Who Is This? (Matthew 21:1-11)
See Him on the road to Jerusalem! A small crowd surrounds Him, listening to His every word. As He approaches the city of Jericho, still eighteen miles away from Jerusalem, He heals a blind man named Bartimaus. Who is this Man? Jesus, Son of David, whose mercy never faileth.
The crowd around Him swells with astonished people giving glory to God. He enters Jericho and goes to eat at the tax-collector, Zaccheus’ home. Who is this Man? The Son of Man, who has come to seek and to save that which was lost (Luke 19:10).
1 Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, a village on the eastern slope of the Mount of Olives, just 1.5 miles away from Jerusalem, then Jesus sent two disciples, 2 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. 3 If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.”
Who is this Man who doesn’t even have a donkey of His own on which to ride into the city? Who is Man who so confidently sends His disciples to fetch a donkey and her colt, expecting that the owner would be so compelled to lend them simply because “The Lord needs them?”
This Man is Jesus. The Lord. The Son of Man, come to seek and to save that which was lost. The Son of David.
Finally, the time had come. It was time to present Himself to the Jewish people.
MAIN POINT - Jesus intentionally prepared to enter Jerusalem, deliberately presenting Himself as Christ, the King, to the Jewish nation as Jews from all around the world poured into the city (some 2 million Jews) for Passover. He did this for 4 reasons.
REASON #1: TO FULFILL THE SCRIPTURES (vv. 4-5)
John 12:16 says that the disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written of Him. So, Matthew, looking back, sees that 4 this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet. Matthew actually refers to two Scriptures. He quotes Zechariah 9:9. But before that, he alludes to Isaiah 62:11, saying, 5 “Say to the daughter of Zion.” That’s the only place in the Old Testament that phrase is written. “Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Lo, your salvation comes’...they will call them, ‘The redeemed of the LORD.’ Who does Matthew say that this Man is? The one who brings salvation. The one who has come to redeem a people unto the LORD God. Then Matthew quotes out of Zechariah 9:9 - ‘Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’” Who is this Man? He is none other than the king! What kind of a king is He? One who will enter the city in great majesty with great pomp and circumstance? No. This king enters humbly and peaceably. Why would Jesus enter the city in this way? To fulfill the Scriptures.
TO LOOK THE PART (vv. 6-8)
6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. Who is this Man? One whose every word can be trusted, and whose omniscience is astonishing. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. Just as His fathers David and Solomon had rode donkeys through Jerusalem, so also would He (cf. 1 Kings 1:33). The donkey was a royal mount in times of peace. Who is this Man? One of peace. One whose strength is sheathed. As He rode, 8 most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. In 2 Kings 9:13, the Israelites spread their cloaks for King Jehu. Who is this Man who is being welcomed in the manner of a king? In 142 BC, the people spread palms in the road to welcome Simon Maccabeus after their triumph over the Seleucids. According to 1 Maccabees 13:51, Simon entered Jerusalem ‘with a chorus of praise and the waving of palm branches.’ Who is this who is welcomed in the same way as Simon Macabeus, who led a revolt to deliver Jerusalem from her enemies?
Why would Jesus enter the city in this way? To fulfill the Scriptures. To Look the Part.
TO INCREASE THE FERVOR (v. 9)
More people had been attracted to this wild display. Now, the crowd had become crowds surrounding the Man on the donkey making His way to Jerusalem in a strange royal procession. 9 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!” Who is this Man who is welcomed with cries for deliverance? Who is He that the crowd is quoting from a Messianic psalm which prophesies the deliverance which the Messiah would bring? Why are they shouting, “Hosanna,” “Save us!” Why are they calling Him the Son of David? A Son of David hadn’t ridden into the city as King in over 600 years! Was it finally happening? Why are they blessing Him as the one who comes in the name of the Lord? Could this be Him? The excitement is multiplying. The exuberance of the crowds is palpable.
Why would Jesus enter the city in this way? To fulfill the Scriptures. To look the part. To increase the fervor.
TO SPREAD THE WORD (vv.10-11)
10 And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up. That’s not a strong enough word! The city was more than stirred up. A better translation of that word would be “shaken.” Jesus’ entry that day into Jerusalem caused the city to shake. It was certainly rumbling with the excitement and the cries of “Hosanna” by the crowds. The rest in the crowds, who didn’t know what was going on–they either couldn’t see the Man on the donkey or they were pilgrims to Jerusalem or they had been living under a rock–were saying, “Who is this?” Indeed, who is this who has caused such a frenzy by His appearance? Who is this who is being hailed as a revolutionary and a deliverer and as the king, the Son of David? Who is this with no entourage, no chariots, no carts of treasure, no harem of beautiful women, no stately officers, no royal attendants, no beautiful robes, no menagerie? Who is this who is being greeted as a man of war, yet who is riding a donkey? 11 And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.” Who is this? You know of Him! He has taught about the Kingdom of God. He has healed many. He has even raised people to life again. He has kept us in suspense long enough, but today is the day!
Why would Jesus enter the city in this way? To fulfill the Scriptures. To look the part. To increase the fervor. To spread the word.
At this point, we must make SEVERAL OBSERVATIONS:
There immediately follows a surprising twist. Jesus doesn’t march to the seat of power in Jerusalem, neither to Herod nor Pilate, in order to make war with them. Instead, He made war against the false religion in the Temple. Who is this Man who drives out those making profits in the Lord’s house? Who is this Man who challenges the religious leaders?
This challenge to the impure religion of the Jews was the final catalyst that motivated the religious leaders to plot together to kill Jesus. Who is this Man that they are so set on murdering Him?
The people were right in their excited and enthusiastic welcome of Jesus as the King, the Messiah. They were wrong, however, that Jesus had come as Christ the King to deliver them from the Romans through revolution. No. He had come as Christ the King to deliver them from sin through His own substitutionary death. He had not come to slay the empires of this world. He had come to make peace between the people and God. Who is this Man who came to die as the sin-bearer?
This day was the day that the Law of God in Exodus 12:3 commanded the Passover lambs to be selected and set apart. That day, some 260,000 lambs were being selected for the 2 million people in Jerusalem. Jesus, the King, was presented as God’s lamb who would die for the sins of the people. And not just for people from Israel. Also people from the whole world. Who is this Man, the spotless and blameless lamb of God?
IN CONCLUSION, why did Jesus intentionally and purposefully ride into the city of Jerusalem on a donkey? To fulfill the Scriptures. To look the part. To increase the fervor. To spread the word. He is indeed the Christ. The Messiah. The King. He had come at the foretold time in order to lay down His life as a ransom for the people. He had not come to make war. He had come to make peace between us and God.
Beloved, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ! Because He marched into Jerusalem that day to present Himself as the King who had come to die in our place. Because He obediently and faithfully went to the cross five days later. Because He offered Himself once and for all as the atonement for our sins, we have peace with God! No condemnation awaits us! No wrath. No eternal death. No Lake of Fire. No, “Depart from Me, I never knew you!” He rescued us. He purchased us. He reconciled us to God through His own blood.
Friend, if you don’t know this gift of salvation, I urge you to receive it now by repenting of your sins and turning to Christ Jesus. The time is now! This is the day of salvation! Come to Him, all you who are weary and heavy-ladened. He will give you rest. Peace with God.
Soon, this Man, Jesus, the Son of Yahweh, will return. He will one day break the nations with a rod of iron and shatter them like earthenware. This is the Man whom all people are commanded to take refuge in. The Man whose wrath will soon be kindled. One day, all Creation will cry out to the city gates, “Lift up your heads, O gates, And be lifted up, O ancient doors, That the King of glory may come in! Who is the King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle” (Psalm 24:7-8). When He returns, He will not be riding a donkey. He will be riding a white horse who wages war in righteousness. He is faithful and true. Who is this Man? He is Jesus Christ, our Lord!
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