WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:00.959 Well, good morning. 00:00:01.120 --> 00:00:04.959 We are going to be in Matthew chapter 21. 00:00:05.599 --> 00:00:07.599 So if you can be turning there, that'd be great. 00:00:07.679 --> 00:00:09.119 Normally we are in the Gospel of John. 00:00:09.279 --> 00:00:11.439 Two weeks from now we will be in John chapter 2. 00:00:11.599 --> 00:00:14.480 And if you are able, please stand for the reading of God's word. 00:00:14.800 --> 00:00:23.039 When they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage at the Mount of Olives, Jesus then sent two disciples, telling them, Go into the village ahead of you. 00:00:23.199 --> 00:00:26.000 At once you will find a donkey tied there with her colt. 00:00:26.160 --> 00:00:27.760 Untie them and bring them to me. 00:00:27.839 --> 00:00:33.039 And if anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them and he will send them at once. 00:00:33.359 --> 00:00:37.359 This took place so that what was spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled. 00:00:37.600 --> 00:00:44.799 Tell daughter Zion, see, your king is coming to you, gentle, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey. 00:00:45.039 --> 00:00:47.679 The disciples went and did just as Jesus directed them. 00:00:47.840 --> 00:00:52.320 They brought the donkey and the colt, they laid their clothes on them, and he sat on them. 00:00:52.560 --> 00:00:55.119 And a very large crowd spread their clothes on the road. 00:00:55.359 --> 00:01:04.319 Others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them on the road, and the crowds who went ahead of him and those who followed shouted, Hosanna to the son of David. 00:01:04.480 --> 00:01:09.200 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, Hosanna in the highest heaven. 00:01:09.680 --> 00:01:13.599 When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in an uproar, saying, Who is this? 00:01:13.760 --> 00:01:18.400 And the crowds were saying, This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee. 00:01:18.640 --> 00:01:20.879 Lord, I thank you so much for today. 00:01:21.200 --> 00:01:22.640 I thank you for your word. 00:01:22.959 --> 00:01:26.239 I thank you, Lord, for guiding us and leading us. 00:01:26.319 --> 00:01:34.560 I ask that as we study your word, we would fall more in love with Jesus, that we would be inspired to draw closer to Him and to praise Him more and live more through Him. 00:01:34.719 --> 00:01:38.640 Fill me with your spirit to teach your word rightly. 00:01:38.799 --> 00:01:43.200 Fill the hearers with your Spirit to rightly divide and be glorified in your name. 00:01:43.519 --> 00:01:44.159 Amen. 00:01:45.519 --> 00:01:47.040 Go ahead and have a seat. 00:01:47.519 --> 00:01:53.599 I almost forgot to say go ahead and have a seat, and it would have been an interesting social experiment to see who was standing the longest. 00:01:54.000 --> 00:01:56.959 So we would have learned the rule followers. 00:01:57.439 --> 00:02:06.319 So this is kind of fun to be able to jump into this here because last week in the Gospel of John chapter 1, we saw the calling of the first disciples. 00:02:06.480 --> 00:02:15.759 And we got to see them coming in and encountering Jesus and having their world rocked by that encounter and leaving everything to follow him. 00:02:16.159 --> 00:02:17.680 So we have the very beginning. 00:02:17.840 --> 00:02:22.479 And then here we have the week before the crucifixion and resurrection. 00:02:22.560 --> 00:02:30.000 So you get to see like most of the gospel portion of the story of the apostles and the disciples as bookends here. 00:02:30.080 --> 00:02:31.360 Last week was their calling. 00:02:31.439 --> 00:02:32.639 Here it's right in the middle of that. 00:02:32.719 --> 00:02:39.840 We're going to keep going back to the disciples as we go through this, even though they may not be playing as much of a central role as we might think. 00:02:40.400 --> 00:02:44.639 But how did we get here in this passage in Matthew 21? 00:02:44.879 --> 00:02:55.680 We need to take a quick look back at the previous chapter because it informs what's going on and where we are going and the mindset of the disciples, which is hilarious. 00:02:56.000 --> 00:03:14.080 So we're looking at Matthew chapter 20, and we see here in verse 17, when going up to Jerusalem, Jesus took the 12 disciples aside privately and said to them on the way, See, we are going up to Jerusalem. 00:03:14.240 --> 00:03:17.919 The Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and scribes. 00:03:18.080 --> 00:03:19.439 They will condemn him to death. 00:03:19.599 --> 00:03:24.080 They will hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked, flogged, and crucified. 00:03:24.159 --> 00:03:27.039 And on the third day he will be raised. 00:03:28.319 --> 00:03:33.039 That's really specific and really clear. 00:03:33.439 --> 00:03:38.800 But we get to see in Luke 18, 34, how they responded. 00:03:40.000 --> 00:03:42.240 They understood none of these things. 00:03:42.479 --> 00:03:46.719 And the meaning of the saying was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said. 00:03:46.879 --> 00:03:51.039 So here we have Jesus saying, Let me tell you what's going to happen. 00:03:51.199 --> 00:03:52.960 We're going to Jerusalem. 00:03:53.360 --> 00:03:55.199 And it's going to be bad. 00:03:55.360 --> 00:04:02.000 I will be handed over to the chief priests and scribes, condemned to death, handed over the Gentiles to be mocked, flogged, crucified. 00:04:02.159 --> 00:04:05.439 But don't worry, on the third day will be raised again. 00:04:05.520 --> 00:04:08.000 And the disciples are like, Could you explain that? 00:04:08.080 --> 00:04:09.840 What that I don't understand. 00:04:10.639 --> 00:04:15.680 So it's encouraging because we are the disciples. 00:04:16.000 --> 00:04:21.439 We get to see this through the lens of what we already know and what has happened, and we go, well yeah, duh. 00:04:21.519 --> 00:04:28.240 But they didn't have a box in their brain for understanding this until Jesus revealed it to them afterwards. 00:04:28.480 --> 00:04:31.680 So having that said, that happens. 00:04:31.759 --> 00:04:35.920 And also, we're going to find out as we go through the Gospel of John, and I challenge you to keep this eye. 00:04:36.480 --> 00:04:39.040 Jerusalem is not a safe place for them. 00:04:39.279 --> 00:04:47.199 Because most of the Gospel of John happens in Jerusalem, and there's a whole lot of times where people are looking for him to kill him. 00:04:47.439 --> 00:04:50.079 And so here they are going, we're going to Jerusalem. 00:04:50.160 --> 00:04:52.240 And it's like, we've got to go to Jerusalem again. 00:04:52.399 --> 00:04:54.079 Bad things only happen in Jerusalem. 00:04:54.240 --> 00:04:56.720 And so here they are going to there. 00:04:56.800 --> 00:05:07.360 But at the same time, at this time period, it's very normal to do so as a Jewish individual who observes the law because you're going for one of the three major feasts. 00:05:07.680 --> 00:05:11.680 So Jesus lays out his plan, they don't understand. 00:05:11.759 --> 00:05:14.879 And what is the very next thing that happens? 00:05:16.480 --> 00:05:28.639 Either the mother, depending on the gospel, the mother of Zebedee's sons, James and John, or James and John themselves, go, Master, I'm going to ask you a question, and I want you to say yes before I ask it. 00:05:28.800 --> 00:05:30.399 Okay, how many of you have kids? 00:05:30.720 --> 00:05:32.639 Has that ever gone well? 00:05:33.199 --> 00:05:33.839 Ever. 00:05:34.639 --> 00:05:34.959 No. 00:05:35.600 --> 00:05:37.439 That's always a bad sign. 00:05:37.920 --> 00:05:40.079 I'm going to ask you something, but please say yes first. 00:05:40.160 --> 00:05:41.040 It's like, no. 00:05:41.279 --> 00:05:43.439 See if don't listen. 00:05:43.680 --> 00:05:48.959 If they had uh if they were smart, then they would have actually done that and then reverse psychologized us. 00:05:49.120 --> 00:05:55.839 But anyway, having that said here, then they ask him, we want to be on your left hand and your right hand in your kingdom. 00:05:55.920 --> 00:05:57.519 We want to be in prime position. 00:05:58.319 --> 00:06:02.240 Kind of a bad timing to be asking that. 00:06:02.560 --> 00:06:10.240 And then when the other ten hear about this in verse 24, they become mad at the other two. 00:06:10.399 --> 00:06:12.240 So this is not a good look right here. 00:06:12.399 --> 00:06:24.079 Jesus gives out the plan for the salvation of all humankind who believe in him, and they go, Yeah, I don't know what the heck you're talking about, but by the way, can we have the good seats? 00:06:25.839 --> 00:06:28.079 That's where we're at, and then there's bickering. 00:06:28.959 --> 00:06:34.319 So, and then Jesus heals two blind men in Jericho, and that leads us up to where we are here. 00:06:34.399 --> 00:06:35.680 They're approaching Jerusalem. 00:06:35.920 --> 00:06:39.680 Came to Bethage, Bethany, at the Mount of Olives. 00:06:39.759 --> 00:06:42.319 And Jesus sends two disciples. 00:06:42.560 --> 00:06:44.800 Who are these two disciples? 00:06:45.040 --> 00:06:46.240 We don't know. 00:06:46.639 --> 00:06:48.639 None of the Gospels tell us who they are. 00:06:48.879 --> 00:06:54.319 I am guessing, speculating it John is not one of them because this portion is not even in the Gospel of John. 00:06:54.399 --> 00:06:56.399 I'm pretty sure he would have put it in there. 00:06:56.720 --> 00:07:02.000 So, with that, two disciples going, and he says, Go to the village ahead of you. 00:07:02.160 --> 00:07:04.800 At once you will find a donkey there, tied with her colt. 00:07:04.959 --> 00:07:06.720 Untie them, bring them to me. 00:07:06.879 --> 00:07:13.279 If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them and he will send them at once. 00:07:16.000 --> 00:07:18.240 Okay, we know the story. 00:07:18.480 --> 00:07:21.759 We know what happens, we know this is fine. 00:07:22.160 --> 00:07:25.439 The disciples did not know any of that information. 00:07:25.759 --> 00:07:29.920 So think about what just happened. 00:07:30.240 --> 00:07:33.519 He told them to go to the village. 00:07:34.240 --> 00:07:36.720 Villages are not big places, letting you know now. 00:07:36.959 --> 00:07:41.120 And there's gonna be a donkey and her colt. 00:07:41.439 --> 00:07:44.639 So go in, you're gonna see a donkey and her colt. 00:07:45.040 --> 00:07:48.399 Take it and bring it here. 00:07:49.519 --> 00:07:53.839 By the way, if anyone says, why are you stealing my property? 00:07:54.079 --> 00:07:55.839 just say, God needs it. 00:07:56.560 --> 00:07:57.519 You're good. 00:07:58.000 --> 00:08:03.839 Now, to be fair, Mark 11, 3 also adds him saying, and we'll send it back here right away. 00:08:04.000 --> 00:08:06.240 There's with a promise he's gonna send it back. 00:08:06.399 --> 00:08:09.199 Here it says, and we'll send them at once. 00:08:10.000 --> 00:08:32.240 So what Jesus is telling them to do is potentially in the eyes of the people, in the eyes of the disciples, to go and steal a truck in a small town, that's gonna go well, right? 00:08:32.960 --> 00:08:35.519 And take it, Grand Theft Auto. 00:08:35.840 --> 00:08:36.399 Anyone love that? 00:08:36.480 --> 00:08:37.440 Please don't raise your hand. 00:08:37.679 --> 00:08:44.320 And uh then, if anybody says, be like, it's okay, God needs you. 00:08:44.879 --> 00:08:46.559 And it'll be fine. 00:08:47.200 --> 00:08:53.519 This is just coming right on the heels of Jesus laying out something very specific and then saying, we don't understand. 00:08:53.759 --> 00:08:59.840 So reading through this with new eyes, my faith in the disciples is low that they will actually be able to accomplish this. 00:08:59.919 --> 00:09:02.240 But that's not what happens, which we'll get to in a second. 00:09:02.480 --> 00:09:04.559 Why on earth did Jesus tell them to do this? 00:09:04.720 --> 00:09:09.440 Verse 4 This took place so that what was spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled. 00:09:09.600 --> 00:09:17.200 Tell daughter Zion, see, your king is coming to you, gentle, mounted on a donkey and on a colt, the full of a donkey. 00:09:17.519 --> 00:09:24.399 So this is coming out of Zechariah 9:9, which we'll talk about more in a moment. 00:09:24.879 --> 00:09:29.440 But suffice it to say here, this is all to fulfill this prophecy. 00:09:29.679 --> 00:09:36.000 Tell daughter Zion, an idiom for Israel, your king is coming to you. 00:09:37.039 --> 00:09:37.919 Your king. 00:09:38.080 --> 00:09:39.279 But he's coming gentle. 00:09:39.360 --> 00:09:44.159 He's coming mounted on a donkey and on a colt, the full of a donkey. 00:09:44.320 --> 00:09:45.039 Now, why? 00:09:45.360 --> 00:09:46.240 Why is that? 00:09:46.399 --> 00:09:48.639 Well, number, there's two different ways you could look at this. 00:09:48.720 --> 00:09:55.679 Number one, he's not coming in in a chariot as a conqueror, he's not coming in on a war horse. 00:09:55.919 --> 00:10:06.879 But then also, people in donkey, like with riding a donkey, tend to not be all that overly concerned or rushed or in a hurry. 00:10:07.120 --> 00:10:10.559 They're not fast of animals, they're not the fastest animals in the world. 00:10:10.720 --> 00:10:13.039 They don't tend to go where you want them to go. 00:10:13.279 --> 00:10:18.399 So, with that in mind, it's not the most epic entrance as well. 00:10:18.559 --> 00:10:21.840 But it is also a very humble thing. 00:10:22.080 --> 00:10:27.759 It is the idea of showing up to the Academy Awards in a Toyota Corolla. 00:10:30.399 --> 00:10:40.799 And uh, that's what we see here, but it is for the purpose, it is weird enough to be conspicuous to be a fulfillment of prophecy, which we'll talk about in a moment. 00:10:42.240 --> 00:10:44.799 This is the verse I love in verse 6. 00:10:45.360 --> 00:10:50.000 The disciples went and did just as Jesus directed them. 00:10:51.039 --> 00:10:55.519 They brought the donkey and the colt, they laid their clothes on them, on them, and he said on them. 00:10:55.759 --> 00:11:01.200 So, Jesus, their master, which we talked about, the idea of a rabbi in great detail last week. 00:11:01.279 --> 00:11:09.200 It was really, really good information, directs these people go into that little town over there, take a donkey and his colt, bring it here. 00:11:09.279 --> 00:11:13.120 If anyone asks, say God needs it, and we'll bring it, don't worry, God will bring it back. 00:11:13.440 --> 00:11:17.279 And then they're like, okay. 00:11:18.480 --> 00:11:28.559 They understand nothing, they have no clue what's going on, they don't even understand the plan that he has repeatedly told them throughout these three years of time with them. 00:11:28.799 --> 00:11:31.840 But what they do is obey. 00:11:32.320 --> 00:11:34.240 And that's really cool. 00:11:34.480 --> 00:11:36.000 Really cool to see here. 00:11:36.240 --> 00:11:42.320 Because in this story, obviously, there's a lot of characters that get a lot of um spotlight. 00:11:42.480 --> 00:11:43.279 Jesus should. 00:11:43.440 --> 00:11:45.759 Jesus is always the answer, and somebody's cool, right? 00:11:45.919 --> 00:11:47.200 So he is he should. 00:11:47.360 --> 00:11:50.879 Uh the donkey sure gets a lot of air time on Palm Sunday. 00:11:51.200 --> 00:12:00.159 The uh you have the crowds, you have the religious leaders, but here you have the disciples, and that takes a lot of faith to go, okay, I'm gonna do what you say. 00:12:02.399 --> 00:12:06.399 We might get killed for this, but okay, we're doing it, and they do it. 00:12:06.480 --> 00:12:14.240 And they come, they bring it, and they lay their clothes on them, which is an act of subservance, obviously. 00:12:14.399 --> 00:12:15.679 This is something you would do for a king. 00:12:15.840 --> 00:12:19.440 This is something you would do for a leader, for somebody you are showing honor to. 00:12:19.519 --> 00:12:21.679 Uh, anybody smelled the donkey before? 00:12:22.480 --> 00:12:23.600 It ain't great. 00:12:23.759 --> 00:12:30.320 You don't go into like the the you don't go into the fragrance store and go, do you have like essence of donkey? 00:12:30.799 --> 00:12:34.879 I hope I've never willingly gone into a fragrance store and I really hope they don't have essence with the donkey. 00:12:34.960 --> 00:12:45.200 But with that, they put their clothes on it for cleanliness, for uh comfort, for regality in that. 00:12:46.240 --> 00:12:47.440 And he said on them. 00:12:47.840 --> 00:12:51.919 And then we're turning here to a crowd. 00:12:52.159 --> 00:12:58.720 In verse 8, a very large crowd spread their clothes on the road. 00:12:59.360 --> 00:13:03.840 Others were cutting branches from the trees, spreading them on the road. 00:13:04.960 --> 00:13:10.720 So they are laying not only their clothes, their coats in the road, which again, gross. 00:13:10.879 --> 00:13:14.159 I mean, I know something else about donkeys. 00:13:14.720 --> 00:13:17.759 You don't want to be behind one because of what they leave behind. 00:13:17.919 --> 00:13:26.159 And they're leaving their coats on the road in front of the donkey as a way of paving the way for the king. 00:13:26.320 --> 00:13:29.840 And cutting down branches at one of the gospels, I believe it's John says it's palm branches. 00:13:29.919 --> 00:13:31.440 That's why we call it Palm Sunday. 00:13:31.519 --> 00:13:32.159 There we are. 00:13:32.320 --> 00:13:34.720 But cutting down the branches, putting them on the road. 00:13:34.799 --> 00:13:38.799 They're making a procession into Jerusalem. 00:13:41.360 --> 00:13:45.919 Many different thoughts on that, many different uh ideas on why they would be primed for this. 00:13:46.000 --> 00:14:00.879 One of the things that we see is in the book of Ezekiel, we see a progressive departing of the presence of the Lord out of the temple, out of the temple grounds, east, up the Mount of Olives, that way. 00:14:01.039 --> 00:14:06.639 And so there are some who are expecting the Messiah to come back in that same way. 00:14:06.879 --> 00:14:08.559 So there's one subset. 00:14:08.720 --> 00:14:12.799 Another one is they follow the example of the disciples. 00:14:12.879 --> 00:14:15.039 So you have a bunch of that going on here. 00:14:15.759 --> 00:14:17.759 Where did this crowd come from? 00:14:18.480 --> 00:14:22.159 We have the crowd who's doing this and the crowd who's reacting to it. 00:14:22.320 --> 00:14:24.720 Big crowd reacting, smaller crowd who's doing this. 00:14:24.799 --> 00:14:26.080 Well, this is what's interesting. 00:14:26.320 --> 00:14:29.679 First time that's really hit me when I was studying it this time. 00:14:30.799 --> 00:14:34.320 In John 12, 17 through 18. 00:14:34.879 --> 00:14:43.039 Meanwhile, the crowd, which had been with him, when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead, continued to testify. 00:14:43.200 --> 00:14:47.840 This is why the crowd met him, because they heard he had done this sign. 00:14:48.559 --> 00:14:55.840 So a part of this crowd is here, because in Bethany, he had raised somebody from the dead. 00:14:56.159 --> 00:14:59.519 And they are here to see what's going to happen next. 00:14:59.679 --> 00:15:00.720 Why is that important? 00:15:00.879 --> 00:15:06.960 Because in John 11, 18, it specifically says that Bethany is less than two miles from Jerusalem. 00:15:07.200 --> 00:15:12.559 If somebody is raised from the dead in Home Depot right now, we're going to hear about it. 00:15:13.360 --> 00:15:14.879 It's not a long way. 00:15:15.039 --> 00:15:33.679 And so you have a crowd, that'd be so many questions, but uh but with that in mind, you have a very large crowd who has witnessed a notable miracle of Jesus calling someone out of the grave, calling him from death into life, and they come and gather. 00:15:34.000 --> 00:15:51.840 There is the larger crowd who is gathering and coming into town for the Passover, because that's one of the feasts where they are required to come as Jewish Torah-believing Jews who are there in one of those required feasts. 00:15:52.000 --> 00:15:58.960 So big crowd is there for the feast, smaller crowd saw Jesus raise someone from the dead and is seeing that happen. 00:15:59.120 --> 00:16:00.399 What are they doing? 00:16:00.720 --> 00:16:09.039 Verse 9 the crowds who went ahead of him, those who followed shouted, Hosanna to the son of David, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. 00:16:09.279 --> 00:16:12.240 Hosanna in the highest heaven. 00:16:12.720 --> 00:16:20.480 Now, Hosanna is in the upper echelon of Christianese words. 00:16:21.120 --> 00:16:26.639 Because not only is it nebulous, it's a different language entirely. 00:16:26.879 --> 00:16:36.159 But it gets assimilated into Christianese, into this idea of like, well, I'm sure it's some sort of praise and glory and other things. 00:16:36.240 --> 00:16:36.480 Okay. 00:16:36.720 --> 00:16:41.200 Hosanna literally just means save us now. 00:16:42.320 --> 00:16:43.840 God save us. 00:16:45.200 --> 00:16:46.639 Oh Lord, help. 00:16:46.879 --> 00:16:49.360 Help, heaven, really is what that means. 00:16:49.679 --> 00:16:58.960 You get the image of the Israelites crying out to the Lord at the beginning of Exodus in bondage, slavery to Egypt. 00:16:59.120 --> 00:17:05.039 You get the idea of them crying out over and over and over in the book of Judges. 00:17:05.440 --> 00:17:19.359 This Hosanna, save us, help us, which in our 21st century evangelical Christian mind goes, that's awesome! They're asking God for salvation. 00:17:19.680 --> 00:17:23.119 They might be meaning something a little different than what we mean. 00:17:23.440 --> 00:17:28.079 So he continues, Hosanna, to the son of David. 00:17:29.359 --> 00:17:36.319 Even if you don't have a huge breadth of scriptural understanding, most people know David was a king. 00:17:36.559 --> 00:17:37.519 King David. 00:17:37.759 --> 00:17:39.279 He was a lineage. 00:17:39.759 --> 00:17:46.480 There was the prophecy of that being the royal lineage for Israel. 00:17:46.799 --> 00:17:54.640 The son of David is calling him the king of Israel and the Messiah, because there's prophecy interpreted into that. 00:17:54.799 --> 00:18:01.519 And once again, in 21st century Atascadero, we go, Well, yeah, the Messiah, that's awesome, the Savior. 00:18:02.640 --> 00:18:18.640 Prior to the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, and then the subsequent pouring out of the Holy Spirit, there was a fundamental lack of connection between the word Messiah and what we understand the word Messiah to mean. 00:18:18.880 --> 00:18:34.559 Messiah to them was a conquering king, a ruler who was going to free them and restore the kingdom that was fundamental to their understanding of the law and the prophets. 00:18:34.799 --> 00:18:36.160 That was their agenda. 00:18:36.319 --> 00:18:46.799 So even when they're calling out for the Messiah, it's not what we understand Jesus to be having grown up in that context or heard that context. 00:18:46.960 --> 00:18:49.440 They're still crying out for a king. 00:18:50.319 --> 00:18:51.759 A little more information from that. 00:18:51.839 --> 00:18:57.440 In Mark 11, 10, they literally say, Blessed is the coming kingdom of our Father David. 00:18:58.319 --> 00:19:01.200 Luke 19, 38, blessed is the king. 00:19:01.440 --> 00:19:04.079 John 12, 13, the king of Israel. 00:19:04.160 --> 00:19:09.119 They're looking when they are saying, Hosanna, save us to the king. 00:19:09.839 --> 00:19:12.079 Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. 00:19:12.319 --> 00:19:14.240 Hosanna in the highest heaven. 00:19:14.480 --> 00:19:16.000 Long live the king. 00:19:16.240 --> 00:19:17.359 Save us now. 00:19:17.599 --> 00:19:18.559 Help us now. 00:19:18.799 --> 00:19:21.440 Our prayers have been answered. 00:19:23.119 --> 00:19:26.799 They're heralding the Messiah, but they're not understanding what he really is. 00:19:27.839 --> 00:19:34.640 They want a king, not the gentle savior that he mentioned in chapter 22, the disciples, and they go, huh? 00:19:35.119 --> 00:19:41.440 And so, in the same way, they are looking for a king. 00:19:41.680 --> 00:19:42.960 Here's what I love. 00:19:43.279 --> 00:19:52.240 Again, this whole big procession, fulfillment of prophecy, which we'll talk about in a second, him coming in, the crowds, right? 00:19:52.559 --> 00:20:00.880 The cloaks, the theft of a donkey, the he brought it back, okay, the palm branches and everything. 00:20:01.200 --> 00:20:06.079 And the beautiful verse here in John 12, 16. 00:20:07.039 --> 00:20:09.920 His disciples did not understand these things at first. 00:20:10.079 --> 00:20:15.519 However, when Jesus was glorified, they remembered these things had been written about him and that they had done these things to him. 00:20:15.839 --> 00:20:21.279 Again, centered around the John account of the triumphal entry. 00:20:21.440 --> 00:20:26.079 The disciples are the only one here going, What's happening? 00:20:26.240 --> 00:20:27.039 What's going on? 00:20:27.119 --> 00:20:28.559 They're the ones with him the whole time. 00:20:28.720 --> 00:20:29.599 For three years. 00:20:29.839 --> 00:20:40.160 You have a crowd, you have an uproar, you have all this tumult, they're thinking the king's coming, and the disciples are like, I don't understand any of this. 00:20:40.960 --> 00:20:41.359 Huh. 00:20:41.440 --> 00:20:45.759 I wish he had explained it in great detail just a chapter before. 00:20:46.079 --> 00:20:50.960 So here's the result. 00:20:52.559 --> 00:20:58.880 In verse 10, he entered Jerusalem, and the whole city was in the uproar, saying, Who is this? 00:20:58.960 --> 00:21:19.119 So this is what I see as the huge, greater crowd who was coming in for the feast, reacting to the crowd in the tumult who was there because they saw Jesus raise someone from the dead, heralding the king here, and they're like, What is going on in Jerusalem today? 00:21:19.359 --> 00:21:22.160 I really wanted a quiet drive here. 00:21:22.240 --> 00:21:23.519 It's been a long trip. 00:21:23.759 --> 00:21:26.000 But here there is an uproar. 00:21:28.000 --> 00:21:32.240 Also, do you know who does not like uproars in Jerusalem? 00:21:33.039 --> 00:21:34.160 Rome, exactly. 00:21:34.640 --> 00:21:35.680 Not their favorite thing. 00:21:35.920 --> 00:21:40.559 So it is a risk for them to be doing this. 00:21:40.720 --> 00:21:49.359 Number one, to be creating an uproar, but secondly, to be creating an uproar, heralding someone as a king. 00:21:50.960 --> 00:21:53.519 You got to be committed to that cause in order to do that. 00:21:53.680 --> 00:21:59.759 So, in verse 11, the crowds were saying, This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in. 00:22:00.319 --> 00:22:00.960 Galilee. 00:22:01.039 --> 00:22:11.359 And once again, we've we've done Christmas, we know the stories, all these different things, the epic children's ministry Christmas plays that we have that are really cool. 00:22:11.440 --> 00:22:16.640 And with that prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee. 00:22:16.799 --> 00:22:20.079 Here are these people coming in, they're like, What is a Nazareth? 00:22:20.880 --> 00:22:24.079 Where on earth is that? 00:22:24.480 --> 00:22:27.920 We talked about that last time, this idea of Nazareth and Galilee. 00:22:28.079 --> 00:22:34.720 Backwoods area that these are this is not the place a king typically comes from. 00:22:35.119 --> 00:22:39.119 If we were in our and I'm hoping I'm not gonna make anyone mad here, I apologize if so. 00:22:39.200 --> 00:22:45.759 I'm just from my experience living in the South for five years. 00:22:46.079 --> 00:22:55.440 If someone says, we found the king in West Virginia, people would be like, can we find another one, please? 00:22:56.880 --> 00:23:01.200 That would be definitely a uh a surprise, nonetheless. 00:23:02.240 --> 00:23:05.039 It's not the old money in the Ivy League up in the Northeast. 00:23:05.119 --> 00:23:06.240 It's like, nope, we found it. 00:23:06.559 --> 00:23:09.680 He was the coal mine, turns out, and he's the king. 00:23:09.839 --> 00:23:14.319 It would be like, okay, I'd like a second opinion, Doctor. 00:23:14.559 --> 00:23:20.319 So having that said, we see the disciples' response. 00:23:20.400 --> 00:23:26.559 They know nothing of what's going on, they don't get it, they don't understand it, but they obey him, which is cool. 00:23:26.960 --> 00:23:32.000 We see the crowd who's like, hey, he's the king, he's the one. 00:23:32.160 --> 00:23:36.799 Yes, this is great, coming in, laying forth the clothes, laying forth the palm branches. 00:23:36.960 --> 00:23:40.559 There's one more response we get in the other gospels that is interesting. 00:23:40.880 --> 00:23:49.599 In Luke 19, 39 through 40, some of the Pharisees from the crowd tells Jesus, Teacher, rebuke your disciples. 00:23:50.880 --> 00:23:52.240 They know what's going on. 00:23:52.640 --> 00:23:55.519 And they tell him, You need to rebuke them right now. 00:23:55.680 --> 00:23:56.960 Do you understand the implications of this? 00:23:57.039 --> 00:24:02.319 And he says, Look, I tell you, if you were, if they were to keep silent, the stones would cry out. 00:24:02.559 --> 00:24:10.319 And then John 12, 19, again, centered around the triumphal entry here, the Pharisees said to one another, You see, you've accomplished nothing. 00:24:10.480 --> 00:24:12.559 The whole world has gone after him. 00:24:12.880 --> 00:24:20.319 So the Pharisees, the religious leaders in here, know what's happening. 00:24:20.640 --> 00:24:35.920 Unlike the disciples, who don't get it, and yet they are marked by obedience, and unlike the crowd, who is like, this is our chance to be free from Rome, the Pharisees here seem to understand what's happening. 00:24:36.000 --> 00:24:47.440 And something to challenge you as you read the Gospels, the one category of people who are never confused about what Jesus is saying are the religious leaders. 00:24:47.920 --> 00:24:51.519 When he's saying something, a parable against them, they are very clear. 00:24:51.680 --> 00:24:53.200 It's like you're talking about us. 00:24:53.359 --> 00:24:57.599 When he says something again, they're like, he's saying that against us. 00:24:58.480 --> 00:25:00.720 He's calling himself the Son of God. 00:25:01.039 --> 00:25:03.119 He is calling himself the Messiah. 00:25:03.359 --> 00:25:10.000 The people, the religious leaders, actually are the only ones in the gospel who fully understand what's happening here. 00:25:10.720 --> 00:25:14.400 Why is this a big deal in this moment? 00:25:14.960 --> 00:25:18.960 Let's blow open Zechariah 9 just a little bit more. 00:25:19.279 --> 00:25:25.359 Because we have okay, there is no shame here whatsoever. 00:25:26.000 --> 00:25:27.359 No Bible shaming here. 00:25:27.519 --> 00:25:32.720 How many of you have read the book of Zechariah in the last three years? 00:25:33.039 --> 00:25:35.279 Okay, that's much more than I expected, to be honest. 00:25:35.599 --> 00:25:40.559 It's not, it's definitely we get second numbers in the Bible reading plan. 00:25:40.880 --> 00:25:43.200 So uh Zechariah's way later. 00:25:43.279 --> 00:25:47.039 But having that said, Zechariah 9, starting in verse 9 but going through 17. 00:25:47.200 --> 00:25:54.559 Here's the bigger picture of that prophecy if you are a religious leader who has memorized this passage as a young child. 00:25:55.440 --> 00:25:57.119 Rejoice greatly, daughter Zion. 00:25:57.279 --> 00:25:59.359 Shout in triumph, daughter Jerusalem. 00:25:59.519 --> 00:26:01.039 Look, your king is coming to you. 00:26:01.200 --> 00:26:08.720 He is righteous and victorious, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. 00:26:08.960 --> 00:26:10.160 Good so far, right? 00:26:10.480 --> 00:26:13.759 I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem. 00:26:13.839 --> 00:26:16.400 The bow of war will be removed, he will proclaim peace to the nations. 00:26:16.559 --> 00:26:17.680 Okay, sounding cool. 00:26:18.000 --> 00:26:23.440 His dominion will extend from sea to sea, from the Euphrates River to the ends of the earth. 00:26:23.599 --> 00:26:28.079 And as for you, because of the blood of your covenant, I will release your prisoners from the waterless cistern. 00:26:28.319 --> 00:26:30.799 Return to a stronghold, you prisoners who have hope. 00:26:30.880 --> 00:26:34.960 Today I declare to you I will restore double to you, for I will bend Judah as my bow. 00:26:35.119 --> 00:26:40.480 I will fill that bow with Ephraim, arouse your sons, Zion against your sons, Greece. 00:26:40.640 --> 00:26:42.480 I will make you like a warrior's sword. 00:26:42.640 --> 00:26:59.119 The Lord will appear over them, his arrow will fly like lightning, the Lord God will sound the trumpet and advance with the southern storms, the Lord of armies will defend them, they will consume and conquer with slingstones, they will drink and be rowdy as if with wine, they will be as full as a sprinkling basin, like those at the corners of the altar. 00:26:59.279 --> 00:27:05.039 The Lord their God will save them on that day as a flock of his people, for they're like jewels in a crown sparkling over his land. 00:27:05.200 --> 00:27:09.839 How lovely and beautiful grain will make the young men flourish, and new wine the young women. 00:27:12.240 --> 00:27:25.119 If we're not looking through the lens of who Jesus actually is, that is a passage of overthrow and triumph and the establishment of a kingdom. 00:27:26.880 --> 00:27:39.119 Nobody, maybe except the disciples, is confused about what is happening here and the implications of what this passage means. 00:27:39.359 --> 00:27:43.119 We know 9-9 and go, yes, that makes sense because that makes sense within our story. 00:27:43.200 --> 00:27:49.759 But this whole passage is a prophecy of the coming king of Israel. 00:27:49.839 --> 00:27:52.799 And now, why am I making that point? 00:27:52.960 --> 00:28:05.519 Well, number one, the religious leaders understand what's happening, but they cannot admit that Jesus is the Messiah. 00:28:06.400 --> 00:28:15.279 All of that knowledge shoved in their noggins is not affecting their heart whatsoever. 00:28:16.880 --> 00:28:36.319 Because although he is being proclaimed as king, although he is fulfilling the prophecy, although he is raising people from the dead, that doesn't benefit their agenda at all. 00:28:36.880 --> 00:28:39.359 And he's doing it without them. 00:28:39.599 --> 00:28:48.240 They would need to submit to him rather than utilizing them as the important pieces of a plan. 00:28:50.160 --> 00:28:58.160 Their vision of the future does not have room for who the Savior truly is. 00:29:00.480 --> 00:29:16.960 And also in Mark 15, 10, even Pilate, the Roman governor, who is not a nice guy, by the way, just saying he's a jerk, he knew it was because of envy that the chief priests had handed Jesus over. 00:29:17.519 --> 00:29:19.759 There is an underlying current in there. 00:29:20.000 --> 00:29:35.200 So it is a weird thing that the people who know and understand the scriptures better than anybody else understand the implications of this, but cannot submit to Jesus because it does not fit their narrative or their agenda. 00:29:36.480 --> 00:29:48.720 And so, this same group, a week from this time, will be stirring up this same crowd to be shouting, crucify him, crucify him. 00:29:49.599 --> 00:30:00.000 The same mob in Jerusalem, who either is heralding him as the king or is going, what's going on in Jerusalem these days? 00:30:00.160 --> 00:30:19.279 Everyone's loud, is going to be shouting, crucify him, because the religious leaders cannot handle a Messiah who is not a conqueror or the perfection of their religious pyramid. 00:30:20.160 --> 00:30:21.759 We'll get to that in a moment. 00:30:25.279 --> 00:30:30.240 There are three types of people I see here in this passage. 00:30:32.160 --> 00:30:39.279 The crowd seems to be blown to and fro by the tumult of the moment as a whole. 00:30:39.599 --> 00:30:41.200 Oh, big things happening here. 00:30:41.279 --> 00:30:41.680 Come here. 00:30:41.839 --> 00:30:42.960 Oh, hey, here's the king. 00:30:43.200 --> 00:30:44.079 Woo! Oh, wait. 00:30:44.160 --> 00:30:46.000 No, the religious leaders say crucify him. 00:30:46.160 --> 00:30:52.400 Boo! And that seems to be kind of in caricature what's going on with the with the crowd. 00:30:52.880 --> 00:30:58.319 Crowds of people tend to not make great decisions together. 00:30:58.559 --> 00:30:59.599 Just saying. 00:31:00.240 --> 00:31:07.680 The religious leaders are the ones who know and understand, but their hard hearts prevent submission. 00:31:11.359 --> 00:31:13.039 If I can say this. 00:31:13.680 --> 00:31:13.839 Okay. 00:31:14.799 --> 00:31:16.079 Everybody, you ready? 00:31:16.160 --> 00:31:17.920 We're gonna get our feathers ruffled. 00:31:18.240 --> 00:31:18.799 Ruffled? 00:31:18.960 --> 00:31:19.440 Ruffled? 00:31:19.599 --> 00:31:20.640 Good, okay. 00:31:21.440 --> 00:31:26.559 If they are looking for an empire, they are not looking for Jesus. 00:31:26.799 --> 00:31:29.119 They are not looking for a savior. 00:31:29.599 --> 00:31:35.599 If they are looking for an earthly kingdom, they have missed and bypassed the Messiah. 00:31:35.839 --> 00:31:40.400 And that sounds like a yes, duh, of course, or whatever, but it's still happening today, guys. 00:31:40.559 --> 00:31:43.759 And also, let me give you one more thing, something to challenge you with this. 00:31:43.839 --> 00:31:48.720 If I can give you the big challenge now, and then keep running away quickly and get in my car so you don't store me. 00:31:49.039 --> 00:32:07.920 So if we look at the substitutionary, atoning death of Jesus Christ, which we celebrate a week from today as observation of it, and go, that's cool. 00:32:08.720 --> 00:32:13.680 But wait till he comes back and sets everything in order. 00:32:14.400 --> 00:32:58.240 If our whole life, mindset, scripture reading, everything is consumed and occupied with the second coming of Jesus to the detriment of minimizing the miracle that has not been nor ever will be surpassed in human history, which is the reconciliation of sinners out of hell and into reconciliation with the Father, we might be in danger of going down that same path as the religious leaders who are so full of information and yet are missing the importance of the now. 00:32:59.440 --> 00:33:05.440 Third category of people, see how I'm pivoting hard, uh, is the disciples. 00:33:06.480 --> 00:33:14.000 They rarely understand what is going on, but they follow and they obey. 00:33:14.319 --> 00:33:22.400 Now, to be fair, they bicker, they uh are self-aggrandizing. 00:33:23.119 --> 00:33:27.680 A few days from now, when it actually gets down to it, they scatter. 00:33:28.480 --> 00:33:32.160 So I'm not making out the disciples to be perfect human beings. 00:33:32.400 --> 00:33:33.119 What are they? 00:33:33.279 --> 00:33:35.680 They're devoted to the Messiah. 00:33:35.920 --> 00:33:58.079 Afterwards, it takes a long time for them to actually believe, but when they are restored in that, they return to him, and they still don't get it, which is cool because in the book of Acts, at the very, very beginning, Jesus is about to ascend into heaven, and he's like, okay, the Holy Spirit, with all these different things, and they're like, cool, hey, are you gonna set up your kingdom now or what? 00:33:58.160 --> 00:34:03.039 And it's like pain our shop. 00:34:03.440 --> 00:34:10.960 So, with that in mind, it's I'm not making it out to be these things where they fully understand and know what's going on. 00:34:11.119 --> 00:34:13.039 At any rate, they never understand that. 00:34:13.119 --> 00:34:16.880 They don't do the right thing often, but they do obey the Savior. 00:34:17.119 --> 00:34:22.079 May we be people, as we look through this, who number one, obey our Savior. 00:34:23.519 --> 00:34:29.440 May we not be known as the people who understand it all, yet build our own kingdoms. 00:34:29.760 --> 00:34:33.119 Yet may we be people who obey our Savior. 00:34:33.280 --> 00:34:34.480 Now, is understanding a bad thing? 00:34:34.639 --> 00:34:38.719 Absolutely not, when it's submitted and gone through the lens of the cross and the Savior in the Word of God. 00:34:38.800 --> 00:34:39.599 That's totally fine. 00:34:39.679 --> 00:34:41.119 I have no problem with that whatsoever. 00:34:41.199 --> 00:34:43.199