A Triumphal Entry
I. Palm Sunday: A Triumphal Entry
a. Recorded in all four gospel accounts
i. Matthew 21:1-10, Mark 11:1-11, Luke 19:28-48, & John 12:12-19
b. This morning I want to look at and examine Matthew 21:1-10 and the parallel between
i. How Jesus entered into Jerusalem as Messianic King and Deliverer
ii. How Jesus enters into our Heart as Lord and Savior
II. Entering into Jerusalem as Promised Messianic King
a. Jesus has been in public ministry for about three years (kind of) – “go and tell no one”
i. During His ministry, the people of Israel were trying to figure out if He was the messiah (the messianic king they’ve been waiting for)
ii. Jesus is not what they expected but He is unlike anything they have seen
b. Two “viral” events take place toward the end of His three year ministry, requiring Him to hide from people who either want to make Him king, or kill Him
i. Feeding the 5,000 – 15,000 people with five loaves of bread and two fish
ii. Raising Lazarus from the dead after four days
c. Anywhere from a few weeks, to several months after raising Lazarus from the dead, Jesus heads into Jerusalem to celebrate Passover
Matthew 21:1-5 New King James Version
21 Now when they drew near Jerusalem, and came to [a]Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Loose them and bring them to Me. 3 And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord has need of them,’ and immediately he will send them.” 4 [b]All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying: 5 “Tell the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your King is coming to you, Lowly, and sitting on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey.’ ”
i. Jesus prepares to enter Jerusalem and fulfill His destiny as Messianic King by making sure His every step is conformed to the word of God (Zechariah 9:9)
1. If Jesus holds the word of God in such high regard, that He carefully conforms His life to it, shouldn’t we?
2. What would our lives look like if we believed that the best way to fulfill the call of God upon our lives was to first take care that our lives are conformed to the word?
ii. This was Jesus’ day of triumph, the day where He would allow His disciples and the multitudes to acknowledge Him as Messianic King as He rode into Jerusalem, and He chose to ride in on not just a donkey, but a colt, a foal.
1. A male donkey under four years of age, this one was so young it needed its mother to come along, a foal is under a year old so this donkey was 1-4 years old
2. Can you imagine the multitudes celebrating their Messianic King and deliverer as He rides in on a stumbling baby donkey crying for its mother, burdened under the weight of an adult man?
3. What HUMILITY
iii. This is King Jesus, He who humbles Himself making our hearts His home. Jesus who actually invites us to come to Him, take His yoke, learn from Him.
Matthew 11:28-30 New King James Version
28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am [a]gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
1. Do NOT mistake His humility, gentles, and lowliness of heart.
Revelation 1:14-17 New King James Version
14 His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire; 15 His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters; 16 He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. 17 And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying [a]to me, “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last.
2. He humbled Himself for you, condescended Himself for you, restrained Himself for you, He rode in on a baby donkey, and not the warhorse He deserved for YOU!
Matthew 21:6 New King James Version
6 So the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them.
d. Obedience is the only appropriate response to Jesus
i. Obedience to the commands of the Lord, no matter how strange or unconventional
ii. Jesus is never asking for your input He’s asking for your obedience
iii. The fastest path to your destiny in Christ Jesus is radical obedience to the word of God and Holy Spirit
Matthew 21:7-8 New King James Version
7 They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, [c]and set Him on them. 8 And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road; others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road.
e. Seating Him upon their clothes
i. If Jesus on a donkey wasn’t awkward, Jesus surrounded by dudes in their underwear definitely was
1. Jesus is the great equalizer, no status symbols in His presence, there is no hiding in His presence
ii. We are all imperfect people with beautiful stories and scars
Luke 19:37-40 New King James Version
37 Then, as He was now drawing near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen,
Psalm 22:3 New King James Version
3 But You are holy, Enthroned in the praises of Israel.
1. Praise is a telling of the great things God has done for us! He is enthroned upon our praises.
3. The disciples were vulnerable before the Lord, seating Him upon their clothes and praising Him for the inner work in their lives, their DEEP and PERSONAL testimonies
f. Spreading their clothes and cutting down palms/branches on the road for Him to walk over
i. Our deep, personal, and vulnerable testimonies create paths that allow other people to encounter Jesus
John 12:17-18 New King James Version
17 Therefore the people, who were with Him when He called Lazarus out of his tomb and raised him from the dead, bore witness. 18 For this reason the people also met Him, because they heard that He had done this sign.
1. He delivered me from sexual perversion, He healed me from physical and sexual abuse, He saved my marriage after I was unfaithful, He gave me the strength to forgive my father, He reconciled me to my mother, He restored me as a leader after my moral failure, etc…
2. I was dead in sin and He brought me back to life
ii. Church, these testimonies were the path Jesus took into Jerusalem as King and Deliverer, He walked over the dignity and self-preservation of His followers and was recognized as King of kings
Matthew 21:9 New King James Version
9 Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying: “Hosanna to the Son of David! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ Hosanna in the highest!”
g. Then finally, the multitudes were able to recognize and celebrate the King and Messiah!
John 12:12-13 New King James Version
12 The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, 13 took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out: “Hosanna! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ The King of Israel!”
i. Hosanna – “come save now”
1. Equivalent of, “long live the King,” or “God save the Queen,” etc…
2. This is the GOSPEL – Good News – King and Deliverer
ii. The people of Israel were under the oppression of the Roman occupations, their king was a political puppet who cared nothing for them. They were looking for a new King and Deliverer – Jesus came to deliver them, not from a particular earthly oppressor, but from the iniquity that caused them to sin and fall into rebellion, leading to oppression.
1. Jesus brought about a deliverance and freedom that can be experienced in freedom or in slavery, in abundance or in lack, in celebration and in suffering
Matthew 21:10 New King James Version
10 And when He had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, “Who is this?”
III. Today’s Triumphal Entry
a. Do you know Jesus as Lord and Savior, King and Deliverer?
i. Maybe we who do, can help by seating Jesus on our vulnerability and make a path with our praises and testimonies
b. He went to the cross for You
i. He was crushed for you, crucified for you, sacrificed for you
Isaiah 53:5 New King James Version
5 But He was wounded[a] for our transgressions, He was [b]bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes[c] we are healed.
Isaiah 53:10 New International Version
10 Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes[a] his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.
ii. He humbled Himself, so that you could have the opportunity to be transformed into a living stone in His Holy Temple
1 Peter 2:5 New King James Version
5 you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
c. Will you respond in turn, humble yourself and recognize Jesus as King, Lord and Savior?
i. Will you celebrate Him and cry out Hosanna?
Romans 10:13 New King James Version
13 For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
