Matt.21:1-11
M.V.P.
INTRO:
If Jesus had of entered into one of our modern cities, leading the parade, He would have been arrested immediately. He would be a wanted man. The FDA would want Him for turning water into wine without a license; the EPA for killing fig trees; the AMA for practicing medicine without a license; the Dept. of Health for asking people to open graves, for raising the dead and for feeding 5000 people in the wilderness without a food permit; the NEA for teaching without a certificate; OSHA for walking on water without a lifejacket; the SPCA for driving hogs into the sea; the NATIONAL BOARD OF PSYCHIATRISTS for giving advice on how to live a guilt free life; the N.O.W. for not choosing a woman disciple; the ABORTION RIGHTS LEAGUE for saying that whoever harms children, it is better that they had never been born; the INTERFAITH MOVEMENT for condemning all other religions, and by the ZONING DEPT. for building mansions without a permit. (W. Wiersbe).
Jesus would be a wanted man today. Well let me tell you, He was a wanted man on this day 2000 years ago. While the crowd was praising Him, the religious leaders of the day were plotting to kill Him……It is Passover. Up to 2 million people in and around Jerusalem. And up to now Jesus has avoided any public demonstration. But now He does. Why? Couple of reasons. (1) One is, He is fulfilling prophecy-Zech.9:9. (2) Second reason for this public demonstration is that it forced the Jewish leaders to act. When they saw the demonstration of the people they concluded that Jesus had to be destroyed (John 12:19). Now what were the Romans thinking as they watched this festive demonstration? After all the Romans were experts at parades and official public events. No Roman would have called this a triumphal event. When a Roman general came back to Rome after a complete conquest of an enemy, he was welcome with an elaborate parade. War prisoners would be bound behind him while he rode a white horse or chariot. He would have had to kill 5000 enemy soldiers. But you see Jesus is on a peaceful mission. When a king rode a donkey into a town it symbolized that he was on a peace mission. Jesus is on a peace mission to reconcile man to God. And by Acts 4:4 5000 lives would be claimed for the Gospel. It would be a victory of another kind-love over hatred, truth over error, life over death.
Now, who is the most important character in this story? The chanting crowd? They cry ‘crucify Him’ in just a few days. The two disciples? They fled and denied Him just like all the others. The most important character is the colt. You see, the donkey is a beast of burden. And she represents the Jewish people which had long bore the yoke of the Law. Now the colt represents the time of the Gentiles, the Church. The one that will bear the Gospel to a lost world. The donkey represents the Old Covenant and the colt the New Covenant. This new colt had never been ridden. That’s important because donkeys that had never been ridden were regarded as especially suitable for religious purposes (Deut.21:3). So it was most fitting that Jesus sent for the colt to perform the royal task of carrying Him into Jerusalem. So, the colt is the most important character because of his mission. ETS: His mission was to carry Jesus. ESS: Did you know our mission is to carry Jesus. As a child of God that’s your mission. How are we to do this? We’re to be like the colt…
1. WE’RE TO BE UNTIED vs.2
What’s tying you down? What’s tying our people down? What binds us? Sin binds us!!! You
can not be an effective witness for Christ when you are bound by sin. It’s first sin of omission.
Omitting the things we’re supposed to do. Sins of omission then lead to sins of commission.
You see when you stop doing the things you know you’re to do…pray, read your Word, be in
God’s house, love Him and serve Him with a whole heart…when you stop doing these things it
then leads to sins of commission. Then you begin committing sin. And the end result is "no
mission". Folks, we live in a post-Christian society. People are apathetic about church because
Christians are apathetic in Church. They are tied by sins of omission, commission which leads
to no mission. It’s sIn, with a big "I" in the middle. Oh my friends the solution is confession.
Repent of those sins today. Be loosed and be on mission for Jesus.
2. WE’RE TO BE OBEDIENT vs.6-7 & Obediently Serve
The donkey and her colt obediently followed these two disciples. Did some research on donkeys.
When we think of donkeys we usually think of them as being obstinate, and stubborn. But on
the other hand they are strong, obedient, patient and forgiving. In fact our next few points will
come from these characteristics. You see this particular species or sub-species in the Palestine,
Mediterranean region (Onager) is a very obedient, forgiving animal. Remember Baalam’s and
how obedient she was? I learned that when these specific donkeys exhibited the negative traits
such as stubbornness and unwillingness, it was mainly produced by the cruel bondage imposed
upon by its human task master. Hmmm. We too are disobedient when we are tied, bound to an
evil task master called sin. But my friend Jesus came to untie you and set you free. And we’re
to be obedient to Him. We’re to obey His word. Some say "well I read the Bible but I can’t
understand it." Brother, how about obeying what you do understand. Love God with all your
heart, soul and mind, and love your neighbor as your self. Take up your cross and follow Him.
Forgive one another, be kind to one another, watch your tongue. Obey that which you do know.
3. WE’RE TO BE HUMBLE vs.5
The donkey is a lowly animal. Do you know when we stop being humble? It’s when we forget
where we are and how we got there. We’re here by the grace of God. Your salvation is by His
grace. And when we forget that, we become proud and arrogant. God hates pride. See pride can
be a good thing or a bad thing. Satan became proud in the negative way in Heaven (Isaiah 14).
Do you know what that tells me? Pride existed in Heaven even before sin. You see, pride is the
root of all sin. Pride is what holds revival back. Pride is what keeps families from reconciling.
Pride is what keeps friends from reuniting. Pride never for one moment thinks "well you know
I could have been wrong." Pride says "I know I’m right".(Illus). That’s why God says 6 things
I hate, yea 7 is an abomination. And pride is number one on His hit list. That means you are
number one on His hit list when you are arrogant, proud. You are destined for a fall. Oh my
friends, if we’re going to carry Jesus to a lost world we must remain humble.
4. WE’RE TO BE FORGIVING
You know, I think of old Baalam’s donkey. How he beat her and yet she was so humble and
forgiving. Yet when we get crossed one time we fly off the handle. We forget the tremendous
mercy we’ve received. Remember the "Restoration 101" sermon. Get the tape….
Who is it you need to forgive? Who is it you refuse to forgive? Is there someone whom you’ve fallen out with. Then put forth those 9 words. And don’t miss this—YOU GO FIRST! ‘Do what?’ You heard me right; you go first. ‘But Bro. Royce it’s not my fault, it’s their fault.’ It may not be your fault, but it’s your responsibility. You see, you don’t understand the Gospel. In our relationship to God, guess who’s at fault? WE ARE! Guess Who made the first move. Jesus did.
"Father forgive them for they know not what they do."
5. WE’RE TO BE PATIENT
You know in our high tech, 30 second sound byte, fast food drive in world we’ve forgotten how
to be patient. We have no patience with others nor ourselves. We go to warm our food up in the
microwave and set it on 2 minutes and in 30 seconds we scream "hurry up!" . (Illus.on patience.)
Conclusion:
Let’s be like this colt. On this Psalm Sunday let’s have revival. Let us welcome Christ as the true Messiah and Lord of our lives. Let’s lay all that we have before Him. If you are here without Christ, cry out "Hosanna" now. "Save me now, Lord Jesus".
Royce Hendry Sand Hill Baptist 4/6/01
