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Dismiss Kids (2nd service only)
Pray
Scripture Reading - Matthew 21:1-11
Introduction
In the church calendar, we look at the triumphal entry and the start of Holy Week
In the gospels, it represents a shift
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John all track Jesus life, his teachings, and his miracles
But they do so in vastly different ways reflecting vastly different primary audiences
Did you know there is only one miracle that is recorded by all four gospels?
The feeding of the 5000 is the only miracle that Matthew, Mark, Luke and John all recount
But as we turn to Holy Week and the events leading up to and including Jesus’ death and resurrection, all four gospel writers start to zoom in and slow down
John does so much that he hits the triumphal entry in chapter 12 of 21 - nearly half his gospel!
I share that for two reasons
to emphasize the priority of these events to all four gospel writers
because I’m going to reference the others along the way
Thesis
With that said, let me lead with the thesis this morning
I almost set led me start with my conclusion, but some of you may have thought I’m almost done and getting you out early!
As the crowd moves from “Hosanna” to “Crucify”, so our hearts are inclined the same way
Will we be people who bend our knee to the king or who scoff at the innocent man on the cross?
Who do we say that Jesus is?
Retell the Story
Jesus is headed toward Jerusalem, both literally and figuratively
Literally in that he is physically on his way there
Figuratively as he knows his death is imminent - his time has come
So he sends 2 of the disciples on ahead and tells them they will find a donkey and its colt and to bring them to him
He tells the disciples that if anyone asks, just tell them that “the Lord needs them”
Now, let me pause: how did Jesus know there would be a colt there?
2 options
Option 1: Miracle knowledge - He is the Second Person of the Trinity and he knows something no one else could know
Options 2: Preplanning - He could have planned ahead and made an arrangement
Reality: Text never tells us so while it is an interesting question, it is not one we can answer definitively
Disciples bring the colt to Jesus and he rides into town on it
As he does, the crowd lays the cloaks on the ground, cuts palm fronds and places them on the ground
Basically, first century equivalent of rolling out the red carpet
As they, that is, the crowd, do so, they are shouting
Matthew 21:9 “And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David!
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
Hosanna in the highest!””
Mark 11:9-10 “And those who went before and those who followed were shouting, “Hosanna!
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!
Hosanna in the highest!””
Luke 19:38 “saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!
Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!””
John 12:13 “So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna!
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!””
This is, essentially, a victory parade
With crowds in front and behind
With all the shouts
This is a parade, a spectacle, an event
Transition
So that’s what happened
Now let’s zoom in on two important focal points - the symbolism of the donkey and the crowd
The Symbolism of the Donkey
For those present, the symbolism of Jesus riding in on a donkey was clear, unmistakeable, and intentional
It may seem like an odd picture to us, but the implications were not lost on anyone there
It was:
A fulfillment of prophecy
A declaration of royalty
A picture of sovereignty
Fulfillment of prophecy
Zechariah 9:9 “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”
Jesus is deliberately, intentionally fulfilling this prophecy from Zechariah
And, again, the crowd recognizes it immediately as both Matthew and John include parts of that Zechariah passage in their recounting of the triumphal entry
Jesus is the king who was prophecies long ago to come riding on a donkey
A Declaration of Royalty
Riding the donkey here is also a declaration of royalty
When a king or a great leader would enter a city, his entry was marked by fanfare
Enter on a war horse or in a chariot - something notable and worthy of his stature
People would go before him and follow after him offering praises
Would often go to a local temple either to offer a sacrifice to the local gods or to correct some wrong/abuses
In this sense, Jesus’ triumphal entry follows the script and yet totally upends it
People went before him and followed him offering praises
Right after this he, if we continued on in Matthew, he goes to the temple and is the famous account of his cleansing of the temple
So in that sense, it is right on script for the arrival of a dignitary or a king
And yet, he comes in not on a war horse, not on a royal steed, not in a chariot
But on a donkey - and not just any donkey, a colt - a foal, a young donkey
Nothing glorious, nothing glamorous - but unmistakeable
His declaration of royalty - of kingship
He arrives not as the political hero that will overthrow Rome but as the suffering servant who would overthrow death itself
And again, no one misses the implication
When we read the Matthew language of “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord” we may not necessarily interpret that as a kingly declaration
And that is where the other gospels help us
Mark - “Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!”
John - “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!”
Jesus’ arrival here is a declaration of royalty
A Picture of Sovereignty
The Scriptures are full of places we can see God’s sovereign hand where he is pleased to used never-before-used things for his good purposes
But especially we see this in the life of Jesus
He was born of the Virgin Mary
She was, in that sense, untouched and yet used mightily of God
After his death, he is laid in a tomb that had never been used before
And here, he rides in on a colt that had never been ridden previously
2 implications here
To be unused is to be reserved for sacred purposes
No one would ride the mount of a king
Everything about Jesus’ entry is a picture of his sovereign plan of redemption at work
While it would be the path of death for Jesus, it is his plan and never goes outside of his sovereign oversight
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