And 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 unto the village
over against you, and straightway ye shall find an astride, and
a colt with her. Loose them, and bring them unto
me. And if any man say ought unto
thee, ye shall say, 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 daughter of Jerusalem, of Zion, Thy king cometh unto thee,
meek, sitting upon an ass, and a colt, the foal of an ass. And the disciples went and did
as Jesus commanded them. And they brought the ass and
the colt, put on them their clothes, and they set him their own. And a very great multitude spread
their garments in the way. cut down branches from the tree,
and strawed 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 cometh 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, we will bring together a
harmony of this event today. By that I mean that this is one
of the events that is recorded in all four of the Gospels. All four Gospels were inspired
by the Spirit to include a record of this event. Here we have Matthew's
account in chapter 21. It is also found in Mark chapter
11 and verses 1 through 10. You'll find it again in the book
of Luke in chapter 19 verse 29 through verse 38. And John gives an abbreviated
account of it in chapter 12 and verse 12 through verse 16. Now,
you're probably aware that this event in the life of our Lord
has been given the name, or has been entitled, the triumphal
entry of our Lord into the city of Jerusalem. Spurgeon, in his
little commentary on Matthew, had subtitled it, the king rides
triumphantly into his capital." And we learn that it was the
fulfilling of an ancient prophecy, and that our Lord did this, that
the prophecy of Zechariah chapter 9 and verse 9 might be fulfilled,
that Messiah would make such an entry as is described here
in these passages of Scripture, and that he would do so in the
capacity of the King of the Jews. Thy King cometh unto thee. And something else of both interest
and importance in regard to this matter, it occurred as the day
of the Passover was drawing nigh. John chapter 12 and verse 12. And it occurred because of that
event, the city was full of pilgrims and strangers and visitors who
had come into the city for the celebration of the Jewish Passover. John's account, as I said, is
the briefest of them all, but as one said, it has some distinct
features of its very own, John's account, such as, one, he places
it the next day after the supper with Lazarus, whom he had raised
from the dead. Many came, friends of Lazarus. Others wanted to kill Lazarus
because he was a testimony to the power of God. John does not
mention the feast like some of the others do, and because of
that, Many were in the city for this great celebration and the
Passover, which was an annual event. And if you remember of
old, all Jewish males of a certain age were required to appear before
the Lord in the city at certain times, and I believe that this
was indeed one of them. Now, as we work our way towards
our text this morning, We see a marvelous exhibition here of
the sovereign omniscience of our Lord and of Jesus our Savior. And that great omniscience prepared
the way for this event, and we shall see how that was done. And it led to that loud and enthusiastic
response of the multitude on this occasion. Now this was by
no means the Lord's first or only visit to the city of Jerusalem,
nor by any means was it the only time that our Lord kept the Passover. But usually, our Lord had gone
in afoot, usually walking, and with a smaller company, and with
less fanfare than we see on this particular occasion. But this
was a special occasion and manifestation in the ministry of our Lord,
and it had special prophetical significance attached unto it. It was another example that our
Lord, as a Jew after the flesh, and made under the law, observed
and celebrated the ceremonial law along with the Jews. Now,
note how the Lord sets up His entry into Jerusalem. And that is what I call a display
of His sovereign omniscience. That is His great knowledge of
all things. He sends two of His disciples
ahead of the others into the village with these instructions. You go there, you enter in, and
what you are to look for, Matthew 21 and verse 2, straightway,
that is, at once, as soon as you come into the city, you shall
find an ass, the Greek said, having been tied, and a colt. with her. Mark 11 and verse 2. As soon as you enter into it,
you shall find a colt tied. Luke 19 and verse 30. At your
entering in, you shall find a colt there tied. That is, a young
colt, the foal of an ass. Now only Matthew mentions the
mother of the colt. Mark and Luke mention only the
code in their account of this incident and mark 11 and 2 And
Luke 19 and verse 30 tell us that it was a beast upon which
never a man had sat before. This was a colt, never been ridden,
never been broken, as it were, unto the bridle. Never had been
broken to ride, never had been trained to the bridle, never
had carried a rider upon its back. And this reminds us, or
me, that our Lord also lay in a grave wherein never another
man had laid. Luke 23, 53 and John chapter
19 and verse 41. So they could be only used by
Him as proof that He was indeed raised from the dead. Now, these
two disciples are two men were instructed to bring that coat
that they found tied out to the Lord. And he made provision in
case there was resistance and objection. In case the owner
objected and said to them, hey, what are you doing? That's my
coat. What are you doing? Leave him
alone. They were to say to that man, the Lord has need of him. And that would work in that man's
heart to give and do the will of the Savior. Sure enough, exactly
as the Lord said, number one, they found the colt tied. Then
number two, the owners asked, why are you leasing the colt?
And number three, they freely gave up the colt. In fact, Matthew
21.3 said, straightway He will send it. He will say, take it
and go. Now, it puts us in mind of an
event a few days later in Mark 14 and verse 13 through 16 when
the Lord used much of the same measure in order to secure a
suitable place for the keeping and the celebration of the supper
of the Lord. They were to go, they were to
see a man, bearing a pitcher of water. They were to follow
him to his house. And then they were to say to
him, where may we make ready that the Lord may eat the Passover
supper? Now, in both cases, A, it was
he who said that it would be. And B, in both cases, the owner
consented without the slightest protest whatsoever. And this shows Not only the full
omniscient, but also the omnipower of the Lord Jesus Christ. Of
such trivial things as a cold tide, and a pitcher of water,
and such like things. A guest chamber. It shows that
our Savior was very God. That He is a sovereign over the
hearts, and the actions, and the thought, and the directions
of men. So what's the purpose then and
the significance of our Lord Jesus Christ sending these two
men to fetch the colt just outside of the city? And what need doth
our Lord have of him? How will the Lord make use of
this colt? He has not told them up to this
point. Matthew 21 and verse 4 tells
us This was done that a prophecy might be fulfilled. This whole
event of riding in upon the colt was to the fulfilling or the
accomplishing, not of prophecy in general, but of a particular
prophecy laid out in Zechariah. Now before we consider this prophecy,
let's admit How often we read in the Gospels that something
was done to Christ, or something was done by Christ, or something
was said by the Lord Jesus Christ, or the actions against our Lord
are declared to be the fulfilling of a certain prophecy of the
Scripture. Such as the soldiers cutting
or casting lots rather than rending the garment of the Lord Jesus
Christ. John 19.24, they did it that
a Scripture might be fulfilled, and that was Psalms 22.18. How is it that Jesus, when dying
upon the cross, said, I thirst, in John 19.28, that He might
fulfill Psalms 69 and verse 21. All think when
the soldiers came and broke the legs of the thieves, but did
not break the legs of the Lord Jesus Christ. In John 19, verse
32-36, instead one pierced his side with a sphere. In John 19, 33-34, John writes In verse 36 of that chapter,
these things were done that a Scripture should be fulfilled. A bone of
him shall not be broken. Now, Exodus chapter 12 and verse
46, a bone of the Passover lamb was not to be broken. Here comes
a soldier with a bar that they might break their legs and hasten
their death. But they broke not the legs of
Jesus, because of the prophecy. But they did thrust Him in the
side with a spear. And that fulfilled Zechariah
chapter 12 and verse 10. They shall look on Him whom they
have pierced. Now, His being crucified among
two thieves is another. Mark 15 and verse 28 fulfilled
a prophecy of Isaiah chapter 53. He was numbered with the
transgressor. When we read from the prophet
Isaiah in Mark 4.21, he said, this day is the Scripture fulfilled
in your ears. And the Lord sat down. The Lord's
betrayal by Judas fulfilled a Scripture in John 13, verse 8, from Psalm
41, verse 9. And of course, we could cite
on and on, and many, many more, as the murderous rage of Herod
against the little infants in the day that Christ was born. John Gill wrote, and I quote,
The prophecies of the Old Testament concerning Messiah have had their
exact fulfillment in Christ." Every one of them will have their
fulfillment in the Lord and Savior. And as he lived out his life
and died upon the cross, prophecy after prophecy was fulfilled
in the life of our Lord. John Gill wrote something else.
The marks and the characters of the Messiah as fixed by the
prophet in the Old Testament are very plain and visible in
Jesus. The prophecies that were prophesied
of him came to pass in the clear sight of men. So much so, that
the many fulfilled prophecies are among the strongest evidences
that Jesus is the Messiah. Here's a passage I've tried to
get myself around for years. I don't know if I understand
it, but Revelation chapter 12 And verse 10 said, the testimony
of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. What can that mean? Can it have
some relation unto this? And in particular, the manner
of His suffering and of His death. Of these things the prophet spoke
and wrote extensively. In no other, no other such Jesus
could all these prophecies meet. In no other could they have all
of their exact fulfillment. For He was of Israel after the
flesh. He was out of the tribe of Judah.
He was of the house of David. He was of the root of Jesse,
exactly as the Scriptures had said. And also, the time of the
appearing of our Savior in the flesh agrees perfectly with the
Scripture. The manner of His birth. He would
be born of a virgin. Isaiah 7.14. He would be born
in Bethlehem. Micah 5.2. And the providence
of God caused this to be so. even though Jesus lived, or His
parents, lived not in Bethlehem, but in Nazareth. Luke 1.26. But He would be born
in Bethlehem. And according to the prophet,
He would be born in Bethlehem, though His humanity was conceived
in Mary when she was a resident of Nazareth. But this morning,
with all of that behind us, We are engaged to consider a certain
definite prophecy in particular. And it had its fulfillment when
the two disciples brought the young colt out of the city, and
Christ rode upon it into the city of Jerusalem. Now the prophecy,
as I've mentioned, is Zechariah chapter 9 and verse 9, and it
reads this way. for our remembrance. Rejoice greatly, O daughter of
Jerusalem! Behold, thy King cometh unto
thee. He is just and having salvation,
lowly and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt, the foal of
an ass." That's what Zechariah said would occur in the life
of our Lord. Now Matthew tells us, he informs
us that the getting of the colt for the Lord in chapter 21 and
verse 4 was expressly done for one purpose and end. And that
was the fulfillment of this prophecy of Zechariah. that He would come
to the daughter of Jerusalem. That He would come to Zion sitting,
riding astride a young colt. The rider would be king. He is
just and lowly, or meek, having salvation. His mount would not
be a prancing thoroughbred, no, nor a powerful steed used yonder
in the fields of battle, but his mount would be a borrowed
colt, even as he borrowed a grave. A borrowed colt, a little beast
of burden, if you will, all the times before our Lord had come
into the city on foot. Never been met with such fanfare
as upon this occasion, nor did he seek it or ask for it. So let's consider this most marvelous
event. And let me say this about it,
see if you agree. It seemed to be completely spontaneous
on the part of the disciples and of the people. Now, I understand
that the power of the Lord was behind it. But it seemed to be
completely, instantly spontaneous on the part of the disciples
and the people in that Jesus commanded not their honor and
praise. He did not cheerlead. He did
not say, come on now, it's time. Nor did the disciples begin to
cheerlead like some do in our day. Nor did the disciples have
the intent of fulfilling the prophecy of Zachariah. They simply obeyed their Lord. In John chapter 21 and 16, these
things understood not His disciples at the time. How many times we
read that of them in the Scripture, that they understood not at the
time that which they had seen or heard. But when Jesus was
glorified, they remembered then that these things were done and
that they had done these things unto him, they seemed not to
grasp the significance of it at the time that it happened.
But it was like they were moved by a secret impulse. This was completely unlike when
the soldiers in Matthew 27, 28, and 29, mock the kingship of
our Lord by putting a scarlet robe on Him and plaiting a crown
of thorns and pressing that down upon His bed. Not a head, not
a crown of gold, but a crown of thorns. And for His scepter
they put in His hand a simple stick. are a king." And then,
in sarcasm, they said unto him, Hail, King of the Jew! They mocked him, they bowed,
they spit upon him, mocking him and his claim that he is a king,
and then smote him upon the head with the scepter or cane that
they had brought. But in his entry into Jerusalem,
I am of the opinion again that it was more of a spontaneous
action as they were moved by a secret impulse to so honor
the Lord as King. Calvin wrote on this event, quote,
It appears that this honor was shown to Christ from a sudden
moving of the Spirit, unquote. And they were not aware at the
time that they were fulfilling completely the prophecy of Zechariah. Now here are two questions for
us to consider in this matter. How did it start and gather momentum
and reach a pitch? And then who started it in the
first? It seems the immediate disciples
started it. Though John 12 and 14 says, when
Jesus had found a young colt, he set their own. But John gives
a much more condensed and abbreviated account of the matter. Matthew
21 and verse 7 said, the disciples put their clothes, that is, their
outer clothes or garment, upon the ass, as a saddle or as a
saddle blanket, and they sat Jesus upon it. Again, we read
in Mark 11 and 7, they put their garments upon the beast and Jesus
sat upon him. In Luke 19 and verse 35, they
cast their garments upon the cold and they set Jesus their
own. From thence the demonstration
grew. Others began to spread their
clothes in the way. And some began to cut and to
break the branches off of the trees by the way, and spread
them in the way as our Lord was going unto Jerusalem. And John
mentions in chapter 12, the branches of palm trees. I guess this is
where some folks get Palm Sunday. But anyway, they threw these
clothes and these branches and these palm leaves before our
Lord as He went along. Now the Lord going toward Jerusalem. There were many before Him and
many after Him, our text has said unto us. And He drew near
to the Mount of Olives. And then the demonstration became
vocal. The multitudes. just broke out in praise and
rejoicing of God for all the mighty works that He had done
and that they had seen. And then in particular, they
blessed Jesus as the King that came in the name of the Lord. This is according to Zechariah's
prophecy. Thy King comes unto you." And
He comes upon a young colt. And the people began to cry out,
Hosanna to the Son of David. Blessed is He that comes in the
name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest. Now, hosanna. Hosannas, or the
word, is an exclamation of adoration that one gives unto the Lord.
And some say that it is equal with, O save, Hosanna, O save,
or it could be rendered, Save now, we beseech thee. Some say
it means great salvation. Hosanna, Hosanna. And the Lord entered into Jerusalem,
the capital city of Judaism, with the people declaring Him
to be the King of the Jews, like Zechariah had said in his prophecy. Reading J.C. Riles, who once
wrote and said of these texts that they could be that some
of the Jews had an idea at this time that Jesus had come to be
a temporal King and a conquering Messiah. In other words, There
were many in that crowd who thought, and perhaps secretly hoped, that
Jesus might at this time free them from the dominion of the
Roman yoke. as if the long-awaited time had
arrived. For here is the fulfillment of
that prophecy. Thy King cometh unto thee, meek
and lowly, and riding upon an ass. May we add, if Jesus intended
to reign as an earthly king of the Jew, this certainly seemed
like the best prospect our Lord had had in all of His ministry. In that, never were so many people
in the frame of mind to receive and to honor Him as the Great
One and the King. But He did not insist upon it
at that time. And you know something? Soon
the enthusiasm waned away and died down. The enthusiasm that
had seemed so spectacular and so spontaneous waned. And in a few days, just a matter
of a few days, those hosannas to the King turned into, we will
not have this man to reign over us. Crucify Him! Crucify Him! Crucify Jesus! However, please
note, that the Lord Jesus did not refuse and did not resist
the honor bestowed upon Him by the multitude. He gave no rebuke
to those who first began the matter. In fact, He endorsed
it, knowing that this prophecy, like all others, must be fulfilled
concerning Him, as sure as He was to die on the cross So sure
was he to make a triumphant entry into Jerusalem in this manner. He knew himself to be the king
of the Jew, and the one described in that great prophecy. And in
Luke 19 and verse 39, when some of the Pharisees, being offended
and jealous at such honor done to Christ Jesus, and the people
seemingly ready to crown Him as the King of the Jew, or own
Him as the Messiah out of the Old Testament prophet and Scripture. And those Pharisees, as they
always did, they called for the Lord to rebuke and quiet His
followers and disciples, saying, Teacher, quieten, quiet, and
rebuke thy pupils," or thy disciples. The Lord answers in John 19 and
40, why if these should be quiet, the very stones themselves should
cry out that He is King. He should be praised. Of the
praise that has come from inanimate objects, it's possible. If they
praise Him not, the stones will, He said. The closest thing to
this saying is that of John the Baptist in Matthew 3, verse 9. To those Jews who boasted, oh,
we be Abraham's seed. We are of the chosen line and
lineage. And John said, calling them vipers,
said God is able to raise up children under Abraham of these
stones that lay here upon the ground. But now let's consider
the question. Was Jesus offering Himself as
the Jews as an earthly and a temporal King? Was He ready to establish
an earthly reign? Had the Jews received Him as
King would He have at that time established His earthly reign
and set up His kingdom? And since soon they had Him crucified,
was the kingdom postponed, as some believe, in favor of the
church age? Now, in response to these questions,
let's consider some things along the way. Number one, there is
no record of the Lord attempting or suggesting that he would then
and there become an earthly king. Though some might have expected
it and many wished for it, the great enthusiasm for that faded
and they instead delivered him up to be crucified. Second thing,
that Messiah would be cruelly treated by the Jew This was taught
by the prophets. For example, Isaiah 53, that
they would put him to a violent death was the prophecy of Isaiah
and of others. And then thirdly, if that were
the case, that he would like to have set his kingdom up and
had to postpone it, had to go from plan A to plan B, then I
would ask you, what has become of God's sovereignty if he is
forced to move then to an alternate plan. And fourthly, the Lord
had clearly told His closest ones just days previous to this
that He was going to Jerusalem to die. He had said over and
over to them, He is going to Jerusalem. He will suffer. He will be delivered into the
hands of the Gentiles and die. Here are some places. I'll quote
them a turn. Mark 10, 33 and 34. In Luke 18 and 32. In Matthew chapter 20, verse
18 and verse 19. He has been very clear and open
with His disciples. We will go to Jerusalem and there. I will be delivered into the
hands of the Gentiles and put to death after mocking and other
indignities." He also predicted His resurrection after three
days and three nights in death and the grave. Even then, He
made no attempt to set up an earthly reign, nor after Pentecost
in Acts 1 and 6 The disciples ask him one last time, Master
Ward, will you at this time restore again the kingdom unto Israel? The tense, I think, in the Greek
is, are you restoring? Are you about to restore? The Lord does not give them an
answer, but He promises them power from the coming of the
Holy Spirit and ascends up in a cloud to heaven out of their
sight without setting up that earthly reign. What was then
the purpose of the display of Him as the King in His entry
into Jerusalem? Why then show Him as King as
Zechariah had promised if He is going to hang on the cross
rather than sit upon a throne? Why raise expectation and then
have them dashed as He is cruelly put to death? Spurgeon wrote
on this matter that just before the Lord died, quote, He now
determines to enter His capital city openly and there to reveal
Himself as King. In other words, make an open
declaration of it. To do that, he makes every minute
detail and circumstance to match exactly the prophecy of Zechariah
9 and verse 9, so that indeed, by King Cunnah riding up on the
colt, the foal of an ass, having salvation and such like, yet
less than a week later, before Pilate, Jesus would concede Himself
to be a king, and yet say to Pilate, My kingdom is not of
this world. John 18.36 If so, He said, certain
things would occur. Multitudes would come and fight
for Me. That Messiah would be a king.
reign over an empire or a kingdom. And Paul tells us that we have
been, in Colossians 1.13, delivered from the power of darkness and
translated into the kingdom of His dear Son. The Greek there
is colonized. We have been brought out of the
kingdom of darkness and we have been settled or we have been
colonized in the kingdom of His dear Son. He who is the King
and the Head, exercising a spiritual kingship, a reign in the heart
of all of His elect who have been colonized into the kingdom
of His dear Son. Now, our King Jesus, while the
Jews cried out in their blind hypocrisy, we have no King but
Caesar, crucified Jesus. John 9, verse 15. Christians
cry out the very opposite. We have no king but Jesus. They said we have no king but
Caesar, the hypocrite, the lying hypocrite. Christians have no
king but Jesus. We are citizens of His kingdom. He is our spiritual king. We
desire and look as pilgrims for a better country, but we are
subjects of the royal King and His royal kingdom. King Jesus,
that is His name. He is King in the heart and over
His people and over His church. Who is this King of glory? Psalms 24 and verse 8, excuse
me. Who is this King of glory? The
Lord, strong and mighty. is the King of Glory. Psalms 24 and 10. And Jesus showed or declared
Himself to be King in His entry into Jerusalem, riding upon a
lowly beast, but King. King Jesus. King Messiah. The One to whom God has given
all authority and put all judgment in his hand, that the scripture
might be fulfilled, Thy King cometh lowly riding upon the
colt, the foal of an ass." Thus the triumphal entry of our Lord
into Jerusalem.