Triumphal Entry

Well, good morning. Will you turn in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 21?

Matthew 21 · chapter mention

If you're using the paperback, yeah, the children are dismissed.

If you're using the paperback Pew Bible, it's page 916.

And we're going to work through a story this morning that is often called the triumphal entry,

but I think a better title might be the not-so-triumphal entry,

because as we'll see, it isn't really that triumphant at all.

It's actually a bit of a letdown.

We're in the middle of a series on the book of Matthew,

and I'm really grateful to continue with the series this morning.

Last week, Matt Sear led us through the rest of chapter 20, and today we're in chapter 21.

Let's do this. We'll start by reading the story, verses 1 through 11,

and then we'll go back and take a look at it more closely.

It says in 21, verse 1,

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.

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 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 crowd said,

This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth of Galilee.

You know, it seems like in this country we're facing elections all the time.

As soon as we're done with one election cycle,

then we have a new election cycle coming on,

and with all those pesky radio and television election commercials.

And the question always is,

Who should we accept as our leader?

And the answer to that question depends on how we diagnose the problems.

Who we want to fix the problems depends on what we think the problems are.

And in this chapter, the question is,

Should we accept Jesus or not?

Is he going to be solving the problems that we think he should be solving?

The passage comes at a critical point in the book of Matthew.

The first 20 chapters of the book of Matthew,

from chapter 1 to chapter 20,

cover 33 years of time.

Jesus' miraculous birth,

his baptism,

his teaching,

and his parables,

and his miracles.

He has announced that he is going to be killed

and raised to life again.

And his disciples aren't so sure what they think about that,

but they're willing to go along with it.

And then he turns his face toward Jerusalem.

He's up in Galilee,

up in the north,

and he turns toward Jerusalem.

Jerusalem is the cultural and political

and religious capital of the nations.

And the Jewish leaders

who have been coming up to Galilee

to test him

and to resist him

and to try and

cause trouble for him

have come from Jerusalem.

And when Jesus says

that he's going to Jerusalem,

his disciples say,

What?

That's where the Jews are

who are trying to kill you.

We're going there.

And Jesus says,

We're going there.

Because his whole life

and his whole ministry

have been directed to this moment.

When he comes to Jerusalem

to accomplish the task

that the Father has for him.

And at this point,

once he arrives in Jerusalem,

Matthew begins to slow down

to get into more detail,

and he starts to cover

less time with more chapters.

At this point,

from chapter 21 to chapter 28,

from the time Jesus enters Jerusalem

until he rises from the dead,

it only covers one week of time.

Because this is the climax

of the book of Matthew.

And this is the climax, in fact,

of all of the Bible

and all of world history.

This is the point

upon which everything turns.

Every person, every kingdom,

every event that the world

has ever known,

this is Jesus in Jerusalem.

So let's look at this story.

It seems like a simple story at first,

but there's a lot going on here.

Look back at verse 1.

It says,

When they drew near to Jerusalem

and came to Bethphage,

to the Mount of Olives,

then Jesus sent two disciples.

See, they've made their way

down from Galilee.

It's been a long distance

over many, many days of walking.

He stopped along the way

to teach and to do some miracles.

And they've come

to the outskirts of Jerusalem

to a series of these small villages.

There in Bethphage,

nearby is Bethany,

where he raised Lazarus from the dead.

Jerusalem is up in the hill country,

and it's surrounded on three sides

by deep valleys.

And then on the other side

of those valleys are hills.

And on the east side of Jerusalem

is the Mount of Olives.

And up on the Mount of Olives

is this little village

that Jesus and his followers

were coming to

as they made their way

to Bethlehem.

As they come to the outskirts

of that little village,

Jesus tells his disciples,

okay, in verse 2,

okay, 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.

So he gives his disciples

some very specific instructions.

And he says in verse 3,

if anyone says anything to you,

you shall say the Lord needs them

and he will send them at once.

Here's our first little stop

where we think,

well, this is a little bit odd

because a donkey was worth

a lot of money.

This would be a little bit like

Jesus saying to one of his disciples,

go into Kenosha

and at the pick and save,

you will see a BMW parked there,

bring it to me.

And if the owner is there

standing by his car,

then you just simply say

to the owner,

Jesus needs this

and he'll hand you the keys.

And the disciples say,

well, a BMW costs,

you know, maybe $40,000.

And Jesus will be like,

that's okay,

he'll send it along.

So Matthew doesn't tell us

how this worked.

He doesn't tell us

if this was a miracle

and Jesus knew

that the donkeys would be there

and he's miraculously

causing the guy

to just give up

not only one donkey

but two

just simply by being asked for it

or if Jesus had set this up

in advance somehow

and arranged this in advance.

We're just not told by that

but we know that Jesus

is being very specific

about what he has in mind here.

The point is

that Jesus is not just tired

and he's walking along

and oh, there's a donkey

by the side of the road.

I think I'll just hop on that

for a little while.

He's doing something

very intentional here.

There are these animals

and he is causing his disciples

to go and get them.

Now another reason

that this is unusual

is because this is the only time

in the entire book of Matthew

or any of the gospels

where Jesus rides on an animal.

He walked everywhere

or if he was up

at the Sea of Galilee

he rode a boat.

In fact, he had walked

from Galilee

to these villages

outside of Jerusalem

100 miles

all the way down there

and now he only has

one mile to go.

So if he has already

walked 100 miles

why does he need a donkey

for just that last mile?

That seems strange.

And in fact,

it's even stranger than that

because we're so familiar

with this story

that we don't often

think about this

but everyone else

would have been walking

into Jerusalem.

In fact,

there was a Jewish tradition

that if you were a pilgrim

coming to Jerusalem

for one of the feast days

you were supposed to walk

and not ride on an animal.

So all of the rest

of the crowd,

all of these pilgrims

coming from different parts

of Israel

would have been coming

to Jerusalem

and they all would have

been walking

and here would be Jesus

the only one

sitting on a donkey

riding into the city.

Talk about drawing

attention to yourself.

And then,

as his disciples had said,

Jerusalem was not

the safest place for him.

Jerusalem was where

everyone was looking

for him to try and kill him.

So instead of Jesus

and his disciples

just sort of blending

in with the crowd,

pulling their hood

over their face

and sort of keeping

their heads down

and going into the city

that way,

instead Jesus props

himself up on a donkey.

He's the only one

and here he comes.

Talk about conspicuous.

He's intentionally

drawing people's focus

to himself.

Now in verse 4,

Matthew tells us

that Jesus is doing

this as a symbol

to make a claim

about himself

in fulfillment

of Old Testament prophecy.

He doesn't ride

a donkey

because he's tired

of walking.

He rides a donkey

because he is making

a claim about himself

through the symbolism

that most Jews

who knew their Bibles

would have instantly

recognized.

And we may not know

the significance

of riding a donkey

into Jerusalem,

so Matthew helps us

out a little bit

and in verse 5,

he quotes from the

Old Testament prophecy

that Jesus is triggering here.

He says in verse 5,

Say to the daughter

of Zion,

Behold,

your king is coming

to you humble

and mounted on a donkey,

on a colt,

full of a beast of burden.

That comes from

the book of Zechariah,

Zechariah 9:9

chapter 9,

verse 9.

And Matthew says

in verse 4

that this was to fulfill

fulfill what had been said

by the prophet.

The prophet Zechariah

had predicted

that Jerusalem's king

would come into Jerusalem

riding on a donkey

and now Jesus is riding

into town on a donkey

to fulfill that prediction,

to realize what Zechariah

had foretold

some 500 years before.

Would you turn in your Bibles

to Zechariah 9, 9?

Why don't you hold your finger

in Matthew 21?

It's only a few pages back.

You've got to go back

into the Old Testament

before Matthew,

then through Malachi,

just a short book,

and into the book of Zechariah.

So Matthew,

and then go back to Malachi,

and then go back to Zechariah.

Zechariah 9, verse 9.

Zechariah 9:9

Let's look at that.

When New Testament authors

like Matthew

quote from Old Testament prophets

like Zechariah,

they usually have in mind

more than just that verse.

They usually have in mind

more than just that one statement.

Usually,

they have in mind

the entire context

of the Old Testament prophet.

When they cite

an Old Testament prophecy,

people like Matthew

are connecting

the two passages together.

They're connecting Matthew 21

and Zechariah 9, 9,

and they're inviting us

to go back to Zechariah 9

and to look at

the entire passage there

and all the ideas

that are back there

in Zechariah 9.

And then,

they invite us

to import

all of those ideas

from that Old Testament passage

back into the book of Matthew.

Think about something

like a hyperlink.

Think about when you're

on a webpage

and you see a sentence

underlined

and you know that

that's a hyperlink

on the internet.

It's not just that hyperlink

that's in view.

You're supposed to

click that link

and you go to

an entire webpage

and that webpage

is supposed to inform

what you're reading

on the first one.

Think about this example.

Let's say that it's

in mid-December

and my friend

is really being

anti-Christmas

and so I say to him,

look,

don't be a Scrooge.

Well,

I'm obviously alluding

to the character Scrooge

in Charles Dickens

A Christmas Character.

But then,

why don't I just say

to my friend,

don't be grumpy?

Isn't it just

the same thing

to say to someone,

don't be grumpy

as it is to say to them,

don't be a Scrooge?

It's not the same thing,

not at all

because when I call him Scrooge,

I'm making a connection

to Charles Dickens'

Christmas Carol

and I'm importing

all of the associations

from that book

all at once

and directing them

at my friend.

I'm calling my friend

a miserly,

isolated man

who doesn't care

about people in need.

I'm calling him

a man who doesn't

just ignore Christmas

but he hates it

and ruins it

for everyone else

around him.

I'm saying that my friend

has fundamental flaws

and blind spots.

And I'm referring

to my friend

as someone

who everyone else

fears and avoids

because of his sour attitude.

When I call myself,

when I call my friend Scrooge,

I'm importing

all of those associations

from Charles Dickens'

Christmas Carol

in that one statement.

It's actually

very efficient communication.

When Matthew quotes

from Zechariah 9.9,

it's like a link

on a webpage

and it's like Matthew

is saying,

I'm not just bringing this here

for your convenience,

I'm inviting you

to go back to Zechariah

and check that out.

So let's do that.

Let's look at Zechariah 9.

Zechariah was a prophet

in the time

after the exile.

God had punished

his people

by sending them

into a foreign land

and when he had

brought them back

from exile,

even though it was

a time of temporary restoration,

it was a time

that was very difficult.

The Persian Empire

who ruled them

was incredibly unstable.

Emperors kept dying,

they kept dying in battle

and every time

an emperor would die,

these little revolts

and rebellions

would rise up

and the Persian Empire

would send their military there

and stamp out the revolt

and kill people

and burn down a city.

The land of Israel

was now a Persian province

called Yehud,

which is where we get

the word Jew from.

It was a much smaller territory

than Israel had been

before the exile.

It was only about

50 square miles.

There were only about

50,000 people

that lived

in the entire province.

The temple

that had symbolized

God's presence

and sort of the headquarters

of his power

on earth

was in ruins.

There was no more priesthood.

The relationship

with God

had been fractured.

There was poverty

and social problems.

The people

were beginning

to return

to their old sins.

They were marrying

non-believers

outside of the community.

The leaders

were oppressive

and corrupt.

False prophets

were rising.

Everyone was marked

by incredible immorality.

They were abusing

the poor

and taking advantage

of those people

in need.

And this was supposed

to be the restoration

from exile.

And so everyone

is sitting around

thinking,

what hope is there

for us?

What hope is there

for the future?

What could God's plan

possibly be

moving forward?

We are the people

of God,

but we are mired

as the nobody

subjects

of the mighty

Persian Empire

just out of the way

and just crumbling

and decay.

What hope

could God

possibly have

for his people

in the future?

And then Zechariah

comes along

and he announces

that the coming

kingdom of God

is yet in the future.

That God

is in charge

of the world

and he calls

his people

to repentance

and into relationship

with himself

and someday

he is coming

to defeat

the enemies

of his people

and to rule

over a peaceful

earth everywhere

and he is going

to set everything

right.

And this was the

message of Zechariah.

And throughout

the book of Zechariah

there is a focus

on Jerusalem.

In chapter 1

he says

God is going

to restore

Jerusalem.

In chapter 2

he says

God is going

to restore

Jerusalem.

In chapter 4

in Zechariah

he says

God is going

to rebuild

the temple

and that is going

to be a symbol

of his relationship

with you.

In chapter 6

he says

God is going

to rebuild

the temple

and in chapter 8

he says

God is going

to dwell

in Jerusalem

and someday

all the peoples

of the earth

will be pilgrims

to Jerusalem

and they will

come to worship

God in Jerusalem

because the temple

is the place

of God's special

presence and power

unlike anywhere

else on earth.

It's his headquarters.

And so the Old Testament

prophets state

that at the end

of time

God is going

to again

take up residence

in Jerusalem

and all the peoples

of the earth

will come there

to worship him.

And so when we get

to Zechariah chapter 9

Zechariah 9 · chapter mention

this is all

in the background.

Look what it says

in Zechariah chapter 9.

Zechariah 9 · chapter mention

In verses 1 through 8

God the mighty warrior

is coming to make war

on his enemies

and he marches

from north to south

down the coastland

of the Mediterranean Sea

laying waste

to his enemies.

He starts in verse 1

with Hadrach

and Damascus.

Do you see that?

Zechariah 9.1

The oracle

of the word

of the Lord

is against the land

of Hadrach

and Damascus

for the Lord

has an eye

on mankind

and on all

the tribes

of Israel.

Just like an ancient

ruler or even

a modern day one

for that matter

has his eye

on his subjects

looking for

whoever might

be opposed to him

or any rebellion

that might be

starting up.

The Lord

has his eye

on all mankind.

He rules over

the entire earth.

He is everywhere

and he knows

everything

and he has

total control

of everything

not just of Israel

but on all mankind.

And he starts

up in Syria

up in Damascus.

He starts

in the north

in Syria

the ancient

enemies of Israel

and he begins

to work against them

and to defeat them.

And then in verse 2

he moves south

down to Tyre

and Sidon.

Tyre and Sidon

were major enemies

of Israel as well.

They had a reputation

of being so powerful

and so wealthy.

Look what it says

in verse 2.

Tyre and Sidon

though they are

very wise

they were cultured

and significant

and intelligent.

Not only that

but they were

well fortified.

Look at verse 3.

Tyre has built

herself a rampart.

Tyre was well known

because they had

a fortress

in the ocean

and it was

so difficult

to attack

that fortress

in the middle

of the ocean

that one time

Nebuchadnezzar

with the mighty

Babylonian army

came to attack Tyre

and he put it

under siege

for 13 years

and then he limped home.

He was unable

to conquer them

so they became

very proud.

They thought

they were invulnerable

to attack.

And not only that

look at the rest

of verse 3.

They have heaped up

silver like dust

and find gold

like the mud

of the streets.

Not only are they

well fortified

but they are wealthy.

But look what it says

in verse 4.

Behold the Lord

will strip Tyre

of her possessions

and strike down

her power on the sea

and she shall be

devoured by fire.

Think about some

of the enemies

of God.

Think about some

of the enemies

in our own world

who are opposed

to God

and to Christ.

Institutions

in our own culture

governments

all across the world

who are well

resourced

intelligent

we sometimes

wonder

is there any hope

is there any hope

against institutions

like that?

There is.

He moves

from Tyre

after demolishing

Tyre

down to verse 5

in Ashkelon

and Gaza

and Ekron

these are the cities

of the Philistines

ancient enemies

of Israel.

He says Ashkelon

will be afraid

and Gaza

will writhe

in anguish

and Ekron

also

because its hopes

are confounded.

Look at verse 8.

Then I will encamp

at my temple

my house

as a guard

so that none

shall march

to and fro

no oppressor

shall again

march over them

for now I see

with my own eyes.

So God

is coming

as the warrior

from Aram

and Syria

to Tyre

and Sidon

to the Philistines

and then he comes

to encamp

at Jerusalem

at his temple

that is his place

those are his people

and he

is the powerful God.

His eyes

are on Jerusalem

and he will

cleanse it

and he will

protect it

and he is going

to make sure

that nothing

is ever the same

again.

And then he says

in verse 9

rejoice greatly

O daughter of Zion

now it is time

for celebration

rejoice

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.

God is going

to establish

his rule

on earth

through this

special messianic king.

Zion

is another name

for the temple mount

that is the symbol

of God's presence

and power.

He says

that this king

in verse 9

is going

to be humble

but humble

doesn't mean

wimpy.

Humble means

dependent

upon God

that the king

is going

to be victorious

because he

because God

has his back

and he's mounted

on a donkey

which at first glance

that seems a little

odd because maybe

we would like him

to be mounted

on a mighty stallion

maybe a war horse

that would be

much more impressive

than a donkey.

But there's a long

tradition in the Bible

that a donkey

means royalty.

In Genesis 49

a donkey

was a part

of the blessing

of Judah

who was in

the messianic line.

David rode

into Jerusalem

on a donkey.

Solomon rode

on a donkey

when he was going

to be made king.

A donkey

in the ancient world

symbolized wealth

and royalty

and respect.

And here comes

the king

of Zion

after God

has laid waste

to his enemies

riding into Jerusalem

on a donkey.

And then he concludes

look what he says

in verse 10

I will cut off

the chariot

from Ephraim

and the war horse

from Jerusalem

and the battle bow

shall be cut off.

He is going

to destroy

the weapons

he is going

to bring peace.

Look what he says

in verse 10

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.

And in chapter 14

at the end of the book

God announces

that he will be king

over all the earth

and Jerusalem

will be safe

and secure

and everyone

who survives

in all the nations

will go up

to Jerusalem

to worship

the king

the God

of hosts.

So let's go back

to Matthew chapter 21

Matthew 21 · chapter mention

can flip back

to where you've got

your finger

all that is in the background

and all that is being

triggered

by Jesus

getting on a donkey.

Matthew

has imported

by relating

this story

and Jesus

has imported

by climbing

on that donkey

all that Zechariah

had prophesied

about this coming king

the victory of God

over his enemies

and the restoration

of his people

and interestingly

in Matthew

the next thing

that Jesus

is going to do

is go into the temple

and cleanse it.

Fascinating.

He is playing out

the script

that Zechariah

had predicted.

When Jesus

climbs on that donkey

and rides into Jerusalem

in the full sight

of everyone

he says

I am the king

I am the king

that was foretold

in the book of Zechariah.

Before this

Jesus had always

kept his identity

a secret.

Remember that?

He healed a leper

and after he healed

the leper

he's like

don't tell anyone.

He healed two blind men

he said

make sure no one

knows about this

I don't want anyone

to know who I am.

It says later

that Jesus healed

many people

and he told them all

don't tell people

who I am

I'm not ready

for that yet.

When the disciples

went up on the

Mount of Transfiguration

and they saw

Jesus glorified

and the voice

from heaven

Jesus said

to his disciples

don't tell anyone

about this

not yet.

But now

on the outskirts

of Jerusalem

he climbs

on a donkey

and he makes

a statement

in full view

of everyone

in full view

of the city

of Jerusalem

I am the king

I am the one

that the Old Testament

people of God

were waiting for

to transform

and restore them

I am the king

who will do battle

with the enemies

of God's people

and vanquish them

I am the king

who demands

your worship

and allegiance

I am the king

of all the earth

over all nations

and all peoples

I am the son

of David

the Messiah

that is his intention

in climbing

on a donkey

so now

in verses 6

through 11

in Matthew 21

Jesus enters

Jerusalem

and what we are

going to see

is two different

reactions to him

from the people

it says in verse 6

the disciples

brought the young

colt and its mother

they put their

clothes on them

there was no saddle

they put their

clothes on the donkey

and Jesus sat

on the young colt

that had never

been ridden before

the mother was

probably there

to give comfort

because it is

a busy crowded

place

and the donkey

was probably nervous

the colt was nervous

and as Jesus

begins to go

into Jerusalem

we see the first

of two responses

first of all

is the crowd

of people

who were entering

Jerusalem

with Jesus

they had probably

come also

from Galilee

they were entering

Jerusalem

with Jesus

they were fellow

pilgrims of his

and they knew

Jesus already

they had heard

of him

and there were

people walking

in front of Jesus

and people walking

behind Jesus

as he makes

his way

into Jerusalem

and they begin

an extravagant

celebration

they're pulling

their clothes off

and throwing them

on the road

they're cutting

down palm branches

and laying them

like a red carpet

for the king

and as they go along

in this procession

into Jerusalem

these people

from Galilee

are shouting

Hosanna

to the son of David

blessed is he

who comes

in the name

of the Lord

Hosanna

in the highest

the phrase

son of David

is a clear

messianic reference

and the rest

of what they say

comes from

Psalm 118

which is a

messianic psalm

about the king

leading pilgrims

into Jerusalem

so they aren't

just calling

Jesus a king

they're calling

him the king

this is the

Messiah

that they have

been waiting

for

foretold

by the prophets

their response

isn't done yet

we'll come back

to them

but in the meantime

we go to

group number

two

that's the

Galileans

we'll go to

the people

of Jerusalem

group number

two

in verse

ten

and it says

when he

entered

Jerusalem

the whole

city

was stirred

up

stirred up

isn't a

fantastic

translation

because what

that word

stirred up

means

is

terrified

they were

terrified

they were

shaking

when they

saw Jesus

coming up

the hill

on the donkey

and all

the people

coming into

the city

with him

shouting

it's the

Messiah

it's the

son of

David

save us

they were

like oh

no

oh no

what's

happening

here

they were

shaking

and terrified

and they

said

who is

this

and then

the crowds

who were

entering

with Jesus

will go

back to

group number

one

then they

say this

is the

prophet

Jesus

from

Nazareth

of

Galilee

that's

an odd

thing

to say

it's odd

for two

reasons

first of all

they call

him a

prophet

which is

a bit

inadequate

given what

they were

just shouting

on the road

that's a

little bit

inadequate

and second

look what

they say

they say

he's from

Nazareth

of Galilee

there was

tension

between the

people of

Jerusalem

and the

people of

Galilee

you know

in our

culture

it's this

way too

you know

I like to

listen to

country music

and you know

in country

music

there's all

these songs

about how

the city

is bad

the city

is dangerous

the country

is better

then the

people in

the city

think that

people in

the country

are weirdos

and that

they're

simpletons

and the

people in

LA and

in California

talk about

Nebraska

as flyover

country

so there's

this tension

between the

people in

the city

and the

people in

the country

right

even in

our own

culture

a little

bit

and that's

how it

was back

then

there was

tension

political

and cultural

tension

between the

people in

Jerusalem

who thought

they were

kind of

big stuff

and the

people of

Galilee

who were

kind of

in the

flyover

country

and so

when the

people of

Jerusalem

say

who is

this

who is

this

who's

coming

to our

city

then the

people of

Galilee

say

he's

from

Nazareth

he's

from Galilee

he's

one of

ours

we got

this

see

they're

claiming

him

they like

that

they like

the prestige

they like

that this

guy coming

into town

on a

donkey

he's

from

Galilee

we got

this

and so

this

triumphal

entry

is a

little

bit

of a

dud

because

Jesus

climbs

on this

donkey

and at

first

everyone's

saying

all the

right

things

they're

quoting

scripture

they're

saying

it's

the

Messiah

it's

the

Messiah

it's

the

Messiah

but

once

he

gets

into

the

city

then

one

group

says

I

like

the

sound

of

this

it

kind

of

terrifies

me

and the

other

group

is

sort of

claiming

him

in

some

sort

of

turf

war

and

then

the

story

ends

and

it's

just

kind

of

a

dud

it's

not

a

triumphal

entry

it's

a

not

so

triumphal

entry

interesting

so

the

story

revolves

when you

think about

the story

as a whole

it revolves

around one

key contrast

and that is

the contrast

between who

Jesus is

versus who

everybody wants

him to be

on the one

hand

Jesus makes a

clear claim

to be the king

foretold in

Zechariah

in that passage

he rules for a

conquering God

who defeats his

enemy and saves

his people in

victory

and he brings

peace

peace

by trusting

in God's

plan

but then

on the other

hand

there are

these groups

of people

who have

two different

two different

perspectives about

who he is

and what they

want from him

let's look at

those

first of all

the crowd

with Jesus

they shout

and cheer

and throw

their clothes

and then

but then

when they're

asked who

he is

they say

well

he's on

our team

they're

looking

only for

glory

maybe

they feel

marginalized

or they

don't have

the same

kind of

influence

that Jerusalem

has

they're

from that

flyover

country

and this

is their

chance

this is

their chance

to be

somebody

maybe Jesus

can raise

their status

raise their

political profile

kind of put

them on the

map a little

bit

but Jesus

is not

coming to

take sides

he's not

coming to

gather support

in local

politics

he hasn't

arrived in

Jerusalem

to settle

disputes

or to

raise up

one

particular

constituency

he is

coming to

Jerusalem

to die

on a

cross

he is

in

Jerusalem

for

suffering

and for

humiliation

there will

be a

crown

but it

will be

a crown

of thorns

there will

be

worshippers

but they

will be

soldiers

pretending

to bow

down to

him

to make

fun of

him

he will

accomplish

his goal

but that

is going

to be

his own

death

as a

sacrifice

and then

later

he will

come back

in victory

to vindicate

his people

and ruin

his enemies

forever

but that's

later

so this

first group

of people

the people

of Galilee

they want

him to be

king

but that's

for them

that's

so that

he can

solve

some of

the local

problems

that they

have

the other

group

is the

people

of Jerusalem

they don't

recognize

Jesus

you know

they say

you know

you get

so many

people

coming to

Jerusalem

for Passover

you get

so many

people

I don't

know

they don't

recognize

the claims

that he's

making

but the fact

that everyone

is proclaiming

Jesus as

the king

that's just

going to

cause trouble

that's going

to rock

the boat

that's going

to mess

up the

status quo

I mean

think about

it

things with

Rome

are sensitive

it's a

delicate

political

balance

you cause

too much

of a

too much

you stir

things up

too much

here come

the Roman

soldiers

they're going

to kill

some people

they're going

to throw

some people

in jail

they're going

to clamp

down on

the freedoms

of the people

in Jerusalem

there's this

uneasy balance

and the people

in Jerusalem

are like

oh great

we're calling

him a king

this is just

going to

upset the

status quo

I mean

things are

already bad

but they could

be a lot

worse

in our

relationship

with Rome

but the

problem

for these

people is

that Jesus

is coming

to rock

the boat

he's coming

to call

people into

a new

kingdom

the kingdom

of God

and that

is going

to require

on their

part

a new

allegiance

the people

in Jerusalem

need to

let go

of their

political

power

of their

political

structures

of the

influence

that they

have

of their

nice

neat

tidy

little

lives

they need

to let

go

of those

uneasy

alliances

that they

formed

and they

need to

join

the king

the irony

is

that Jesus

is their

true

victorious

messianic

king

coming

into

Jerusalem

and Rome

is their

oppressive

ruler

but they're

so afraid

that Jesus

is going