SERMON GMT14-013
SETTING: North Kelso Baptist Church
SERVICE: Sunday AM
SUBTITLE: The Presentation of Jesus as King
SCRIPTURE: Matthew
21: 1-11
SUBJ: The Presentation of Jesus
SUMMARY: Jesus
is the King of Israel
SCHEME: That
the members of NKBC worship Jesus as the King
1A Jesus is
the Source of Providence (VSS. 1-3)
1B Providence is seen in the purpose for this
event
2B Providence is seen in the preparation for
this event
2A Jesus is
the Subject of Prophecy (VSS. 4-5)
1B Prophecy is known by its source
2B Prophecy is knotted by a snag
3A Jesus is
the Substance of Praise (VSS. 6-9)
1B Praise is seen by the spreading of Coats
and Branches
2B Praise seen by the shouting of Choruses and
Blessings
4A Jesus is
the Stem of Perplexity (VSS.
10-11)
1B Perplexity is seen in the crowd’s inquiry
The
Presentation of the King
Matthew 21:1-11
INTRODUCTION
A.
Things are not always what they seem
Someone once said,
“Things are not always what
they seem; the first appearance deceives many; the intelligence of a few
perceives what has been carefully hidden...”
One day a small older man walked in a dealership
where I was working as a Sales Manager in order to buy a car. He wasn’t there
to buy just any car, but a very special car.
Two salesman initially let him walk right past them as he walked up to a
brand new Corvette Convertible that was sitting on our show room floor.
What was the problem? It’s every Chevy salesman’s
dream to sell a brand new Corvette. Especially at our dealership, because we
marked the car up 10,000 dollars above the sticker price and we didn’t dicker
on Corvettes.
He was an older man in worn out and greasy work
clothes. His hair was uncombed and his hands were greasy and his shoes were old
and very worn.
He looked like he should be looking at entry level
small pickups or entry level Chevy cars. He did not look like the “Corvette
type.” Finally a salesman who was almost bored out of his mind walked over and
asked if he needed help or maybe directions to the service department.
The salesman almost fell over when he said he was
there to buy a brand new Corvette. It had been his dream and he had saved for
years and wanted to take the cash he had saved and a large bonus from work and
buy the car on the showroom floor.
Darryl helped the guy out. When the transaction was
done and the man drove away in his new Corvette, Darryl had made a 5,000.00
commission on the sale.
B.
This is a good example of things not always being as they seem. You
should never judge a book by its cover, you might just regret it! In fact you just
might miss the King of the Jews.
C.
The Jews were waiting for their Messiah. They were expecting a King to
come to their rescue and fulfill all of the OT prophecies relating to a King
and their promised Kingdom. Jesus had appeared on the scene and declared
himself to be that Messiah. He proved it by exercising power over demons,
disease, deformity, and even death.
Now he was going to present himself as the promised
Messiah and King. But Jesus did not intend on presenting himself as the type of
King that the people expected. They missed the significance and the meaning of
the presentation of Jesus as King. The people failed to recognize Jesus for who
he was. As a result they missed the opportunity that God had promised them.
Why? Because his presentation was not what it seemed
to be?
THEME: Jesus presents himself as King
This
is a good reminder for us all that we most often look beyond the physical
appearance of things in order to not miss the real and true spiritual meaning
intended by God.
PROPOSTION: I propose to you that Jesus is the King of
the Jews!
Interrogative Sentence: So, what clues does Matthew
reveal that allows us to conclude that Jesus is in fact King of the Jews?
Transitional Sentence: This passage reveals four
(4) clues that proves Jesus is in fact the King of the Jews:
·
Jesus is the
Source of Providence (1-3)
·
Jesus is the
Subject of Prophecy (4-5)
·
Jesus is the
Substance of Praise (6-9)
·
Jesus is the Stem
of Perplexity (10-11)
[Let’s
begin our study today of the presentation of Jesus as the King of the Jews by
examining the fact that…
1A JESUS IS THE SOURCE OF PROVIDENCE (VSS. 1-3)
[We see Jesus as the source of providence in three
ways. Before we look at the text we need to establish what is actually
happening by the providence of God and what this event is not. Let’s take a
minute and see…]
1B Providence is seen in the Purpose of this
event
We see the purpose by looking at what this event was not
1C First
– it was not a triumphant entry!
Even though for ages this event has been called the
triumphant entry into Jerusalem and your bible may have even labeled this
section as such, it is not a triumphant
entry.
Let’s take a minute and see just what a triumphant
entry is:
A triumphal entry is a ceremonial
entry by a person into a city
The Roman
triumph (triumphus)
was a civil ceremony and religious rite of ancient Rome, held to publicly celebrate and sanctify the military
achievement of an army commander who had won great military successes, or
originally and traditionally, one who had successfully completed a foreign war.
In Roman Republican tradition, only
the Senate could grant a triumph.
The origins and development of this honor were obscure:
Roman historians placed the first triumph in the
mythical past.
On the day of the successful General or Emperor’s triumph, the subject
would wear a crown of laurel and the all-purple, gold-embroidered
triumphal toga picta ("painted" toga), regalia
that identified him as near-divine or near-kingly.
He would ride in a four-horse chariot through the streets of Rome
in unarmed procession with his army, and with his captives and the spoils of
his war.
At Jupiter's temple on the Capitoline Hill he would offer a
sacrifice and the tokens of his victory to the gods.
Thereafter he had the right
to be described as vir triumphalis ("man of triumph", later
known astriumphator) for the rest of his life
Jesus was not a famous general or emperor who had fought a great
battle or war and was being paraded as a hero showing off his captives and his
spoils.
Jesus was not entering Jerusalem as an accepted king or general
who was now being honored as a successful king.
[So, this
is not a triumphant entry.]
2C Second – it is not a
coronation of a King.
The coronation of the British monarch is
a ceremony (specifically, initiation rite) in which the monarch of the United Kingdom is formally crowned and invested
with regalia. It corresponds to
coronation ceremonies that formerly occurred in other European monarchies,
which have currently abandoned coronations in favor of inauguration or enthronement ceremonies.
Jesus is not being formally and officially crowned
as King of the Jews. He already King.
So,
it is not a triumphant entry of a successful warrior and it is not the coronation
of and official recognition of a King.
We
see that Jesus is the source of providence, first in what this event is not.
Next,
we see Jesus is the source of providence in…
2B Providence is seen in the Preparation for
this event
“Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to
Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives…”
1C The Rest at Bethphage
Remember for centuries the Jewish people had been
looking for their promised Messiah. They were looking for a deliverer who would
bring in a Kingdom of peace and prosperity in fulfillment to God’s promise to
Abraham.
Just a week before Jesus would be crucified and put
to death he enters Jerusalem in order to celebrate the Passover and the Feast
of Unleavened Bread.
These feasts commemorated the deliverance by God of
the nation of Israel from Egypt.
Now, God was going to reveal their long awaited and
promised Messiah and King.
This event took place on a Sunday and Jesus and his
disciples followed by a crowd had come to the eastern side of the Mt. of
Olives.
Jesus had traveled into Jericho from having spent
time in the wilderness. While in Jericho he had lunch with Zaccheus which
resulted in Zaccheus’s conversion and salvation.
On the way out of Jericho heading toward Jerusalem,
Jesus took the time to heal two blind men.
Now, he is coming to the close of three years of
ministry. Jesus is about to reach the final goal that had been given to Him by
His heavenly Father.
According to a census that was taken after this
particular Passover, it was estimated that some 260,000 lambs were killed for
the Passover meals.
Don’t forget that one lamb was allowed to be offered
for up to ten people, it was estimated that some 2 million Jews were in Jerusalem
at this time to celebrate the Passover Feast and Feast of unleavened bread.
So, before Jesus and the 12 disciples entered into
the city of Jerusalem they stopped at a little village called Bethphage. This
is all we know of this little town. It was near the Mt of Olives and very close
to Bethany.
It seems Jesus spent quite a bit of time in Bethany.
This was the home of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus.
Technically, the actual entry of Jesus into
Jerusalem was probably on Monday and not Sunday. He probably got to Mary and
Martha’s home on Sunday and crowds according to John came to see him there.
Also, the lambs were selected on the 10th
day of the month of Nissan and kept in the house until the 14th day
of the month. The year that Jesus was crucified the 10th of Nissan
was a Monday.
So in reality “Palm Sunday” doesn’t really exist, it
is merely tradition and not scripture.
[We
are able to see Jesus as the preparation of this event. We saw this preparation
in the rest at Bethphage. We now see this preparation in…
2C The Request for the Beast
“…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…”
You can see right away that Jesus is in control of
the events that affect him and his life, including this particular event.
He is pulling together and providing everything that
is needed for his presentation and introduction to Israel as her King.
With His divine providence he has set into motion the
series of events that will enable him to present himself as King of the Jews.
Two of the 12 disciples were told to go to a village
close to them, probably Bethany. There they would find a donkey with a colt
tied up.
The donkey was probably the mother of the colt and
was brought along so that the colt would be more cooperative. A young colt
would not have liked to leave its mother.
How did Jesus know that the donkey and her colt
would be in this little village?
First – some have thought Jesus had made an
arrangement with the owner some time previously. They say that Jesus told him
when and where to tie up his donkeys.
Second – some say that Jesus was using his
omniscience and eternally and divinely knew that the donkeys would be tied up
and waiting for him.
He knows that they are there and that his disciples
would be stopped and questioned about their “right” to take the animals:
“…if anyone says anything to you, you shall say,
‘The Lord needs them’ and he will send them at once.’”
We know from Mark that somebody did ask the
disciples what they were doing. They told them just what Jesus had said to tell
them.
Verses
1-3 demonstrate to us that Jesus is the Source of Providence. Jesus
providentially causes this event to happen. We have seen this in the purpose,
the preparation, and the provision of this tremendous event.
Application: Since Jesus is God by His own power he can
through acts of providence directly arrange all things to accomplish His
purpose and plans.
THEME: Jesus presents himself as King
This
is a good reminder for us all that we most often look beyond the physical
appearance of things in order to not miss the real and true spiritual meaning
intended by God.
[The
second clue revealed in our passage is seen in the fact that…]
2A JESUS IS THE SUBJECT OF PROPHECY (VSS.
4-6)
“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, and on a colt, the foal of a beast of
burned.’”
1B The Source of the Prophecy
This prophecy that Matthew quotes is from Zechariah 9:9.
It was given some 500 years before this particular event. Zechariah stated that
the people of Jerusalem would acknowledge the Messiah as their King as He rode
into Jerusalem riding a donkey, and riding a colt of a donkey at that.
This would seem strange to most people at this time.
First of all, Judea had few horses at this time.
Second, horses were typically and traditionally used
for war
Donkeys, mules, and camels were actually the primary
means of transportation along with walking at this time.
Riding on a horse was typically emblematic of war
Riding on a donkey was typically emblematic of peace
Kings and Princes were known to ride of donkeys
during times of peace. Josephus the historian wrote of this as a mark of rank
and dignity.
Solomon rode on a donkey at his inauguration.
When Absalom wanted to be King, he heard a lot of
“noise” and such filing Jerusalem. When he asked what the reason for such
celebration was, he was told that his half-brother Solomon was riding David’s
mule and wearing David’s robes. This signified Solomon thought himself to be
King.
Riding on a donkey was an appropriate way for a King
to ride and so the King of Zion should enter Jerusalem by riding on a donkey.
Jesus fulfilled Zechariah’s prophecy by
providentially obtaining a donkey, or really the colt or foal of a donkey and
riding it into the city of Jerusalem.
Verse six tells us that, “…The disciples went and did as
Jesus had directed them.)
2B The Snag with the Prophecy
We know in hindsight that the crowd wanted a
military king, a conquering and reigning king who would throw off the brutal
yoke of Roman power. They wanted a warrior King to come and establish a kingdom
for their peace and prosperity and for the destruction of the Roman Empire.
[Jesus
is the source of providence, he arranged or provided all that was need for this
special event and verses 4-6 tells us that Jesus is the subject of prophecy –
He fulfilled Zechariah’s prophecy to the letter.]
THEME: Jesus presents himself as King
This
is a good reminder for us all that we most often look beyond the physical
appearance of things in order to not miss the real and true spiritual meaning
intended by God.
Application: Jesus entry into Jerusalem was in direct
fulfillment of clear messianic prophecy. The disciples recognized that Jesus
was the promised King sent from God. Jesus accomplished God’s will completely.
Thirdly,
we see another clue revealed as Jesus presents himself as King, and that is
seen in the fact that…
3A JESUS IS THE SUBSTANCE OF PRAISE (VSS.
8-9)
“Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road,
and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 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 to
in the highest!’”
Jesus was praised in at least two ways.
He was praised first by the…
1B The Spreading of coats and branches
“Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road,
and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road...”
The disciples put their coasts on the donkey
probably to serve as a saddle and to make the ride a little more comfortable for
Jesus.
As Jesus began to ride into Jerusalem that Monday
morning the crowd performed an ancient custom. The people thru their coasts and
clothing in the road for the king to ride over.
It was meant to symbolize their respect for him and
their submission to his authority. It said, “We place ourselves at your feet,
even to walk over if necessary.”
Other people cut down branches and threw them on the
road in the path of the donkey. John tells us that some of these branches were
from Palm trees.
These palm branches symbolized salvation and
joy. Rev 7:9 says,
“…a great multitude that no one could number, from
every nation, from all tribes, and peoples and languages, standing before the
throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes with palm branches in their
hands, and crying out with a loud voice, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits
on the throne and to the Lamb!’”
Just picture this! There is great excitement, people
shouting, people praising the Messiah.
Jesus is completely surrounded by people who follow
him and some who are up ahead leading him into Jerusalem. This crowd was caught
up in the fact that they thought they had the King of their choice about to
establish his kingdom and to put an end to the rule of Rome.
[So
Jesus was the substance of the people’s praise by the spreading of their coats
and branches on the ground. Well, there is a second means by which Jesus was
the substance of praise, and that was by…]
2B The Shouting of choruses and blessings
“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!’”
The Hebrew word hosanna is a “plea or request” in
the form of a shout that means “Save now!”
Don’t be
fooled! The
crowd had no desire for Jesus to save their souls. They wanted Jesus to save
their nation.
They wanted Jesus to use any and all of his
supernatural powers to destroy Rome. This crowd thought they had a military or conquering
King.
This crowd wanted a King to reign with military
power and might and throw off the cruel and horrible yoke of reign that they
had over Israel.
I like what MacArthur said, “…Jesus did not come to conquer
Rome but to conquer sin and death. He did not come to make war with Rome but to
make peace with God for men.” [1]
The crowd acknowledge Jesus
as the Son of David. They were crying out for deliverance by saying “Save us
now, great Messiah, save us now!”
In their praise the crowd
was quoting Psalms 113-118. The crowds missed it. They believed Jesus was King
and Messiah, but not the King and Messiah of OT prophecy, just a King and
Messiah of their own evil hearts.
This is why just a few days
later when they finally realized that Jesus did not come to deliver them from
Rome that they turned on him and demanded that he be crucified.
They wanted Jesus on their
own terms. They would not submit to a king who was not what they wanted.
Jesus was presenting himself
as king. Just like a presidential nominee is presented to the party and then to
the country as the candidate, Jesus was presenting himself to Israel as their
King.
This was a presentation, not
a triumphant entry nor a coronation. Jesus was saying I am here – recognize me
as your King and Messiah. People flat out missed it.
[Jesus was the substance of the praise that
the crowd heaped on him that Monday morning as he rode into Jerusalem. They
praised him with coats and branches and with choruses and blessings.]
THEME: Jesus presents himself as King
This
is a good reminder for us all that we most often look beyond the physical
appearance of things in order to not miss the real and true spiritual meaning
intended by God.
Application: Jesus Christ is worthy of praise. He will be
praised. He is even praised in absolute ignorance. We are not ignorant, we
praise Christ Jesus for we know who He is – He is the King of Kings and the
Lord of Lord worthy of praise!
Well,
so far we have seen that Jesus is the source of providence, the subject of
prophecy, and the substance of praise. Now we will see that Jesus is…
4A THE STEM OF PERPLEXITY (VSS.
10-11)
We will make this point short and sweet.
“And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was
stirred up, saying, ‘Who is this?’ And the crowds said, ‘This is the prophet
Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.’”
1B Perplexity is seen in the crowd’s inquiry
Matthew’s narrative closes with a note of confusion
or perplexity. After all the loud shouts of praise had died down, and after
Jesus had entered Jerusalem, tied up the donkey and walked into the Temple,
various people began to ask, “Who is this?”
2B Perplexity is seen in the crowd’s ignorance
Look at their response – how sad it was. The best
they could do was simply to say, “It is the prophet Jesus, you know, the one
from Nazareth.”
The shame of the matter is most of the crowd
probably did not pay much attention to what was being shouted. They had just
moments ago been shouting praises and proclaiming Jesus as a King who came in
the name of the Lord God of Israel. But they didn’t know what they were
shouting. They didn’t understand.
There is nothing worse than not knowing what you
need to know when you need to know it.
Illustration – Lorne
Sanny was a Marine on Iwo Jima. During the battle one of his fellow soldiers
was hit by enemy fire and was obviously dying. Sanny held him in his arms and
his buddy said Lorne, I’m dying, tell me how to go to heaven. All Sanny could
say was, I don’t know, I don’t know.
His buddy died. But Lorne Sanny
determined right there on Iwo Jima with his dead friend in his arms, to find
out how to go to heaven and spend the rest of this life telling people.
Lorne Sanny eventually became the
number two guy in the Navigators and then when founder and president Dawson Trotman
drowned, he took over as president for over 50 years.
These Jews who had just been praising the King who
had presented himself to them did not know who Jesus was. All they could answer
was, this is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth. They didn’t know he was the king
of glory, the glorious Messiah sent to make peace with God and procure their
salvation with his death.
Just like all their fore-fathers they heard but did
not understand, they saw but did not understand because their hearts were
insensitive.
They would have had Jesus as an earthly king to
destroy Rome and make them prosperous by giving them the benefits of the
promised kingdom, but they would not accept Jesus as a heavenly king to which
they would have had to submit their entire lives and being to.
So, we close out this section with the fact that Jesus
was the stem for the Jews perplex ion. The Jews were perplexed or confused.
This
was not a triumphant entry nor was it a coronation. It was the presentation of
Jesus as the King of the Jews.
Our
passage revealed four clues that Jesus was king of the Jews. Jesus was the
source of providence, the subject of prophecy, the substance of praise, and the
stem of perplexity.
THEME: Jesus presents himself as King
This
is a good reminder for us all that we most often look beyond the physical
appearance of things in order to not miss the real and true spiritual meaning
intended by God.
Application: The crowd was blinded. They did not respond
as they should have responded. With all of the prophets and prophecies they
missed the greatest blessing of all times. Thank God He has given us vision and
we did not miss the point.
[What
do you say we wrap this up?]
CONCLUSION
Presentation Monday reminds us of God’s sovereignty over time and
creation
·
Regardless of
man’s denials, God’s will was done
·
Regardless of
man’s obedience, God’s will, will be done
Presentation Monday reminds us that God gives opportunities (if we take
them nor not)
·
There was the
opportunity for obedience to God
·
There was the
opportunity to receive God’s blessings as He promised
Presentation Monday reminds us of the love that God has for all those who
are called his people
·
It is a
sacrificial love that would ignore the crowds rejection and pursue the cross
for those who did not love Christ and were not lovable
·
The love that God
lavished on his chosen children is beyond comprehension
Presentation Monday reminds us the road that all mankind is on today
·
The road of
deliverance for all is drawn to the Savior
·
The road of
damnation for all whom who blinded by sin and self
Exhortation: I
exhort you this morning to see this Jesus as the King of Kings and to worship
Him as such. Do not miss the significance of his presentation to the Jews as
their King as they did. Worship Him, Serve Him as your King!
Paul wrote in Philippians 2:9-11 ESV
“Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
[1] John
MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament
Commentary, Matthew Vol. 3, (Chicago:
Moody Press, 1988), p, 260
1 comment:
A most wonderful post Gregg, took some time to read but read it I did.
Thank you .
Yvonne.
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