Culver Community Church

Pastor Chris Sweeney

Sermon Notes

October 14, 2018

Matthew 21:1 – 11 Spiritual Blindness and Rejection

{vs. 1-6} Jesus, His disciples, most of the residents of Bethsaida (where Martha, Mary and Lazarus had thrown a party the night before) and crowds of pilgrims from outside of Judea began the trek into the Holy City.  Jesus has known about this day since before any of them were born!  He is orchestrating and producing this day to fulfill what Zachariah, Daniel and other prophets had written in scripture.  In fact, Daniel received from the angel Gabriel the exact date of this Triumphal Entry!  In chapter 9 of the book bearing his name, Daniel noted the day that Messiah the Prince (not Messiah the infant) would come.  After which, He would be cut off (killed) and the city would be destroyed in a flood (70 A.D. the Romans completely destroyed Jerusalem with overwhelming numbers of soldiers – a flood).  Gabriel said this would happen 483 years (according to God or Israel’s calendar with 30 day months etc.) from the decree to rebuild Jerusalem (given by King Artaxerxes of Persia c. 445 B.C. - Nehemiah 2:1-8).  Jesus made certain all of this happened – including the day and the donkey.  In fact, His raising Lazarus from the dead and the triumphal entry is what pushed the leaders over the edge – they had to kill Him “the whole world has gone after Him!” (John 12:19).  There is no way that anyone can say this was coincidence, that Jesus was caught up in something He could not control – No!, Jesus came to this week, this day by deliberate calculated obedience.  It was the plan of God from the beginning and it was only by walking down this road, the road that turned from praises to the Via Dolorosa (the way of suffering) that God could purchase our salvation!

Here Matthew quotes from Zachariah’s description of Messiah’s entrance on the colt of a donkey.  A sad side note – Rabbinic writings from that day said if the people were ready, Messiah would come ridding a white horse, if not a donkey.   Christ has come lowly and humble riding on a colt but soon, He will return in glory on a white horse, with His saints (Revelation 19)!

Luke 19:30 tells us that the donkey is unbroken, literally never ridden before.  I don’t know many things about donkeys but I do know that you don’t want to just walk up and plop your backside on the back of one of the most stubborn animals in all creation when it hasn’t been trained!  In fact, the two disciples brought the mother and the colt – because without the mother, the colt would not have followed them.  As we look at that day – the people, the leaders and even the disciples didn’t understand just who Jesus was – but this two to three year old “ass” recognized and submitted to the One who gave it life as they clopity, clopped down the over crowded street while people sang, shotted and waived branches!

Zachariah’s text begins with “Rejoice greatly” and includes “righteous and victorious” or “He is just and having/bringing salvation” as a description of the King’s entrance.  Matthew excludes these from his quotation because on this occasion, while the people rejoiced and shouted greatly – Jesus came and wept over Jerusalem!  He came in righteousness (just) but they would convict and condemn Him.  He came bringing salvation - - - and they did not see it or understand, even though they played a role in God’s plan!

{vs. 7-9} Of course, everything was exactly as Jesus told the two disciples – they found the donkey and brought both the mother and colt.  Some say that Jesus made arrangements beforehand and that this is nothing more than the first century equivalent of Hertz Rent-A-Ride – but I believe this is much more!  Here Jesus shows the disciples and us (if we will see it) that He knows the future.  In His omniscience He arranged for that donkey not just on the day of His arrival but hundreds of years before.  He connects the details of today with the prophetic and we should take great comfort in this!  The same Jesus who knew where those animals would be, what the people standing by would say and what the disciples needed to say in order to leave with them - - - knows our circumstances, what we are facing and what it will take to overcome!

John’s gospel tells us that “They took palm branches and went out to meet Him”, which is where the name Palm Sunday comes from.  Those palm branches were a way of expressing Joy, Strength, beauty & Salvation (they were depicted on temple panels & doors).  The people and disciples also laid down their cloaks – this is not a garment from their closet - - - it is the outer cloak right off their backs!  In that day depending on your wealth, most people had only one or a few everyday robes.  It was a sign of position to have a going-to-church (temple) dress robe!  Only the truly wealthy had more than this.  This was a risk – once the donkey walked over your cloak there was no guarantee you’d get it back and who knows what condition it would be in if you did!  So, why do this?  Partially because of mob mentality and excitement but mostly because it is a symbol of submission.  Putting your cloak under the feet of someone was the equivalent of putting yourself under their feet – completely in their control, depending on their mercy!  The Old Testament describes kings putting their feet on a conquered foe and even today, it is a huge insult to see the bottom of your shoe or be hit with it in Arabic cultures.  What this crowd was saying is “Come and rule over us – be our King, our Messiah!”  “I am placing myself under your feet – I am completely under your authority.”  Oh, how the message would change as this week went on!

"Hosanna to the Son of David!" "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!" "Hosanna in the highest heaven!" This is from the “Hallel” - a group of Psalms (Psalm 113 to 118) which were pure praise to God.  The Hallel were sung at great acts of God, times of praise, times of thanksgiving and at the fests and festivals.  These were the first songs taught to children, like Jesus loves me and the ABC Song are for us.  Every Jew knew them and knew what they meant.  This is specifically from Psalms 118, a messianic prophesy about this day, also known as the conqueror’s psalm.  The people sang this same psalm for Simon Maccabeus a hundred years earlier, when he defeated the Syrians and for a brief time gave Israel back its independence.  By the way – they also cut palm branches and hailed him hoping he was God’s Messiah.  It was their version of All Hail the Conquering Hero.  Hosanna means save now; it is a cry for deliverance!  They wanted another Maccabeus or a Moses, a political deliverer with a side order of religion.  Not a Messiah who is “God with Us”, come to bring spiritual deliverance (to save us from our sins and usher in a Heavenly Kingdom).

{vs. 10} The whole city was stirred - this word in Greek means to be thrown into a tremor, to quake for fear or to agitate the mind.  This day changed everything – even though they didn’t know who it is that was coming to them.  Those joining the procession asked and the crowds answered back "This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee."  This is the minimum known – a prophet (man of God) from Nazareth – maybe more.  Maybe Messiah?  This left Jesus open to being defined however they wanted - everyone saw something different! 

· The Roman legions (vastly outnumbered and slightly nervous during these festivals) must have looked on the parade with humor.  No king worth his salt would come on a donkey (a baby donkey at that!)  Their own leaders would ride the best stallions available (often pure white) – stomping the ground and showing their strength!  To them, all powerful leaders put on a show of force.  They were accustomed to roman parades of troops marching home in tight order, followed by the spoils of war (including slaves, representing the conquered peoples).  Triumphant archways and monuments depict these grand processions, but here we have a poor carpenter with branches!

· The religious leaders were busy trying to find fault – anything that they could use to discredit Jesus and show Him to be a fraud!  We know that they have already decided that He must die.  The people have been warned that following Jesus (the heretic) could get them expelled (excommunicated) from the temple (and society) – luckily, they ignored this.  The leaders even gave instructions that the people should inform them (rat Jesus out) if any of them knew where He was.  They wanted to wait until after the holy days, but Jesus is pushing them to act, and act now according to God’s plan!

· The people, just like the crowd who wanted to make Jesus King after the feeding of the five thousand (John 6:15) simply wanted to claim Him as their own.  They wanted Jesus to continue to feed, to heal – to provide for them in every way, all that they needed.  They envisioned a utopia (a Kingdom) where God took care of everything for them.  Sadly, they only wanted from the King and did not want to give Him their loyalty or even participate (obey Him)!

· The disciples and followers were trying really hard to understand, but without the Holy Spirit much of what God was revealing through Jesus (the Son) went right over their heads.  They had been warned of the coming trials, pain, death and resurrection – but the truth of it all was hidden from them.  Much like the people, they were expecting to receive from Jesus – positions, power, authority and rewards.  Don’t get me wrong, they loved Jesus and trusted Him but the flesh kept popping up showing it to be a selfish kind of love.

Jesus came on this day to present Himself as King.  Never before was this allowed: He always told those who were healed not to tell anyone; He escaped through the crowd when they wanted to declare Him King; and He gave one of the toughest teachings in His ministry right after the feeding of the five thousand which drove all of the followers away!  However, today is different - - - this day is the one prophesied by Daniel chapter 9 – when Messiah the Prince (the Anointed One, the Ruler) comes! (If you are keeping track that is nearly 600 years beforehand!)  Sadly, that prophesy continued and predicted Messiah would be cut off (put to death).  In our clear hindsight, we know this is because of the spiritual blindness and rejection waiting for us as we continue this chapter – next time.