The King Arrives (Palm Sunday Sermon 2026)

Turn if you would, to Matthew chapter 21.

Matthew 21 · chapter mention

Matthew 21 is where we will primarily be this morning for

our text. Around the year 198 BC the the

Greeks Seleucid Kingdom had gained a stronghold in Judea.

Antiochus the 4th Epiphanes that is the illustrious 1 is what

that means. Was the ruler of the empire and

persecuted the Jews of Judea and Samaria.

He was an evil man and he had usurped the throne of the Greeks

as was common in their day. Josephus informs us that

Antiochus the 4th would execute anyone performing Jewish

practices or or who had possession of Jewish texts on

the temple altar. He set up his own altar to Zeus

and desecrated the Temple by sacrificing the pig on it.

This act in 167 BC was viewed as at least a partial fulfillment

of Daniel's desolation of abomination of desolation.

This led to the Maccabee in revolts, which was led by

Matthias and Judas Maccabees. As they entered Jerusalem after

their victory, they were greeted by by a crowd of people.

They were greeted with a hero's welcome.

They've won the freedom to safely continue practicing their

Jewish faith. And the crowds roared in

wonderful praise. Many of those in attendance,

both warriors and those welcoming them, took palm

branches and they waved them in triumph.

And after that moment, the palm branch was stamped into coins

and the Maccabean army's return to Jerusalem became the

blueprints that the crowds would use to welcome Jesus nearly 200

years later. This morning, of course, is the

beginning of what we call Holy Week.

This is the week that marks Jesus final days before his

crucifixion and resurrection. It begins with his triumphal

entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday and then works through

the various occasions that churches recognize.

There's Maundy Thursday, which is which is the day that marks

Jesus Last Supper, his his commemorating the Passover with

his disciples. And Mondi comes from the Latin

mandatum meaning mandate or command because Jesus had given

his disciples a command to love one another on that occasion.

And then of course Good Friday, marking the occasion of his

death. And then of course it all

culminating in Resurrection Sunday, Easter Sunday.

Now in some sense Holy Week almost began about 8 weeks

before this moment. 8 weeks before that first Palm Sunday,

Mary and Martha had sent word to Jesus telling him that their

their brother Lazarus was sick. Jesus loved Lazarus and his

sisters very very much so, so they fully expected him to

immediately come and heal Lazarus.

However, when Jesus was told of Lazarus illness, he chose not to

go to Bethany. At that time he was in Perea and

Priya is on the other side of the Jordan River.

So it was some 15 or 20 miles away.

You can see it there on the right side of the Jordan River,

the east side of the Jordan River there Jesus said Lazarus

illness wouldn't lead to death his and so his disciples

understood that to mean that Lazarus wasn't going to die,

right. Jesus in fact stayed two more

days in pariah before deciding, OK, it's time to head back into

Judea. Now his disciples were concerned

because you see the Pharisees were looking to stone Jesus so

it could be dangerous to head towards Jerusalem.

Nonetheless, Jesus told his disciples that Lazarus had

fallen asleep and that he would go to wake him up, of course.

Well, yes, if if he's sleeping, then you're going to wake him

up, then that means everything is fine.

Lazarus is fine and doing well. It was then that Jesus told them

in in plain Arabic, Arabic, Aramaic.

In plain Aramaic, he said Lazarus has died and I'm glad I

wasn't there. Kind of probably catching them

off guard a little bit. Hold on.

Why? By the time they got to Bethany,

it had already been four days since Lazarus had died.

Jesus asked to have the stone rolled away from the tomb and

Martha responded it has been four days.

Four days. That means by now his body

stinks. We don't want to do this.

The stone was removed. Jesus gave them a quick lesson

and then he said, Lazarus come out and he came out.

Word of this miracle began to spread all throughout the region

and some went and told the Pharisees what had happened.

The Pharisees gathered their counsel together and at Caiaphas

suggestion, they began planning to put Jesus to death.

They issued a statement, If you know where Jesus is, let us know

so that we can arrest him. With all this going on, the

question remained, Would Jesus even come up to Jerusalem for

Passover? After this moment, Jesus retired

back NA bit to the little town of Ephraim.

And Ephraim is up there. You see it there in the north

and Bethany is down there near Jerusalem.

So Bethany is where Lazarus and Mary and Martha lived.

And so Jesus heads N to Ephraim. There he waited for for the

right time to to head towards Jerusalem.

He knew he needed to go up to Jerusalem for Passover and and

hung out in a quiet little spot, kind of out of sight until the

right time. This was important because his

time hadn't quite yet arrived. As the time drew closer, Jesus

and his disciples actually headed back north towards

Galilee, and then they crossed over the Jordan to join a large

contingency of pilgrims all headed to Jerusalem for

Passover. This doesn't make sense when

he's already in the southern half of of the area he decides

to head. Ephraim would be basically under

where above where it says Judea is where Ephraim would be.

So he heads back north and then crosses over the river and joins

a large contingency of pilgrims who are all headed to Jerusalem

for the Passover. Now, along the way, Jesus does

some more teaching. He, he performs some miracles.

And on the Friday before Palm Sunday, Jesus stops short of

Jerusalem. He wanted to see Mary and Martha

and and Lazarus and Bethany. So.

So he stopped there as the crowd of people continue on to

Jerusalem. This move of course, not only

got him more time with with his friends, but it was also

strategic and helping build the excitement and anticipation as

everyone was wondering if Jesus would actually arrive in

Jerusalem. So that sets the scene.

If you're able, would you stand as we read from this passage?

Matthew chapter 21 verses one through 11.

Matthew 21 · chapter mention

Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethpage

to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent 2 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.

The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them.

They brought the donkey in the colt and put on them their

cloaks, and he sat on them. Most of the crowds 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.

You may be seated. So the king we see here is

preparing to go to Jerusalem at this point.

It was it was Friday, 2 days before Palm Sunday.

And the majority of the group had had gone into Jerusalem

already be because you see, you wanted to get into Jerusalem by

6:00 on Friday evening because at Friday evening, on Friday

evening at 6:00 is when the Sabbath started.

So the crowd, the majority of the people had gone up into

Jerusalem. So here in the first few verses

we see Jesus foreknowledge and authority.

This demons he's demonstrating his foreknowledge and authority

in this passage. Jesus and his disciples had had

arrived to the Mount of Olives and from there he sent out two

disciples. He told them to go in the

village, go to the village there in front of them, which was

probably Beth Phage and grab the donkey in the Colts that they

would find tied up there. He knew someone would say

something, say hold, hold on, why are you grabbing these?

Why are you taking these? He knew someone would say

something so, so he just he said, hey, just say the Lord

needs them. They would know exactly what

this meant apparently or or something and then the person

would send the donkey in and it's Colts with them.

Now it's important for us to understand what's happening

here. Not only was Jesus foretelling

what was going to happen that the men would go into Bethpage

and find these two animals tied up together, be confronted about

them, and then be sent on their way with the animals, but Jesus

is also tapping into an Old Testament prophecy in the book

of Zechariah Chapter 9. This this chapter contains a

Zechariah 9 · chapter mention

pronouncement of judgment on Israel's enemies.

And then verse 9 reads, 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 full of a donkey?

Somewhere around the year 500 BC, the prophet Zechariah wrote

those words. And here Jesus was some 500

years later, more than 500 years later, fulfilling the prophecy.

In just a short couple days he would enter the city of Zion,

accompanied by loud shouts and rejoicing of the people.

They would welcome Him as their King.

This wasn't happenstance. It was intentional, and it

demonstrated God's sovereignty over all aspects of life.

He was orchestrating the coming moment when Jesus would be

revealed to the people. He had known all along how this

was going to go down. In Luke 13, there were some

Pharisees who who seemed to sympathize with Jesus a bit.

And they, they told him, they said, they said leave because

Herod, Herod wants to kill you. And as Jesus discusses the time

frame with them, he lamented over those who didn't understand

what he was doing. Luke 13, verses 34 through 35

Luke 13:34–35

read O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets,

and stones those who are sent to it.

How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen

gathers her brood under her wings?

And you were not willing. Behold, your house is forsaken,

and I tell you, you will not see me until you say, Blessed is he

who comes in the name of the Lord.

Jesus knew that when he came to Jerusalem at the right time to

reveal himself, the people would proclaim him as the one sent by

God. He had all authority and

foreknowledge here. Now some critics of the gospel

accounts have suggested that Jesus didn't really know what he

was doing. He he got caught up in the

emotion and in the excitement of the moment and, and the crowd,

he didn't really know what he was doing.

He didn't actually intend to be king.

They suggest no Jesus knew exactly what was happening.

And we can see his foreknowledge here as he as he says, when,

when I come, you're going to say blessed is he who comes in the

name of the Lord. He says this long before this

moment. So in this next section we look

at Sunday, that is Palm Sunday, and the crowds expectations and

their misunderstanding of the King.

The disciples had done what Jesus had asked them to do.

They brought the mother and her her young Colts and then put

their cloaks on them so that Jesus could sit on them.

Jesus and the disciples then headed towards the city and on

the way they were met by crowds of people, perhaps some

accompanied who were behind them, as well as some who had

come out of the city to meet the king.

In ancient times there would often be a delegation that was

sent out of a city to go out to to meet the king.

Out on the road. The king who was arriving go

out, meet the king, welcome the king and and join him on the way

back into the city. John writes in his Gospel John

1213 So they took branches of palm trees, and they went out to

meet him, crying out, Hosanna. Blessed is he who comes in the

name of the Lord, even the king of Israel.

As these people went out to meet Jesus, they laid down palm

branches and even their own cloaks in the road in honor of

the King of Israel. Jesus literally received the

royal treatment. It was like the red carpet had

been rolled out for him. The shouts of the people weren't

empty words in that brief moments.

They were a proclamation of hope.

This was the one who would sit on David's throne and as they

proclaimed hosanna they were saying God save us.

The crowds proclamations referred to Jesus as both the

Son of David and the Son of God. The Son of David and the Son of

God. In Psalm 1/18/19 David, David

wrote open to me the gates of righteousness that I may enter

through them and give thanks to the Lord.

And then in verse 26 of that Psalm he wrote, Blessed is he

who comes in the name of the Lord.

The people understood what was happening here.

Jesus was entering the gates just as David had done as king.

And they ascribed David's words. Blessed is he who comes in the

name of the Lord. They ascribed those words to

this new king. This new king was someone in the

line of David and sent by God. So surely this was a strong

king. They were looking for a strong

king, someone to cast off the Roman authorities, perhaps even

another David like warrior passages like Psalm 24 surely

influence their perspective on this exact moment.

Psalm 24, verses 7 through 10 read Lift up your heads, O

Psalms 24:7–10

gates, and be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the king of

glory may come in. Who is this King of glory?

The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle.

Lift up your heads, O gates, and lift them up, O ancient doors,

that the king of glory may come in.

Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts.

He is the King of glory. This Psalm outlined precisely

the type of person they've been waiting for.

A King of glory, someone strong, someone who was mighty in

battle. Now here Jesus was entering

those ancient doors, so he must be the one to bring deliverance.

I can only imagine how excited Jesus disciples were to witness

this historic moment. They they were looking for a

revolutionary, a a Liberator, someone to kick out the Roman

occupiers and restore the the golden age of King David's

reign. And so for three years his

disciples had been looking for this moment.

Things are going to change and Jesus was going to stick it to

the man, right? But it's important that we

understand a significant factor about Jesus ride into Jerusalem.

He rode in on a donkey. This was important for a couple

reasons. First of all, yes, it was a

fulfillment of Zechariah's prophecy.

But second, a king wouldn't ride into town on a donkey.

Kings rode horses because horses signified power and strength and

military might. A donkey on the other hand

represented humility, servanthood and peace, all

qualities of Jesus life and ministry.

You didn't take a donkey into war, you took a horse.

But they had the wrong expectations.

Something I'll address more on Friday.

Jesus didn't live the way people wanted him to, but but rather he

subverted the societal and political expectations of him.

The manner in which Jesus entered Jerusalem was a sign

that he hadn't come to bring the sword, but rather that he'd come

to bring peace and overthrow sin and death.

His Kingdom isn't like other kingdoms and they had yet to

fully grasp that truth. So then they ask, who is this

King? Even as they shouted out the

proclamation of praise, it was lost on them who Jesus was.

It was as though they didn't really know what they were

saying. Perhaps they got caught up in

the emotions of the moments and all the excitements.

Surely some of the people knew who Jesus was.

Some had witnessed his miracles. Some were part of the large

group of travellers that that he'd accompanied on the journey

from the north and Galilee all the way down to the South.

Many had heard about how Jesus had had raised Lazarus back from

the dead. But who Jesus actually was, most

of them didn't know. Verses 10 through 11 read.

And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up

saying, who is this? And the crowd said, this is the

prophet Jesus from Nazareth of Galilee.

This was the best they could come up with.

They labeled Jesus a prophet. They simply called him a

prophet. This put him at the same level

with Moses and and Elijah, which of course is good company, but

he was more than a prophet. And they said, oh, from

Nazareth. Well, nothing good can come out

of Nazareth, but nonetheless this is how they labeled him, a

prophet from Nazareth. They clearly didn't get it. 8

weeks earlier Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead and John

11 tells us some of the responses to that miracle.

Many of the Jews, therefore, who would come with Mary and had

seen what He did, believed in him.

But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what

Jesus had done. They're not saying, oh, look how

awesome Jesus is. They're telling the Pharisees,

giving them fuel, feeding this fire that they had to, to

capture Jesus. It was like Isaiah had

prophesied hundreds of years earlier.

Isaiah 6 verses 9 through 10. Isaiah wrote and he said, Go and

Isaiah 6:9–10

say to this people that as God said, go and say to this people,

keep on hearing, but do not understand.

Keep on seeing, but do not perceive.

Make the heart of this people dull in their ears, heavy and

blind their eyes, lest they see with their eyes and hear with

their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be

healed. The forefathers of Jesus

contemporaries had had witnessed the things of God, but they did

nothing in response to God's working.

They couldn't see the work of God right in front of them

because their hearts were dull and they'd become insensitive to

the things of God. The question then before us this

morning is how will you, how will we respond to the King?

I hate to say it, but it's entirely possible for us to be

in some ways like those same people who joyfully welcomed

Jesus and then days later called for his death.

You see, we can come into this place on Sunday morning, we can

proclaim Him as King, but then we walk out the door and deny

him with the way we live. So how do we guard against this?

First of all, maintain sensitivity to the Holy

Spirit's. We maintain sensitivity to the

Holy Spirit. In order to see Jesus working,

we need to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit to have the eyes to

see what He's doing. When we've distanced ourselves

from God, then we become dull or numb like Isaiah said, and we

can't see what's right in front of us.

All the signs were right there for the people of Israel to

place their faith in Jesus. They couldn't see it.

Matthew 11 records Jesus frustration with the Jews of his

time. Then he began to denounce the

cities where most of his mighty works had been done, because

they did not repent. Woe to you, Korres, and woe to

you, Beseda, for if the mighty works done in you had been done

in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in

sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you it will be more

bearable on the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon.

These were locations that that were known for their pride.

You'll be more bearable for them.

And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven, You will be

brought down to Hades. If the mighty works done in you

had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.

Jesus chastised these cities where where He performed his

miracles because their hearts had grown dull.

If the city of of Sodom, he says, had had seen the same

miracles that Jesus had performed, the city of Sodom may

not have been destroyed, but these cities had no sensitivity

to the Spirit. Next, follow Jesus in a Christ

like manner. Follow Jesus in a Christ like

manner. I know this should be obvious

right? Like how else do you follow

Jesus? Right, You follow him in a

Christ like manner. But it needs to be said.

Our praise on Sunday morning is great, but if our praise isn't

followed by lives of repentance and and faith, then our praise

is worthless. Brendan Manning made that famous

statements. The greatest single cause of

atheism in the world today is Christians who acknowledge Jesus

with their lips and then walk out the door and deny him by

their lifestyle. That, he says, is what an

unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.

So follow Jesus in a way that resembles how he lived.

Live in humility and servanthood, skewing our

culture's obsessions with status and power.

Live in peace with others, showing love to those we might

even disagree with. Model Christ's character to all

that we come in contact with now.

As we grow then our lives will be characterized by the fruit of

the Spirit. Lovejoy, peace, patience,

kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and

self-control. When we walk in the Spirit, then

we will exhibit Christlikeness in our behavior.

Some of those who followed Jesus only wanted what they can

receive from Him. They wanted the blessings, They

wanted the healings. They wanted to witness the

miracles, the novelty, but they didn't want the change.

It's all too easy for someone to just say I believe the harder.

The harder thing is saying I surrender.

Jesus is my Lord. He's the one who calls the

shots. He transforms me and I'm

different today because of Jesus working in my life.

It was easy for them to say, Jesus, come, come, liberate us,

set us free from Rome. Instead, Jesus was calling them

to say, I surrender, to lay it all down.

Has the gospel transformed you? That's why it was given to

transform us to to create in us something new.

When we place our faith in Jesus, we have become a new

creation. We are a completely new type of

thing, that old thing. We're not even related to that

old thing. We are a completely new

creation. Jesus died so that we could die

to our sin, and He lived so that we could live for him.

So I love that you're here this morning.

I love that you're here to sing his praise.

But it cannot stop here in this building.

We have to take it out those doors lest we to become like the

crowd. Oh, praise Jesus and then go out

and deny Him all the rest of the week.

Let's bow our heads and close our eyes

as we close our time this morning.

My encouragement to you is to pray a simple prayer this

morning and say, Holy Spirit, help me to be sensitive to you.

Holy Spirit, help me to be sensitive to you to to be able

to see your working in front of me.

Jesus is still doing miracles around us, bringing lives that

had, that had been dead to sin, bringing lives, resurrecting

lives from that grave, setting them free in him, free to live

for Jesus. Maybe we'd be diligent to see

those miracles around us. May we also be sensitive to the

Holy Spirit's promptings, the Holy Spirit's moving in our

hearts conviction when it's conviction prompting us to reach

out to somebody who might be in need of Jesus.

May we have that sensitivity to respond to the Holy Spirit and

do whatever the Spirit calls us to do.

God, we come to you this morning.

Not only do we sing and proclaim praise Jesus, blessed is he who

comes in the name of the Lord, but we also surrender ourselves

to you this morning. We receive your grace, we

receive your mercy, and we say, God, I need your strength to

surrender all I am to you. Would you take it?

Whether it's wholeness that you sense you're walking in, or

whether it's brokenness that you feel in your spirit this

morning, surrender it all to Him.

He's the savior, He's the one who can make you whole, He's the

one who empowers us to live the new life because of the cross

and resurrection of Jesus. Thank you Jesus for coming into

this world, for being the King, for bringing salvation.

It's in Jesus name we pray, Amen.