"What Jesus Done" Sermon: Matthew 21:1-11 (manuscript)

“What Jesus Done”

Matthew 21:1-11

April 5, 2020 YouTube

            As we consider Jesus’s ride into Jerusalem, we are going to look at three things Matthew records that Jesus does.  Our text begins on the tenth day of the month – the day on the Jewish calendar when it is required that the sacrificial lamb be set aside for the Passover.

            We see first, Jesus declares His Lordship.

            When the time was right – we regularly see in the Gospels that Jesus waits until the right time.  Jesus is acting on a plan.  There are no chance or random events here.  When they get to Bethphage at the Mount of Olives – a Sabbath-day’s walk from Jerusalem, they stop and Jesus sends two of His disciples, saying, “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.”

            We’re not told if the owner of the donkey and colt know Jesus.  We’re just told that Jesus sends two men and tells them to tell anyone who asks why they are taking the donkey and colt – without asking – that the Lord needs them – the Master needs them – it could be translated – and the person will let them go.

            It’s a fascinating question as to whether the owner of the donkey and colt knew Jesus and/or believed in Him savingly.  Perhaps more interesting is that when Jesus says He is Lord – when Jesus says He is Master – the bearer of authority – the immediate response is obedience.

            Now that another season of Lent has ended, we would do well to ask ourselves if we would have heard Jesus’ words and obeyed like the disciples and the person they encountered at the place where the donkey and the colt were.

            Jesus says, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you” (John 14:15-17, ESV).

            “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father's who sent me” (John 14:23b-24, ESV).

            Do we love Him?  The Lord wants us to come and obey.

            Will we be as obedient as the disciples, and the owner, and the donkey and the colt?  Do we love Him? Our Lord and Master.

            Second, Jesus reveals that He is the King of Israel.

“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.”’”

Zechariah is prophesying at a time when it seems that all hope is lost – the Davidic kingship has come to an end.  God has failed to keep His promise that there will always be a son of David on the throne.  The enemies of Israel are winning – the end is certainly near.

And Zechariah speaks the Word of the Lord, “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.

“As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit. Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope; today I declare that I will restore to you double. For I have bent Judah as my bow; I have made Ephraim its arrow. I will stir up your sons, O Zion, against your sons, O Greece, and wield you like a warrior's sword” (Zechariah 9:9-13, ESV).

God promises that Israel’s immediate enemies will be conquered by God and His King – the King of Jerusalem, the Son of David – the line will continue – God has not failed in His promises – and God will even send a final King – a Son of David – righteous and also the salvation bearer for the people of God – and He will make Himself known riding into Jerusalem in humility – and His Kingdom will be from the Euphrates River and throughout the globe.

This is Jesus – the King of Creation, the King of Salvation – Who rides into Jerusalem in humility – distinctly different from any other king who has come with pomp and circumstance, because He is also the fulfillment of the Sacrificial Lamb – which the crowds would see later in the week.

This is the King Who will crush all His enemies and all the enemies of His Church.  Yet, He is also the King who has mercy and would not separate a weaning colt from her mother but brought them along together so there would be no separation anxiety.  Rather, they took part in announcing the True and Eternal King to Israel – and to the Church.

And so, we are a people, first and foremost, of a monarchy.  Jesus fulfills the fulness of the prophecy of Zechariah as the King of kings – the King we owe abject loyalty and obedience.  We are the subjects of our King – the King Who gave Himself to be crucified after having lived a perfect life under the Law.

Our King has come – and saved us.  Let us serve Him in hope and joy.

And third, Jesus receives the cries of “Messiah” as accurate.

The disciples bring the donkey and the colt to Jesus and they put their cloaks on them – He didn’t own a saddle.  And Jesus sits on the donkey – the colt comes in tow.  And they set off on their six-and-a-half-mile journey to Jerusalem.

The crowds come out to see what is happening – all along the road to Jerusalem.  They knew their Bibles – that Jesus is fulfilling the prophecy of Zechariah.  They know He is proclaiming Himself the rightful King of Israel.  He is bringing together a procession to announce His reign.

And the people throw cloaks and palm branches on the ground to ease the feet of the donkey and the colt.  And they wave the palm branches in the air, signifying rejoicing.

Part of the Feast of Booths, which recalls God’s deliverance of the people of Israel out of Egypt and their living in booths in the wilderness, is to wave palm branches as a sign of rejoicing:

“And you shall take on the first day the fruit of splendid trees, branches of palm trees and boughs of leafy trees and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God seven days” (Leviticus 23:40, ESV).

And, in the Providence of God, the pagan world waved palms to welcome the returning, victorious king from battle.

So, in the waving of the palms, we see Jesus as the retuning, victorious King – even before the Resurrection – and as the One Who brings rejoicing to His people.

This is a day of rejoicing, of recognizing Jesus as the Eternal King, and:

“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!’”

The crowd cries out that Jesus is the Messiah – the Savior – the long-awaited Deliverer for Israel.  The word “Hosanna” means, “Save us, Lord!”  And it is said in such a way that the speaker and the listener understand it to mean, “The Lord saves us!”

And the Lord Who saves us – the King Who saves us – is the Son of David – He is the rightful heir to the throne of David.  He is the Savior Who is sent by the Lord.  He is the One Who saves His people to the uttermost.  There is no further, or greater salvation needed than the One that Jesus brings.

Jesus brings salvation through His life, death, and resurrection that first Holy Week in Jerusalem.  And that Salvation is being completed in us as we are being transformed into His Image – and it will be completed when He returns in Glory to glorify His people.  And that’s what we mean when we pray, “Thy Kingdom come.”

We ask Jesus to come again – the final time – to come – not to be slaughtered as the Sacrificial Lamb for our salvation, but to come as the Judge of the world and to bring His Kingdom in all its fullness to earth. 

And so, we have hope, because the Savior has come and He did everything He needed to do in keeping the Law and in presenting Himself to become the Sacrificed Lamb for all those who will ever believe throughout time and space.

But not everyone understands and not everyone will believe:

“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.’”

This is the prophet.  This is the One Who speaks the Word of God because He is the Word of God. 

This is a time for us to rejoice – even as we wait on God and the doctors with corona virus.  Jesus begins the most horrific week of His human life declaring that He is the Lord and Master.  He visually shows that He is the rightful King of Israel.  And He receives the rightful praise and acclamation as the Messiah – the Savior of everyone who will ever believe in Him.

“Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”

In Revelation, we read:

            “He who testifies to these things says, ‘Surely I am coming soon.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen” (Revelation 22:20-21, ESV).

            Let us pray:

            Almighty God, we thank You for sending Jesus and for His Triumphal Entry on that first Palm Sunday, showing Him to be Lord and Master, King and Savior.  Be with us today as we need to be separate from each other.  Let us connect over the gifts of technology that You have given us and help us to be filled with joy and hope as we remember what Jesus did.  In Jesus’ Name, Amen.