Now this morning we're reading
Matthew chapter 21, the triumphal entry of our Lord into the city
of Jerusalem and the beginning of what is called the Passion
Week, the week that our Lord died. Matthew 21, and let's read
the first 11 verses. We have four accounts of this
in the New Testament. All Gospels mention it. We'll
take note of that as we go along. Matthew 21, 1 through 11. When they drew nigh unto Jerusalem,
and were come to Bethphage, unto the Mount of Olives, Then sent
Jesus to disciples, saying unto them, Go into the village over
against you, straightway, ye shall find an ass tied, and a
colt with her. Loose them, and bring them unto
me. And if any man say, O unto thee,
ye shall tell him the Lord hath need of them, and straightway
He will send them. And this was done, that it might
be fulfilled, which was spoken by the prophet, saying, Tell
ye the daughter of Zion, behold, the king cometh unto thee, meek
and sitting upon an ass, and a colt, the foal of an ass. And the disciples went and did
as Jesus commanded. And they brought the ass and
the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set him their
own. And a very great multitude spread
their garments in the way. Others cut down branches from
the trees, and scrawled them in the way. And the multitudes
that went before and that followed cried, saying, Hosanna to the
Son of David! Blessed is he that comes in the
name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest! And when he was come into Jerusalem,
all the city was moved, saying, Who is this? And the multitude
said, This is Jesus, the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee. Now, the last week of the Lord's
life upon the earth is called the Passion Week by many in theology. It is that time of the last week
or the last few days before our Lord gave himself up to crucifixion
upon the cross. Now, in our text, the time is
drawing nigh when the most important event in all the history of the
world is to take place. That which was purposed before
the foundation of the world was ever laid. That which was promised
and ordained before sin ever entered into the world and man
fell. That before the first promise
was ever made in Genesis chapter 3 and verse 15. That event foretold
by the prophets and looked for by the faithful. That would be
the appearance and death of the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ,
the Great One, who would appear and who would bruise the head
of the serpent, that Great Deliverer, that One sent from God that He
might put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. This means that the
approximately three-year ministry of our Lord is drawing to a close. That He would be taken away by
death and that His apostles would continue the work and the way
in which He would be taken is He would die upon the Roman cross
in Jerusalem at the hands of both Jews and Gentiles who would
conspire together to put our Lord to the death of the cross. Now, the Lord had, on many previous
occasions, foretold His death unto His followers and disciples. And yet, his dull, off-hearing
disciples could not seem to grasp the full reality of it. Once when he spoke of them, of
his coming death, and of his dying at the hands of men, you
might remember that Peter rebuked him in Matthew chapter 16 and
verse 22, and said, Master, this shall not be unto thee. But right after, Simon had had
a great revelation of God made unto him. But now in our text,
the hour is coming, the time of His death is drawing ever
near, that cause for which He came into the world. Like 1 John
chapter 3 and verse 8, for this purpose the Son of God was manifested,
that He might destroy the works of the devil. And yet a few more
days from this entry in our text, and the Son of Man would be lifted
up on the cross at Golgotha and would die. But yet there are
a few more days between His entry and His death upon the cross. Now, before we consider the Jerusalem
entry, we have our Bibles open at Matthew 21. Let's drop back
to chapter 20 just a moment and look at verse 17 through verse
19. The Lord very clearly instructing
His disciples what is to occur at Jerusalem. Chapter 20, verse
17 through 19, And Jesus, going up to Jerusalem, took the twelve
disciples apart in the way, and said unto them, Behold, We go
up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man, He means Himself, shall
be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they
shall condemn Him to death, shall deliver Him to the Gentiles to
mock and discourage and to crucify, and the third day He shall rise
again. Now, we might expect a double
reaction from the disciples and apostles from hearing that, based
upon their reaction and their reasoning. For example, we might
expect the apostles then to seek to dissuade the Lord from going
to Jerusalem. Lord, if this is the case, why
would you go there? Master, If death awaits at Jerusalem,
why go there? Avoid it. Do not go near. You might remember the incident
concerning Paul in the book of Acts 21, 11 through 14. Paul had made his mind up to
go to Jerusalem. And the prophet Agabus came and
he took Paul's girdle and he wrapped it round tightly. And
then he made a prophecy that evil, he said, would befall Paul
there in Jerusalem. His friends, his fellow laborers,
and his fellow Christians sought to convince Paul not to go to
Jerusalem because of what awaited him. You remember his answer?
I'm ready not only to suffer, but also to die for the sake
of Him. So the Lord's disciples might
have said, Master, Let's avoid that. Let's do not go there where
the wicked seek to put thee unto death. Furthermore, the Lord's
disciple might have used the same sort of argument used in
John 11, And verse 8, "...recently," they said, "...the Jews sought
to stone you. Are you going there again?" This
was at the death of Lazarus. Their sentiments had not changed
over the time. But the Lord is very clear on
one thing. He is going to Jerusalem, there
He will be put to death. That His death would be at the
hands of the Jews, at the hands of the Gentiles there in Jerusalem,
and that He would be carried up by a confederation of Jews,
the Sanhedrin court, Pilate, Herod, the people, the Gentiles. All of them together according
to Acts 4.27 and Psalms chapter 2 verses 1 and 2. Now in chapter
21 of our text for today, is an account of this entry of
our Lord into Jerusalem. As I said, it is mentioned in
all four of the Gospels. We might have a harmony to put
them all together to have the more facts and the events about
our Lord. Mark 11. 1 through 10. Luke's account is in chapter
19, beginning at verse 29. John's account is in verse 12,
and it is the shortest of all of the accounts, verses 12 through
verse 15. There is in this another display
of the omnipotence and the wisdom of Christ. Also shines out the
providence of God, and in it and the way in which the Lord
did enter into Jerusalem and fulfill a prophecy from the Old
Testament by doing so. Consider what we read. The Lord
sent two of his disciples, unnamed, into a village that lie on the
outskirts of Jerusalem. And he gave them a sign as they
entered in, saying in Matthew 21 and verse 2, Go yonder into
the village, and as soon as you enter into the village, you will
find an ass, or literally a donkey tied, and you will find a colt
with her. Loose them both and bring them
unto me. And what if the owner objects? What if they're charged with
horse theft? What if the owner resists them? Well, verse 3 covers that contingency. If anyone questions you, you
are to say unto them, the Lord has need of these, and by that
they will send them and let them go. Now the man has his heart
wrought upon. He is willing by the power and
the providence of God, unlike Pharaoh who said in Exodus 5
and 2, who is this God you talk about? I know not this God, nor
will I let the people go. But anyway, the man with the
coat sent the coat away, as the Lord had commanded." Now, let's
consider and compare another event with some similarity to
the Lord obtaining this colt that He might ride it into Jerusalem. And that would be in the Gospel
of Luke, chapter 22, verse 7 through 13. When the Lord would eat the
Passover with His disciples, He sent Peter and John into the
city to prepare the Passover, telling them When you enter into
the city, you will see a man carrying a pitcher of water,
and you follow him where he goes, and you say to the good man of
the house, where is the guest chamber that we might prepare
the supper that the Lord might eat it. And it was done again
exactly as our Lord had said. Now another thing about this
coal that the Lord had fetched out of the city that He might
ride, in Luke 19 and 30, In Mark 11 and verse 2, we are told that
this colt was unbroken. This was a colt that never had
carried a rider. This was a colt upon which never
a man had set. And as Mark and Luke tell us,
wherein never man set. Reminds us of John 19.41. And
Luke 23, 53, the Lord was buried in a grave, quote, wherein never
man was laid. None before that it might be
the more evident that Jesus is the only one in the grave and
has risen from the dead. But go again to the word, where
on never a man sat. And yet, gently and quickly submitted
to the Lord, riding upon its back, which shows the Lord's
sovereignty over even the dumb beast of the field. Not only
over the sea and the winds did it abate, but this ignorant animal
also lent itself without resistance to the Lord. And so we shall
soon see This fulfilled a certain prophecy concerning the Messiah. That Jesus would ride into Jerusalem
upon a colt was the subject of a prophecy. In Matthew 21 and
verse 4, all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was
spoken by the prophet. Now when the colt was brought
to Jesus, in Matthew 21 and 7, Luke 19 and 35, Mark 11 and 7,
the disciples then took some of their own garments, no doubt
their outer garments, and they put them on the back of the coat
that the Lord might sit there upon them. He might make His
ride then into the city. The reaction is amazing in that
the people, without prompting, without a leader, without a forerunner,
without anyone to warm them up, began to spread their garments
in the way at going into the city. Matthew 21 and 8 said even
that they went and they cut down branches from the trees and they
laid them or strawed them in the way for our Lord. John 12
and 13 says that some took palm branches off of the trees and
they went out to meet them, waving them, crying, Hosanna is He that
cometh in the name of the Lord. I mention again that it seemed
to be a spontaneous movement on the part of the people, no
forerunner to go before and to warn the people, none to work
the people up into a frenzy that the Lord is on His way. None
to warm up the crowd like politicians do when they speak. None to cry
out before him in the way that he might prepare that way. Outwardly,
it seemed as if there were no cause to rise the emotions of
the people to the fever pitch in which they became. But they
were moved by, as Calvin said, a secret impulse. And the people
came out, as it were, in unison. Hosanna to the son of David,
they cried out. Blessed is he that comes in the
name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest, we hear
them shout. Blessed be the King that comes
in the name of the Lord. Peace be in heaven and glory
in the highest, they shouted before our Lord. And in John
12, 13, they bless Him as the King of Israel. Blessed is the King of Israel. Now we should not let it slip
that the people were proclaiming Him to be King on this occasion,
even the King of Israel. And by the way, an honor which
our Lord did not rebuke them for and did not refuse. While it is true that Jesus In
John chapter 6 and verse 15, "...on one occasion refused their
attempts in the wilderness to take him and make him a king
by force because their motives were false, and the time had
not come. And yet in this triumphal entry
into Jerusalem on that day, He lets the people freely praise
Him as the King of Israel, even though, even though, brother
and sister, they did not understand at that time the true nature
of the Lord's kingdom. But it is as a king that he enters
into the holy city. Now that prophecy is in Zechariah
9 and verse 9 and it says this, Rejoice greatly, O daughter of
Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, thy king comes unto thee! He is just and having salvation,
lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon the foal of an ass."
Again, that's Zechariah chapter 9 and verse 9. It is beyond dispute
that this prophecy has to do with none other than Jesus Christ. Because we read in Matthew 21
and verse 4 that all this was done that it might be fulfilled
which was spoken by the prophet in that verse in Zechariah 9
and verse 9. Now, this point very quickly. How many times do we read in
the Scripture of our New Testament that a certain thing was done
to Christ or by Christ in order that the Scripture might be fulfilled. This is a prophecy from the Old
Testament writing. For He is spoken of in the law. He is predicted in the psalm. He is written up in the prophets
major and minor. And it cannot be that a single
prophecy relating to our Lord should fall to the ground or
should fail. Again and again, certain thing
was done that the Scripture might be fulfilled. And He would be
manifest as the Son of God, and as the Anointed of God, as the
One come from God, as the Prophet, as the Revealer of God. So He
would have it manifest that He is indeed a King. And said the
Prophet Zechariah, O daughter of Jerusalem, behold, Thy King
comes. He's lowly. He's meek. He's gentle. He's riding upon the colt or
the foal of a donkey. He is just. He is righteous. He has salvation. That is this
wonderful one. Lowly he was as to outward circumstances
during the ministry of our Lord. Lowly he was as to the pomp of
life For consider, if you would, the lowliness of our Lord in
that, first of all, His birth was in a stable, not in another
place of comfort, but His birth was in a stable. He resided in Nazareth, a place
of notoriety. His servants and disciples were
fishermen and were tax gatherers. He owned no property, had no
place to lay his head in this world. His crown was plaited
thorns. His carriage was a lowly beast. His saddle was the used garments
of his disciples, and his pavement was the garment and the branches
that were laid before them. Lowly did our Lord appear in
the world among men. Now, it bears repeating, I think,
that the Lord did not refuse to be honored and proclaimed
as King. Not once in the face of all of
these many opportunities did the Lord this claim kingship. In fact, in Luke's account, let's
turn there, it's in chapter 19, remember? And verse 37 and verse
38, Luke chapter 19, Verse 37 and verse 38 says, When
he was come nigh, even now at the descent of the Mount of Olives,
the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice, praise God
with a loud voice for all the mighty works which they had seen,
saying, Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven and glory in
the highest. Then look at verse 39. Some of
the Pharisees from among the multitude said unto him, Rebuke
thy disciples. Tell them to stop. Make them
quit. Some Pharisees who were witnesses
to these things were greatly displeased with the demonstration
from the people, as for one cause, The two things, I think, together. Number one, Jesus riding on a
donkey. Number two, the jubilant excitement
of the people would remind the people standing by of that prophecy
in Zachariah. and they might make the connection. These Pharisees were thinking
that the people were proclaiming and were accepting Jesus of Nazareth
as indeed the true Messiah. that they were ready to crown
Him King, crown Him King, that Messiah might be ready to seize
the reins of government as they had expected Him to do. And those
enemies of our Lord faulted the Lord right there publicly for
Jesus not rebuking and not checking the wild enthusiasm and exuberance
of this great throng of people. And no doubt it would have spread
if left unchecked certainly. They exhort the Lord, that is
the Pharisees did, Master, rebuke your disciple. Tell them to cease
this unbridled homage. Quiet them down, down, down. The Pharisees had never seen
it on this wise. They had never seen a demonstration
like this in the life of Jesus. And they considered it, I believe
as Linsky described it in his commentary, as quote, blasphemous
praise to Jesus. unquote, to digress a mite from
our subject. In Matthew's account, In chapter
21 and verse 15 and verse 16, when the chief priests and the
scribes heard the children in the temple shouting, Hosanna
to the Son of David, they were sore displeased. Now, this word
displeased that is used here in the Scripture is from a root
word that is used about seven times in the New Testament. Four out of the seven, the Greek
word is translated indignation. Four of the seven, it's translated,
at least in the King James, indignation. And it means they were full of
indignation at hearing the praise of the Lord Jesus. Hosanna is
a Hebrew word or term and it means, O save, or save now. And the irate leaders ask in
verse 16, do you not hear what they are saying? Do you not hear
what the people are saying? They speak as if you were a king. They praise you as if you are
a savior. Or else they thought the commotion
unseemly in the temple. For the sake of decorum, they
would not have it carried on there. But the Lord, as He often
did, answered them with a scripture. In verse 16, He answered them
saying, Did you never read? Have you never found that place
in the scripture that said, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings
hast thou perfected praise." That's a reference to Psalms
chapter 8 and verse 2, another prophecy coming into the mix
here. Now to be fair, the incident
in Matthew 21 verse 15 and verse 16, was likely the next day after
the triumphal entry into Jerusalem. But if we go back to Luke chapter
19, and the Lord's answer for their call for Him to rebuke
the people, and the words of the Lord in verse 40, He said
to them, I tell you, if these should hold their peace, the
stones immediately would cry out. Oh, make them be quiet. To which the Lord said, if these
hold their peace, the stones We'll begin to take voice and
cry out. This may have been a proverbial
saying common among the people, but to emphasize that in the
connection with the entry into Jerusalem and accordance with
a prophecy found in Zechariah, he that came in the name of the
Lord must be praised. That's the point of our Lord.
He that came in the name of the Lord must of necessity be praised. And if not from men, then from
these stones that lie by the way. The inanimate creation paid
homage to Christ when He died upon the cross. The rocks rent,
the sun refused to shine. God can make the stones cry out
and praise Him, as in Psalm 98 and verse 8. Let the floods clap
their hands, let the hills be joyful together, that inanimate
creation is even able to praise our God. Remember the words of
John, the forerunner of the Lord, which he spoke unto the Jews,
found in Matthew chapter 3 and verse 9. John said to that bunch
of self-righteous Jews, don't start saying within yourself,
we're the children of Abraham. Because he said, I tell you,
God is able to raise up of these stones children unto Abraham. Spurgeon wrote, let none presume
upon their ancestry. As the Jews boasted, we're the
children of Abraham. As if that made them children
of grace at the same time. Some think because they are of
a certain descent that they are in the grace of God. Some think
that because they are the children of believing parents that they
are in the covenant, as some do of their religion, saying,
oh, I'm a Baptist. I belong to a Baptist. As if
that would put them in the grace of God. It certainly won't. But
I just keep on digressing. Let's get back again to the people
fulfilling the prophecy of Zechariah inhaling Jesus as the King, such
things as them saying, Blessed be the King that comes in the
name of the Lord. And I think that it certainly
seems safe to say that the enthusiasm that day toward Jesus was never
higher at any other time. that the enthusiasm with regard
to our Lord rose to its highest pitch on this day of any other
time. As if He could ask what He would,
and it would be granted. As if He might name what honor
the people might bestow upon Him, and it might be granted.
As for those that think that the Lord came on that advent
to establish an earthly reign, this would seem to be a most
opportune time for our Lord to set up His kingdom. Are you aware
that some hold to the idea that if they had received the Lord
Jesus Christ, that He would then and there have established a
kingdom reign. But because the Jews rejected
Him and crucified Him, then God postponed the kingdom in favor
of the church age. That's the view of some today. But as high as the enthusiasm
was on that day, as much as the people praised Him, Rather than
crown Him as King, the high honor died away. It died out. It died away. And a few days
later, some of the same ones were crying out, crucify Him! Crucify Him! We have no King
but Caesar. We will not have this man to
reign over us. Why then? Did the Lord allow
the ignition of this blaze of glory on this occasion only to
see it die away and seem as if it has come to nothing? For that
matter, what the means of the blast of glory in the Mount of
Transfiguration when our Lord was glorified like no eyes had
seen Him upon the earth before. Why raise the expectations of
the people and accept their praise? And then as John Hall wrote in
his book, Contemplations, quote, never did our Savior take so
much state upon him until now, unquote. And we just might add
that they fell so low too. How did they rise so high and
fall so low? Why did his manifestation as
king fade away so fast and instead of a crown and a throne, He has
the cross and its agony." By the Lord's own words. He did
not enter into Jerusalem to assume an earthly throne. He had clearly
said to His disciples, and we read it in Matthew 20, 17-20,
that at Jerusalem He would be betrayed, He would be condemned,
He would be mocked, He would be scourged, He would be crucified,
but then He would live again after three days. There's a point
here not to be overlooked in all of this, which is John chapter
12 and verse 12. That is, it was coming to the
time of the yearly Passover. Call the feast in John 12 and
verse 12, a time of the year. when all Jewish males were required
to appear in the city of Jerusalem to celebrate Passover and commemorate
their deliverance out of the land of Egypt. And in this time,
the city's population would always swell during that season. Jews out of every part of the
area would come and come to Jerusalem and Jesus became the main attraction. This year Jesus became the thing
or the one that they wanted to see. and the praise of the people
and the uproar of the leaders against it that led him to be
crucified a few days later. Again, why raise the pit so high,
then let it fall back down again? Calvin said, before he is dragged
to the cross, he would be manifested as king, unquote. J.C. Ryle wrote, quote, before dying
for our sin, he would call public attention to himself and fill
Jerusalem with the report of his arrival, unquote. He is king. King Jesus he is. Zacharias said so. He was called
so at his birth. By the wise men, remember Matthew
chapter 2 and verse 2, where is He that is born King of the
Jews that we might worship Him. We have seen His star and are
come to worship Him. Matthew 2 and verse 11, when
they arrived where the young child was, they fell down and
they worshiped the king child and presented unto him gifts,
gold and frankincense and myrrh. at his trial when Pilate asked
the Lord, Matthew 27 and verse 11, Are you the king of the Jews? There was much talk, much disputing
about it in the city and about town. So Pilate just sprayed
out asking, Are you the king of the Jew? Pilate had an interest
in this. Was this king a threat to Caesar
and unto his kingdom? And so Pilate says, Are you the
king? The answer of the Lord Jesus
is this, Thou sayest. Yes, you have said it. Or, it is even as you say, I
am. But in John 18.36, he said to
Pilate, My kingdom is not of this world. Pilate took him to be no threat
to the kingdom and the throne of Caesar. Abraham Booth called,
quote, a secular king, unquote. And when Pilate saw that the
King Jesus was no threat to Caesar or to cease to usurp his throne,
Pilate took that occasion to get back a little bit at the
Jews. He took that occasion to tweak
the Jews by asking them In John 18 and verse 39, you want me
to release to you the king of the Jews? And they had a hissy
fit, as you remember. Not only that, but Pilate tweaked
them again. There was common to write on
the cross and put on the cross the crime that they were charged
with, the superscription it is called. And you know what Pilate
wrote on the cross of Jesus in Hebrew, Greek, Hebrew, and Latin?
Jesus the King of the Jews. Pilate did that partially to
tweak the Jews, I know. Jesus of Nazareth, the King of
the Jews, but guided by a sovereign providence as well. And they
said to him, look, don't say that. Just say that he said that
he was the king of the Jew. Pilate was adamant and said,
what I have written, I have written, it stands. And on the cross of
our Lord, Jesus of Nazareth, the king of the Jew. Christ is a king. Christ has
a kingdom. It is called, The Kingdom of
His Dear Son, Colossians 1.13, and we have been translated out
of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of His dear Son. Now the king came to Jerusalem,
not to become a secular king, but to die upon the cross. And all of this prepares the
way for our studies that are to follow. We have seen him enter
triumphantly, praised as king. We shall see him in the upper
room preparing his disciples for his departure. We shall see
him in the garden in its agony. We shall see him in the injustice
of his trial and condemnation before Pilate. Then we shall
see him in the agony upon the cross. May God bless our studies
that are to come, but in the next few weeks this will be the
way that we're going God willing.