jesus came to town riding on the colt of a donkey, many were perplexed while others were overwhelmed with joy.

When Jesus returns, all three of these conditions of the human heart will be present. You ask, “Pastor, but why? Why will people do the same thing when Jesus returns as they did when Jesus came the first time?” It is because there is always room in this world for Jesus. There is always room for the Jesus that people want. There is not always room for the Jesus who actually is. Jesus did not come to make all your dreams come true when you click your heels together and believe with the power of positive thinking. He did not come to make you happy. He came to call you and I to holiness. He did not come to bring you financial prosperity and unlimited good health. He did not come so that certain preachers in Tennessee can brag about their false gospel and the number of demons they are removing. He did not come to give you what you want. He came to deliver what you need. He came to turn over the money tables of your false “I’m a good person, so I am okay” religion. He came to destroy the foundations of you believing in yourself, so that you would believe in Him. He came to attack your sin. He came to warn you to flee from the wrath to come. He came to offer you salvation to rescue you from death and hell. If your Jesus is a magical genie in a bottle that you pull out when you want Him and then put Him back in the bottle until the next time you want Him, you have the wrong Jesus. That Jesus will send you to hell. The Jesus you need is the Jesus that came riding on a donkey’s colt 2,000 years ago. It is the same Jesus who will come back. When Jesus returns to earth, coming to a city and town near you, will you be ready.

there is always a place in the world for the Jesus that people want; there’s just not always a place for the Jesus who is. He didn’t come to fulfill your dreams. He didn’t come to bring you prosperity and happiness. He didn’t come to give you what you and your carnal desires want. He came to attack your false religion. He came to attack your sin. He came to expose your judgment, the judgment of God that will fall on every unconverted sinner. He came to warn you to flee from the wrath to come. And He came to offer you salvation to rescue you from death and hell.

If you thought He came like a genie out of a bottle to do what you want Him to do, you’ve got the wrong Jesus. He came to confront your sin and your need, and to offer you salvation available only in Him. You need the Jesus that came riding into town on a donkey’s colt 2,000 years ago. Jesus is coming again and the next time He comes, He is not coming to a cross. Friend, He is coming to take over. Will you be ready when Jesus returns.