Palm Sunday Matthew 21:1-16
All four Gospels include this account of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, letting us know that something really significant is going on here-Matt 21:1-10, Mark 11:1-11, Luke 19:28-40, John 12:12-19).
Matt:21 21 When they had approached Jerusalem and had come 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 there and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to Me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord has need of them,’ and immediately he will send them.” Let’s look at these instructions from the disciples point of view–they’re almost there, and Jesus stops and gives the disciples instructions on where to get a donkey—after they’ve been walking around all over Israel for 3 and ½ years. These instructions must have seemed a little strange to the disciples. “Wait, Jesus, we’re supposed to go up to a village find the first donkey and colt we see, and just grab them? “Uh, isn’t that a good way to get arrested Jesus?” The disciples had no idea what was going to happen, and they had a choice whether to obey. If God’s instructions were always going to make sense to us at the time, that we need verses like Proverbs 3:5-6 5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And do not lean on your own understanding. The only way that we’re going to get God’s Will done is to Trust Him to work through us, and follow His instructions, even if we don’t understand. If we’re always trying to figure it out ourselves, then we won’t be letting God be in Control. Obedience is required, and God does not need our advice on how to do it.
6 The disciples went and did just as Jesus had instructed them, 7 and brought the donkey and the colt, and laid their coats on them; and He sat on the coats.
The Bible bothers to let us know that the disciples didn’t come up with this, nor did they decide to improvise and do it their own way. The salvation of each and every person who comes to Christ, and the working out of the plan that He has for their lives is part of God’s design. When we are obedient to God’s plan by letting people know about our wonderful Jesus and fulfilling the ministries that He has given us, we cooperate and partner with God in fulfilling His Will for their salvation and the work He has for them to do.
8 Most of the crowd spread their coats in the road, and others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them in the road.
So why were they spreading out their coats on the road? In 2 Kings 9:13 that the people threw their coats onto the ground in front of him: 9:13: 13 Then they hurried and each man took his garment and placed it under [JEHU] on the bare steps, and blew the trumpet, saying, “Jehu is king!” They celebrated by rolling out the red carpet with what they had at hand—their coats.
Mathew 21:9 9 The crowds going ahead of Him, and those who followed, were shouting,
“Hosanna to the Son of David; Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord;
Hosanna in the highest!” Mark: 11:10 adds “Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David”
Son of David This wasn’t the first time that they’d called Jesus “Son of David”, if fact they correctly do this six times in the gospel of Matthew. In 2nd Samuel 7:12-13, God had promised King David that the Messiah would be from his Kingly line and would be established forever: When your days are over and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever (2 Samuel 7:12-13).
This prophecy that the Messiah would be a descendent of David is why we see in the next verse, Matthew 21:9 and several other times in the Gospel of Mathew, Jesus is called “Son of David.” It’s equivalent to calling Jesus the Messiah,
Hosanna Another thing that they keep shouting is Hosanna. Now, the word Hosanna is kind of important to understand. The word Hosanna (5614) in English is a transliteration (not a translation) of a Hebrew phrase composed of two Hebrew words (hoshiya + na’ meaning something like “Please save!,” “Help, I pray,” “Save now,” or “Save now, I pray!” And that Hebrew phrase is found in only one solitary place in the whole Old Testament, Psalm 118:24-26, 24 This is the day which the Lord has made;Let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Peace–Another theme in what the people were crying is PEACE. In the Middle East there is a tradition that a donkey is an animal of peace, versus the horse, which is an animal of war. Therefore, a king came riding upon a horse if he meant to make war and conquer, while riding a donkey emphasized the point that he was coming in peace. Therefore, Jesus’ entry to Jerusalem symbolized his entry as the Prince of Peace. Or as Isaiah 9:6-7 puts it, And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace.
But, a lot of people were still confused about just who Jesus was, just as people are confused about who He is today. Many thought that as Messiah, he would be a political leader, and maybe a deliverer from the Romans. Many people thought that He was just a prophet. We see in Mathew 21:10 and 11 that 10 When He had entered Jerusalem, all the city was stirred, saying, “Who is this?” 11 And the crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth in Galilee.” There was excitement, but not understanding. All the city of Jerusalem was stirred, but many in the crowd had to ask “who is this?”. They didn’t know him. And many today get excited when they see the power of God, and crowds, or revivals, or miracles, but if it doesn’t drive you to come to know the Person of Jesus, and understand His work of Salvation on your behalf, what good has been done? Don’t miss the boat, and don’t misunderstand—get to know Jesus personally as both Lord and Savior today. The Crowd was excited, but they wanted the Messiah on their terms, not God’s. Israel thought the Romans were the Problem, America thinks that Politics is the problem, but Jesus knows that the problem in Israel then, is the Problem in America now, and it was the same reason why Jesus had to go to Calvary. Jesus knew that their real problem was Sin. Jesus came to die for our sins, to pay the price for our iniquity. Jesus as Sacrifice was the most important part—it’s why HE came, but it’s the part that they couldn’t accept, and the part that people still can’t accept today.
This was a day when the Passover lambs were being inspected, so that they could be used for Passover. On Palm Sunday, Jesus entered Jerusalem at exactly the time the Passover lambs were chosen. And this was the day when Jesus, our Passover presented Himself to Israel as their Messiah at the Temple with the other sacrifices. Notice that as JESUS apparently moves away from his role as Deliverer and gets closer and closer to His role as Sacrifice, He is less and less accepted. The people just wouldn’t accept that the Messiah had to suffer and die because it meant that their Earthy problems weren’t just going to go away. They just couldn’t see the Heavenly, the eternal perspective. Have you rejected your day of visitation? The Bible says Today is the Day of Salvation. It says that because NONE OF US are guaranteed tomorrow. I know that for many of you something today as struck a chord with your heart, and the Holy Spirit is dealing with you. For some, it may be that he’s telling you to Use your Spiritual Gifts HIS WAY, not your way. Be like the Disciples; obey, even when it doesn’t make sense, and fulfill God’s Plan for your life!