“Your King is Coming”
[Matthew
21:1-11]
April 9, 2017, Second Reformed Church
Who is the King of the United
States?
“We don’t have a king; we have a
president.”
Well, actually we have a king as
well, a king Who is over our president. Jesus
is our King – He is the Sovereign King over all of Creation. And it’s important that we recognize that as
we go through the good times and the bad, so we look to the right ruler and understand
the extent of the power our rulers have.
As we turn to our Scripture, we are near
Jerusalem, about a week before the Crucifixion. Jesus is preparing to enter the
city and complete the work that He came to earth to do. And Jesus and His
disciples stop on the Mount of Olives. And Jesus sends two of His disciples to
a nearby village and tells them that when they get to the village, they will
see a donkey – a female donkey, with a young colt with her. And Jesus tells the
disciples to take them and bring them to Him, and, if anyone should question
what they are doing, they were to say, “The Lord needs them.”
How did Jesus know there would be a
mother donkey with her colt in the nearby village? How did Jesus know that the
owner would respond positively to the disciples cryptically saying “The Lord
needs them”?
We’re not told anything more about
this interchange and the gathering of the donkey and the colt; it happens just
as Jesus says it will. So, here we have a glimpse at the Divinity and the
Authority of Jesus. Jesus knows what animals there will be and where they will
be and that the owner will let them go with the simple command, “The Lord needs
them.”
More importantly than how Jesus knows
what He knows and why the owner of the donkey and the colt responds the way he
does, is the question of why Jesus tells the disciples to get the donkey and
the colt in the first place. It certainly wasn’t too far for Jesus to walk from
the Mount of Olives to Jerusalem; He was use to walking all over Israel. Why,
now, did He command the disciples to bring Him a donkey and her colt?
There are at least three reasons,
and the first one is quite explicit in our text:
“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.’”
Jesus tells them to get the donkey
and her colt to fulfill the prophecy of Zechariah: “Say to the daughter of
Zion, ‘Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, and
on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’”
The people of Jesus’ day knew the
Scripture well enough that they would see Jesus coming into Jerusalem on a
donkey, with her colt, and they would associate what He was doing with this
prophecy – the King of Israel is coming to claim His Throne and deliver them.
We will remember that Israel was
under Roman rule at this time and a large percentage of the population was looking
forward to the day when they would throw off their oppressors and be the people
of God, under His Rule alone. So, this and other Scriptures like it would have
been particularly on the minds of the Jews.
The second reason follows naturally
from the first – after three years of telling people not to tell anyone Who He
was, now the time has come – Jesus seeks to draw attention to Himself – He is
finally, publically, proclaiming that He is the King of Israel, the
long-awaited Savior.
“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.’”
As Jesus rides into Jerusalem with
the crowd around Him, praising Him and glorifying God, all of Jerusalem is
swept up in the procession – some welcome Jesus, others want to know Who He thinks
He is.
The third reason Jesus commands them
to bring the donkey and her colt, can be found in understanding that our God is
a God Who cares about the Creation He created. So, knowing that the donkey had
a young colt with her, which would be upset – to say the least – to have her
mother taken away from her while she was yet so young, Jesus compassionately
instructs the disciples not to separate the donkey and her colt, but to bring both
of them for His Triumphal Entry.
And so, they bring the donkey and
the colt to Jesus, and they put their cloaks on the donkey, and as they begin
to make their way toward Jerusalem, many other people throw their cloaks on the
ground and cut branches from the trees to cushion the donkey’s way as she
carries Jesus, God the King and Savior, into Jerusalem.
Let us notice the type of people
that laud Jesus and march with Him into Jerusalem – they are not the rich, the
politicians, the influential members of society, and the religious leaders – at
least the majority of them are not. How do we know that? Well, no one had a
saddle for the donkey – they spread cloaks for Jesus to sit on. No one offered
a horse and chariot for this Triumphal Entry. Their offerings – physically – are
extremely modest. Jesus is welcomed and lauded by the poor, the outcasts, and
the sick – the people He had spent most of His time ministering to.
And the crowds announce Jesus and
praise Him by quoting the Psalmist:
“Hosanna to the Son of David!
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”
What are they saying? What does “hosanna”
mean?
The word “hosanna” means “Save, we pray”
And it is implied in the word that the salvation that people are looking for is
deliverance from the corrupt rule of humans and the restoration of the Rule of
God. The intent of the word “hosanna” is the same as when we pray “Thy Kingdom
come.”
When the people cry out, “Hosanna to
the Son of David,” they are crying out, “Save, we pray! Through Jesus, God’s
King and Savior, the Rightful Heir to the Throne of David, bring us under Your
Rule, God, and Yours alone.”
The poor, at least, have grown tired
of being under Roman rule and even under the rule of bad kings in Israel and
Judah. They have had enough – they want to return to the days before Saul when
God alone ruled over them.
Are you tired of petty politics? Are you
tired of wars? Are you tired of following God and then following after sin and
then following after God and then following after sin? The day is coming when
the cry of the people of Israel before Jesus will come in all its fullness.
John describes it this way:
“Then I looked, and I heard around
the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels,
numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud
voice, ‘Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and
wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessings!’ And I heard every creature
in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in
them, saying, ‘To the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever
and ever!’ And the four living creatures said, ‘Amen!’ and the elders fell down
and worshiped” (Revelation 5:11-14, ESV).
We live under sinful rulers in this
world, but we also live under King Jesus – our soon coming King. We are to pray for the rulers God has given
us and hold them to biblical standards, and we are to pray that God’s Kingdom
will come to earth – and since that is what God has planned and promised, if we
pray for it, we know that God will do it!
The announcement has been made: Jesus is
the Legitimate Heir to the throne of David, and He will restore the Kingdom of
God in all its fullness, with God as the Sovereign Ruler over all in His
Kingdom on earth and throughout Creation.
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of
the Lord!”
Jesus comes in the Name of the
Almighty God – that is, Jesus comes with authority which comes from God because
He is sent by God and He is God.
Luke records, “One day, as Jesus was
teaching the people in the temple and preaching the gospel, the chief priests
and the scribes with the elders came up and said to him, ‘Tell us by what
authority you do these things, or who is it that gave you this authority.’ He
answered them, ‘I also will ask you a question. Now tell me, Was the baptism of
John from heaven or from man?’ And they discussed it with one another, saying,
‘If we say, “From heaven,” he will say, “Why did you not believe him?” But if
we say, “From man,” all the people will stone us to death, for they are
convinced that John was a prophet.’ So they answered that they did not know
where it came from. And Jesus said to them, ‘Neither will I tell you by what
authority I do these things’” (Luke 20:1-8, ESV).
The author of Hebrews writes,
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us
also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run
with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder
and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the
cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of
God” (Hebrews 12:1-2, ESV).
Do we remember what it means to be “seated
at the right hand”? To be “seated at the right hand” means “this person’s
authority comes from.” So, what the scribes and elders and chief priests could
not admit, and what the author of Hebrews explains to us, and what the crowd
cries out to Jesus as He makes His Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem is, “Jesus’
Authority comes from God”; “the Authority of Jesus is the Authority of God.”
Thirdly, in emphasis, the crowd cried out,
“Hosanna in the highest” “Save, we pray, in and from the heavens!” “The
salvation that we require is from God – and that is the salvation that we
receive through Jesus, our Redeemer and Savior.”
The nobodies of Israel flock around
Jesus as He rides into Jerusalem, calling attention to Himself, bringing to
mind the prophecy of the God-King Who would come and restore the Sovereign
Reign of God on earth.
And they cried out from the
Scripture:
Jesus is the Legitimate Heir to the
Throne of David.
Jesus’ Authority is the Authority of
God.
Jesus is the Savior and Redeemer
that has been sent from heaven.
But some of the people of Jerusalem
couldn’t see – they didn’t understand what was happening, “Who is this?” “This
is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”
The Only Answer that God provides to
the request – the petition – “Hosanna” – is Jesus. Jesus restores and brings
the Kingdom of God among us and fulfills it in its fullness in the Kingdom.
Why didn’t everyone understand Who
Jesus is? Why didn’t everyone welcome Him as He rode into Jerusalem? Why do the
rich and the powerful and the knowledgeable tend to dismiss Him or minimize
Him, while the poor and the rejected and the common person more likely see Him
for Who He is and receives Him and His Salvation?
Hear this history:
“One of the Pharisees asked [Jesus]
to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house, and he took his place
at the table. And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she
learned that he was reclining at the table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an
alabaster flask of ointment, and standing beside him at his feet, weeping, she
began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head
and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee
who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, ‘If this man were a prophet,
he would have known who and what sort of a woman this is who is touching him,
for she is a sinner.’ And Jesus answering said to him, ‘Simon, I have something
to say to you.’ And he answered, ’Say it, Teacher.’
“‘A certain moneylender had two
debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they could
not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now, which of them will love him more?’
Simon answered, ‘The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.’
And he said to him, ‘You have judged rightly.’ Then turning to the woman he
said to Simon, ‘Do you see this woman? I entered your house, you gave me no
water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with
her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased
to kiss my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my
feet with ointment. Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which are many, are
forgiven – for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.’
And he said to her, ‘Your sins are forgiven.’ Then those who were at the table
began to say among themselves, ‘Who is this who even forgives sins?’ And he
said to the woman, ‘Your faith has saved you, go in peace’” (Luke 7:36-50,
ESV).
A person who says he has no sins to
confess – that he doesn’t need God’s forgiveness – does not understand
reality. But a person who has been
confronted with their wretchedness sees Jesus and cries out to Him as their
only hope, “Hosanna – save, we pray.”
I pray we all recognize Him as He
rides into Jerusalem on a donkey with her colt in tow and as He prepares to
return in glory with His Kingdom.
Let us pray:
Almighty God and Savior, You Who hold all
authority as the Sovereign God and Only Ruler for all of eternity, we praise
You and rejoice that You chose to send Your Son to live among us under Your Law
and then to obediently follow You into Jerusalem, announcing that He is
Immanuel – “God with us” – knowing the horror He would face at the hands of
sinful human being – like us – for revealing Who He is. Help us day by day to
become bolder in proclaiming Who You are, for we have much to be forgiven for,
and You are the Mighty Savior. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
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