9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is He, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
10 I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off, and He shall speak peace to the nations; His rule shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.
11 As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.
12 Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope; today I declare that I will restore to you double.
13 For I have bent Judah as my bow; I have made Ephraim its arrow. I will stir up your sons, O Zion, against your sons, O Greece, and wield you like a warrior’s sword.
Matthew 21:1-11
1 Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, 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.”
4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying, “Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’ ”
6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them.
7 They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and He sat on them.
8 Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.
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!”
10 And when He entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?”
11 And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”
The triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem is celebrated each year on Palm Sunday. This is the beginning of Holy Week. Around the world the eyes and hearts of followers of Jesus Christ will be focused on those events that took place during the last week of the earthly life of our Saviour. His royal entry into Jerusalem was the beginning of that week, and His triumphant resurrection from the tomb brought it to a climax and grand conclusion. For the followers of Jesus who were physically there, this was a week of glory, utter despair, death and defeat, and finally ultimate victory.
By the time the sun went down at the end of that very first Easter Sunday they must have been emotionally and spiritually exhausted. We know the story of Holy Week very well, and during the next eight days Christian Churches all over the world will be looking back and looking inwards as we try once more to consider the eternal implications of what happened that week. 2000 years is a long time, but thankfully we still recognise and understand just what that week means to us here and now.
But let’s try for a moment to imagine what it must have been like for those who were there. The background to the story is that for many years the Jews, once a mighty military force in the Middle East, had been under severe oppression, but they believed the prophecies that their oppressors would be overthrown by the promised Messiah. This was why Jesus was welcomed so enthusiastically that day. At last the Messiah had arrived. But there were some remarkable differences between Jesus’ triumphal procession and those of Roman rulers or victorious generals.
When a Roman ruler was given a ticker tape parade after a victorious battle, he was preceded by the senate. Then came the musicians, the prisoners of war, spoils of war, and even oxen for sacrifices. The prisoners of war, to add to their humiliation, were chained together and driven ahead of the king. He would enter last, dressed in purple and gold, which reflected his majesty, and in his hand would be a sceptre – the symbol of his absolute authority.
But this was very different to how Jesus entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, and this should have alerted the people to the fact that all was not as they were hoping it would be, but they seemed to miss it at first. Earthly kings rode in on elaborately decorated war horses, but Jesus rode on a donkey on which the clothes of His admirers had been placed. Earthly kings were praised by the rich and famous, but Jesus was praised by peasants and children.
There was also a subtle yet significant change in how Jesus accepted all this acclaim and fanfare. Many times previously He had avoided the limelight, even telling people to keep what they’d seen and heard Him do to themselves, but now it was different.
He didn’t deny that He was entering the city as a king.
Why this change in attitude? His royal entry was deliberate. It was part of His presentation of His messiahship to His disciples, to the people, and to the leaders of the nation. Jesus knew before His arrival in Jerusalem how things would unfold during the next week. Everything He did and said was according to God’s eternal plan of salvation.
Matthew 20:17–19 says, “As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, He took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way He said to them, ‘See, we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn Him to death and deliver Him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and He will be raised on the third day.’”
Prior arrangements had been made for the donkey on which He was to ride. The royal entry of the true Messiah was a fulfillment of a prophecy Zechariah had written nearly 500 years earlier.
Messianic prophecy in the Old Testament identified the coming Messiah under four major themes.
First, He is portrayed as a prophet who was to come with an authentic word from God, but He not only brought the word - He was, Himself, the living Word.
Secondly, He was pictured as both a priest who will offer a perfect sacrifice on behalf of man and as that sacrifice. He is to bring God down to the people (which is precisely what happened when Jesus took on human form and entered our world), and He is to lift people up to God. Through the priestly role of the Messiah we are once more acceptable to God.
Thirdly, the Messiah was pictured as the suffering servant who was to die a substitutionary death on behalf of sinners. Isaiah 53 speaks so powerfully of this truth, which is why it is one of the most-read and quoted Old Testament chapters during Holy Week.
And fourth, the Messiah was pictured as a king, but this wasn’t just your run of the mill king, one of countless earthly kings who have sat on thrones in royal palaces. This was the King of kings.
As the centuries went by, Israel looked forward to the coming of this king who would be their Messiah. The people longed for a king who would deliver them from the oppression of their enemies.
This expectation gained momentum and reached a climax during the earthly life of Jesus. As He gained more popularity He had to resist the attempts of the people to almost force Him to assume kingship. Even when we move the clock forward to when Jesus was about to ascend to Heaven, His followers had still not quite grasped what He was really here for and who He really was. Acts 1:6 – “When they had come together, they asked Him, ‘Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?’”
But Jesus would not be swayed from His mission by human pressure. God will not be dictated to by us. He is sovereign and His will will always be done.
So what exactly was Palm Sunday really all about? What actually happened that day?
Jesus entered the city to offer Himself as King.
He was born to be a king. Matthew 2:2 – “Where is He who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw His star when it rose and have come to worship Him.”
He was given the reverence due to a king. Matthew 2:11 – “Going into the house, they saw the child with Mary His mother, and they fell down and worshipped Him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered Him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.”
He was feared by a rival king. Matthew 2:16 – “Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under.”
These things had convinced Jesus’ followers that He was the earthly messiah they’d been waiting for for so long. As we’ve seen already, His disciples tried to force Him to assert His authority and assume power. They wanted Him to re-establish the Davidic kingdom and get rid of the Roman oppressors. What they wanted was their independence back. They wanted military power once more and material glory. But God’s plan was completely different to theirs. What Jesus did as He rode into Jerusalem that day was to declare His true kingship and demonstrate the authority of the kingdom of God. Our reading from Matthew 21 this morning stopped at verse 11, but the subsequent verses tell us what Jesus did after arriving in Jerusalem: “Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and He overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.” And the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them.” (Matthew 21:12-14).
When Jesus came into the city in the manner in which He did, He was following in the tradition of David and the other kings of Israel. He deliberately accepted the acclaim of the crowd as a king. He didn’t rebuke them when they gave Him the applause and recognition of a king, but instead of overthrowing the Romans, He purged the temple of those who’d desecrated that place of worship, and continued to demonstrate His authority over sickness and disease. This was a very different King to the one they were expecting.
When Jesus rode into Jerusalem He did so to reveal the true nature of His kingship. He said something very interesting and controversial in Matthew 10:34. “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.” Now bearing in mind that particularly at Christmas we talk about peace on earth to all mankind, what does this mean?
There were certain things and situations that Jesus would not tolerate. He would not condone hypocrisy, injustice and unkindness. He would not give His approval to oppression - whether it was social, political, or spiritual. He came into the world to call people to an undivided loyalty to the will of God. Jesus came not to create a peace of stagnation and indifference. He didn’t come to condone the status quo in society. In fact, He challenged it. He challenged the corrupt religious and social system of His day. So in that sense He created war instead of peace. And He still does today. There is no-one more divisive than Jesus Christ, because He forces us to make up our minds just who He is. You either love Him, or you hate Him, but you can’t ignore Him.
By riding into Jerusalem on a simple donkey, He revealed that His kingship was based on love and grace and not on force and power. He came as King so that we can have peace with God. He came as King so that we would have peace as we discover both the way and the power to live according to the will of God for our lives. As the King of kings He ruled by love rather than by force, and He devoted Himself to a life of humble self-giving service to others.
This King was nothing like the king they were expecting and hoping for. He came into Jerusalem not to take the lives of Israel’s enemies but to give His life for His enemies.
During the months leading up to Palm Sunday, Jesus spent this time in seclusion with His disciples. He used this time to teach them the reality of His kingdom. He taught them that His kingdom was based on love, and that His was a spiritual rather than a military kingdom. This whole concept was rather strange to them. They wanted a king who would lead a revolt against the authority of Rome. But in a complete role reversal, Jesus offered Himself as the King who would rule by the principle of love, and this is why there was such a remarkable change in the peoples’ attitude to Jesus after Palm Sunday.
They rejected the peace that He could have brought them and instead chose destruction. The fact that Jesus did not fit into the role they expected Him to fulfill played a significant part in His condemnation and ultimately His crucifixion.
The sarcastic inscription placed on the cross read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” By putting that sign on the cross the people thought they were being sarcastic and mocking what they believed Jesus falsely claimed. Little did they know just how true those words were.
The Christ who was crucified on the cross was born to be a king. He lived a sinless life like a perfect king. He spoke with the authority of a king. There was even something uniquely royal about the manner in which He died on the cross. It was as King over death that He rose triumphant and victorious on the third day. It was with kingly authority that He commissioned His disciples to evangelise the world. And one day He will return to earth as the King of Kings.
The king that rode into Jerusalem that day was very different to the king the people wanted. In their eyes He was a failure, and they put Him to death as a fraud and an imposter. Their patience ran out, and the cries changed from Hosanna to Crucify. They weren’t to know who this really was, because of their short-sightedness and the fact that they were only interested in themselves. Salvation was something they mistakenly believed was their birthright because they were God’s chosen people. Sin wasn’t an issue in their lives, because they believed their religion and rituals were enough.
The great tragedy is that they had the wrong kind of Messiah in mind. Their problem was not Rome, but rather sin – their own sin.
They wanted and thought they were welcoming a war hero, but the first clue that all was not quite what they had expected is in how Jesus rode into Jerusalem that day.
A donkey is an animal of peace, while a horse is an animal of war. Revelation 19:11-16 gives us a vivid picture of what is still to come: “Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems, and He has a name written that no one knows but Himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which He is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following Him on white horses. From His mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, KING OF KINGS and LORD OF LORDS.”
We’re still waiting for that day, but we do know that it is coming. When Jesus returns not on a donkey, but on a white horse, He will come not to overthrow the Roman Empire, but to bring final and total victory over satan and sin.
On Palm Sunday though, Jesus was not coming to sit on a throne, but to die on a cross. The celebration soon changed to confusion, and ultimately to anger. In the Old Testament, Zechariah 9:9 contains this prophesy of Palm Sunday: “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is He, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”
So what does all of this mean to us? In which ways do we fit into the story of Palm Sunday?
I suppose the best way to answer those questions is by asking another question: What kind of a Jesus are you shouting about and celebrating this morning?
We are hearing a lot about social justice and liberation theology in the Church these days, especially in the last couple of years. Yes, absolutely, the Church has always had a role to play in speaking truth into oppressive societies and situations, just like the Roman Empire. We have a Biblical mandate to be the voice of conscience, but too often that’s all you hear in some Churches.
If you want to be popular as a Christian, speak out against social injustice, and you will have lots of support from non-Christians.
But talk about sin, the need for repentance and how only Jesus can save the lost, and things will be very different. Social injustice is not the number one problem in the world today. Sin is. But they don’t want to hear that, do they?
In Luke 4:18-19 Jesus said, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.”
What so many fail to understand though, is that the poor, the captives, the blind and the oppressed Jesus was talking about here were not the victims of racial and class hatred, but victims of sin. This is what Jesus was addressing in these verses, but they are almost always taken completely out of context, and used as some kind of rallying cry and social statement, instead of what Jesus was really talking about. He was talking about the Gospel.
We are poor and impoverished by our sin, we are captive to our sin, we are blind to the consequences of our sin, and we are oppressed by our sin. That is what Jesus came to bring liberty from.
Again, this is not to say we should ignore social issues. Far from it. In our own country we have seen huge changes in the last 20 or so years, but the stain and evil of racial hatred and intolerance remains. As the Church we should be in the front line of the battle against this blight on our society, but the danger is that we end up speaking about a ‘social Jesus’, or a ‘political Jesus’, and not much else.
He is those things. God cares deeply about greed and oppression in whatever form it manifests itself, but Jesus is ultimately a saving Jesus. This is the Christ we are to proclaim.
He came in humility that you, a lost sinner who deserves to spend all of eternity in hell, could be forgiven and find peace with God. Don’t make the same mistake those people made in Jerusalem on Palm Sunday all those years ago. Jesus did not come into this world to make you healthy and wealthy. He did not come into this world to punish the people that oppress you and make your life a misery.
He came into this world to die the death your sins deserve. He came to die for you, to set you free for all of eternity.
Homegroup Study Notes
Read Matthew 21:1-11
For many, Palm Sunday is one of the most confusing days of the Church calendar.
It has the festive feel of a prelude to the high of Easter, but at the same time we know the dark, cold shadow of Good Friday is just a matter of days away.
Some would say that the only way to get from Palm Sunday to Easter is through the darkness in between.
How do you feel about Palm Sunday?
Do you find it easier or more difficult to praise God, knowing that Christ was about to go to the cross for your sins?
On the first Palm Sunday people clearly recognised something about who Jesus was. On the other hand, the very same people during the same week came together and colluded to kill Him.
In which ways do you miss seeing the ‘real’ Jesus?
Read Revelation 19:11-16, and compare it to Jesus’ arrival in Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.
Discuss some of the differences we see here.