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Matthew 21:1-11 (The Triumphal Entry)

INTRODUCTION: We are starting our new series in the gospel of Matthew today called “Jesus in Jerusalem.” You may remember this chart that we put up at the beginning of our last series that shows one possible way to view the structure of Matthew’s gospel.

1-2 > Jesus’ birth
  3-4 > Jesus in Galilee
    5-7 > Sermon on the Mount
      8-12 > Miracles and Conflict
        13 > Parables of the Kingdom
      14-17 > Miracles and Controversy
    18-20 > Jesus, the Master Teacher
  21-25 > Jesus in Jerusalem
26-28 > Jesus’ death and resurrection

We called this type of structure a chiasm. A chiasm is simply a way of ordering one’s material so that the structure flows forward to a central point and then reverses itself after the central point, so that all the various points mirror each other. Chiasms like this are very common in Scripture.

Here you will notice the section on Jesus’ birth at the beginning of the gospel is mirrored by the section on his death and resurrection at the end. The second section of the gospel deals with Jesus in Galilee which is mirrored by this new section near the end which deals with Jesus in Jerusalem. And then you can see how the other sections mirror each other, too.

Another thing you will notice as we enter this new section is how Matthew in his gospel begins to focus on the final days of Jesus’ life. This final week of Jesus’ life in Jerusalem is so important, that Matthew takes five whole chapters to tell us the story. To put that in perspective, Matthew has taken twenty chapters to record the first thirty-three years of Jesus life. Now he will take five whole chapters just to focus on the last week of Jesus’ life. And then he will take several chapters beyond that just to focus on the final day of Jesus’ life, as he records the events which led Jesus to the cross to die for our sins.

Today’s passage relates Jesus’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem, the event we celebrate each year on Palm Sunday. We will be looking at all eleven verses in the course of the message, but to get started we will just read verses 10-11. (Read Matthew 21:10-11 and pray.)

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We did it! We made it! We’re finally there! Today’s passage is where Jesus finally enters the city of Jerusalem.

Jesus first told the disciples he was heading to Jerusalem back in Matthew 16 where several things happened in quick succession. First, Jesus asked the disciples, “Who do you say I am?” Peter answered: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (Matthew 16:16) Then Jesus pronounced a blessing on Peter, spoke about the building of his church and warned the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ or Messiah.

Then we read in Matthew 16:21 how “from that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.” (Matthew 16:21)

And so, as we look at Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem today and all the people cheering him on, we need to remember that five days from this event Jesus would be dying on the cross. And Jesus knew it. He knew he was heading to Jerusalem to suffer and die. And yet he still went, for you and for me.

I. Approaching by donkey (1-5)

Our passage today begins with an unlikely detail. Jesus approaches the city of Jerusalem sitting on a donkey.

   A. The donkey as a symbol of gentleness and peace (1-3)
      – 1 Kings 1:38-40

Look at verses 1-3 with me:

As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, tell him that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.” (Matthew 21:1-3)

So, as they get close to Jerusalem, what does Jesus do? He sends two of his disciples ahead of him to get the donkey. Now you might be wondering, what’s so important about a donkey?

Well, first of all, notice where Jesus is standing when he sends the disciples off to get the donkey. They are at Bethphage on the Mount of Olives. Bethphage is close to Bethany where Jesus had worked his greatest miracle yet, the raising of Lazarus from the dead. This miracle had many people wondering if Jesus was indeed the Messiah. And then, the Mount of Olives is an important geographical marker when it comes to Messianic prophecy. In the Old Testament one of the identifiers of the Messiah is that he comes from the Mount of Olives.

Remember, up to this point Jesus has been hiding the fact that he is the Messiah from the people. But now he is ready to go public. He is no longer hiding who he is, but he will make his identity known. He is the Messiah who has come giving sight to the blind and raising the dead. He is the king who has come to his people, but he is not the kind of king the people are expecting. They are expecting a conquering king who will deliver them from the Roman Empire.
So, he sends his disciples ahead to get the donkey. And for Jesus, it’s all about the donkey. Because when a king rode into a city on a donkey, that was a symbol of gentleness and peace. For example, when Solomon became king, he rode a mule to his anointing. (1 Kings 1:38-40) A conquering king would ride into the city on a war horse, but a king who came in peace rode a donkey or mule. Jesus presents himself to the people as Messiah, but he is a different type of Messiah than what the people were expecting. He has not come to make war but to make peace. And so, he chooses the donkey.

   B. The donkey as a fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy (4-5)
      – Genesis 49:10-11; Zechariah 9:9

Jesus also chose the donkey to fulfill Old Testament prophecy. Look at verses 4-5 with me next:

This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: 5 “Say to the Daughter of Zion, ‘See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’” (Matthew 21:4-5)

Matthew is quoting a prophecy from Zechariah 9:9 which foretold that the Messiah would come to Jerusalem in gentleness and peace, riding on a donkey. This is remarkable! God’s plan for the donkey stretched all the way back to the Old Testament book of Zechariah.

In fact, it goes back even further than that. There are images of the donkey and the colt in Messianic prophecies dating all the way back to the book of Genesis. For example, we read this about the Messiah back in Genesis 49: “The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs and the obedience of the nations is his. 11 He will tether his donkey to a vine, his colt to the choicest branch; he will wash his garments in wine, his robes in the blood of grapes.” (Genesis 49:10-11)

And so, that’s the first part of our passage. Jesus approaches Jerusalem by donkey in gentleness and peace rather than riding a war horse into the city like a conquering king. And he does all this in fulfillment of prophecy.

II. Acclaimed by the crowds (6-9)

In the next part of our passage, we see how Jesus was acclaimed by the crowds.

   A. The people welcome Jesus as their King (6-8)
      – 2 Kings 9:13

And here, first we see the people welcoming Jesus as their king. Look at verses 6-8:

The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt, placed their cloaks on them, and Jesus sat on them. 8 A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. (Matthew 21:6-8)

So, the disciples get the donkey and colt as Jesus instructed them. They place their cloaks on the animals. Jesus rides the colt, the young donkey that had never been ridden before, as prophesied by Zechariah. The disciples knew exactly what they were doing when they put Jesus on the donkey at Bethphage on the Mount of Olives entering Jerusalem. They were presenting Jesus as king.

The disciples present Jesus as king, and the people welcome Jesus as king. First, they create a royal carpet of sorts by spreading their cloaks on the road before him. This custom goes back to Old Testament times where the people would spread their cloaks on the ground before the approaching king. We read about it with King Jehu back in 2 Kings 9:13: “They hurried and took their cloaks and spread them under him on the bare steps. Then they blew the trumpet and shouted, ‘Jehu is king!’” (2 Kings 9:13) Spreading your cloaks on the ground was a sign of submission and respect. It was a sign of submission to authority, so when the people spread their cloaks on the ground before Jesus, they are welcoming him into Jerusalem as their king.

Then, others cut palm branches and spread them on the road. Palm branches were a sign of military victory, and so we begin to understand what kind of king the people expected in Jesus. If Palm Sunday was all about the donkey for Jesus, for the people it was all about the palms. They weren’t looking for a gentle and peaceful king. They were looking for a military king who would deliver them from the power of Rome.

   B. The people proclaim Jesus as Messiah (9)
      – Psalm 118:25-26; Matthew 20:30

The people not only welcome Jesus as their king. They proclaim him as Messiah. Look at verse 9:

The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Hosanna in the highest!” (Matthew 21:9)

The crowds get bigger as they approach Jerusalem, and now there are crowds of people ahead of Jesus as well as crowds of people following, and they are all shouting: “Hosanna! Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” Hosanna is a cry of salvation. It literally means, “Save us!” So, the people are crying out, “Hosanna! Save us, Son of David!”

“Son of David” is a messianic title. The Old Testament prophesied that the Messiah would be a direct descendant of David. The Messiah would be a King who would take the throne of his father David and reign forever. So, when the people cry out, “Save us, Son of David,” they are proclaiming Jesus as the Messiah.

We saw this same title applied to Jesus last week with the story of Jesus healing the two blind men. Remember, that story took place the same day as this, just earlier in the day. When the two blind men heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out: “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!” (Matthew 20:30) The two blind men knew that when Messiah came, he would heal the blind. They were blind, so they called Jesus, “Son of David,” proclaiming their faith that he had power to heal them.

And then after Jesus healed them, they joined the crowd and followed him into Jerusalem. That means these two blind men were the first ones in the crowd to call Jesus “Son of David” that day. They were the ones who got it all started. And now the whole crowd is shouting, “Hosanna! Hosanna to the Son of David!”

The people are also shouting out: “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.” This was a common greeting for the pilgrims attending the feast at Jerusalem. But here the greeting takes on additional meaning as Jesus is the Messiah who comes in the name of the Lord.

The people are crying out to Jesus, “Hosanna, save us! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.” We find these exact same phrases in the Old Testament back in Psalm 118 where the people cry out to God: “O Lord, save us; O Lord, grant us success. 26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” (Psalm 118:25-26)

And then, their cry of “Hosanna in the highest” takes us even further. When Jesus was born, the angels sang: “Glory to God in the highest!” – that is, all the way up to heaven where God dwells. The people crying “Hosanna in the highest” shows they believed that Jesus had come from God. God had sent them the promised Messiah, and the people received Jesus as such.

So, that’s the second part of our passage. The disciples get the donkeys as instructed. They place their cloaks on the donkeys, and Jesus sits on the cloaks. The people lay their cloaks on the ground in front of Jesus, welcoming him as their king. They cut palm branches from the trees and lay them on the ground before him as a sign of military victory. The crowds spread out before him and behind him crying out, “Hosanna! Save us, Son of David!” proclaiming Jesus as Messiah.

III. Stirring up the city (10-11)

Jesus approached the city by donkey. He was acclaimed by the crowds. And then finally, we see how the whole city was stirred up by his arrival.

   A. The whole city was stirred (10)
      – Matthew 2:2-3

Look at verse 10 with me where we read:

When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?” (Matthew 21:10)

Now, this is not the first time the city of Jerusalem was stirred by the arrival of Jesus. It also happened at his birth. Earlier in his gospel Matthew tells us how Magi from the east came to Jerusalem asking: “‘Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.’” And then Matthew tells us: “When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.” (Matthew 2:2-3)

Well, now the whole city is stirred again. They see Jesus, riding into the city on the donkey with the people laying their cloaks on the road and waving the palm branches and shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” and they ask, “Who is this?”

   B. The people identify Jesus as the Prophet (11)
      – Deuteronomy 18:15

So, who is this? We have already seen the people welcome Jesus as their King. We have seen them proclaim him as Messiah. And now they also identify him as the Prophet. Look at verse 11:

The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.” (Matthew 21:11)

There were a lot of prophets in the Old Testament, but there was also a prophet who was prophesied to come. Back in the Old Testament Moses told the people of Israel: “The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him.” (Deuteronomy 18:15) The people in the city ask, “Who is this?” and the crowds answer, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.” Jesus was the prophet like Moses whom God raised up in fulfillment of prophecy.

CONCLUSION: And so, Jesus entered Jerusalem riding on a donkey in gentleness and peace, and the people hailed him as Messiah, Prophet and King. It was a wonderful day! It was a joyous day! I wish every day there were crowds of people in the streets worshiping and praising Jesus! I wish we did such a great job of sharing the gospel that our whole city was stirred up by the arrival of Jesus in our midst!

Earlier Jesus had warned his disciples not to tell anyone he was the Messiah. Now at his triumphal entry into Jerusalem the crowd proclaims him as Messiah, and Jesus accepts their praise. Why the difference?

Because now the time is right. Jesus knows that he has come to Jerusalem to suffer and die. And when the people hail him as Messiah, Prophet and King, this puts him on a direct collision course with the chief priests and teachers of the law, the very men who later that week will condemn him to death and turn him over to the Romans to be mocked, flogged and crucified.

Jesus proceeded into Jerusalem knowing everything that would happen to him there. Jesus accepted the praises of the crowd knowing that everything they proclaimed about him was true. Jesus stirred up the city knowing that this would lead to his final confrontation with the religious leaders. Jesus knew this was all part of God’s plan, and he followed God’s plan regardless of circumstances.

We also must follow Jesus regardless of circumstances. Sometimes when you follow Jesus the way is joyous and triumphant. At other times it is difficult and involves hardship and suffering. Either way, may we boldly proclaim Jesus as Lord and Savior, and may we commit ourselves to following him no matter what.

© Ray Fowler

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By Ray Fowler. © Ray Fowler. Website: https://www.rayfowler.org

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