WEBVTT 00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:06.959 Our longest book study to date was the Gospel of Luke, which we did several years ago, and we finished that in exactly two years. 00:00:07.200 --> 00:00:10.560 So we've still got a ways to go yet in Matthew. 00:00:10.880 --> 00:00:19.600 This morning also brings us not only into a new era as a church over the past 11 years, but also into a new section of Matthew's gospel. 00:00:20.239 --> 00:00:25.280 We commence our study this morning on the Passion Week of Christ. 00:00:26.480 --> 00:00:33.359 That word passion comes from a Latin word, which means to suffer or to bear or to endure. 00:00:33.520 --> 00:00:46.479 And so when we talk about Christ's passions, we're not talking about passion in the frame that we think of in our use of the term, but of his sufferings, of his sufferings, the week of sufferings. 00:00:47.119 --> 00:01:05.439 It includes this triumphal entry, it includes uh his cleansing of the temple, it includes his anointing, it includes things like the Last Supper, his agony at Gethsemane, his arrest, his trial, his crucifixion, his death, his burial. 00:01:06.159 --> 00:01:13.599 And all of the Gospels, as they weave that story together this last week, we call those the passion narratives. 00:01:13.760 --> 00:01:20.239 And so we're going to look at Matthew's passion narrative, beginning with this triumphal entry. 00:01:20.959 --> 00:01:41.920 As we look at this passage of scripture, we see that Matthew has designed this so that we could recognize from where we're at the distinct features of who Jesus is, so that we could recognize and respond to him as the promised King, that we would know that he is the one who's come in the name of the Lord. 00:01:42.319 --> 00:01:44.640 So let me read this passage and then we'll look through it. 00:01:44.719 --> 00:01:46.400 There's three things I want to do with this passage. 00:01:46.560 --> 00:01:56.959 First of all, to give us very quickly the setting and the substance of the passage, and then to talk at length a little more length of its um significance. 00:01:57.200 --> 00:02:01.920 So let's read it and then we'll look at the setting and the substance very quickly. 00:02:02.959 --> 00:02:12.960 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. 00:02:13.120 --> 00:02:16.240 At once you will find a donkey tied there with her colt. 00:02:16.560 --> 00:02:18.479 Untie them and bring them to me. 00:02:18.719 --> 00:02:23.759 If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them and he will send them at once. 00:02:24.159 --> 00:02:28.639 This took place so that what was spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled. 00:02:28.800 --> 00:02:36.240 Tell daughter Zion, see, your king is coming to you, gentle, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the full of a donkey. 00:02:36.719 --> 00:02:40.240 The disciples went and did just as Jesus directed them. 00:02:40.400 --> 00:02:45.120 They brought the donkey and the colt, and then they laid their clothes on them, and he sat on them. 00:02:45.520 --> 00:02:47.759 Very large crowd spread their clothes on the road. 00:02:47.919 --> 00:02:51.680 Others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them on the road. 00:02:51.840 --> 00:03:03.199 And then the crowd who went ahead of him and those who followed shouted, Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven. 00:03:03.840 --> 00:03:09.759 And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in an uproar, saying, Who is this? 00:03:10.960 --> 00:03:17.919 The crowds were saying, This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee. 00:03:18.719 --> 00:03:21.520 Well, let's look at the setting very quickly here. 00:03:22.319 --> 00:03:40.400 Ever since Matthew chapter 16, five chapters ago, when Peter and the disciples declared Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, Jesus has been explaining to his disciples that they were going to go to Jerusalem and something significant was going to happen there. 00:03:40.800 --> 00:03:43.680 Matthew 16, 21, he says this. 00:03:43.919 --> 00:03:54.560 He said, It's necessary for him to go to Jerusalem and to suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and scribes to be killed and be raised on the third day. 00:03:54.800 --> 00:03:58.800 This is something Jesus repeated again in chapter 17. 00:03:59.120 --> 00:04:04.719 As they were gathering together in Galilee, Jesus told them, The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men. 00:04:04.879 --> 00:04:07.919 They will kill him, and on the third day he'll be raised up. 00:04:08.319 --> 00:04:13.360 And then he tells them that again in Matthew chapter 20 and verse 17. 00:04:14.000 --> 00:04:21.920 While they were going up to Jerusalem, Jesus took the twelve disciples aside privately and said to them, See, we're going up to Jerusalem. 00:04:22.079 --> 00:04:26.480 The Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death. 00:04:26.639 --> 00:04:33.600 They will hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked, flogged, and crucified, and on the third day he will be raised. 00:04:36.160 --> 00:04:40.879 Now they are at the very outskirts of Jerusalem. 00:04:41.120 --> 00:04:45.759 They're finally at the place Jesus has been talking about. 00:04:46.079 --> 00:04:47.519 They're finally there. 00:04:48.240 --> 00:04:54.079 But not only is the place significant as we get to this passage, the timing is significant. 00:04:54.319 --> 00:05:04.079 The timing of the arrival of Jesus in Jerusalem coincides with the Passover festival, which is a very significant part of the life of the Jewish people. 00:05:04.319 --> 00:05:07.680 It's one of the great festivals of the nation. 00:05:08.000 --> 00:05:16.480 And at this time, the population of Jerusalem would swell to a far larger size than it would normally be. 00:05:16.959 --> 00:05:27.600 Every Jewish adult from about 20 miles around was called to come in, and many, many, many others from around there would make their journey into Jerusalem as well. 00:05:28.879 --> 00:05:39.920 One scholar estimated the population of Jerusalem to be about 30,000 on a normal day, but with the festival, it would have increased fivefold up to 150,000 people. 00:05:40.079 --> 00:05:45.920 You can imagine just increasing the population of a place that large. 00:05:52.639 --> 00:05:55.600 William Barclay puts it at over a million people. 00:05:56.800 --> 00:05:57.920 It was a lot of people. 00:05:58.079 --> 00:06:00.720 The city was heaving with people. 00:06:01.600 --> 00:06:16.560 And in this moment, there is in all of this ingathering of people from all over, this rising expectancy, this messianic hope, that fervor of religion that kind of bolstered up. 00:06:16.879 --> 00:06:24.959 I got to feel a little bit of that last year in May when I was in Jerusalem for their independence day, the 75th year of their independence. 00:06:25.120 --> 00:06:26.720 And people came from all over. 00:06:26.800 --> 00:06:38.959 And as I was walking around the old city of Jerusalem, there are families walking together, young people walking together, older folks walking together, many of them carrying flags and waving them around. 00:06:39.120 --> 00:06:42.480 And in the evening, they would all gather near the western wall. 00:06:42.720 --> 00:06:47.120 And a friend of my roommate and I decided we'd go there on our own. 00:06:47.279 --> 00:06:47.759 So we did. 00:06:47.839 --> 00:06:49.439 We made our way all the way down there. 00:06:49.519 --> 00:06:55.360 And it was a heave of people dancing and singing and joyful and jubilant. 00:06:55.600 --> 00:06:57.519 It was quite an exciting moment. 00:06:59.439 --> 00:07:04.800 Jerusalem was filled with that kind of people, with that kind of mindset. 00:07:06.000 --> 00:07:09.199 But the Passover is also a foreshadowing of the death of Christ. 00:07:09.279 --> 00:07:16.800 When John the Baptist introduced Jesus to the world, he said, Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. 00:07:17.120 --> 00:07:21.680 The significance of the Passover wasn't passed over John. 00:07:22.399 --> 00:07:25.839 He understood exactly what was happening here. 00:07:26.560 --> 00:07:33.680 He knew the relationship of Jesus to that lamb that would be killed on the behalf of the people. 00:07:33.920 --> 00:07:54.240 And so that's the setting that we come into this passage with: a bursting city, an expectant city, an anticipated arrival by the disciples, with a puzzling statement that it wasn't going to be all grand and glorious for Jesus, but rather very difficult. 00:07:55.120 --> 00:07:56.720 Let's get into the substance of this. 00:07:56.800 --> 00:08:03.360 And I just want to highlight a few things as we go through this part of it, and then we'll retrace our steps in a moment and go back to it. 00:08:03.600 --> 00:08:09.839 But in verses one to three, we see, first of all, a major feature in this passage, Jesus' commandments. 00:08:10.000 --> 00:08:21.839 In fact, a full third of this passage is filled with Jesus making very precise statements about what the disciples are to do and what they'll encounter as they go about that. 00:08:22.560 --> 00:08:34.320 Two of them are to go into a village, and immediately they're going to find a mother donkey and her foal or colt, the male, the male donkey. 00:08:34.559 --> 00:08:37.360 Those animals are going to find them tied up. 00:08:37.600 --> 00:08:42.399 The men are to untie those donkeys and then bring them to Jesus. 00:08:42.559 --> 00:08:45.600 And if anyone asks them, like, hey, what are you doing? 00:08:45.679 --> 00:08:47.200 Or why are you taking those animals? 00:08:47.279 --> 00:08:50.240 Or are they yours or whatever? 00:08:50.720 --> 00:08:53.759 You're to simply reply, he tells them exactly what to say. 00:08:54.000 --> 00:08:55.440 The Lord has need of them. 00:08:55.679 --> 00:09:00.720 And then the person you say that to is going to make sure that you get them where you need to bring them. 00:09:01.120 --> 00:09:03.120 A lot of detail there, right? 00:09:03.919 --> 00:09:05.519 What's going on here? 00:09:07.039 --> 00:09:09.200 Did Jesus prearrange all of that? 00:09:09.360 --> 00:09:14.559 Did he sort of have a message kind of go out the back door and got it all prepared? 00:09:15.120 --> 00:09:19.120 And the disciples just needed to know what the instructions were? 00:09:19.679 --> 00:09:23.600 Did the owner of the animals understand what was happening? 00:09:25.679 --> 00:09:30.320 Was it some sort of supernatural thing where all of a sudden people would awaken? 00:09:30.639 --> 00:09:35.200 Was the word Lord some sort of like uh key word? 00:09:35.440 --> 00:09:39.840 And once it was said, the guy would go, Aha, I know who you're talking about. 00:09:40.240 --> 00:09:41.440 We don't know. 00:09:42.639 --> 00:09:55.200 All we know is that Jesus laid this out very precisely, and they did exactly what he told them to do, and what that he said would happen happened exactly as he said it would. 00:09:55.679 --> 00:09:58.480 Hold on to that because we'll get back to that in a moment. 00:09:58.720 --> 00:10:05.840 The next thing that we see in verses four and five is Jesus' fulfillment, not just Jesus' command, but Jesus' fulfillment. 00:10:05.919 --> 00:10:11.759 In verses four and five, this took place so that what was spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled. 00:10:12.000 --> 00:10:21.120 Tell daughter Zion, see your king is coming to you, gentle and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. 00:10:22.240 --> 00:10:26.639 It's been a long time since we've heard Matthew use these words. 00:10:27.200 --> 00:10:31.360 This took place so that this might be fulfilled. 00:10:31.519 --> 00:10:37.440 In fact, it was back in chapter 13, was the last time he said that. 00:10:38.720 --> 00:10:43.840 This is the ninth of ten of these statements that Matthew puts in his gospel. 00:10:44.320 --> 00:10:47.840 It's been a long time since he said any of those. 00:10:49.600 --> 00:10:59.360 And this way that it's written is written exactly like it's written at the announcement of Christ's birth in chapter 1 and verse 22. 00:11:00.559 --> 00:11:02.879 And the sequence is the same. 00:11:03.120 --> 00:11:11.919 You've got the statement of fulfillment that comes along with a command of which the following of which will be the fulfillment of what's stated. 00:11:12.080 --> 00:11:15.519 It's not looking back, but rather looking forward. 00:11:15.919 --> 00:11:27.759 Just as the angel announced the birth of Christ was to come in fulfillment of scripture, so this too is about to happen in fulfillment of scripture. 00:11:29.600 --> 00:11:33.600 Hang on to that a little bit because we'll go back to that in a moment, too. 00:11:34.399 --> 00:11:41.440 Then we get to the reception of Jesus, Jesus' command, Jesus' fulfillment, and Jesus' reception. 00:11:41.679 --> 00:11:44.480 And we see that some people are praising. 00:11:44.799 --> 00:11:48.480 As he makes his journey into Jerusalem, a very large crowd is gathered. 00:11:48.559 --> 00:11:50.720 They spread their clothes in front of him. 00:11:51.039 --> 00:12:04.480 Some of them are cutting down branches and laying them down on the road, and they're shouting out that Hosanna to the Son of David, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, quoting Psalm 118. 00:12:07.279 --> 00:12:24.559 This psalm, Psalm 118, is one of those psalms that would be sung at every Passover, a song that would have been sung at every feast of the tabernacles, a song that would have been sung perhaps even at the dedication or even Pentecost. 00:12:24.960 --> 00:12:26.639 This was a common song. 00:12:26.960 --> 00:12:29.440 This was a song they sang a lot. 00:12:30.080 --> 00:12:37.759 And it was a way of welcoming one another as they came from all of their places to the one place of Jerusalem. 00:12:38.559 --> 00:12:41.039 Listen to it in that context. 00:12:41.600 --> 00:12:44.000 He who comes in the name of the Lord is blessed. 00:12:44.080 --> 00:12:51.039 It's kind of a statement about all of us as pilgrims coming from our places to Jerusalem to come to this religious festival. 00:12:51.200 --> 00:12:54.080 Blessed are all us who come in the name of the Lord. 00:12:54.320 --> 00:12:57.519 They may not have thought it of anything more than just that. 00:12:58.080 --> 00:13:00.399 From the house of the Lord we bless you. 00:13:00.720 --> 00:13:03.360 The Lord is God and has given us light. 00:13:03.519 --> 00:13:07.519 Bind the festival sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar. 00:13:08.000 --> 00:13:12.000 Let the sacrifice be made so that our sins might be forgiven. 00:13:13.120 --> 00:13:16.159 So they sang when Jesus came. 00:13:17.200 --> 00:13:19.600 Some of them, however, questioned. 00:13:20.000 --> 00:13:22.639 We see that in verses 10 and 11. 00:13:24.080 --> 00:13:27.840 When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in an uproar saying, Who is this? 00:13:28.159 --> 00:13:32.399 Crowds were saying, This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee. 00:13:34.000 --> 00:13:42.799 Matthew uses a very specific word here to talk about the effect and the stir of the city of Jerusalem. 00:13:43.440 --> 00:13:48.000 He adds a word that's more appropriate for an earthquake, seismo. 00:13:48.159 --> 00:13:53.200 We get the word seismograph from it to measure earthquakes when they happen. 00:13:53.919 --> 00:13:56.240 The city was indeed in an uproar. 00:13:56.639 --> 00:14:00.720 The city was shaken, like it was shaken by an earthquake. 00:14:01.600 --> 00:14:04.320 Matthew's used this term before, and he'll use it again. 00:14:04.399 --> 00:14:10.320 He used it in chapter 8 when Jesus said to the sea, be still, and it was. 00:15:51.840 --> 00:15:53.600 The answer is given. 00:15:54.320 --> 00:15:57.759 This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee. 00:15:59.039 --> 00:16:00.240 Well, yes. 00:16:04.480 --> 00:16:05.759 But is that all? 00:16:06.960 --> 00:16:09.360 Do you have anything more to say about him? 00:16:10.879 --> 00:16:12.879 Matthew just lets it hang there. 00:16:15.440 --> 00:16:18.799 So that's the setting and the substance of this passage. 00:16:19.279 --> 00:16:32.879 Matthew is crafting this in order that we might understand the identity of the king and the identity of the kingdom, the character of the king, and the character of the kingdom. 00:16:33.360 --> 00:16:51.600 And he lays it out with all kinds of overt statements and hidden little nuggets that speak to anyone who has an ear of the Old Testament to realize just who this Jesus is and what he's about to accomplish. 00:16:52.000 --> 00:16:53.519 They're pointers in there. 00:16:53.600 --> 00:16:59.200 And like I said, some of them are like nuggets hidden in the ground that have to be dug out and looked for. 00:16:59.279 --> 00:17:03.840 And then there's others that are just boldly staring you right in the face. 00:17:04.400 --> 00:17:18.559 Well, the first one's just a little bit of an illusion of something that's about to happen, a whisper of ironic insight about what kind of reception Jesus is going to receive in Jerusalem. 00:17:19.519 --> 00:17:20.960 Look at verse one. 00:17:21.920 --> 00:17:33.039 Verse one, we find that Jesus embarks on his journey from a place that is still difficult for us to mark on a map. 00:17:33.359 --> 00:17:34.160 Bethphase. 00:17:35.200 --> 00:17:36.079 Bethphase. 00:17:36.880 --> 00:17:38.559 It's on the Mount of Olives. 00:17:38.799 --> 00:17:45.839 There's some idea of possibly where it might be, but there's still question marks about exactly what it was. 00:17:46.880 --> 00:17:56.319 Why did Jesus take this obscure, unknown place and mark it out as the place from which he begins the journey? 00:17:56.400 --> 00:17:58.000 Why didn't he just say the Mount of Olives? 00:17:58.079 --> 00:17:59.440 We all know where that is. 00:18:00.000 --> 00:18:02.559 Why did he have to mark out this spot? 00:18:04.480 --> 00:18:14.079 Well, this little spot, Bethphage, is a Greek transliteration of an Aramaic phrase which means the house of the unripened fig. 00:18:14.960 --> 00:18:17.039 The house of the unripened fig. 00:18:17.839 --> 00:18:27.359 And it refers to a type of fig that would grow and appear to be fruitful, but never actually came to fruition in its ripeness. 00:18:28.240 --> 00:18:33.519 It looked like it had life, it looked like it could be plucked and enjoyed, but it never got there. 00:18:33.680 --> 00:18:36.880 It was more ornamental fig than an edible fig. 00:18:39.039 --> 00:18:56.160 Well, when you drop down to verse 18 of this very same chapter, early in the morning it says, as Jesus was returning to the city, he was hungry, and seeing a lone fig tree by the road, he went up to it and found nothing on it except leaves. 00:18:56.400 --> 00:18:59.359 And he said to it, May no fruit ever come from you again. 00:18:59.599 --> 00:19:02.079 And at once the fig tree withered. 00:19:03.200 --> 00:19:12.480 Jesus embarks his journey into Jerusalem from a place that's going to be a signification of the reception he's about to have. 00:19:14.000 --> 00:19:19.200 It's a little nuanced whisper of what to expect. 00:19:40.000 --> 00:19:55.359 The second thing I want us to notice here by way of significance is this sort of detailed, almost excruciatingly detailed and minute discussion about getting these animals. 00:19:58.400 --> 00:20:00.960 All the details are there. 00:20:03.119 --> 00:20:13.839 Who's to go, where they're to go, what they're to find, what to do if they're questioned, where to bring the animal, what kind of animals they're going to find? 00:20:14.000 --> 00:20:16.000 All of that's there in the detail. 00:20:16.640 --> 00:20:21.359 And if anyone asked them the question, what are you doing? 00:20:21.519 --> 00:20:25.039 They're to say the Lord needs these animals. 00:20:27.839 --> 00:20:30.480 Well, that's a strange question, isn't it? 00:20:30.960 --> 00:20:32.480 It's a strange response. 00:20:32.640 --> 00:20:39.519 Does the Lord need a female donkey and its its male colt? 00:20:42.480 --> 00:20:44.160 What's happened to Jesus' legs? 00:20:44.240 --> 00:20:46.720 I mean, he's been walking up and down Galilee. 00:20:46.799 --> 00:20:48.400 He's been walking all over the place. 00:20:48.480 --> 00:20:49.759 He's been walking miles. 00:20:49.839 --> 00:20:56.160 He's walked up from Jericho, which is like 2,500 feet of elevation gain. 00:20:58.079 --> 00:20:59.200 Why does he need it? 00:20:59.359 --> 00:21:00.640 Is he worn out? 00:21:02.240 --> 00:21:13.759 No, no, it's not because he's got an extra load to carry, or he's got weakened legs, or he's just feeling tired, or any of that sort of thing. 00:21:16.640 --> 00:21:22.160 He's asking for these two animals because he's got something to show. 00:21:23.119 --> 00:21:29.759 He's got a prophecy to fulfill in every single little detail. 00:21:36.480 --> 00:21:40.079 We're even told that these animals are going to be tied up. 00:21:40.319 --> 00:21:46.000 They're not inside maybe a a pen loose and walking about. 00:21:46.160 --> 00:21:47.759 They're tied up. 00:21:48.640 --> 00:21:50.319 Why are we told that? 00:21:51.759 --> 00:21:56.640 Why these details about the donkey and its full? 00:21:58.480 --> 00:22:06.559 Well, when you look back in the Old Testament, you realize that Matthew is pulling in a couple passages from the Old Testament. 00:22:06.880 --> 00:22:11.119 And he's reaching to two very different places. 00:22:11.519 --> 00:22:15.839 And he's bringing them together to show us something. 00:22:16.400 --> 00:22:21.440 Here he's bringing us Genesis chapter 49 and verse 11. 00:22:21.599 --> 00:22:25.359 And he's bringing in Zechariah chapter 9 and verse 9. 00:22:25.599 --> 00:22:30.880 And he's saying, You see the connection with these two, and you see the connection with what's happening? 00:22:31.519 --> 00:22:33.519 Let me tell you what I mean. 00:22:34.400 --> 00:22:45.519 In Genesis chapter 49, right before he dies, before as he's leaving the promised land, Jacob gives a blessing to all of his sons. 00:22:45.839 --> 00:22:48.799 It's a blessingslash prophecy. 00:22:49.440 --> 00:22:58.480 And when he gets to Judah, his son, he makes this proclamation about him in chapter 49, verses 10 to 12. 00:22:58.880 --> 00:23:01.119 The scepter will not depart out of Judah. 00:23:01.279 --> 00:23:04.799 Now Judah was not the firstborn, or the secondborn, or the thirdborn. 00:23:05.039 --> 00:23:18.960 He was the fourthborn, but yet he's the ruler, and the scepter will not depart from there, or the staff from between his feet, until he whose right it is comes, and the obedience of the people belongs to him. 00:23:19.440 --> 00:23:23.039 Verse 11 What's going to happen with that one who comes? 00:23:23.359 --> 00:23:29.039 He ties his donkey to a vine and the cult of his donkey to the choice vine. 00:23:29.519 --> 00:23:31.359 Well, that's interesting. 00:23:33.119 --> 00:23:39.759 Matthew just said that Jesus needed a donkey and a and a foal. 00:23:41.359 --> 00:23:46.000 The prophecy about a coming king talks about a donkey and a foal. 00:23:46.240 --> 00:23:48.079 But this one's tied up. 00:23:48.400 --> 00:23:51.039 Jesus asked for his to be untied. 00:23:51.759 --> 00:23:55.119 Then you get to Zechariah chapter 9 and verse 9. 00:23:55.759 --> 00:23:57.680 Rejoice greatly, daughter Zion. 00:23:58.319 --> 00:24:01.039 Shout in triumph, daughter Jerusalem. 00:24:01.359 --> 00:24:04.319 Look, your Lord is coming to you. 00:24:04.720 --> 00:24:10.400 He is righteous and victorious, humble and riding on a donkey. 00:24:10.720 --> 00:24:14.960 On a colt, the foal of a donkey. 00:24:16.799 --> 00:24:19.759 Matthew 49 and Zechariah 9 tie together. 00:24:19.839 --> 00:24:22.880 They both talk about a donkey and the colt. 00:24:23.920 --> 00:24:26.079 And that's also mentioned in Matthew. 00:24:26.240 --> 00:24:28.319 The three are interconnected. 00:24:28.640 --> 00:24:35.279 And then Genesis 49 and Matthew 21 speak about the tethering of these two animals. 00:24:36.319 --> 00:24:43.359 What's the significance of all this sort of rope, this macrame of messages in these different passages? 00:24:44.799 --> 00:24:57.839 We're getting an echo out of the Old Testament of something about the life, the identity of Jesus, the identity of his kingdom, the character of Jesus, the character of his kingdom. 00:24:59.119 --> 00:25:08.880 Not only is this connected, Jesus coming, riding the very animals that the king who holds the scepter of Judah would have. 00:25:10.559 --> 00:25:13.279 But there's also a dramatic contrast. 00:25:14.160 --> 00:25:38.240 Genesis talks about a royal figure who is just like a king would do, full of royal surplus and royal bounty, ties his animals to the vine and fills himself, satiates himself with all the fruitfulness that he deserves as king, so much so that even his garments are stained. 00:25:38.559 --> 00:25:40.880 There's such a bounty of food. 00:25:42.720 --> 00:26:05.680 But this figure, this Matthew figure, no less royal, but instead of tying his ropes to the vine to take his fill, asks for his mounts to be untied so that he could suffer, so that others might be full. 00:26:07.839 --> 00:26:14.960 Again, just a whisper, but a whisper of something that is about to happen. 00:26:17.279 --> 00:26:35.599 And then not only do we have all these details about these two animals and where they're tied and where they're at and how to get them and where to bring them and all of that, we also hear these words about his disciples uh taking taking their clothes off and laying them on the animals. 00:26:37.039 --> 00:26:39.599 And Jesus sitting on the clothes. 00:26:40.799 --> 00:26:47.839 And then people taking their cloaks off and laying them on the ground, people cutting down branches and laying them down. 00:26:50.640 --> 00:26:57.920 We're talking about the eternal God come to earth and Matthew stuck on clothes and where they're at. 00:26:58.559 --> 00:26:59.200 Why? 00:26:59.519 --> 00:27:01.279 You have to ask why. 00:27:02.319 --> 00:27:10.000 Again, Old Testament echoes, little things that come flying out of the Old Testament. 00:27:11.759 --> 00:27:13.839 Second Kings chapter 9. 00:27:15.759 --> 00:27:18.640 Jehu is inaugurated as king. 00:27:18.960 --> 00:27:21.599 And he speaks to all of his men. 00:27:22.079 --> 00:27:25.440 And they're asking him what's been said to him. 00:27:25.839 --> 00:27:29.519 And Jehu says, Well, he talked to me about this and that. 00:27:29.759 --> 00:27:31.039 And this is what he said. 00:27:31.279 --> 00:27:35.279 The Lord says, I anoint you as king over Israel. 00:27:37.039 --> 00:27:40.480 He's gone from being the military commander to being king. 00:27:41.200 --> 00:27:52.559 And then it says in verse 13 of 2 Kings chapter 9, each man quickly took off his garment and they put it under Jehu on the bare steps. 00:27:53.200 --> 00:27:57.599 And then they blew a trumpet and proclaimed, Jehu is king. 00:28:00.640 --> 00:28:03.279 The king doesn't sit on the dirt. 00:28:03.759 --> 00:28:05.920 The king sits on the clothes. 00:28:06.160 --> 00:28:08.319 My clothes sit on the dirt. 00:28:10.480 --> 00:28:20.319 These men take their clothes off, their coats, and they lay them on the beasts, because Jesus is about to be proclaimed King. 00:28:20.799 --> 00:28:21.440 King. 00:28:23.519 --> 00:28:26.880 And then we have these clothes laid in front of Jesus. 00:28:28.079 --> 00:28:34.319 All these pilgrims taking off their cloaks and laying them on the road, and people cutting down branches and laying them down. 00:28:34.799 --> 00:28:39.920 Let me repeat what Bob read from Isaiah chapter 62. 00:28:40.480 --> 00:28:47.680 Build up, build up, clear, clear away, clear away all the stones. 00:28:48.160 --> 00:28:51.839 Well, if you've ever been to Jerusalem, it's a little hard to clear away all the stones. 00:28:52.000 --> 00:28:54.240 I mean, they're literally everywhere. 00:28:54.640 --> 00:28:58.079 But the one thing you can do is you can cover them up. 00:28:59.119 --> 00:29:01.440 It's as good as clearing them away. 00:29:03.920 --> 00:29:10.079 Build up, build up, build up, clear away the stones, raise a banner. 00:29:10.400 --> 00:29:13.680 Look, your salvation comes. 00:29:15.119 --> 00:29:16.480 Another echo. 00:29:17.039 --> 00:29:25.440 Another statement out of the Old Testament that's literally being fulfilled before the very eyes of all the people that are watching this happen. 00:29:25.599 --> 00:29:42.640 Some of them perhaps not even really aware that they're living out with these whispers of the Old Testament that speak of the identity of Jesus, the identity of his kingdom, the character of Jesus, the character of his kingdom. 00:29:44.079 --> 00:30:08.880 The palm branches would have been a great remembrance for people who knew their Jewish history in that triumphal celebration when Simon Maccabeas was brought into the city of Jerusalem with great fanfare, with people waving palm branches as he was victorious in the overthrow of Antiochus Epiphanes and the cleansing of the temple and the restoration of the worship. 00:30:11.440 --> 00:30:17.599 But what Matthew is laying out in these small details is like Jehu, he's a king. 00:30:18.559 --> 00:30:21.440 And like Maccabees, he's a rescuer. 00:30:22.240 --> 00:30:24.799 But he's not a military general like Jehu. 00:30:25.759 --> 00:30:28.640 And he's not a revolutionary like Maccabeas. 00:30:30.079 --> 00:30:32.240 He's a different kind of king. 00:30:33.279 --> 00:30:35.279 He's a different kind of king. 00:30:37.680 --> 00:30:40.480 And then there's the cries of welcome. 00:30:41.839 --> 00:30:46.240 All these things are pointing us a direction to Jesus. 00:30:53.519 --> 00:30:57.039 This loud proclamation, Lord, save. 00:30:59.200 --> 00:31:01.519 Like I said, comes from Psalm 118. 00:31:02.079 --> 00:31:04.880 And it was kind of a greeting to one another. 00:31:05.200 --> 00:31:10.559 Just like we might say goodbye to each other, God be with you. 00:31:10.640 --> 00:31:15.519 And we don't really think about saying, God be with you, we just say goodbye. 00:31:16.079 --> 00:31:29.279 So this could have been a hello, with the same sort of lack of really full understanding of what's actually been said, and yet enough of the saying for it to be true. 00:31:31.200 --> 00:31:45.519 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, and especially when you tie it with the Son of David, it they may not have known what they were speaking, but what they were saying was very, very true. 00:31:45.839 --> 00:31:48.079 Their salvation was coming. 00:31:48.559 --> 00:31:59.680 The one who is coming in the name of the Lord is here, and they should shout with joy because their deliverance is here. 00:32:09.599 --> 00:32:18.960 Doesn't identify the figure, but in Psalm 118 and verse 10 to 14, we find that he's the destroyer of nations in the name of the Lord. 00:32:19.839 --> 00:32:24.799 He faces death and yet is delivered by the Lord's hand in verses 17 and 18. 00:32:25.119 --> 00:32:28.400 That he's righteous in verses 19 and 20. 00:32:28.640 --> 00:32:31.759 And then in verse 22, a puzzling statement. 00:32:39.440 --> 00:32:51.680 Jesus, just a few verses later, in verse 42 of the same chapter, will take up Psalm 118 and that part of it, and talk about himself. 00:32:55.519 --> 00:33:13.519 So all these things, the town, Bethphage, the command that Jesus gives, the animals that are there, the clothes that are in this context, the welcome that he receives, brings us to the largest part, the prophecy that's fulfilled. 00:33:14.240 --> 00:33:16.880 As I said, there's expectancy in the air. 00:33:17.200 --> 00:33:28.799 This whole stream of people lining the way leading up to Jerusalem, and Jesus with his animals stepping over the cloves and the branches. 00:33:31.039 --> 00:33:38.880 All in, as Matthew says, in fulfillment of a passage that comes out of Zechariah chapter nine. 00:33:39.759 --> 00:33:41.759 Rejoice greatly, daughter Zion. 00:33:42.319 --> 00:33:44.720 Shout in triumph, daughter Jerusalem. 00:33:45.119 --> 00:33:48.799 Look, your king is coming to you. 00:33:50.559 --> 00:34:00.079 He is righteous and victorious, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the full of a donkey. 00:34:01.519 --> 00:34:08.800 Even before the time of Christ, Jewish interpreters saw this as a messianic passage. 00:34:09.760 --> 00:34:19.119 But Zechariah is talking about more than just an earthly deliverer, more than just a Davidic king, even a great Davidic king. 00:34:20.480 --> 00:34:29.199 Because that phrase, the king of Zion, is a statement that was very rarely, if ever, used about earthly kings. 00:34:30.400 --> 00:34:34.719 Psalm 48 praises Yahweh as the king of Zion. 00:34:35.360 --> 00:34:41.760 Psalm 149 and verse 2 identifies the king of the children of Zion as Israel's Maker. 00:34:42.400 --> 00:34:49.679 Isaiah 42 and verse 23 says that the Lord of hosts, the Lord of armies, will reign as king on Mount Zion. 00:34:50.880 --> 00:34:54.639 Jeremiah 8 asks the question: Is the Lord no longer in Zion? 00:34:54.880 --> 00:34:56.880 Her king, not within her? 00:34:59.599 --> 00:35:13.360 In Zechariah 9, when you look around Zechariah 9, you see exactly what this phrase is talking about, because in verse 16, he talks about a diadem that belongs to the Lord himself, the crown. 00:35:14.239 --> 00:35:22.800 In verses 9 to 17, he describes this king of Zion as a great warrior who defends his people, leads them into battle. 00:35:23.440 --> 00:35:31.519 Zechariah 14 and verse 9, he says very directly, on that day Yahweh will become king over the earth. 00:35:31.840 --> 00:35:35.280 Yahweh alone, his name alone. 00:35:36.159 --> 00:35:38.239 What is Matthew telling us here? 00:35:39.280 --> 00:35:44.079 Matthew is saying, look, your king is God. 00:35:45.599 --> 00:35:48.159 You're looking at a man on a donkey. 00:35:48.800 --> 00:35:50.639 Looks a little silly. 00:35:51.039 --> 00:35:54.639 Because he's not on the female donkey, he's on the colt. 00:35:55.920 --> 00:35:57.199 But he's God. 00:35:58.159 --> 00:35:59.840 And he's your deliverer. 00:36:00.159 --> 00:36:01.519 He's your king. 00:36:03.199 --> 00:36:11.920 So by this prophecy being fulfilled, it not only signifies the identity of Jesus, it signifies the character of Christ in his kingdom. 00:36:12.880 --> 00:36:18.159 Zechariah speaks about it, and he says that he's righteous and he has salvation. 00:36:18.320 --> 00:36:19.280 He's victorious. 00:36:19.440 --> 00:36:21.119 He's come to deliver. 00:36:22.079 --> 00:36:31.440 Zechariah envisions this king not riding on some glorious steed, but on the fold of a donkey. 00:36:34.719 --> 00:36:37.920 Humble, mounted on a donkey. 00:36:39.519 --> 00:36:43.360 I don't know about you, but uh I like watching Braveheart, you know? 00:36:43.679 --> 00:36:56.159 I like watching those sort of rallying, sort of victorious triumphs that it coming out of despair, where all of a sudden the strength of a small group wins over the day. 00:36:57.119 --> 00:36:59.840 There's nothing like this in Zechariah. 00:37:02.559 --> 00:37:14.880 I mean, this ought to be you're behold, rejoice, daughter Zion, your king is coming on a war horse, on a glorious steed. 00:37:16.880 --> 00:37:17.199 No. 00:37:19.440 --> 00:37:21.599 Not even on not even on the mom. 00:37:24.320 --> 00:37:25.679 He's on the little one. 00:37:29.760 --> 00:37:31.519 This is no misprint. 00:37:32.719 --> 00:37:34.320 This is no mistake. 00:37:34.639 --> 00:37:39.039 This is the prophet telling us what our king is like. 00:37:41.760 --> 00:37:48.880 And when he says he's humble, it's not just talking about his humility, even though he's full of his humility. 00:37:50.559 --> 00:37:56.880 The word humility carries with it the idea of being lowly or bowed or suffering. 00:38:01.280 --> 00:38:07.519 In contrast to arrogance, strength, might, vigor. 00:38:10.239 --> 00:38:13.519 He comes poor and afflicted. 00:38:17.360 --> 00:38:19.679 Yes, he's the sovereign Lord. 00:38:19.840 --> 00:38:21.199 He's Yahweh. 00:38:22.400 --> 00:38:25.199 But he's also the suffering savior. 00:38:27.760 --> 00:38:29.440 The world's never seen the like of it. 00:38:29.519 --> 00:38:31.360 The world couldn't dream of this. 00:38:34.480 --> 00:38:36.960 Let's go back to that little donkey. 00:38:38.639 --> 00:38:46.880 From the time of Solomon on, when they started to breed these animals for use of the horses or use of the kings. 00:38:47.920 --> 00:38:53.840 There's no example anywhere in the Old Testament of some royal figure riding around on a donkey. 00:38:55.679 --> 00:39:03.760 You could read ancient Near East literature and not find any king riding on a donkey. 00:39:05.679 --> 00:39:20.159 The only place you'll find it in any of the Old Testament era literature at all is Genesis 49, where the king ties up his donkey. 00:39:22.400 --> 00:39:23.840 It's laughable. 00:39:41.840 --> 00:39:47.519 Straddling some slow, dirty, undignified beast of burden. 00:39:49.840 --> 00:39:54.159 When the king comes to town, the king should look proud. 00:39:54.400 --> 00:39:57.199 The king should have an animal befitting to his station. 00:39:57.440 --> 00:39:59.360 The king should be at the head of the parade. 00:39:59.519 --> 00:40:04.400 The king should be with all of his decorated troops, and they should have their best on. 00:40:06.079 --> 00:40:11.360 Just like Alexander the Great did when he marched into Jerusalem about 300 years earlier. 00:40:14.639 --> 00:40:16.239 Not going to happen. 00:40:18.400 --> 00:40:27.519 All of this nationalistic hope for freedom and redemption is not going to come from might and strength and power and vigor. 00:40:28.480 --> 00:40:31.360 It's not going to come through the weapons of warfare. 00:40:33.360 --> 00:40:39.440 I'm sure the people of Israel would have loved for their Messiah to have a beast like that, but not like this. 00:40:45.599 --> 00:40:47.280 He's going to be meek. 00:40:48.559 --> 00:40:50.159 He's going to be suffering. 00:40:51.199 --> 00:40:57.760 He's going to be untying his donkey so that others might be full. 00:40:58.559 --> 00:41:03.679 Rather than tying his donkey to a vine so that he himself could eat. 00:41:06.239 --> 00:41:09.920 Hundreds of years passed from the time of Zachariah's writing. 00:41:10.320 --> 00:41:14.480 Hundreds of years passed since that writing of promise. 00:41:15.199 --> 00:41:19.519 Hundreds of years passed until we get to the life of Jesus. 00:41:21.039 --> 00:41:25.199 And Jesus asked for two animals. 00:41:26.400 --> 00:41:30.719 And he gets exactly what he asked for, exactly the way he wanted it done. 00:41:30.960 --> 00:41:38.320 And he comes into Jerusalem in such a humble, lowly way. 00:41:40.320 --> 00:41:42.320 Let's bring this all together. 00:41:42.880 --> 00:41:51.920 Jesus has arranged, and it's obvious from the way Matthew's writing this, Jesus has arranged every single detail of all of this. 00:41:52.159 --> 00:41:54.559 He's determined every step along the way. 00:41:54.719 --> 00:42:00.000 He's decided to ride this slight beast into Jerusalem. 00:42:00.320 --> 00:42:04.559 He's mounted that animal to make a bold statement about himself. 00:42:06.000 --> 00:42:17.360 Jesus rides into Jerusalem on that very first Palm Sunday, announcing that he's the Messiah, just as like Zachariah said, their Messiah would come. 00:42:18.719 --> 00:42:28.480 And by announcing this, he is saying, if you want to know who the prophet is talking about, it's me, Jesus is saying. 00:42:39.920 --> 00:42:48.400 Always looking out for the poor and the blind and the people that are in places of weakness and neglect. 00:42:49.199 --> 00:43:07.599 But one thing they don't realize is just how absolutely arrogant this sounds if it isn't actually true that Jesus is the very fulfillment of Old Testament scripture in every little detail. 00:43:08.960 --> 00:43:15.679 If somebody walked in here and said that, there's a half a dozen of you that would be on him before I could even say, go. 00:43:17.280 --> 00:43:22.000 And you would have that person out the door and to a place of help. 00:43:23.119 --> 00:43:29.199 But here's Jesus coming into a city and shaking it. 00:43:30.880 --> 00:43:32.159 Shaking it. 00:43:32.400 --> 00:43:37.440 Claiming to be the Messiah, claiming to be the fulfillment of Zachariah's promises. 00:43:38.000 --> 00:43:48.320 And when people in Jerusalem are feeling the reverberation of the waves of excitement and energy coming their way, they start to ask who is this? 00:43:52.320 --> 00:43:54.800 Who is this unsettling presence? 00:43:55.280 --> 00:43:57.760 Does anybody know who this actually is? 00:44:01.199 --> 00:44:09.760 If they'd thought about it, they would have said something far different than just, oh, he's the prophet Jesus from Nazareth, the Galilee. 00:44:11.360 --> 00:44:19.280 If they'd been able to pay attention to Scripture, they would have realized he wasn't just a prophet of God, he was the God of the prophets. 00:44:22.320 --> 00:44:26.000 And that his name is going to tell them what he would do. 00:44:26.480 --> 00:44:28.000 Yahweh saves. 00:44:29.760 --> 00:44:36.239 That he is Emmanuel, that he is the light that is dawned in the world. 00:44:36.480 --> 00:44:42.000 And that light was going to shine upon those people who would see him as he is and believe on him. 00:44:42.480 --> 00:44:46.000 And that he would be a light to the dawning of the Gentiles, too. 00:44:46.239 --> 00:44:48.639 Something we're celebrating even today. 00:44:49.679 --> 00:44:55.760 And as Matthew brings this little account to a climax, he brings it to a climax with a question. 00:44:56.639 --> 00:44:57.840 Who is this? 00:44:58.880 --> 00:45:00.079 Who is this? 00:45:01.760 --> 00:45:04.079 Some people think they have an answer. 00:45:06.320 --> 00:45:08.639 Some people that just have a question. 00:45:09.840 --> 00:45:17.280