Matthew 21:1-17, Now
when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives,
then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go into the village in front of
you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie
them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, you
shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.” This
took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying, “Say to the
daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a
donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’ ”
The
disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. They brought the donkey and
the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. Most
of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the
trees and spread them on the road. 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!” And
when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is
this?” And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of
Galilee.”
And
Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple,
and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who
sold pigeons. He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a
house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.”
And
the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. But when
the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the
children crying out in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were
indignant, and they said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” And Jesus
said to them, “Yes; have you never read, ‘Out of the mouth of infants and
nursing babies you have prepared praise’?”
And
leaving them, he went out of the city to Bethany and lodged there.
In preparing for this passage I read —
listened to – a message on the same passage of Scripture by John Piper. So my
message is influenced by his. Or, the Spirit of God is guiding both of us along
the same path. Anyway, I thought he should get some credit for the message. At
least twice in the Bible Jesus is shown as entering the city of Jerusalem.
First, he is entering the city on a donkey being proclaimed as King. Second,
found in the book of Revelation, Jesus is entering the city on a white horse
with an army behind him.
We need to remember that…
Jesus
was born to be King. Listen while I read Matthew
2:1-6. Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea
in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to
Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw
his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” When Herod
the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; and
assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them
where the Christ was to be born. They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so
it is written by the prophet: “ ‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of
Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come
a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’ ”
Sometime
after Jesus’ birth wise man from somewhere in the East, perhaps Babylon, came
to Jerusalem looking for the newborn King. They knew from the prophecies that
he would be born when a certain star appeared. We don’t know if it is a special
star placed there for a while and then taken away or, it was a star that
appeared in a certain place in the sky. There are lots of speculation about the
star but, this side of heaven, we will never know. In fact, we don’t need to
know! And I will add, we probably won’t want to know in heaven. It was the wise
men who needed to know and they did! They not only knew that a child had been
born in Judea they knew that he would be the King of all who would believe on
his name.
This
child who was born to be King was raised in a carpenter’s house in a little
village called Nazareth in Galilee. We do not know when he came to know for
sure who he was but we do know that he recognized himself as the Son of God at,
or about, the age of twelve. For the next eighteen years the ruler of the
universe and creator of heaven and earth was obedient to his human parents and
was educated as a Jewish young man would be. About the age of thirty years,
after he was baptized by John, he began to teach and preach. His preaching was
simple…
Jesus
proclaimed the kingdom. Let’s listen
to the account in Matthew 4:17. From
that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is
at hand.”
Both John the baptizer and Jesus use the
term, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” in their preaching. They
could have said, “The kingdom of heaven is coming” but they did not. They said
it was “at hand”. I believe that term means that the King had come and
therefore the kingdom was there. All that’s necessary for there to be a kingdom
is a King and subjects. John the baptizer was Jesus’ first subject having
recognized him before either was born! Then, after Jesus was baptized he began
to gather more subjects. They are called disciples.
During most of his ministry Jesus refused to
let the demons he cast out call him the Messiah. He tried to get the people he
healed not to spread the news. Or, as someone might say “spill the beans”. Only
at the end of his ministry, when it was obvious that the enemy was trying to
destroy him, did Jesus begin to present himself in ways that showed who he was.
On what we call “Palm Sunday”, Jesus did something to show who he really was.
Jesus
proved himself to be King by riding on a donkey. Jesus knew the prophecies and
knew how they would be interpreted. Listen while I read from Zechariah 9:9-10. 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. I will cut off the chariot from
Ephraim and the war horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off,
and he shall speak peace to the nations; his rule shall be from sea to sea, and
from the River to the ends of the earth.
Listen to what John Piper had to say, “Jesus
has chosen to act out the fulfillment of this prophecy and to declare his
kingdom in the action of riding on a donkey. This means, yes, I am King, for
that’s what the prophet says it means: “Behold your king.” “But,” he is saying,
“I am gentle and lowly. I am not, in my first coming, on a white war-horse with
a sword and a rod of iron. I am not coming to slay you. I am coming to save
you, this time. Today is the day of salvation.”
Jesus wanted to call attention to the quote
from Zechariah because he knew the context of the passage about the donkey.
Zechariah prophesied that the King coming on the donkey would speak peace to
the nations and his kingdom would be from sea to sea — to the ends of the
earth. Later, he would tell his disciples to go to the ends of the earth with a
good news. Yes, Jesus proved himself to be King by riding on a donkey and…
Jesus proved himself to be King at his
Father’s house.
We have a record in the gospel of Luke of
Jesus’ first coming to the temple when he was twelve years old. His family had
gone to Jerusalem for the feast of Passover. When they returned home to
Nazareth, at the end of the first day, they realized that Jesus was not with
them. They returned to the city and searched for him for three days. When they
found him (Luke 2:49 And)
he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be
in my Father’s house?”
Now we come back to our original passage.
Jesus recognized the temple as his Father’s house when he was a child and now
he comes to it at the end of his ministry to proclaim his kingship. Look with
me at V 12-13. And
Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple,
and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who
sold pigeons. He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall
be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.”
Jesus, the King, entered his temple and drove
out those people who were making it into a place of commerce. He exercise the
kind of authority only the King can have. Yes, Jesus proved himself to be King
by riding on a donkey. Jesus proved himself to be King at his Father’s house. And…
Jesus proved himself to be King by healing. In
the earlier days of his ministry Jesus was asked… Let’s read Matthew’s account
of it. Matthew 11:2-6. Now
when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his
disciples and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look
for another?” And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see:
the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the
deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to
them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”
Jesus is expressing what was prophesied by
Isaiah when he said, “Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the
recompense of God. He will come and save you.” Then the eyes of the blind shall
be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap
like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. (Isaiah 35:4-6) Here,
just as Jesus has driven the moneychangers out of the Temple, immediately the
blind and the lame came to him in the temple and he healed them. The temple is
now being used as it was intended to be — a place of healing and peace for all
people.
Not only did Jesus show that he was King by
entering the city on a donkey as Zechariah had prophesied, then cleansing the
temple and turning it into a place of healing, in a few days he had the
opportunity to talk to the Roman ruler Pontius Pilate. Jesus didn’t just
symbolically prove he was King…
Jesus
said he was King. John 18:33-37 So
Pilate entered his headquarters again and called Jesus and said to him, “Are
you the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “Do you say this of your own accord,
or did others say it to you about me?” Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own
nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me. What have you
done?” Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of
this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered
over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.” Then Pilate said to
him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this
purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear
witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.
There is absolutely no doubt that when Jesus
said, “For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the
world.” He was talking about being King. Not a kingdom of this world but
instead he was talking about a spiritual kingdom. His kingdom has continued for
these 2000 years and will continue eternally. Jesus was proclaimed by the wise
men be the King of Jews. Jesus proclaimed himself to be the King and proved
that he was King by entering the city on a donkey, cleansing the temple and
turning it into a place of healing! He came into this world to be King! And…
He will come again. On the Isle of Patmos
John the disciple saw a vision, we
call it the book of Revelation. In that book he saw the coming King. Listen
while I read Revelation 19:11-16. Then I
saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called
Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His
eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a
name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in
blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of
heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white
horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the
nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress
of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he
has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.
In order to wrap up history, Jesus will come
again! Now let me make something very clear. I am not on the program committee
for the second coming! I decided a long time ago that there was lots of
confusion about when and how he would come and that I could not tell
definitively from Scripture which of these theories are true. So, I volunteered
for the welcoming committee rather than the program committee.
Just a thought grows out of what John saw
that day on the Isle of Patmos. There are lots of horses in heaven! And if
there are lots of horses there are likely lots of other animals as well. Well,
maybe, just maybe, all those horses are just symbolic. It’s one of those things
that I don’t know. But, one thing I do know is…
Every knee shall bow to him. Philippians 2:9-11 Therefore
God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every
name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in
heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
From the look of the news around the world
today Jesus Christ has many enemies! Of course atheists do not believe in God
and therefore do not recognize that Jesus Christ is God. Apparently many people
who believe that Jesus existed and has a special place in history are extremely
offended by him. All of the controversy and discussion today around the public
display of Christian symbols tell us that there are many hundreds of thousands,
perhaps millions, who refuse to bend the knee to Jesus. Well, just you wait!
Everyone, in heaven and on the earth, and under the earth, will bow the knee to
Jesus and confess that he is Lord to the glory of God the Father! If you have
never confessed that Jesus Christ is Lord and believed in your heart that God
raised him from the dead today is the day to do it! We have no promise of
tomorrow. But we do know, without a doubt, that it is appointed to man once to
die and after that the judgment. That’s not my opinion, it is the word of God!
(Hebrews 9:27)
I would like to read a few words for you from
a preacher by the name of S. M. Lockridge. It’s entitled…My King
The Bible says my King is the King of the
Jews. He’s the King of Israel. He’s the King of Righteousness. He’s the King of
the Ages. He’s the King of Heaven. He’s the King of Glory. He’s the King of
kings, and He’s the Lord of lords. That’s my King.I wonder, do you know Him?
My King is a sovereign King. No means of
measure can define His limitless love. He’s enduringly strong. He’s entirely
sincere. He’s eternally steadfast. He’s immortally graceful. He’s imperially
powerful. He’s impartially merciful.
Do you know Him?
He’s the greatest phenomenon that has ever
crossed the horizon of this world. He’s God’s Son. He’s the sinner’s Saviour.
He’s the centrepiece of civilization. He’s unparalleled. He’s unprecedented. He
is the loftiest idea in literature. He’s the highest personality in philosophy.
He’s the fundamental doctrine of true theology. He’s the only one qualified to
be an all sufficient Saviour.
I wonder if you know Him today?
He supplies strength for the weak. He’s
available for the tempted and the tried. He sympathizes and He saves. He
strengthens and sustains. He guards and He guides. He heals the sick. He cleansed
the lepers. He forgives sinners. He discharges debtors. He delivers the
captive. He defends the feeble. He blesses the young. He serves the
unfortunate. He regards the aged. He rewards the diligent. And He beautifies
the meek.
I wonder if you know Him?
He’s the key to knowledge. He’s the
wellspring of wisdom. He’s the doorway of deliverance. He’s the pathway of
peace. He’s the roadway of righteousness. He’s the highway of holiness. He’s
the gateway of glory.
Do you know Him? Well…
His life is matchless. His goodness is
limitless. His mercy is everlasting. His love never changes. His Word is
enough. His grace is sufficient. His reign is righteous. And His yoke is easy.
And His burden is light.
I wish I could describe Him to you. Yes…
He’s indescribable! He’s incomprehensible.
He’s invincible. He’s irresistible. You can’t get Him out of your mind. You
can’t get Him off of your hand. You can’t outlive Him, and you can’t live
without Him. Well, the Pharisees couldn’t stand Him, but they found out they
couldn’t stop Him. Pilate couldn’t find any fault in Him. Herod couldn’t kill
Him. Death couldn’t handle Him, and the grave couldn’t hold Him.
Yeah! That’s my King, that’s my King. Amen!
Let’s think back to Matthew’s account of our
King as he was approaching Jerusalem.
On his way into the city where he would be
tried and crucified Jesus stopped along the roadside to talk to two blind men.
They were calling out to him that he should have mercy on them. He asked them,
“What do you want me to do for you?”
They asked for their sight and he had pity on them. Just before this
event the disciples had been arguing about who will be the greatest in the
coming kingdom. Jesus told them that they were not to be concerned about who
will exercise authority on earth. In a short time Jesus demonstrated what the
kingdom is all about. The kingdom is about serving not being served! He’s my
King is he yours?
All scripture quotes are from: The Holy Bible:
English standard version. 2001. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.
