Message for THE LORD'S DAY MORNING, April 6, 2017 PALM SUNDAY MESSAGE Christian Hope Church of Christ, Plymouth, North Carolina by Reggie A. Braziel, Minister TOPIC: SPECIAL DAY MESSAGE, PALM SUNDAY The Day Jesus Rode Into Town Matthew 21:1-11 (NKJV) Today is what we have come to know as PALM SUNDAY; the day we commemorate Jesus' Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem exactly one week before His glorious resurrection from the grave. Many Christians do not understand the significance of Jesus' Triumphal Entry. The fact that this is one of the few events in Jesus' ministry that is recorded in all four of the gospels tells us how important it is. So, for a few minutes this morning, let's spend some time studying what the scriptures have to tell us about The Day Jesus Rode Into Town. Please open your Bibles to our scripture text in the Gospel of Matthew, chapter twenty one. And follow along with me as I read the first eleven verses.
MATTHEW 21:1-11 (NKJV) 1 Now when they drew near Jerusalem, and came to 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 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. 6 So the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, 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. 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! 10 And when He had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is this? 11 So the multitudes said, This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee. *****************************************************
I N T R O D U C T I O N In order to understand the significance of The Triumphal Entry we must understand the mind-set of the Jewish people at this point in Jesus' ministry. At this particular time the whole world was under the rule of the Roman government. Rome had conquered the nations through brute strength and violence. The Romans were proud, arrogant, and ruthless. They were hated and despised by the nations that had fallen under their power. By this time in Jesus' ministry the Jewish people had been under the oppression of the Roman government for about ninety years. Imagine the United States being under the rule of a ruthless government like Iran or North Korea for ninety years. Needless to say we wouldn't like it one bit! The same was true of the Jewish people. They hated being under the rule of the Romans and they longed for the day someone would liberate them and give back the freedom they once knew. The Jewish people were very familiar with the Old Testament scriptures that promised a Messiah would come. And so at this time their expectations are very high. Many of the Jews had come to believe that because Jesus had demonstrated great power through the performance of His miracles, and because He had often spoken about His Kingdom, that He was the Messiah they had been waiting for. Their expectation was that Jesus would become their earthly King and wage war against the Romans and restore their lost nationality. Well we know Jesus was indeed the Messiah, but NOT the kind of Messiah the Jewish people were expecting. He had not come to save them from the oppression of Rome, but rather to save them from the oppression of a far greater enemy, SATAN.
As we closely examine our scripture text we see three significant points. First of all, we see... I. The PREPARATION (vs. 1-5) 1 Now when they drew near Jerusalem, and came to 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 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. 1. Notice verse 1 tells us, Now when they drew near Jerusalem, and came to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives. This is where Jesus and His disciples briefly stopped. They didn't go all the way into Jerusalem. Bethphage was basically nothing more than a small community. It was one of those places along the road you would miss if you blinked your eyes. Bethphage was approximately two and half miles from Jerusalem near the town of Bethany. 2. Jerusalem would be the final stop on Jesus' pilgrimage to the cross. Jerusalem would be the place Jesus would die for the sins of the world. That would come in just six days. He is just six days from the scourging, the nails, the crown of thorns, and the cross.
3. But for now, Jesus and His disciples will bed down for the next few nights in Bethany at the home of Jesus' dear friends, Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. This was Saturday night. 4. By Sunday morning, a large number of Jews had heard Jesus was staying in Bethany at the home of the man He has raised from the dead. So great numbers of people have flocked to Bethany in hopes of getting to see Jesus and Lazarus. 5. Its at this point Jesus instructed two of His disciples to 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. And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, The LORD has need of them, and immediately he will send them. (Matthew 21:2, 3) Where was Jesus sending these two disciples? He was sending them back up the road to that tiny community of Bethphage where they had briefly stopped on Saturday. 6. Now don't miss this! JESUS knew every single detail about this mission He was sending these two disciples on. -He knew the very first thing they would see when they came into Bethphage was a donkey tied up with her colt next to her. -He also knew his disciples would be seen untying the donkey and colt, and that they would be questioned about what they were doing. -And Jesus already knew the exact response they needed to give to gain permission to take the donkey and colt.
7. Now how did JESUS know all of this. One reason is very obvious: Jesus is God, He is omniscient, which means He is all-knowing. But there is another reason Jesus already knew all of this. It had been prophesied by the prophet Zechariah nearly five hundred years earlier. Jesus tells His two disciples this in verses 4,5... 4 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. (Zechariah 9:9) 8. Now, what did Jesus need with a donkey and her colt? Was He taking them out for a test drive? Was He just wanting to take a leisurely donkey ride through the Judean countryside on a lazy Sunday morning? NO! By sending His disciples to Bethphage to get the donkey and her colt, JESUS WAS MAKING PREPARATIONS FOR HIS TRIUMPHAL ENTRY INTO JERUSALEM. In essence, Jesus was knowingly and willfully handing Himself over to the very people who would have Him crucified by the end of that same week. That brings us to the second point we want to consider, and that is...
II. The PARADE (vs. 6-8) 6 So the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, 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. 1. Throughout history Coronation Parades for Kings have been filled with lots of pomp and majesty. Typically Kings would ride a white horse, a symbol of power, and strength, and royalty. 2. Jesus' Triumphal Entry was a Coronation Parade unlike anything anyone had ever seen before or since. -Instead of a white horse, Jesus rode on a donkey colt. Both Mark and Luke tell us in their gospels that neither the donkey or the colt had ever been ridden. Now this brings up an interesting question. If Jesus rode the colt, why did He have His disciples bring the mother? Think about it! If you have ever been around a donkey they are one of the most stubborn animals there is. It is tough to get donkey moving in the right direction. Well, it would be doubly tough to get a donkey colt moving in the right direction. But keep in mind, Jesus created donkeys. He knew if someone led the mother, the colt would follow. This is why He commanded His disciples to bring both the donkey and her colt.
- And notice Jesus didn't have a beautiful, ornate leather saddle like you often see on white stallions in parades. His saddle was the dusty, smelly clothes of His disciples. 3. As Jesus makes His way up that two and half mile stretch of road from Bethany to Jerusalem, multitudes of people have lined both sides of the road. We must remember the Jewish Passover celebration is just six days off, and the population of Jerusalem has increased dramatically as Jewish pilgrims have come back to the city for this annual celebration. Most commentators estimate there were as many as 2-2 1/2 million people in Jerusalem that week. It is not unreasonable to believe several hundred thousand people were lining the road as Jesus made His way towards Jerusalem. 4. Now remember, these people believe Jesus is the long-awaited Messiah who is going to lead a war against Rome and restore Israel to a sovereign nation. They see Jesus as a political and military hero! 5. By way of honoring their KING, the people took off their outer garments or robes and laid them across the road and on top of their garments they laid branches they had cut off of the palm trees. Spreading garments before a dignitary was a symbol of submission to his kingship. And the spreading of palm branches was a symbol of victory. In Jesus' day it was very common to spread palm branches on the road when a king returned after leading his army to victory in battle over an enemy.
6. So by spreading their garments on the road the Jewish people were submitting to Jesus as their new King. And by spreading palm branches they were already celebrating the victory He would bring them over the Romans. This brings us to our third point, and that is... III. The PRAISES (vs. 9-11) 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! 10 And when He had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is this? 11 So the multitudes said, This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee. ILLUSTRATION: On January 26, 1946 hundreds of thousands of people lined the streets of New York City to watch the largest military parade in U.S. history. It was called THE VICTORY PARADE. The parade was a celebration of America's victory in WORLD WAR II. 13,000 members of the 82 nd Airborne Division from Fort Bragg, NC were chosen to represent all American soldiers in that parade. The atmosphere was electric as hundreds of thousands cheered for our victorious troops. They were truly American heroes! 1. I believe the atmosphere on that spring morning in 30 AD was every bit as electric the day Jesus made His Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem. Just as the name suggests, The Triumphal Entry was A Victory Parade. Hundreds of thousands of people cheered for JESUS as He rode into town that day. Remember the Jewish people perceived Jesus to be a Military King and Messiah who was going to lead them to victory over their Roman oppressors. Jesus was their HERO!
2. I want to draw your attention to the cheers the people shouted in unison as Jesus rode by. (A) First they shouted, Hosanna to the Son of David! That word hosanna literally means save now... save now...save now. The people were crying for SALVATION. But sadly, its not the salvation of their souls they are crying for; they are crying for the salvation of their nation. They are crying for military deliverance. How do we know that? Notice they called Jesus the Son of David. These people were wellacquainted with the Old Testament scripture in II Samuel 7 where GOD promised King David a son who would reign on an eternal throne in an eternal kingdom. The people knew Son of David was a Messianic title. They believed Jesus was the descendant of David who was going to become their King and re-establish the Kingdom of Israel by giving them victory over the Romans. (B) Secondly, they shouted, Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD! Hosanna in the highest. The people had witnessed His great miracles. They had heard His teachings that carried greater weight and authority than anything they had ever heard from their own religious leaders. The people were convinced that Jesus had been sent by God Himself to deliver them, not from their sins, but from the Romans.
2. As Jesus enters through the gate into the city of Jerusalem He is met by even greater multitudes of people who had not been along the parade route. Notice the question the people are asking in v. 10... WHO IS THIS? In other words, What's going on? What are we celebrating? Who is this man everyone is cheering for? 3. Those who had been a part of the parade outside the city answered, This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee. Now let's not miss the significance of this! The Jewish people fully understood who Jesus was. They knew He was Jesus. They knew He had grown up in Nazareth. They knew He was a great prophet. They knew He was the Messiah. THEY KNEW WHO HE WAS! But they were so worldly minded they weren't interested in an eternal kingdom, they only cared about their temporary earthly kingdom. They aren't the least bit concerned about their souls, they are only concerned about their physical wellbeing. 4. As it turned out The Triumphal Entry was a false coronation of the True King of kings. In the very next paragraph in verses 12-17 we read that on that very same day Jesus went to the Temple and drove out everyone who bought and sold and overturned the tables of the money-changers.
5. It was then the people began to realize Jesus was not the kind of Messiah they had perceived Him to be. And from that moment on the tide of public opinion quickly turned against Jesus. On Sunday, they had hailed Jesus as their Messiah and cheered for Him as their national hero. But by Friday those very same people were shouting Crucify Him! Crucify Him! On Sunday they had lined both sides of the road cheering for His deliverance, but by Friday those very same people lined both sides of the very same road cheering for Jesus' death, as He was led to Calvary's hill. ****************************************************
C O N C L U S I O N As we bring today's message to a close, I want to go back to v.10 and reflect on that question the people asked when Jesus rode into town that first Palm Sunday morning Who is this? they asked. Who is this Jesus? Is it possible our perception of who Jesus is and who Jesus really is are two different things? Perhaps like the Jews many of us want a Jesus who is going to solve all our problems...a Jesus who is going to deliver us from all our enemies...a Jesus who is going to give us temporary happiness here in this world. The truth is we are all sinners who need a Jesus who will come into our lives and cleanse these temples of sin, like He cleansed the Temple in Jerusalem that day. WHO IS JESUS TO YOU? If you don't know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, why don't you let Him make A TRIUMPHAL ENTRY into your heart today?