Sermon Tone Analysis

Matthew 21:1-17

INTRODUCTION

ILLUSTRATION:

A little boy was sick on Palm Sunday and stayed home from church with his mother.

His father returned from church holding a palm branch.

The little boy was curious and asked, "Why do you have that palm branch, dad?"

"You see, when Jesus came into town, everyone waved Palm Branches to honor him, so we got Palm Branches today."

The little boy replied, " Aw Shucks!

The one Sunday I miss is the Sunday that Jesus shows up!"

As many of you already know, today is the first day of the time period that is commonly referred to as “Holy Week.”

It begins with Jesus’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem (“Palm Sunday”) and ends with His glorious resurrection from the grave (“Resurrection Sunday”).

On this day, nearly 2,000 years ago, the city of Jerusalem held a parade for Jesus the Christ, welcoming Him with open arms and seemingly desirous to see Him become their king.

They celebrated His entrance into their capital city.

And a few days later, these very same people will be crying out “crucify Him!”

This event was supposed to be, in the minds of Jesus’ followers, the coronation of the king.

The Jews had been waiting for hundreds of years for their Messiah to come and accomplish two major things:

The Messiah would restore the nation to its united glory.

Israel was the cream of the middle eastern crop under the reigns of David and Solomon.

The nation was nearly untouchable in battle and unrivaled in riches.

After all, the hand of YHWH was providing all their success and allowing His covenant people to settle in the Promised Land.

The Messiah would gather a people from all nations to be His people and join Israel in the Promised Land

God’s grace has always been extended to the Gentiles.

But when the Messiah is established in Israel, the expectation was that people from all nations would come to Him.

Micah 4:1-2

It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and it shall be lifted up above the hills; and peoples shall flow to it, and many nations shall come, and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.”

For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

Consider the turbulent 1,000 years of national history at the time of Jesus:

~1,000 BC: David, King of Judah, unites the kingdom to become the King of a united Israel

~930 BC: David’s grandson, Rehoboam, effectively causes the nation to be split into two, again

Starting with Jeroboam in the Northern Kingdom (Israel), they would have about 210 years and 19 different kings who did evil in the sight of the Lord, before the Assyrian Empire conquered them and took the people captive in 722 BC

Starting with Rehoboam in the Southern Kingdom (Judah), they would have about 345 years and 20 different kings, some who did evil and some who did good, before the Babylonian Empire conquered them and took the people captive in 585 BC

539 BC: The Medo-Persian King Cyrus (the empire who defeated Babylon) permitted the Jewish

people to begin the process of returning to their land.

Although they were permitted back to the land, Israel was never an independent state where they could re-establish the monarchy.

They lived under oppression for over 500 years, and had not heard from God through a prophet in over 400 years, when Jesus came on the scene.

Now, as Jesus is coming into Jerusalem, there is a clear expectation that He will take His rightful place as the Son of David, on the throne of David.

In the minds of the Jewish people, the time of oppression is coming to an end and God’s blessing on the nation is being realized once more.

Yet, in this time of seeming triumph and celebration, we see that not everybody was in the same place of mind as it relates to Jesus.

In Matthew 21:1-17, we see 3 types of people as it relates to How They Acted When It Came To Jesus.

Disciples: Try To Follow Jesus’ Instructions (v.

1-6)

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.

These men had spent 3-years of their lives living with Jesus, walking where He walked and hearing what He said.

They witnessed the miracles He performed and the compassion He had for others.

These men were committed to Jesus and tried with all they had to follow His instructions.

Philip & Andrew - John 6:5-9

Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?”

He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do.

Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little.”

One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?”

Philip understood the magnitude of the need that existed.

He did the mental math and quickly realized that the coffers were too small for such a great need.

Andrew did a quick proximal inventory and realized that the only one in his vicinity who had food with them was a boy who had probably just done some grocery shopping for his mom.

In both cases, Philip and Andrew wanted to please and serve Jesus.

He had not asked them to provide for the people, but they saw the direction the conversation was going and was preparing to do just that.

Peter - Matthew 16:13-23

Peter, in answering Jesus, provided a profoundly theological truth about who Jesus is (the Christ)

Good job, Pete!

Not long after that, Peter opened his mouth once more and put his size 10 sandal in it this time, when he opposed what Jesus was saying about His coming death on the cross

Peter was trying to be encouraging and supportive as a disciple of Christ…he wanted to serve Jesus.

Peter’s experience sheds some light on the nation’s thinking about the Messiah: he would come, and they would know it, but he would not die.

And while the men who spent 3-years of their life with Jesus had many opportunities to exemplify their commitment to Him, we must not think that those opportunities are not readily given to us as well.

John 10:27

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.

Matthew 7:24

Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.

True disciples of Jesus will hear His words and seek to walk in His ways.

It will not be perfect obedience, but they know who their Lord and Savior is and will want to live to please Him.

Non-Committed: Only Want Jesus’ Blessings (v.

7-14)

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.

Did you notice that as Jesus was entering, what the people said about Him?

“This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee”

To these people, Jesus is the first prophet sent from God since Malachi, 400 years earlier.

They are excited about Him and give Him a welcome to the capital, and ultimately, to the festival activities.

But based on this statement, they could not have believed that He was the Messiah.

We know, and so did the Jews, that the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem of Judea, not Nazareth of Galilee.

The crowd of people were already well aware of Jesus and His capabilities.

For 3 years, they heard His teachings and saw His miracles.

This guy is someone special.

But, He is not the Messiah.

He is the carpenter’s son.

Notice, after He cleanses the temple of the corruption that was going on, the people did not come to Him because of His good work.

They did not come to Him because of His good teaching.

They came to Him to meet their physical needs.

In their eyes, He was a one man welfare program for the sick and needy.

John 6:26

Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.

Ladies and Gentlemen, there are people today who attend church because of some benefit they get from it, not because they believe Jesus is the Messiah and have come to Him for salvation.