The Triumphal Entry
Matthew 21:1-11
If you have your Bibles open them to Matthew 21. We will take a three week break from Romans to prepare for the Easter season. The passage we are going to study today is known at the Triumphal Entry and is the beginning of what Christians call Holy Week. Holy Week is at the center of the Christian Faith. Holy Weeks consists of eight days that begin with Palm Sunday and ends with Easter Sunday. Two great events bracket Holy Week–the Triumphal Entry on Palm Sunday and the resurrection of Jesus on Easter Sunday. Today as you know is Palm Sunday. And so let’s look as this passage in Matthew 21 that describes the first Palm Sunday.
Verses 1-3
As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, 2saying to them, "Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3If anyone says anything to you, tell him that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away."
Jesus comes to Bethpage or Bethany the Friday before his death. In seven days time he will hanging on a cross. He celebrates the Sabbath in Bethany. It will be the last day of rest and worship before his passion. On Sunday he will enter Jerusalem the capital city of Israel. It’s Passover Time, one of the busiest times in the year. It was estimated that the normal population of Jerusalem was 20,000. Josephus a historian says that during Passover the population of Jerusalem could swell to 3 million people.
The Jews loved Passover because of the hope it offered. THE JEWS TREATED THIS AS IF IT WERE INDEPENDENCE DAY. It was a national day of Jewish pride. At Passover the Jews remembered the freedom of God’s people from the Egyptians. It also looked forward to the future freedom of the Jews. The people of God, the Jews, had been oppressed for a few hundred years. Under the Assyrians, under the Babylonians, under The Persians, under Alexander the Great & The Greeks, under split Greek rule, under corrupt Jewish leaders and now under the harsh rule of the Romans.
Verses 4-5
This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: 5"Say to the Daughter of Zion, ’See, your king comes to you,
gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’ "
Why did Jesus instruct his disciples to secure a donkey? Seems strange. Well, he did it to fulfill prophecy. Zechariah the OT prophet had predicted 575 years early that the Messiah would enter Zion (Jerusalem) on a donkey.
You see, the general events of Jesus’ life from his virgin birth to his triumphal entry were prophesied in the Old Testament, thousands of years before their occurrence. The events of Holy Week were not an accident. They were intentional. These events are orchestrated by God.
The words of Zechariah’s prophecy tell us two specific facts about the Messiah. First, he will come as a gentle king riding on a donkey. Second, he will come as a righteous king bringing salvation to his people (Ray Pritchard)
Usually kings did not enter city riding a donkey. Conquering Roman generals rode white horses. White horses were a sign of battle. This might explain why the Romans sat idly by on Palm Sunday while tens of thousands of people flocked to Jesus. From their point of view, the whole thing was a joke.
A king on a donkey? You must be kidding. No self-respecting king would be caught dead on a donkey. If you wanted to make an impact, you would come in on a white war-horse surrounded by soldiers. But on a donkey? No way.
Verses 6-9
The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. 7They brought the donkey and the colt, placed their cloaks on them, and Jesus sat on them. 8A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, "Hosanna[b] to the Son of David!" "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!"[c] "Hosanna[d] in the highest!"
From reading John 12 another gospel we understand that Jesus enters Jerusalem on the tenth day of Nisan. Exodus 12:1-3 tells us that Nisan was the day that the Israelites in Egypt were to take a lamb into their households for Passover. During Passover in Jerusalem approximately 256,000 sheep were sacrificed in Jerusalem but one special lamb was chosen to by the high priest.
Guess when the high priest would choose the lamb? The tenth day of Nisan. The high priest chose his lamb outside Jerusalem, so a crowd gathered at the eastern gate. He would cross the Kidron Valley and enter thru the gate called “Beautiful” or “Golden.” He would hold the Passover Lamb in his arms. Crowds often gathered at the gate to welcome the priest and the Passover Lamb.
Where was the Kidron Valley where the priest would get the lamb? It was near the Mount of Olives, near Bethany. Jesus will enter the city through the eastern Gate. Jesus probably enters Jerusalem right after the Passover Lamb enters the city. This might explain why the crowd is so thick. They were there to welcome the Passover Lamb. Many of you know that Jesus is called the Lamb of God. You get the rich symbolism?
ADVENTUS
Now ancient readers of this passage would have also associated the Triumphal Entry with something from Roman culture called the Adventus. It is a Latin word that means coming. It is where we get the word “advent” from. The adventus was when a conquering king entered a town to conquer.
Hadrian was Roman emperor born about 50 years after this. Hadrian threw down a Jewish revolt in Jerusalem and built a temple to Jupiter on site of the Jewish temple. He launched one such adventus between 129-130 AD and here is what a Roman historian wrote about Hadrian’s adventus.
“The adventus was the occasion for a celebration—and more. Typically, a city’s populace, led by the municipal senate and dignitaries, issued forth from the gates to greet the emperor and conduct him into the city, waving palm branches, singing his praises in hymns and sacrificing for his well-being. For the arrival, the emperor left his wagon, donned ceremonial armor and mounted a beautiful white horse, appearing as a victorious military leader. After this entry into the city, orators would step forward to address the emperor and the gathered throngs, speaking of the devotion and admiration the emperor inspired among the people . . . “ (qtd from Steve Carr sermon given in 2003)
Jesus plays the antithesis of the conquering emperor and enters in on a donkey. It is a sign of humility and that he comes not as a conqueror but as a servant.
LULAV
As Jesus enters on the donkey, it says they cut palm branches and laid them down. ‘Lulav’ is Hebrew for palm tree. It’s in the shape of a scepter, a symbol of sovereignty. Leviticus 23:40 commanded the Jews to uses the lulav in their prayer meetings around the celebration of Sukkot.
Lulav shaking was regulated by the Roman government because of its symbolism. It had become a sign of Jewish nationalism. Its MODERN DAY EQUIVALENT- would be the waving of the American flag. So this parade is not just in honor of Jesus but in a sense a 4th of July, Independence day celebration. The national fever is at a high pitch.
Not only did they waive the palm branches the crowds sang. They sang what is known as the Halel. The Halel was the name given to the group of Psalms 113-118. Halel means “praise.” [Where we get “Hallelujah”- praise to Yah – God or Jehovah]
Parents would sing the Halel with their children before Passover. People would shout, “Blessed is he . . .” When the high priest reentered the city
At the domestic celebration of the Passover, Psalms 113 and 114 would be sung before the meal, and Psalms 115 -118 after it, when the fourth cup had been filled. Psalm 118, at least, was probably the hymn sung by Jesus and His disciples in the upper room at their Passover supper. The Halel was always sung at Passover.
Verses 10-11
When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, "Who is this?" The crowds answered, "This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee."
The people also sang the word Hosanna. Hoshana “Save us, now!” or “God, Save Us!!!” The people thought that Jesus was their Messiah. They believed that he might be the Holy One of God who was coming to overthrow the Romans and bring national freedom to Israel. Instead he was coming to give his life as a ransom to bring spiritual freedom to all mankind.
CONCLUSION -- ANOTHER TRIUMPHAL ENTRY
As I read this passage and studied it this week I got to thinking. You know, this is not the only triumphal entry that Jesus will make. One day he will make another triumphal entry, another adventus when he returns to this world to announce that he is Lord of Lords. In fact, if you read the book of Revelation what you read at the end of it is an adventus ceremony of the cosmic kind. You have in the book of Revelation the saints and the angels singing the Hallel as Christ enters the world.
Listen to
Revelation 6:1
I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, "Come!" 2I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest.
Who is the rider on the white horse in the book of Revelation? It is Jesus, the Lamb of God. He is coming it says for conquest. He is coming to win the battle over evil and Satan and sin. You see the first time Jesus came humble, meek, riding on a donkey into Jerusalem. The next time he is coming as conqueror, as emperor, as Lord of the Lord and King of Kings and he will be riding the white horse the symbol of battle and he will judge the nations.
Several years ago Billy Graham was a guest on Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show. At one point Carson asked him, “Billy, what do you think would happen if Jesus came to earth again? I bet we’d do him in again?”
Billy Graham leaned forward and said, “You know Johnny, Jesus predicted that He would return to earth. But the first time he came in love, the next time he will come in power – no one will do Him in.”
As Christians this Palm Sunday, we eagerly await another Triumphal Entry. The coming of Jesus the Christ, king of Kings and Lord of Lords. The one to whom we sing Hosanna, Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.
