I like a good rivalry. Like two teams that don't really like each other playing, I really like that. I enjoy that. A rivalry is like—you might have a down year, but the year that you're playing the team that you have the rivalry with, that's going to be the year that you really try your hardest. I just like a good rivalry. It doesn't even have to be sports. It could be chess for that matter, though I'm not going to watch it.
It could be chess. There was a rivalry a couple years ago in the National Spelling Bee, which is on ESPN. And I called ESPN, because I didn't know if they knew this, and I said, "The S is not for spelling, it's for sport." And spelling has PTSD, post-traumatic spelling disorder or something, or symptoms because of that. How many of you agree with me ESPN is about sports, not spelling? There's five of us who cheated our way through English that agreed with me on that. Anybody ever compete in the National Spelling Bee in here? Bernie Lund did. Not surprised. A few others did. All right. Well, we have a Nerds Anonymous meeting on Monday night at 7:00 right over there. I'm teasing, I'm teasing.
But I like a good rivalry. I was thinking this week of a couple of rivalries that are really famous, and you can cheer for whichever side you're on: Yankees versus Red Sox. Go Red Sox, right? Because Jesus likes the Red Sox. I don't know why Jesus likes the Red Sox, but He does. Lakers versus Celtics. We've got a church full of Laker fans, and they're like, "I'm not saying a word," which proves the kind of fans Lakers have. Go Lakers. Steelers versus Browns. Pastor Garza preached the other night about why he is a Browns fan, and he's a Browns fan simply because he was forced to be one as a child. That's the only reason why.
Here's a big one, especially in our church: Michigan versus Ohio State. Anybody from Michigan here today? Yeah, they raised their hand. Well, I'm a big Ohio State fan, and I love watching them beat up on Michigan. Duke versus North Carolina. My wife is here. No lie, second date I found out—33 years ago, the second date. Date number one, you go out and try to figure out, "Does she even smell okay?" She smells okay, so we'll have date number two. We went on date number two and started talking about things that are important to us. I said, "Listen, I'm a big basketball guy. I played for years, had an opportunity to play at a decent level. It was a lot of fun. Who's your favorite basketball team?" She said, "Duke." I said, "If there's going to be a date number three, you will never talk positively about Duke." She said, "I commit to you that I won't do that." She kept that commitment for 27 years and has been in rebellion for the last six years. No Christian should love Duke. It's in the name: Blue Devil. Blue Devil, Yellow Devil, Green Devil, Black Devil, White Devil—matters not. Devil is in the name; you shouldn't root for them. Duke is a Baptist school, so I have no idea how they became the Duke Blue Baptist Devils, but nonetheless, Duke versus North Carolina, North Carolina all day long. Amen.
There are some international ones, like cricket. If you don't know what cricket is, welcome to America, but the rest of the world plays cricket. India versus Pakistan is a massive cricket match that will last sometimes upwards of 10 days. They come to blows in those countries over a 10-day match of cricket. Soccer: Real Madrid versus Barcelona. Rugby: New Zealand versus South Africa. It's a big rivalry.
But the rivalry to end all rivalries is Team Jesus versus the Dodgers. Amen. If you're like, "Well, I root for the Dodgers," well, then you're rooting against the other side. So there you go.
All joking aside, I like a good rivalry. As we come to Matthew chapter 21, we are in a major section of the Book of Matthew. It's the fourth section, and in our text, we see the most important coronation ever known to mankind. Jesus, as the King of kings and Lord of lords, is being brought into the city of Jerusalem, and He is making His final entry.
This is often called Palm Sunday because of what we read in the text of people cutting down palm branches and laying them on the ground. But Jesus isn't recognized like other monarchs are. There's no pomp, no escort to carry Him, no band playing going before Him. When somebody else would be crowned king, they would have a band go before them and play, and then they would have a command or group of soldiers march before them. They would show off things of importance to the king and to the people. Then the king would come in, normally riding on the biggest horse in the kingdom they could find, letting the entire world know, "I'm the king, and everybody is my subject."
When Jesus comes in, there's no pomp, no escort. Some kings would ride in a chariot. You've seen that recently when Charles became the King of England. He rode in this beautiful, massive gold chariot. It was fantastic as he made his way in. They would wear special clothing, and it was just an awesome thing for people to see, but Jesus had no special clothing. The kings of the world would make it to their destination, give their speeches, and people would clap and cheer, "We have a new king." Then the king would leave and go to celebration events, banquets, with special food. There was none of that for Christ.
It's actually a very bittersweet time for Christ. It's His last public appearance. Chronologically, it's simply seven days before He would be crucified, six days before He would be arrested. It's extremely important and something that really sets the stage for what we will talk about next Sunday, Resurrection Sunday, and it's worthy of our inspection and study today.
In verses 1 through 6, we see that the foundation has been laid. Whenever something major happens, there's always a foundation that has been laid, a background of work that has been done. In verse number 1, we see that Christ's work on Earth has been completed. The Bible says in verse number 1 of our text in Matthew 21:
"And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, unto the mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples," — Matthew 21:1
After healing two blind men in Luke chapter 19, the parallel passage—Matthew, Mark, and Luke are called Synoptic Gospels, telling a lot of the same stories—Luke 19 tells us that Jesus had healed two blind men, and Zacchaeus accepted Christ as his Savior. As He approaches Jerusalem, Jesus has just finished His ministry in the region of Galilee. Just north of Jerusalem is the region of Galilee, where Jesus spent the vast majority of His ministry. He is approaching Jerusalem, not for the first time, but for the final time.
He had fulfilled all that God had given Him to do. He had given sight to the blind, fed the masses, healed the sick—entire villages were healed when Jesus came in. He had healed those of leprosy and even raised the dead, all this to point to this one fundamental reality: that He is the Messiah. There remained only a few of the over 300 Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah that had to be accomplished to prove He was the Messiah, and He would fulfill every one of those—prophecies written between 1,500 and 400 years before His birth.
As He is approaching Jerusalem, He says in verse number 2:
"Saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto me." — Matthew 21:2
You see Christ's lordship demonstrated. They had left Jericho that morning and walked to Jerusalem, about a 14-mile walk. As they arrived at the outskirts of Jerusalem, about two miles away, Christ and His disciples come to the city of Bethphage. It was a suburb of Jerusalem, a small town right outside of Jerusalem. Jesus says to two of His disciples: "Go into that little village. You'll find a donkey with her colt. Get them and bring them to Me. And if anybody says anything to you about why you're taking them, just say, 'The Lord hath need of them,' and when you say that, they'll let them go."
That is what happens. They go into this little hamlet, grab the donkey and the colt, and start walking. The owner runs out: "Why are you taking my colt?" "Because the Lord hath need of them." And they say, "Oh, if the Lord needs them, by all means you can use them." So Jesus sends His disciples for the colt, and Christ tells them how they are supposed to respond.
Verse number 4 is really important:
"All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, Tell ye the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass." — Matthew 21:4-5
We see the Old Testament prophecies fulfilled. Christ's work is completed, His lordship is demonstrated, and all was done because Old Testament prophecies are fulfilled. In order to be the Messiah, you have to fulfill all the Old Testament prophecies, over 300—like being born of a virgin, being born in Bethlehem, being raised in Nazareth. Whether they were significant or small, the Messiah had to fulfill each and every one of them. Jesus is literally going to ride into Jerusalem on the colt of a donkey simply to give evidence that He is the Messiah.
The entire life and ministry of Jesus are marked by two fundamental overriding purposes: number one, to do His Father's will; and number two, to fulfill the Old Testament prophecies of His first coming. Verse 5 references the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9, which says:
"Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass." — Zechariah 9:9
Why a colt? Why does Jesus ride a colt and not a horse or camel? Because a horse and camel were pictures of strength, nobility, war, and authority—man-centric authority. They were letting the whole world know the king was coming in.
I'm not a horse guy. Why ride a horse when God created motorcycles? Can I get an amen? Amen. I'm just not a fan of horses. Debbie and I will go somewhere, and she likes to ride horses. She grew up riding horses and loves them. Every once in a while she'll say, "We could go on a horse adventure." We were on vacation one time in Colorado, up in Heeney, Colorado, and we were going to go for a horse adventure at 11,000 feet above sea level in the Rockies. Debbie was super excited. We got there, and you have to enter your weight before you go. Debbie, Judith, and Natalie enter their weights. I get there and say, "I'm 275." They said, "We don't believe you." I had to get on the scale, and they said, "Oh, my word." They got quiet and started whispering. I said, "I don't need to go. You can take my wife and daughters; I'll sit in the car." They said, "No, I'm sure we have something for you." They brought out a half Clydesdale, half Quarter Horse. I was riding a Clydesdale; that thing was massive. I had to do the splits just to sit on it. Those are the kind of horses kings would ride.
Here comes Jesus on this tiny little colt. It was probably about 110 or 120 pounds. Why? Because Jesus was not coming as a warlord or an earthly king to take over the world with a sword, spear, gun, or tank. He was coming as the Prince of Peace to share the Gospel with a lost and dying world. He is coming as the giver and sustainer of eternal life. As He said in John 14:27:
"Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." — John 14:27
Not only does our text show the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies, it shows the exaltation of Christ:
"And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them, And brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set him thereon. And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strawed them in the way. And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest." — Matthew 21:6-9
We see the exaltation of Christ in verses 6 to 9. The people are praising Jesus because Christ is a King like no other. His coronation would be like no other—no pomp, no ceremony, just this wonderful celebration.
It was the week of Passover in Jerusalem, and the city was teeming with people. The resident population was around 125,000 to 150,000, but during Passover week, it ballooned. A census taken ten years after Christ's crucifixion determined that some 260,000 sacrificial lambs were slaughtered during Passover week. Because one lamb was allowed for ten people, we can assume there were around two million people in the city of Jerusalem. Conservative estimations suggest there were about 200,000 people along the road as Jesus made His triumphal entry.
As Jesus came into Jerusalem from Bethphage on this little colt, someone asked, "Who is that guy?" Someone answered, "That's Jesus of Nazareth, the prophet from Galilee." Before long, hundreds of thousands of people lined the road as Jesus made His way to the city. Spreading garments in the road was an ancient custom showing that monarchs were so loved that people would lay their clothes down, symbolically saying, "You can walk on us as long as you rule us well." They also cut down palm branches and spread them on the ground, which is where we get Palm Sunday.
The multitude going before and following cried out at the top of their lungs, "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!" The word "cried" is the Greek word krazo, an onomatopoeia. They were shouting so loudly that they became hoarse, imitating a hoarse cry, saying, "Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord." The word "Hosanna" literally means "save us now" or "help us now."
The right people praised Him, but for the wrong reason. They weren't interested in Christ saving their souls; they were interested in Christ saving their nation. They were tired of being occupied and controlled by Rome and its Gentile rulers. They wanted an emancipator to deliver them from political bondage. They were praising Him for political reasons, thinking, "This man has the power to defeat Rome and let us be an independent nation."
They missed the point of who He was:
"And when he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is this? And the multitude said, This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee." — Matthew 21:10-11
They called Him a prophet. That was a high compliment for anyone other than Jesus. They were pumped about Jesus because they thought He was going to give them politically what they wanted.
People get fired up about their political positions winning over their opponents. I am old enough to remember the early years of the Obama candidacy, where hundreds of thousands of people would gather, even in countries like Germany, to hear this young community organizer from Chicago speak, with people chanting, "Yes, that's our leader." And we see political enthusiasm today where people cheer for their leaders to deliver them. The crowds in Jerusalem were looking for a savior for their political identity rather than a Savior from their sin. They wanted to be politically freed from Roman occupation, and that is how they viewed Jesus.
They failed to understand that He fulfilled the prophecies of the Old Testament, that He is the Savior of the world, the King of kings, and Lord of lords. The Bible is very clear about who Jesus is:
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God." — John 1:1-2
"And he is before all things, and by him all things consist." — Colossians 1:17
Friends, He is not just a prophet of Nazareth; He is the King of kings and Lord of lords.
"And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands." — Hebrews 1:10
When we started keeping time, He was the one who set it up and put it in motion. Everything in this beautiful earth and all the stars are a work of the hands of Christ.
Because He is the Messiah, He is worthy of our praise:
"Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen." — Jude 1:24-25
"And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing." — Revelation 5:11-12
Jesus is worthy to receive power, riches, wisdom, strength, honor, glory, and blessing because He is the unrivaled one. I'm going to use my voice to praise the one who is worthy, the Lamb slain. I'm not going to be silent when praising the King.
The crowd said, "This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth." They missed it. They didn't understand who He was, even though the information was available. He declared that He is God Himself. He said, "I and my Father are one." Over and over again, Jesus told the world that He is the Messiah.
Not only did they misunderstand who Jesus was, they misunderstood who they were. If you don't know Christ as your Savior, it is either because of a strong sense of rebellion in your soul or because you don't know who Jesus is. If you know who He is and reject Him, that is rebellion. But every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of the Father.
These people were praising Jesus: "Hosanna in the highest!" A week later, many in that same crowd were chanting, "Crucify Him! Crucify Him!" Why? He didn't give them what they wanted politically. Pilate offered to release Jesus or Barabbas—a murderer and thief. The people yelled, "Give us Barabbas!" When Pilate asked what to do with Jesus, they chanted, "Crucify Him!"
The lesson for all of us who claim to be followers of Christ is that we are by nature very fickle. The Bible tells us:
"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" — Jeremiah 17:9
Because the heart is deceitful, we have to be very careful. Even Peter, who promised never to deny Jesus, denied Him three times when questioned by a teenage girl. There is a fickleness in our own soul that, if we are not careful, allows little things to move us away from Christ.
Ask yourself: Has there been a time in your life when you were closer to Christ than you are right now? We have a responsibility to keep Him King in our lives. The cares of this life, demands, and distractions can pull us away. That is why we need the guardrails of the local church to help us in our daily pursuit of walking closer to Christ.
Can we say like the psalmist:
"Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." — Psalm 139:23-24
The psalmist encourages us to grapple with our conscience and think deeply in the inner man. Turn off the noise and think deeply: Where is your soul? How is your walk with God? We serve an unrivaled King. Jesus is God's one and only Son, and He should be our one and only praise. May He have dominion, authority, power, and control over your life forever.