The Presentation of the Lamb
Mat 21:1-11
(Mk 11:1-10; Lk 19:28-40; Jh 12:12-19)
Mat 21:1-11 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."
You know, one of the problems with preaching certain passages of Scripture every year at certain times of the year is the difficulty of finding something new to say. For instance, on Palm Sunday, after 2 or 3 years, what once might have been new and innovative becomes old hat and repetition of things said before. But, you know, I guess that’s one of the beauties of this old-time religion we’re all a part of. It is old and regardless of how many times we repeat ourselves, it is still the message of the ages concerning the most important series of events in all of human history. It’s historical, but like God’s compassions (Lam 2:22-23), it is new to us every morning! So, Gimme that old time religion. Gimme that old time religion. Gimme that old time religion, it’s good enough for me!
Now, originally, I planned on the title of this sermon to be “The Coronation That Wasn’t.” and that was because I wanted to point out that what so many have called the Triumphal Entry, really wasn’t. Preachers have called this event in the Lord’s life His coronation, but it really wasn’t that either. In my mind, the Lord Jesus Christ’s heavenly coronation occurred after He rose from the dead and ascended into heaven and sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high and was given the name which is above every name (Heb 10:12; Php 2:9). His earthly coronation will occur when He returns to earth, not riding a lowly colt of a donkey but a white charger and followed by the armies of heaven (Re 19:11-15). At that time, He will judge the world in righteousness, destroy the ungodly, establish His throne in Jerusalem, and then at the end of His millennial reign on earth, He and all who are His will live and rule throughout all eternity in the new heaven and the new earth!
In biblical times, a triumphal entry into a city would be conducted with a lot of fanfare. The victorious king or general would enter his home city with his army and prisoners in tow. There would be great rejoicing and singing of the praises of the king or general, mingled with ridicule and mocking of the conquered. At the end of the procession, the king would usually execute the leaders of the prisoners and enslave many of the others.
And coronations of new kings were not humble affairs by any means either. They also were conducted with much fanfare and in the presence of many people and with elaborate regalia, displays of great splendor, and pompous pageantry. The king would be dressed in his beautiful clothes and expensive jewels, and probably driven through town and the crowds lining the streets in an ornate carriage accompanied by an entourage of ranking court officials and foreign dignitaries. Also, coronations weren’t reversed just a few days later. They weren’t taken back, and the king placed on trial and executed later that same week.
No, the day that the Lord Jesus entered Jerusalem was not a Triumphal Entry nor a Coronation in the strictest sense. Also, the crowd’s delirious reaction that day was not a genuine expression of faith in and praise for Israel’s true King, because many of those same people who hailed Him when He entered Jerusalem would later in the week cry “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” Many others, after the energy and excitement of the moment wore off, when asked, “Who is this?” would respond Mat 21:11 …"This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee." Not the “Messiah.” Not the true “King of Israel,” but “the prophet from Nazareth.”
Now, let me be clear—Jesus is heaven’s true King and He deserves all the acclamation, exaltation, honor, worship, and praise of our hearts and our lips, but before He could reign on earth, He had to die. He was born into this world under humble circumstances so that He could take the reproach, shame, and sin of the world upon Himself. So, before He could be King, He had to become Joh 1:29 …The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! And so, that is why I finally decided to change the title of this sermon to “The Presentation of the Lamb” because that is what’s going on here. When Jesus entered Jerusalem that day, He was coming as the Lamb of God.
As the Lord approached Jerusalem in this final journey, He took great care in how everything would unfold. Nothing happens by chance to the Creator and Master of time and space. He was always in control of the events that affected His life and ministry. When the people of Nazareth wanted to throw Him off a cliff, He passed through their midst without anyone laying a hand on Him. When Peter made his great confession, he was warned not to tell anyone else. When the inner circle of friends saw His glory on the mountain, they were commanded to keep it to themselves Mar 9:9 …till the Son of Man had risen from the dead.
The Lord was in control of all the events of His life and ministry. Over and over again in the gospels we see where the fulfillment of prophecy occurred at His command in both eternity (like being born of the line of David and to a virgin in Bethlehem), and within time and the natural world. In the gospels, He told John to baptize Him Mat 3:15 …to fulfill all righteousness, and in His first major sermon He said that He Mat 5:17 …did not come to destroy but to fulfill the law and the prophets. A dozen times or so in the gospel of Matthew alone, he marked the Lord’s fulfillment of scripture with the phrase, Mat 8:17 that it might be fulfilled… (or something along those lines) and then quoted the OT passage that He had fulfilled.
But there were times when the Lord also fulfilled the scripture intentionally. For example, during…
1. The Pilgrimage
Now, you know what a pilgrimage is, don’t you? It’s a journey to a specific destination, many times with religious intent. The Lord obeyed the law, so whenever a pilgrimage feast drew near, He would go to Jerusalem as was required of all Jewish males. The completion of His ministry to redeem mankind was close at hand. The year was probably AD 30 or 33. The 10th of Nisan was approaching. This was an important date because that is date that God set for Israel to choose their Passover lamb. He would have to be without spot or blemish, and He would be kept in the house with the family until the 14th of Nisan when he would be slain. On the original Passover in Egypt, the lamb’s blood was applied to the door posts of their houses so the death Angel would pass over that home, but since that time it’s blood was applied to the altar in the tabernacle or the temple.
Jesus, being the lamb of God, would present Himself to the people as their lamb on the 10th of Nisan when He entered Jerusalem and went into the temple. On the 14th, as was required by the law, He would die on a Roman cross, and His blood would be applied to each and every heart who believes and receives Him as Lord. Now, there is some controversy over the exact days of the week that this occurred. Tradition says that He entered Jerusalem on Sunday. Others say that it would have to have been on Monday. Tradition says that He was crucified on Friday, but many nowadays believe it would have to have been Thursday. Personally, I don’t know. It can get pretty confusing, and I don’t have enough fingers and toes to count back that far, but what I do know is that He would have fulfilled the law perfectly because that’s what He came to do, and like the scripture says, Mar 7:37 …He has done all things well.
He didn’t come to break the law, but to fulfill it, so I am absolutely positive that without regard to what day of the week it was, He would have fulfilled the Passover symbolism to the smallest detail, and then on the 14th He would have been the perfect and sinless sacrifice for the sins of the world. So, as He approached Jerusalem for the last time, another prophecy had to be fulfilled perfectly.
2. The Prophecy
Zec 9:9 "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, Lowly and riding on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey.
Knowing that Zechariah’s prophecy needed to be fulfilled, as they approached Jerusalem the Lord called two of His disciples to Him and sent them on a very important mission. They were to go into the nearby hamlet of Bethphage and there they would find a donkey colt and its mother. They were told to untie them and bring them back. If anyone asked them about it, they were specifically told to say that Mat 21:3 …'The Lord has need of them,'
Now, I want to point out that up to this point, Jesus hadn’t referred to Himself in quite this way before. If He had followed His normal pattern when giving instructions to His disciples, He would have said something more along the lines of, “Tell them I have need of them.” But He didn’t do that. He emphasized His title. He wanted to make sure they said, “The Lord” or “Kurios” which means Lord, Master, or God, the supreme one. So, the disciples’ response to being challenged in taking the animals wasn’t to be a request hoping the owners would honor, but a statement of fact that the owners of the animals needed to submit because “The Lord” needed them.
And you know, we should keep this in mind in our own lives. Jesus doesn’t need to request, plead, or beg us to obey Him. All He needs to do is tell us what He wants and then it is our obligation to obey. We are under compulsion to submit to all that He says simply because of who He is. He is Lord, and we are His creatures, the sheep of His pasture. And furthermore, if you are a Christian, then you were bought and paid for by His blood. You belong to Him. You are His doulos. His slave! We don’t gain any merit whatsoever by agreeing to abide by His commands. It is simply what is expected and right. Like He said in Luk 17:10 So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, 'We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.' "
So, the disciples obeyed, and everything went just as the Lord said it would. It’s a picture of His omniscience. He knew there would be a donkey and her colt in the next village, and He knew that the disciples would be challenged. But He also knew that His command would be obeyed, and when they brought the animals to Him, the disciple began taking off their cloaks and laying them on the back of the colt as a makeshift saddle. This, along with the palm branches and the cloaks of the others who laid them on the ground before Him as He rode to Jerusalem is significant. From ancient times, the practice of sitting or walking on the clothes of others, or the spreading of palm fronds on the ground for Him to walk on was an ancient act of paying homage to royalty! When Elisha anointed Jehu as the new king of Israel in the place of Ahab, all of those who were there with Jehu 2Ki 9:13 …each man hastened to take his garment and put it under him on the top of the steps; and they blew trumpets, saying, "Jehu is king!"
A donkey and her colt. Before I move on, I want to point out that the scripture tells us that the colt had never been ridden before. Now, two things here. First, I find it interesting that an animal that never had anyone or anything on its back didn’t need to be broken. Have you ever thought of that? There’s no indication whatsoever that this unbroken animal gave the Lord any problems at all. I tend to think that the animal kingdom is smarter than humans at times, because this colt seems to have had a better idea of who Jesus was than the vast majority of those who followed Him. And the second is that in Jewish history, no one but the king was allowed to ride the king’s horse or donkey. Only the king, and that is why Jesus wanted this colt to ride. It had never been ridden before.
Now, as they are making their way down the Mount of Olives, heading toward the eastern gate, everyone, the entire party, and it was a big party folks, they all began…
3. The Praise
It’s been estimated that during the feast of Passover, up to 2 million people would descend upon Jerusalem. So, the city would be filled with humanity. As this caravan of people in front of, and behind the Lord descended the Mount of Olives, in a frenzy of excitement and anticipation of the Messiah, cutting down palms branches and spreading them along with their own cloaks on the road, and with shouts of praise crying out Mat 21:9 …"Hosanna to the Son of David! 'BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!' Hosanna in the highest!" I am sure that the noise and the excitement reached the city gate. The people at the gate would look up the path to see what was going on, and they would have seen this large flow of humanity descending upon them.
What they were crying out, or singing is part of the Hallel, which means the praise. The Hallel is psalms 113 – 118 and they were songs of deliverance and were often sung during Passover. Hosanna means “save” or “save now.” During the feasts of the Lord, Messianic expectations were always high. But this feast was different. Many of those who followed the Lord into Jerusalem were from Galilee, they knew all the things He had been doing there.
Many others had come out to see Him in Bethany because they had heard how he had brought Lazarus back from the dead. And now, Jesus was fulfilling the prophecy of Zechariah right before their eyes. They knew very well the significance of this donkey colt. All of their hopes and dreams of deliverance seemed to be falling right into place. The crowd became so caught up in excitement that some of the Pharisees, in fear that the Romans might think an uprising was in the making, begged Jesus to quiet His people.
Oh folks, what a sight it was! Wouldn’t it have been great to be there to witness all that was going on? Salvation was coming. Jesus, the Messiah, the Lord’s Anointed was here to save and deliver the people! Hosanna! Lord save now!
But the salvation the people expected wasn’t salvation from sin, it was a cry for blessing, prosperity, and deliverance from Roman rule. They wanted the fulfillment of the promises of Messiah’s reign, and when Jesus didn’t deliver those promises as they thought He would, their love and acceptance would soon turn to hostile rejection. Many of those who on the 10th, exuberantly hailed Him as Messiah and shouted praises to God would by the 14th scream for His execution. They would share in the responsibility for the death of the One who came to save them. 50 or so days later, on Pentecost, Peter would remind them all…
Act 2:22-23 "Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know— (23) Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death;
You have crucified. You have put to death. It would be a truly sad ending if it ended right there, but it didn’t. The death of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is only part of the story. Three days later we find that, Psa 30:5 …Weeping may endure for a night, But joy comes in the morning.
Peter would continue by saying to them, Act 2:36-38 "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ." (38) …"Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Beloved friends, the Lamb of God has been presented to you. Will you believe in Him and receive Him? Or will you continue to turn and walk away? The choice is yours. The destiny of your soul is at stake. What will you do?
