Celebration Of The King Series

One Palm Sunday, a little boy had a sore throat and had to stay home from church with a babysitter. When the rest of the family came home, they were carrying palm branches; and the little boy asked what they were for. His father told him that people waved them in celebration as Jesus passed by. Disappointed, the little boy said, “Wouldn’t you know it? The one Sunday I missed; Jesus showed up!”

When we read through the account of what happened on Palm Sunday, what we see is a celebration and a time of worship, concerning the arrival of the one true King in Jerusalem. This morning, we are going to learn some things about how to worship, concerning what we should be thankful for and what we should celebrate when we find ourselves in the presence of the one true King, Jesus Christ. I have entitled our Palm Sunday message, “Celebration of the King,” and at this time, I want to invite you to stand in honor of God’s Word, as we read through Matthew 21:1-11.

The Triumphal Entry (Matthew 21:1-11)

1 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.”

This passage is known as “The Triumphal Entry,” as Jesus finally entered Jerusalem with His ministry; and as He entered, you might say it was an overtly public display! Back in Matthew chapter 16, when Peter confessed Jesus as the Christ, we read that “He commanded His disciples that they should tell no one that He was Jesus the Christ” and “from that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day” (vv. 20-21). Up until this moment, Jesus had cautioned his disciples not to tell anyone who He was.(1) He understood that it was His assignment to die for the sins of mankind, and He explained as much to His disciples. But He also knew that His arrest, trial, and crucifixion (called “The Passion”) would commence shortly after He was publicly declared to be the Messiah, especially in Jerusalem!

In John 7:1, we read, “Jesus walked in Galilee; for He did not want to walk in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill Him,” and in that same chapter, in John 7:6, He stated the reason as being that “My time has not yet come.” So, “The Triumphal Entry” in Matthew chapter 21 denotes that the time “had” come; and this public display forced the Jewish leaders to act.

So, did Jesus organize this rally! Did He send word ahead for people to gather and command them to be waiting? No! They had gathered there after hearing about Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead! The only one who could do such a miracle had to be the Messiah, and they wanted to catch a glimpse of Him as He rode into town. We read in John 12:17-19, that “for this reason” (because Jesus had raised up Lazarus) “the people also met Him, because they heard that He had done this sign” (v. 18). And what was the response of the Jewish leaders? John 12:19 tells us, “The Pharisees therefore said among themselves . . . ‘Look, the world has gone after Him!’” You see, “when they saw the spontaneous demonstration of the people, they concluded that Jesus had to be destroyed. This demonstration of Christ’s popularity incited the rulers to act.”(2)