Sunday – “Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem”
(Matthew 21:1-11)
1st in a Series on “Passion Week”
Introduction:
Are you being true to who you are? Have you found your purpose and meaning in life, and are you fulfilling all that God has created you for? Are you filled with a sense of security and confidence as you greet each day knowing that God is willing, capable, and ready to help you to accomplish all he has in store for you?
As we come into a new series today, I want us to take a walk with Jesus over the last week of his life before he was crucified and raised from the dead. I want us to look at his responses to people, things, and situations as he approached the cross. I want us to see how he stood confidently and firmly in spite of the accusations, insults, and mockery he endured.
Today we look at the Sunday before Jesus died and rose again. It’s the Sunday of his arrival into Jerusalem for the Passover. Read with me…
Matthew 21:1-11 (NLT)
As Jesus and the disciples approached Jerusalem, they came to the town of Bethphage on the Mount of Olives. Jesus sent two of them on ahead. [2] "Go into the village over there," he said, "and you will see a donkey tied there, with its colt beside it. Untie them and bring them here. [3] If anyone asks what you are doing, just say, 'The Lord needs them,' and he will immediately send them." [4] This was done to fulfill the prophecy,
[5] "Tell the people of Israel,
'Look, your King is coming to you.
He is humble, riding on a donkey—
even on a donkey's colt.' "
[6] The two disciples did as Jesus said. [7] They brought the animals to him and threw their garments over the colt, and he sat on it.
[8] Most of the crowd spread their coats on the road ahead of Jesus, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. [9] He was in the center of the procession, and the crowds all around him were shouting,
"Praise God for the Son of David!
Bless the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
Praise God in highest heaven!"
[10] The entire city of Jerusalem was stirred as he entered. "Who is this?" they asked.
[11] And the crowds replied, "It's Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee."
According to Barclay, there are three things that we can learn about Jesus from this triumphal entry into Jerusalem:
1. He was courageous.
Over the three years of Jesus’ earthly ministry, there was a significant amount of tension that developed between the teachers of the law and himself. All of his miraculous healings, revolutionary teachings and unorthodox behaviors (like healing on the Sabbath and communing with sinners of the day) had been hurling him headlong into a final confrontation with the religious leaders in Jerusalem. His triumphal entry would be the match that started the fire of controversy that would ultimately lead to his death.
Undoubtedly Jesus knew that going into the “Lion’s Den,” so to speak, would bring grave consequences, but he did so anyway. This took great courage on his part.
Now you might be thinking somewhat differently at this point. You might be saying to yourself, “That’s not courageous! That’s just plain stupid! Was he just going in to pick a fight? He should have known that to come into the city in plain sight, especially in the way that he did, would be a death sentence for him.”
Jesus could have come into Jerusalem under the dark of night; he could have been more discrete in his coming into town. He could have taken up lodging for a time so as to curb the anger of the religious leaders and allow the tension to die down a bit, but this just wouldn’t do; Jesus would have it no other way.
Even upon his entry into Jerusalem, as the people are shouting "Praise God for the Son of David! Bless the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Praise God in highest heaven!", Luke tells us that the Pharisees wanted Jesus to rebuke his followers. And in a courageous response back to the Pharisees Jesus replied:
Luke 19:40 (NLT)
"If they kept quiet, the stones along the road would burst into cheers!"
Not only did Jesus’ confidence require courage, his courage gave him the confidence to accept the praise of the people.
Everything Jesus had spoken to the people, all he had showed himself to be, would require nothing less that a confident proclamation of who he was. How could he be anything other? In his final week, he wanted all to know unequivocally, and without a doubt, that he was Jesus the Christ, the Son of the Living God, and this took great courage!
The reality is, it takes great courage to be true to who you are. It takes courage to stand and be counted. It takes courage to stand firm in your beliefs and to acknowledge them before others. It takes courage to be transparent, and to expose yourself to the possibility of rejection. It takes courage to proclaim the truth in love. But most importantly, it takes courage to live out the truth in your own life everyday.
You see, this is what Jesus did, without a care for what others thought, and without shame for the One he represented! Jesus was courageous! He was true to who he was!
2. He boldly claimed to be the Messiah.
If Jesus had been content with any other title than “Messiah” he would have probably lived to a ripe old age. But in his courageous attempt to boldly proclaim the truth about who he was he began his final week with a journey to the cross.
This triumphal entry was Jesus’ way of saying with clarity and finality, “Just in case you haven’t figured out who I am yet, I am the Son of God, the Messiah who is here to take away the sins of the world.”
To us, the imagery in this passage of scripture goes over our heads. Unless you have some apparent knowledge about Jewish customs of the day, you can’t fully comprehend the statement that Jesus is clearly making here.
"Jesus traveled everywhere he went by foot. There isn’t any other time we read of him riding on anything to go somewhere. Jesus’ mode of transportation was by his feet taking him where he wanted to go. With this in mind, doesn’t it seem strange that he would suddenly for the last two miles of his trip into Jerusalem decide he was too tired to walk the rest of the way and needed a donkey? And not just any donkey, a colt: a baby donkey which had never been ridden before; unbroken and unbridled.
"And what of the actions of the crowd? Many of them spread their coats down on the path where Jesus’ would be passing, others cut down branches from trees to lay along the road. The apostle John tells us that the people even took palm branches and went forth to meet him" (Robert H. Stein, Jesus the Messiah: A Survey of the Life of Christ (InterVarsity Press: Downers Grove, Illinois, 1996), 180).
What we see in these distinct acts is Jesus’ formal acceptance of the title “Messiah.” The fact that Jesus rode on a colt that had never been ridden before signified the sacred act he was partaking in. Theologian and professor of Philosophy at Calvin College, Robert Stein, echoes this sentiment by stating, “It was an unridden donkey that was brought to Jesus. Because of its never having been ridden, it was fit for the sacred task it was about to perform.” Stein eludes to the fact that in 1 Samuel 6:7 there were two calves that had never been yoked who where prepared for such a sacred service as pulling the cart of the ark of the covenant, and the image is that here we have Jesus riding on a colt who was set aside for the sacred service of carrying the One who was the New Covenant of God to all people.
The disciples also took off their coats and placed them on the back of the colt maintaining this image of royalty, as well as the crowds along the roadway welcoming Jesus with shouts of adoration and praise, laying their coats before him on the road as a red carpet welcome of One who was more than just a man, he was the King of Kings.
And I would be remiss if I didn’t make mention of the specific shouts of praise by the people along the roadside as Jesus approached Jerusalem. Not to belabor the point, but the people were shouting a quote from the book of Zechariah in the Old Testament saying, "Praise God for the Son of David! Bless the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Praise God in highest heaven!" Many translations translate “Praise God” as “Hosanna,” which literally means “Save now!”
Though over time the word Hosanna became just another popular greeting much like when we say, “Praise the Lord” there were still connotations of salvation ringing in the ears and hearts of the people. Be it intentional or unintentional, shouts of praise and songs of Hosanna became words with prophetic overtones to Jesus as the Messiah, the one through whom salvation would surely come.
Unlike many of us who hide behind things that make us look better and feel better about ourselves, Jesus wasn’t shrouded by earthly things and trinkets. He didn’t masquerade around like someone he wasn’t. Jesus boldly proclaimed who he really was. He was the Messiah! He was true to who He was!
3. He did not claim an earthly kingship, but rather a kingship of the heart.
His appeal wasn’t a selfish one, but rather one of self-sacrifice and true servanthood. He didn’t care about royal robes and kingly crowns. He didn’t rule with a scepter and a sword. Jesus ruled the hearts of man by the law of love and sacrifice.
A clear and visible example of this was the colt he rode into town on. Any zealot, warrior would have ridden into town on the symbol of power and might – the horse – but not Jesus, he rode into town on a donkey.
Now, I realize that donkeys in our culture are laughed at and made fun of. There’s a rather different perspective of the donkey in our day than there was in Jesus’ day. The donkey in Jesus’ day was viewed as a symbol of peace. It was a kind and gentle animal. It worked hard and pulled more than its load. The horse on the other hand, was a symbol of war. It was the symbol of a warrior ready for battle.
As we view this scene, with Jesus coming triumphantly into the city of Jerusalem, we see him coming as a king with all the splendor and might of royalty, but poised on a symbol of peace and tranquility. You see, Jesus didn’t come to rule as other kings do, Jesus came triumphantly as a king of peace – a perfect king with a perfect love ruling with a perfect sense of justice.
Jesus came to claim the kingship of the heart! He was true to who He was!
Conclusion:
How many of you remember a movie by the name of Simon Birch that came out in 1998?
It tells the story of a twelve-year-old boy named Simon Birch who, despite his physical disabilities, believes that God has a plan for his life. “Simon was born tiny and with an abnormally small heart. He was expected to die within the first twenty-four hours of his life. He surprises everyone, though, when he lives to be an adolescent.
“A disappointment to his parents and the target of many childhood pranks because of his miniature size and odd-sounding voice, Simon has every reason to question his self-worth and purpose for living. But he embraces his condition and believes that God will use him in a unique, possibly even heroic, way.
“Joe, Simon’s best friend, doesn’t believe in God, and he is not the only one who doubts that God has a plan for Simon. Simon’s schoolmates mock him relentlessly, believing his assertions to be one more indication of his strangeness. On one occasion his Sunday school teacher hurriedly tries to hush him so he won’t ‘frighten’ the other children with his musings.
“The small town’s forlorn minister also doubts that God could have a plan for small Simon Birch. In a poignant conversation between Simon and the minister, Simon asks, ‘Does God have a plan for us?’
“The minister hesitantly replies, ‘I’d like to think he does.’
“Simon enthusiastically says, ‘Me too. I think God made me the way I am for a reason.’
“The minister coolly states, ‘I’m glad that, um, that your faith, uh, helps you deal with your, um, you know, your condition.’
“‘That’s not what I mean,’ Simon states. ‘I think I’m God’s instrument. He’s going to use me to carry out his plan.’
“Dumbfounded by Simon’s confidence, the pastor says, ‘It’s wonderful to have faith, son, but let’s not overdo it. With that he waves for Simon to leave, shakes his head in disbelief, and whispers with an air of cynicism, ‘God’s instrument.’
“A short time later Simon is riding with his classmates in a school bus traveling down an icy road. Suddenly the bus driver veers to avoid a deer, loses control, and the bus plunges into an icy lake. Everyone in the front of the upright bus quickly evacuates out the door, but Simon and a handful of other students in the back of the bus are trapped as the bus begins to sink.
“Simon takes charge. He opens a window and commands his classmates to climb out. Last of all, Simon escapes through the window.
“In the hospital following the accident, Joe assures Simon that all the kids are all right. Simon asks, ‘Did you see how the children listened to me because of the way I looked?’
“Joe, with tears in his eyes, replies, ‘Yeah.’
“With satisfaction, Simon says, ‘That window was just my size.’
“‘Extra small,’ Joe utters with a smile.
“A few seconds later, Simon dies, knowing that God used him. But what Simon doesn’t know before he dies is that because of his unwavering faith, his friend Joe now believes in God.
“Some twenty years later, standing at Simon’s gravestone, Joe says, ‘I am doomed to remember a boy with a wrecked voice, not because of his voice or because he was the smallest person I ever met… but because he is the reason I believe in God. What faith I have, I owe to Simon Birch – it is Simon who made me a believer’” (Craig Brian Larson & Andre Zahn, Movie-Based Illustrations for Preaching & Teaching (Zondervan: Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2003), 160-161).
What faith we have, we owe to Jesus Christ – it is Jesus who saved us from our sins; it is Jesus who died for us.
Our faith and salvation is due to a man who remained true to who He was, who triumphantly rode into town with His head held high as the crowds shouted, "Praise God for the Son of David! Bless the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Praise God in highest heaven!" It is Jesus who remained true to who He was as He stood before the High Priest and religious leaders who shouted accusations of treason and blasphemy. It is Jesus who remained true to who He was as He stood before the Roman governor Pilate who would sentence Him to death on a cross. It is Jesus who remained true to who He was as He received forty lashes from whips woven with pieces of jagged rock and sharp bone. It is Jesus who remained true to who He was as He was forced to carry his own cross to the place where He would be humiliated, degraded, and violated as He was crucified for all to see. And finally, it was Jesus who remained true to who He was, not only through His death on the cross, but ultimately through His resurrection from the grave!
So I ask you today: Are you true to who you are in Christ? Are you true to who God has made you? Are you fulfilling all that God has planned for you to do? Or are you ashamed to stand firm in the calling God has placed on your life? Only you can decide!
