March 29, 2026 | Who Is This?

Matthew 21:1-11, Pastor Jim Neal

Transcript

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Well, we're departing from the book of Isaiah and Ephesians this week to focus today, Palm Sunday, on a passage from Matthew. The triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem is depicted in all three of the synoptic gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, but also touched upon in the book of John. And so today we are beginning that holiest of all weeks, Holy Week, we call it. All kinds of things transpired between the triumphal entry and the resurrection. Some of them exciting, some of them challenging, some of them eternal. We celebrate this eventful week with the Good Friday service coming up, and it's going to be a special time. So we encourage all of you to be there and to invite others, use the shirt as a discussion starter. Invite others to that Sunday service next Sunday morning. There are different details in the different books about the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, but we're going to focus on Matthew's version today. Now, you know, one of the things that we have as a benefit is that we've got the word. We can read about that whole week where Jesus came to Jerusalem, what he went through during the week, all the way through the crucifixion. We can look back on it. We've got the word. The people who were there for the triumphal entry didn't have that. They didn't have the 2020 foresight or hindsight that we have. They didn't know what was coming during that holy week. It was not there revealed to them, except for one group, and I'll talk about them in a moment. There were a lot of different views about who Jesus was and what his role would be. So we're going to look into those in Matthew chapter 21. Jesus and the disciples had come to Jerusalem at the time of the Passover celebration. The population of Jerusalem at that time was about 50,000, but it swelled five and ten times that number during Passover week. The governor of Judea, the Roman governor of Judea, did not live in Jerusalem. Jerusalem was crowded. It's a dusty, dirty city. And so he wanted something better. These are the ruins of where he stayed. It's right out there on the ocean, on the sea. The governor wanted something nicer than Jerusalem. So the Romans built a resort on the ocean, Caesarea Maritima, to the west of Jerusalem. And Pontius Pilate spent most of his time there. Occasionally he would come to Jerusalem. And one time he definitely would come to Jerusalem was during Passover. See, this was a time when things were a bit touchy, if you were a Roman governor. The people might be inclined to unrest or protest or uprising. It made sense for the governor to leave the resort on the sea and march into Jerusalem for Passover. Because Caesarea Maritima is to the west, he would arrive at one of the two entrances to Jerusalem and he would arrive at the West Gate. He would arrive with the great show of it all, with pomp and circumstance, a major parade, military parade with chariots, horses, soldiers, maybe even elephants, all marching into Jerusalem with a show of strength and power. A warning to the people don't get any ideas about rejecting my power because I have the strength to deal with you. I'm still in charge. That's what the parade from the West was meant to say to people, but there was another parade. What a contrast. It was the parade of Jesus. He came from the east without great fanfare and a demonstration of human power. Look at our first verse in Matthew 21. When they had approached Jerusalem and had come to Bethphage at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, 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. Jesus knew well the prophecies about him. Some say almost 300 prophecies. Mathematical impossibility to fulfill all of those prophecies, and yet he did to the letter. And one of those is that prophecy found in Zechariah 9:9. Very clearly, rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion. Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem, behold, your king is coming to you. He is just and endowed with salvation, humble and mounted on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a donkey. Now, can you imagine getting that assignment today as one of his disciples? Vin, if Jesus were here today and he said, want you to run up to Jesseville for me. There's a Hummer up there and a Jeep. And I want you to fire them up and bring them back here for me. You're trying to get me arrested or shot or something? I mean, what a what a crazy request that that was. But he he said to them, anticipating objections, if anyone asks anything to you, verse 3, and then you shall say the Lord has need of them, and immediately he will send them. Well, in that case, no problem, right, Vin, let's go. Jesus said it. I can trust it. I can only believe that God had prepared the hearts of the owners. I said owners because we read in Luke 19 that there were really a couple of owners there. That he had prepared their hearts for the challenge and request to give something up. And thus was fulfilled one of those many prophecies about Jesus coming. Behold, your king is coming to you, gentle and mounted on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden. Now there were two opportunities that existed to respond to God's will in that event. First, the disciples could have bailed and the owners could have balked. But in verse 6, we see the disciples went and did just as Jesus had instructed them. To me, that's what makes a disciple a genuine disciple, is a matter of obedience. They were obedient followers. How ready are you to respond to the demands of the Christian life? Are you ready on this holy week, during this time, to respond to the demand that says, take up your cross daily and follow me? Are you gonna resist the commands? Or are you gonna be willing, like the disciples, to follow after some of the most absurd claims and challenges? The owners freely loaned out their donkeys. When God calls us to do or to give, we're taking a risk when we say yes because it may cost us something. Something maybe we didn't even anticipate giving. But always remember, if God calls you to give something up, if God calls you to do something, it's never without his equipping. He's always ready to make it possible for you to follow through. The next few verses bring us to the scene that many of us picture when we hear of the triumphal entry. Now, how many of you grew up in a church where you had children coming down the aisle on this Palm Sunday morning waving the palm branches? You know, a lot of us did, some of us didn't. How many of you grew up where you had a live donkey? No, not so much, maybe. Crystal Cathedral, maybe not in our churches for the most part. When we hear of the triumphal entry, we see in verse 8 there most of the crowds spread their coats in the road, and others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them in the road. 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. Though spreading of the coats was a sign of humility and submission. That's why they did it. They put coats on the back of the donkey so Jesus could ride. They put their clothing in the street, they put the palm branches down, and there were shouts all over of Hosanna. That word Hosanna really means save us, please, or save us, we pray. It's a very short prayer. You know, sometimes we pray long prayers, but every once in a while there's a circumstance in which we pray a short prayer. I think I may have told a story before. When I was traveling with a gospel quartet many years ago, uh, one night we were loaded up in our bus, headed to Nashville from Michigan to record an album. And one of our uh habits was that we would have different guys in the group that would drive that bus, and we had someone alongside them to kind of co-pilot, make sure they stayed awake. We were doing that that night, and I happened to be the co-pilot, and our bass singer, Phil, was the uh driver. We got just into northern Indiana, and it was about 11 or 11:30 at night. The other guys were in the back of the bus. We had our other singers, we had a band uh that traveled with us, and they were back in their bunks sound asleep. And all of a sudden, I saw some smoke in the air. Wasn't sure where it was coming from. I pulled open a front fuse panel, has about 120 fuses on those big buses, didn't see anything electrically that was a problem there. I said to Phil, pull it over, Phil. We got to figure out what's going on. And he pulled over the bus right alongside of a bridge, overpass on the freeway, and parked that bus. And I grabbed the fire extinguisher, got out of the bus, walked around to the back, and I could see flames in the back end of the bus. And I had a choice that time to spend a lot of time in a long prayer or to use the fire extinguisher. And I have to confess, I used the fire extinguisher. In fact, I broke out the window, emptied the fire extinguisher, which did no good at all. So I ran up to a there was a van and an 18-wheel truck that had stopped, pulled over, and stopped in front of us on that bridge, and I ran up there to see if someone had an extra fire extinguisher, and that's when I heard it. There was so much smoke on the highway that an 18-wheeler coming behind us did not see the bus. And he rammed into the back end of that bus and drove it through the guard rail. I came running back to the bus, grabbing the front door, trying to pull it open, thinking that my friends were still in the bus. Phil had yelled at him to get out as I'd gone out around outside of the bus, but I grabbed that door and pulled as hard as I could, and at that moment realized there was no way that I was going to be able to get that door open. And that's when you pray, Hosanna, Lord, save us, please. Help us. Sometimes the effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man is a short one. Doesn't always have to be long, but it's sincere, it's real. And I was praying for help, and God did deliver us that night. Not any of the guys was seriously injured. Um, unfortunately, a couple of them happened to be sleeping in their skivvies. And they immediately ran into the back of the van that had stopped ahead of us so that they could maintain some semblance of dignity. But we were able to, the the bus was destroyed. We were able to continue on to Nashville the next day and uh and record the album. And I was thankful that God even answers short prayers. There were different groups that were gathered at the triumphal entry. The the first group that we know about, of course, were the disciples who had been traveling with Jesus. They had been told what was about to happen during that holy week. They might not have believed it, but they were told. If you go back to the previous chapter, Matthew 20, verse 17, here's what it says. As Jesus was about to go up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside by themselves, and on the way he said to them, Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem. No big deal. They've probably had that much figured out already. And the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles to mock and scourge and crucify him on the third day, he'll be raised up. And I'm sure their eyes got big. What it didn't seem like something that would call for a triumphal entry. So maybe they were in denial. It was right after that that clearly the mother of James and John misunderstood what Jesus had said. See, so many wanted a king. They wanted someone in political power. She wanted her boys to have great positions in the new government. But Jesus told her, You don't even know what you're asking. Was it possible that as they got swept up in the celebration of the triumphal entry, the disciples either didn't remember what Jesus said, maybe didn't believe what he was saying, or just couldn't accept the reality of a crucifixion of the one that they'd been walking with now for years? The cheering acceptance of the crowd was certainly a contrast from what you would expect to hear for a man being brought to punishment on a cross. But the disciples were there. There were a couple other guys who were around, and those were the donkey owners. Can you imagine what they felt when the bold request was made? Those who watched the disciples untying the donkey confronted them. Mark 11:5 says some of the bystanders were saying to them, What are you doing untying the colt? I think it's likely that the owners themselves were confused by the request, and in spite of that, they were compliant without understanding why they weren't resisting, why they weren't saying, No, you can't have the donkey. I might sell it to you, but we're not going to give it to you or loan it to you just because you ask. And yet, because of the sovereignty of God, they opened up and complied. There was another group, prominent group, although hanging out on the fringes a bit at the triumphal entry. And those were the opposers, the Sanhedrin, the Herodians, the Pharisees. Some of them were scared because the crowds overwhelmed them. Others were determined. They'd been trying to capture Jesus for quite a while. He was a threat to their way of life. They were not happy about his increasing popularity. And I'm sure the fear of those masses contributed to the delay in taking him to trial right there. So they waited a few days. They didn't bring him to Pilate that day. It was also the masses following him that fueled the fire of their passion against Jesus. He still has opposers today. He still has disciples today. And I'm con I'm confident that he probably still has donkey owners today who have something that Jesus wants from them. But another group that was there were the curious. The chronology of the triumphal entry came after many miracles had been done. Lazarus' hometown was only about two miles from Jerusalem, and that was one of the more recent miracles that was carried out when he was raised from the dead. And that created a great attraction, a great following. Just as today celebrities have followings, they have entourages. People just hero worship out of curiosity or wanting to rub up next to them, to be a part of something unusual going on. There were a lot of people who were just curious. They wanted to see what was happening in Jerusalem that day. But they weren't the biggest crowd. The biggest crowd were the politically hopeful. That was the largest group there. I think many people at Jerusalem that day were believing that the Calvary has come. When they shouted to Hosanna, they were thinking, save us, but save us from Roman authority. Not save us from our sins, but save us from Roman authority. They were tired of the Roman oppression. And now the king was arriving, the new king. They believed there was a new sheriff in town, and their troubles were going to be over. So they were ready to party. They were excited about celebrating this new king. Well, the Calvary may not have come that day. What they did not know is that Calvary was coming. Not in the form of a sword, but in the form of a cross. And it would be more powerful than a legion of horses and chariots. I'm convinced also that there were some who were disappointed when they discovered that week that Jesus wasn't taking over. But indeed he went to trial and they stood there at the trial. Some who had shouted, Hosanna at one time were now shouting, Crucify Him. Same people, different agenda. The great question that needed to be asked is found in verse 10. When he had entered Jerusalem, all the city was stirred, saying, Who is this? That was the question of the day. How do you answer that question? Who is he to you? A famous prophet, a carpenter from Bethlehem, a good man, a magician, a powerful political figure? It's the key question of life. What you do with Jesus. Who is this? Who is it for you personally? There's a big difference between knowing what he did and trusting who he was and who he is. And let me tell you who he is. He is the one sent because God so loved the world. This is the one who promises where two or three are gathered in my name. I am there among them. This is the one who says, Come to me, all you who are weary and carrying burdens, and I will give you rest. This is the one who says, Peace I leave with you. My peace I give you. This is the one who says, Do not let your hearts be troubled. Do not let them be afraid. This is the one who said, I am the good shepherd. This is the one who calls his own sheep by his name and leads them out. This is the one who says, I am the light of the world. This is the one who says, I am the resurrection and the life. This is the one who comes that we may have life and have it abundantly. This is the one who is making all things new. This is the one who embodies God's promise I will never leave you nor forsake you. This is the one who says, Remember, I am with you always, even to you. To the end of the age, this is the one who's coming again. This is the one who we will look to coming from the east into Jerusalem again. Just as sure as it was predicted that Jesus would come to Jerusalem during the Passover, it is a fact that Jesus is coming back again. Equally sure is that there are different views about why, when, or even whether he will come. We are like those waiting in Jerusalem for the Messiah. We can easily inject our own ideas and opinions into this second coming, like those who are gathered at the triumphal entry. There are non-believers all around us who don't give a second thought to the return of Jesus. But even among his followers, there are differing views. For example, there is a view called the Priterist view. Some believe that Jesus has already come back, that he came back in 70 AD at the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem. The scriptures surely teach otherwise. There are those who believe that he will quietly come into town without a lot of noise and will hardly even know that he's here. When Jesus came into the world 2,000 years ago, his birth at that time was virtually unnoticed. Only a few shepherds, a small group of foreign wise men came to pay homage to him. As far as most people were concerned, he was just another baby born to an insignificant peasant couple. Arriving in the womb on the back of a donkey then. Even after his death and resurrection, there were many who still refused to acknowledge him as Messiah, sent from God to save us from our sins. But the second coming of Christ will be far different when Christ returns to establish his kingdom. The Bible says he will come with power and glory, and the whole human race will see him. Jesus said, You will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the mighty one, coming on the clouds of heaven. Mark 14. The writer of the last book of the Bible also looked forward to that day. Look, Revelation 1:7 says, Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, and it ain't going to be on the back of a donkey. This is going to be the coming in power. But not everybody will celebrate Jesus' return. Matthew 24, verse 30. Then there will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. Some will mourn because the second coming is a reckoning for those who are not his followers. But ultimately all will bow before him, whether they like it or not. Philippians 2 tells us God highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. I've heard a lot of sermons and read a lot of sermons about that second coming of Jesus. And there are a lot of different ideas expressed about the timing and the sequences, even the purpose. But the one thing that is consistent that I've read in most of them is that we must be ready. We need to be prepared. What does that mean? It means correctly answering the big question at the end of the triumphal entry. Who is this? Who is this? Who is Jesus to you? I pray that if you can't answer that correctly now, that by the end of this holy week you will have an encounter with the resurrected Messiah. That's critical. Because as longtime Village Bible Church former pastor Dr. Mark Kane used to say frequently, Forever is a long time to be wrong. Let's pray. Father, you have blessed us so much by being with us. And this poem Sunday is the beginning of the end of the beginning. Today many call on your name. And we see in the past how so many yelled Hosanna without necessarily meaning it, without realizing what they needed salvation from and for. So today we shout Hosanna, saying, Yours is the only name that we have by which there is salvation. So save us, Lord, as we bow before you and acknowledge who you are, as we give you praise and honor. May during this coming week we focus on what you gave so that we could have eternal life and enjoy the joy and the peace that you give, not as the world gives, but as that only you can give. In your name we pray. Amen.