A Tale Of Two Crowns

A Tale of Two Crowns

Introduction:

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

Today is what we call “Palm Sunday.” And this Sunday begins what is often referred to as Holy Week or Passion Week, where we remember the final week of Christ's earthly ministry, and His death and resurrection. It’s a day we remember when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey.

Jesus’ Courageous, Triumphal Entry

A triumph is when someone has won the victory. We get the idea from what was known as a Roman Triumph. The Roman triumph was held to publicly celebrate and sanctify the success of a military commander who had led Roman forces to victory.

On the day of his triumph, the general wore a laurel crown and an all-purple, gold-embroidered toga that identified him as near-divine or nearly a king. The general rode in a four-horse chariot through the streets of Rome in a procession with his army, captives, and the spoils of his war.

Keep that in mind as we study today's scripture.

Body:

Let us now turn to Matthew's Gospel chapter 21.

Context- The time for the Feast of Unleavened Bread and the Passover was drawing near. The Jewish Passover was one of three important festivals of the Jews. It was basically the Jewish Independence Day, the Day the Israelite Nation was born. The festival celebrated and remembered when God delivered them from slavery in Egypt. And also that God “passed over” them delivering them from death through the blood of the lamb.

Here Jesus is coming to Jerusalem during one of its most holy days, the Passover, the Celebration of God's deliverance from slavery in Egypt. And hundreds of people are on a pilgrimage to the Holy City, to the Temple, to worship their God, to sacrifice and feast and celebrate.

Jesus has told the disciples several times now, “We are now going to Jerusalem where I am going to be handed over the chief priests and the teachers of the law and I will be mocked, beaten, spat upon, whipped, and killed. But then on the third day I will rise again.” And just like those many worshipers, Jesus is headed to the Temple, but not to sacrifice. He's come to be the sacrifice.

As multitudes gather to remember the Passover where a perfect lamb was killed to free them from death and slavery in Egypt, Jesus comes to be that perfect lamb, to be killed, to set us all free from death and slavery to sin, and thus win the victory. In Matthew 21 it says...

[Matthew 21:1-7 NASB20] 1 When they had approached Jerusalem and had come to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus then sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, "Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied [there] and a colt with it [Mark 11:2 and Luke 19:30 say- "on which no one has ever sat"]. Untie them and bring them to Me. 3 "And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, 'The Lord needs them,' and he will send them on immediately." 4 Now this took place so that what was spoken through the prophet would be fulfilled: 5 "SAY TO THE DAUGHTER OF ZION, 'BEHOLD YOUR KING IS COMING TO YOU, HUMBLE, AND MOUNTED ON A DONKEY, EVEN ON A COLT, THE FOAL OF A DONKEY.'"

6 The disciples went and did just as Jesus had instructed them, 7 and brought the donkey and the colt, and laid their cloaks on them; and He sat on the cloaks.

"The Lord has need of it." In past years I've asked this same question: What does the Lord need of you to bear Jesus to the world? Sometimes we are rather reluctant to give if it's out of our comfort zone. Oh if it's a meal or money, that's okay. But if it's witnessing to someone or telling someone about Jesus... if it's serving in an area of the ministry... if it's teaching a Sunday School, or volunteering for Children's Ministry/Youth Ministry, then I think I'll pass. I'm much too busy.

It seems small, but what if the owners had refused to let them borrow their donkeys? I mean was it really important, really necessary that Jesus entered Jerusalem this way at this time? Remember, God always has His reasons. We may not see it or understand its importance, but God does.