We've been in Matthew for quite some time, but
today, and we're going next week, we'll have
a bit of a reprieve and celebrate Palm Sunday,
celebrate the resurrection of our Lord next week
with Easter. Today, we're going to take as our
text the 12th chapter of John. We read the Luke
chapter, and so this is going to be John's version
of the triumphal entry. We'll begin at verse
12. The next day a great multitude that had come
to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was
coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees,
and they went out to meet him and cried out,
Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name
of the Lord, the King of Israel. Then Jesus,
when he had found a young donkey, sat on it.
As it is written, Fear not, daughter of Zion.
Behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey's
colt. His disciples did not understand these
things at first. But when Jesus was glorified,
then they remembered that these things were written
about him and they had done these things to him.
Therefore the people who were with him when he
called Lazarus out of his tomb and raised from
the dead bore witness. For this reason the people
also met him because they heard that he had done
this sign. The Pharisees therefore said among
themselves, You see that you are accomplishing
nothing? Look, the world has gone after him.
Let's pray. Almighty and gracious Father, Would
you meet with us today by your precious spirit?
Father, open our eyes and Lord, give us understanding,
not just to receive the text, but as it is the
very word of God. Lord, would you help us to
see Christ as he is, the humble king, yet will
be glorious, Lord, in his return. Lord, we need
you this morning. God, open the word of the Lord
and feed us with the true manna. from heaven,
which is your son. And it's in his name we pray.
Amen. As I said earlier, today's Palm Sunday,
and this is where we remember our Lord's triumphal
entry into Jerusalem. It's interesting that this
particular event, the triumphal entry, it's one
of the few events that are recorded in all four
Gospels. You often see things in Matthew, Mark,
and Luke called the synoptic Gospels, but John's
usually the outlier. But this event's also recorded
in John's Gospel. Today, as Pastor Kyle mentioned,
this marks the beginning of what has traditionally
been known as Passion Week. And this is where
Christians around the world, we remember the
final week of our Lord's earthly ministry. And
for today, I want you to put yourself in the
crowd that day as Jesus is riding into Jerusalem.
The city, Jerusalem itself, it's filled with
excitement. Word had spread that the one who
can raise the dead is on his way. You see, Jesus
had just recently raised Lazarus from the dead,
and that took place in Bethany. Bethany is just
about two short miles from Jerusalem. So no doubt
everyone had heard about this incredible miracle.
And as Jesus is approaching the city gates, the
people begin to gather palm branches. And they
begin to shout, Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes
in the name of Yahweh. In the name of the Lord.
The people are shouting. And they're shouting
that Jesus is the king of Israel. This one, riding
on a donkey, is the long -awaited Messiah. But
then you see him. He's not at all what you were
expecting. I mean, you're expecting a king. You
would expect him to be accompanied by royal soldiers,
escorting him into the capital city. Surely the
king would be seated on a royal horse, but not
him. He's on a young donkey. No pomp or circumstance.
There's no grand display of royal splendor. You
think to yourself, I mean, this is very unusual
for a royal procession. And to make it even more
surprising, Jesus was not dressed at all like
a king. He's not wearing a royal robe. There's
no crown on his head, at least not yet, and he's
not holding a royal scepter in his hand. He's
dressed as an ordinary Galilean, not a royal
monarch. God's king is not at all what you were
expecting. As we think about the background,
we have to understand this triumphal entry, it
is a significant event, not just for the people
of Jesus' day, but for Christians throughout
history. Which is why 2 ,000 years later, we
still commemorate this event. But what makes
this so important? Why is it so important that
it's mentioned in all four Gospels? I mean, why
do we still remember and commemorate Palm Sunday?
Well, there are two reasons. First, because this
is the first time that Jesus made a public claim
to be the Messiah and King of Israel. Now, people
had called him, people had suspected, but he
had never said that of himself. So today he's
receiving that praise. Secondly, though, we remember
it because this is the culmination of his final
long journey to the cross. Jesus is the king.
He is the king of Israel. And his humble entrance
into Jerusalem stands in stark contrast to the
kingdom of the world. See, the world values strength
and power. wealth and prestige, fame and beauty,
those are all hot commodities in the kingdom
of the man. But that's not the way the kingdom
of God operates. The kingdom of God, what God
truly values, was given to us in Matthew 5. Blessed,
happy are the poor in spirit. That's who gets
the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who
mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are
the meek. They will inherit the earth. Blessed
are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful,
and this is in a Roman culture that did not value
mercy, for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are
the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed
are the peacemakers, for they shall be called
sons of God. See, in the kingdom of God it's
strange because it's not the rich who we see
as blessed, it's rather the poor in spirit. It's
not the powerful who are blessed, but the merciful.
He says it's not the strong man, it's the meek
man. Not those who are seeking riches, but those
who are seeking after righteousness. The kingdom
of God is antithetical and opposite to the kingdom
of man. It's opposite that of the world. And
so it is when we see God's chosen king, he looks
very different than we would perhaps expect.
Because the royal dignitaries of this age, they
love pomp and circumstance. Just look at Buckingham
Palace. They love elaborate parades held in their
honor. Ancient kings would ride on royal steeds
which had been bred for that specific purpose.
Everyone knew the king's horse. It's a display
of power. and prestige. And that's how we expect
a king to arrive. That makes sense to us, but
that is not how God's king made his entrance.
Jesus, at this point, had already captured the
attention, but also the anger of the religious
leaders who lived in Jerusalem. Now these religious
leaders, these shepherds of Israel, they were
supposed to be leading the people of God into
truth. I mean, they should have, of all people,
been the one to be able to see that Jesus is
the one who had been sent by God. They knew the
scriptures. They had studied them meticulously.
But instead, these men were self -indulgent,
arrogant, and spiritually blind. They could not
see the truth that was right before him because
they had too much on the line. They had too much
at stake, and there was too much for them to
lose. Their power? Their own prestige, their
own position, if you will, were now at stake.
They're so jealous of the one riding on the donkey.
They're jealous of Jesus. They're jealous of
his popularity with the crowds. And it's no surprise
that crowds were drawn to this man. I mean, think
about it. They had heard and some had even witnessed
he can heal sick people. Lepers get cleansed
by just a touch from this man. He can restore
hearing and sight. Oh, if they're lame, he can
make the lame walk again. But what if you're
hungry? We've heard that he can multiply fish
and bread and feed thousands of people. And we
know for certain just a few days before this,
Jesus had publicly raised Lazarus from the dead
after four days. That's a profound event. It
was so impactful that Lazarus' testimony led
many people to believe in Jesus. As I said earlier,
keep in mind that raising of Lazarus was just
two miles outside of Jerusalem. It's in a little
town called Bethany. Jerusalem, the capital city,
well, that's the seat of the Sanhedrin, the official
ruling body of Israel. Well, the Sanhedrin, they
did not want some rival power like Jesus rising
to power. That's a threat to them. They feared
him. So they want him gone. They don't want him
removed. And then when they learned of Lazarus
being raised, they knew they had to act. So they
convened a council and they determined Jesus
must die. Therefore, Jesus did withdraw for a
short time, but he later returned to Bethany
where there's a celebration dinner in his honor.
It's there where Mary breaks the flask and pours
the expensive ointment upon him, Jesus said,
anointing him for burial. But meanwhile, in Jesus'
absence for that short period of time, word is
spreading, word is getting out, and it's gone
all throughout Jerusalem about Lazarus and what
Jesus had done to him. And keep in mind, this
is the day or the time of the great feast, the
great Passover celebration. At Passover, Jerusalem
would have been filled with hundreds of thousands
of Jewish pilgrims who had come from all over
to observe Passover. I said, Jerusalem's overflowing.
It's teeming with people. Just by nature being
Passover, there's excitement in the air. But
now, there's talk about a man who can raise the
dead. And so what do they do? They begin to celebrate.
They begin to look to this man. So when the people
found out that Jesus had come back to Bethany,
well, what would you do? Let's go see him. Let's
go see this man, and let's see the dead man who
was raised. So now the religious leaders are
not just mad at Jesus, they're mad at Lazarus.
Let's kill him. Because many are going after
Jesus because of this man. So now Jesus leaves
Bethany and he's headed to Jerusalem with his
disciples, but he's followed by a very large
crowd. Now Jesus knew the Sanhedrin's decision.
He knew their plot against him, yet he boldly
goes to Jerusalem anyways. And we'll look at
the first two verses, verse 12 and 13. The next
day, a great multitude that had come to the feast,
when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem,
they took branches of palm trees and went out
to meet him. And they're crying out, Hosanna.
Blessed he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Notice that L -O -R -D, all caps. Blessed is
he who comes in the name of Yahweh. This is the
king of Israel. Now, I think it's very important,
if you're going to understand what's happening
here, there are two groups of people who are
present in Jerusalem at this time. You've got
the local residents, the local Jerusalemites,
but then you also have those hundreds of thousands
of Jewish pilgrims who had come to observe Passover.
It's these pilgrims who took the palm branches
and went out to meet Jesus. Sometimes we hear
stories about the same people who cried to Hosanna,
then on Friday wanted to kill him. That's not
necessarily true. There's two groups. The local
people, the Sanhedrin, the ruling body, yes,
they do. But these Jewish pilgrims, they're recognizing
something. Now, John's gospel says it's a great
multitude. But Matthew, in his gospel, he says
it is a very great multitude. Matthew 21 .8.
So I looked up the word very great. It's the
word pleistos in Greek. It's a superlative. And
it means the largest numbers, what it literally
means. And so in this context, it means the greatest
possible crowd. So this is massive. This is a
massive crowd during Passover, which would have
caused quite a scene. Now, the Sanhedrin's already
ruled that Jesus is going to die. They're already
upset. And now it's like their nightmare is coming
true. You have massive crowds. flocking to Jesus.
It's during Passover, so even more people are
present there to witness it. And these people,
what are they doing? They're taking off their
outer garments and they're spreading their clothes
on the road and they're cutting down palm branches
and waving it before him. And you're like, well,
what's the big deal? Well, if you're Jewish,
the palm branch was a tremendous sign. It's a
sign of joy. It's a sign of triumph, conquest.
And it was even used in the Feast of Tabernacles
on festive occasions. Moreover, kings were welcomed
with palm branches being waved in the air. Palm
branches even appeared on ancient Jewish coins.
So it's a symbol. It's a Jewish symbol. You have
joy, thanksgiving, and victory, all represented
by the palm branch. You also see, and I love
this, we see the palm branch again in the book
of the Revelation. Revelation chapter 7. After
these things, I looked and behold a great multitude,
which no one could number, of all nations, all
tribes and peoples and tongues. And they're standing
before the throne and before the Lamb. And they're
clothed with white robes with palm branches in
their hands. And they're crying out with a loud
voice saying, Salvation belongs to our God who
sits on the throne and to the Lamb. Do you see
the importance of that palm branch being waved
before Jesus? These Jewish pilgrims, they were
welcoming Jesus. This is our King. This is the
King of Israel. And they're crying out Psalm
118. Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the
name of Yahweh. Psalm 118, if you read it, it's
a psalm of thanksgiving. And they're thanking
God for victory. This is God's victorious king.
Hosanna. What's Hosanna mean? Save now. Save
us. Deliver us is what it means. They're saying
that Psalm 118 is fulfilled in Jesus. They're
saying that Jesus is the one coming in the name
of Yahweh to save them. Mark tells us something
additionally. He said, blessed is the kingdom
of our father David. It's not just Hosanna, it's
also this is the son of David. So when you're
starting to put it together, Jesus was the king
of Israel who had been sent by the God of Israel,
by Yahweh himself. So now can you imagine how
excited the people are? They're excited. They're
thinking, Jesus can save us from Rome. Okay,
now we start to see something. If he has power
over death, then surely he can defeat the Roman
army, right? So the crowds were celebrating and
their right to do so. Their king had come, that's
a true statement, and they would at last now
have their victory. No. They're thinking Israel
is going to be vindicated. Their national glory
will be restored. Now what did Jesus think of
all this? Because earlier in his ministry, when
the people got excited and wanted to proclaim
and make him king, he withdrew. You saw that
in the feeding of the 5 ,000 there in John chapter
6, verse 15. Jesus says, when he perceived that
they were about to come and take him by force
to make him king, he departed again to a mountain
by himself alone. But now, Luke 19. And some
of the Pharisees said to him from the crowd,
teacher, do you see what they're doing? Rebuke
these dumb people is what they're saying. Rebuke
your disciples. And he said, I won't. I tell
you that if they don't cry out in praise, these
rocks are going to open up their voice here soon.
So you find something. His hour had not come
in John 6. His hour had now come. The Lord willingly
received their praise. And he said, moreover,
if these people fail to honor me as king, the
very rocks that were created by God will cry
out in praise. Jesus didn't reject the title
king at all. But he did reject their expectation
of what he should do as king. So the people are
right about who he is, but they were wrong about
what he came to do. A great misunderstanding.
There were false expectations of what the Messiah
should do. But it's not a whole lot different
even today. Today, you find Jesus being promoted
all over social media and different media outlets.
But there's different expectations of what Jesus
should do. For some, people see Jesus, he's the
therapist, and he had come to improve self -esteem
and feelings of themselves. Others see Jesus,
well, he's a counselor who will fix their relationships
and problems. Others see him as the healer who
guarantees physical health. Others see him as
proprietor. He's a provider of financial blessing.
And every single one of those strands are false
expectations. I've used this term before. I hope
it makes sense. But that's all because of an
over -realized eschatology. Let me explain that.
An over -realized eschatology is when you expect
now what is only promised later. See, in the
future, when the kingdom arrives in its fullness,
it's already here, but when it arrives in its
fullness, then at that day there will be no pain
or sickness or poverty. But in this age, God's
people face trials. The Apostle Paul told the
churches into which he ministered, he said this
in Acts 14, he said, we must through many tribulations
enter the kingdom of God. Friends, it is in this
age when God's people bear their cross. In the
eschaton, in the age to come, they will receive
their crown. It is not time yet. Yes, the kingdom's
here. I want us to understand it's so important.
The kingdom's here, but it's not here in its
fruition. It's not here in its fullness. Yes,
Jesus is God's appointed king, but he would follow
the Father's plan and not the crowd's expectations.
Well, what's the Father's plan? Mark 10, he tells
us. Mark 10, 33 and 34. Behold, we are going
up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man is going
to be betrayed to the chief priests and to the
scribes. And they will condemn him to death and
deliver him to the Gentiles. And they'll mock
and scourge him and spit on him and kill him.
And the third day he will rise again. Of all
people, that inner group of disciples should
have understood the Lord's mission. But they
didn't get it. They failed to understand. Now
obviously the crowds could not understand. They
did not know Jesus had come to free them from
their sin, not from Rome. They couldn't see it.
They did not understand he came as the lamb and
he returns as the lion. Look at verses 14 and
15. Then Jesus, when he found a young donkey,
sat on it. As it is written, Fear not, daughter
of Zion. Behold, your king is coming, sitting
on a donkey's colt. He chose to ride into the
capital city on a donkey. The king is coming
in humility. If he were the king they were expecting,
the military conqueror, I believe he would have
ridden a war horse. But instead he's sending
a message through this animal. He's riding into
Jerusalem on a lowly animal. Earthly kings display
power. Jesus displayed humility. Think about
the false prophet Muhammad. Historians tell us
that Muhammad, when he entered Mecca, he entered
Mecca on a war horse with 400 mounted men and
10 ,000 foot soldiers. That's what you would
expect. Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey accompanied
by 12 disciples. So incongruent, isn't it? God's
kingdom came in the most unexpected way. Don't
miss it. He had come to die for his people. That
donkey is representing peace, not war. But peace
would come not by defeating the Romans with the
sword. Our Lord secured eternal peace by allowing
the sword to fall on him. That's it. Now, Jesus
is fulfilling prophecy here. There's a prophecy
from the Old Testament prophet Zechariah, chapter
9, verse 9. Zechariah writes, Rejoice greatly,
O daughter of Zion. Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem.
Behold, your king is coming to you. Wow, that's
great. He's just and having salvation, even greater.
Lowly and riding on a donkey. What? A colt, the
foal of a donkey. Zechariah told Israel, your
king will come lowly. Now normally, we do not
associate lowliness with royalty. Instead of
that triumphant war horse, God's king comes as
a servant on a servile donkey. Now, Zechariah
9 .9, there is a verse that follows, verse 10.
I want you to notice here. He says, I will cut
off the chariot from Ephraim and the horse from
Jerusalem. The battle bow shall be cut off. He
shall speak peace to the nations. His dominion
shall be from sea to sea and from the river to
the ends of the earth. I love this. He speaks
peace to the nations. Oh, the irony. It is through
this humble donkey riding king worldwide peace
comes. And Zechariah tells us that a day is coming
when the weapons of war, the bow and the chariot,
they will no longer be needed. Why? Because his
reign of peace will be worldwide. Notice, to
the ends of the earth. But how would he do it?
Well, he's got to secure peace. He's got to crush
Rome, right? No. In the highest of ironies, he
allows himself to be crushed by Rome. The kingdom
of God does not come by force, but by sacrifice.
I told you the crowds misunderstood it. They
weren't alone. The disciples didn't even understand.
Look at verse 16 with me. His disciples did not
understand these things at first. But when Jesus
was glorified, then they remembered that these
things were written about him and that they had
done these things to him. I love that this verse
is here in Scripture. That means the people who
were there that day, they were unaware that they
were fulfilling Zechariah's prophecy. So it's
not like anyone that day was consciously trying
to fulfill Zechariah 9 .9. No, they didn't know
it. In fact, it wasn't until after Jesus had
already risen from the grave and is glorified,
then it was revealed to them, oh, yeah, we did
do that. Oh, that is what Zechariah said. Then
they understood what had taken place. Verses
17 and 18. Therefore the people who were with
him when he called Lazarus out of his tomb and
raised him from the dead, they bore witness,
they're testifying. For this reason the people
also met him because they had heard they had
done this sign. All right. Jesus finally arrived
in Jerusalem. And those who saw him raise Lazarus,
they began to go around all Jerusalem telling
people all about it. Now you can imagine how
this would play out, right? I mean, you see a
man raise a man from the dead after he'd been
dead four days. I mean, you're going to go around
telling people, I mean, this man, look at him.
He has the power to raise the dead. This is the
Messiah. I was there when he brought Lazarus
back to life. I saw it with my own eyes. And
their eyewitness testimony. Would have been very
convincing, by the way. Verse 19. The Pharisees,
therefore, sat among themselves. You can imagine,
they're over there and they're just like, frustrated,
angry, brooding. You see that you're accomplishing
nothing. They're talking to each other. Great
plan. You see that you're accomplishing nothing.
Look, the world has gone after him. They knew
their efforts had failed. In fact, the more they
tried to silence Jesus, the greater his fame
grew. It seemed as if the whole world had gone
after him. Jerusalem's filled with several hundred
thousand visitors. But sadly, many of them had
gone after him for all the wrong reasons. They're
willing to shortchange themselves. They wanted
political freedom. Just give us freedom from
Rome. They could not understand that their most
pressing need was freedom from their sin. I told
you that king was not wearing a crown, but he
would wear one. It's not a crown of gold, it
would be a crown of thorns. And the kingdom of
God would not come through triumph, but through
the cross. Put yourself in the crowd again that
day. You've got the palm in your hand. And you're
crying out, your voice is on with them because
you're caught up with the rapture of the moment.
Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name
of Yahweh. You're there and you're hailing him
as king. But the question we have to ask this
morning is will you still proclaim him king when
he leads you through unexpected ways? Are you
still going to proclaim him and hail him as king
when he leads you through suffering and loss?
Through pain and disappointment? Palm Sunday
ends at the cross. And everyone who follows this
crucified king is called to pick up their cross
and follow him. Is he worth it to you? If your
eyes have been opened by God himself, absolutely
he's worth it. He says, so now what? What do
we do? Jesus, as I said, he did not come riding
Jerusalem on an iron chariot with a sword drawn.
The Son of God, he chose to enter on that lowly
donkey. Friends, God's kingdom has come through
humility, and it is spread through humility,
not through hubris. Don't spend all your time
and energy fighting politically. Have a humble
posture and tell of this crucified risen king.
Because if you want entrance into the kingdom,
there's only one way. That's you must embrace
this king. You must bow your knee before him
and confess him as Lord. And those in whom the
Lord has worked, this is what we all do. If you're
here today and you know Christ, the greatest
joy of my life is to bow my knee and confess
with my tongue. Jesus Christ is Lord. Absolutely,
that's the greatest joy. Psalm 2 tells us about
that, and we close with this. Psalm 2 is a messianic
psalm. God speaking, the Father. Yet I have set
my king on my holy hill of Zion. I will declare
the decree. The Lord Yahweh has said to me, you
are my son. Today I have begotten you. Now look
down at verse 10. Now therefore be wise, O kings.
He's speaking to the kings of the earth now.
Be instructed, you judges of the earth. Serve
the Lord. Serve Yahweh with fear and rejoice
with trembling. Rejoice, but there ought to be
a healthy respect because he's Yahweh. He is
Elohim. He is God Almighty. And I love this,
verse 12. You want to know how you rejoice before
the Father? You want to know how you honor the
Father? Look at verse 12. Kiss his son. Kiss
the son, lest he be angry, and you perish in
the way. When his wrath is kindled but a little,
not a lot even, you perish with just a little
of his wrath. Can you imagine facing the full,
orbed, unmitigated, unrestrained wrath of God?
Blessed. We started with blessed. Blessed are
the poor in spirit. Blessed are the meek. Psalm
2 tells us, blessed are all those who put their
trust in him. So friends, on this Palm Sunday,
wave the palm frond, bow the knee, kiss the sun.
Blessed, happy, eternally blessed are you if
you put your trust in him. Alistair Begg says
this, Palm Sunday, therefore, reminds us that
true freedom and success, the kind that lasts
for eternity, come only when we lose our lives
in Christ. Laying down our desires, our dreams,
and ambitions at the foot of the cross in order
that we might belong unreservedly to him. What
a glorious message. What a glorious king. Church,
serve your king today. And if you're here today
and you've never bowed your knee, enter the kingdom,
bow the knee, kiss the son, and you too will
be blessed. Let's pray. Father, thank you for
this glorious, glorious word. Oh, Lord, it blows
our mind. Thank you for Jesus, Lord. Thank you
for the blessed son of God. All glory be to him,
Lord. Praise and honor be to him. Father, Hosanna.
Glory. God, help us to rightly reverence our
King. Jesus Christ is Lord. And with that, Lord,
may we commune with him at this table of the
Lord. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.