Introduction: This event, the “triumphal entry”, is recorded in all four of the Gospels. Each author has similar but not identical information; among other things this proves they didn’t get together to create some “talking points” or too-close-to-be-a-coincidence narrative. Matthew and John were disciples: doubtless, they were there each time Jesus entered Jerusalem before He was crucified (there were three times, see Mark 11). Please take time to read and compare each of the four accounts to get the most complete picture.
The people of that time may or may not have known they were seeing prophecy being fulfilled right before their very eyes. How long or how well they remembered this, we may never know. But the saddest thing of all is that they, as a nation, rejected the very King Who was coming to offer the Kingdom of Heaven. Behold, the King came; behold, they rejected Him. Who can comprehend all this?
1 The preparation, outside Jerusalem
Text, Matthew 21:1-7, KJV: 1 And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, unto the :mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples, 2 Saying unto them, Go into the village -over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto me. 3 And if any man say ought unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send them. 4 All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, 5 Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass. 6 And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them, 7 And brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set him thereon.
Shortly before this, Jesus and the disciples had seen any number of things. One of the most striking was the conversation (interview?) Jesus had with the “rich young ruler” in Matthew 19, (also recorded in Mark 10:17-31 and Luke 18:18-30). Peter then asked Jesus what would happen to them—the disciples—because Jesus had asked them to “Follow Me”; they had done so, but certainly weren’t rich by anyone’s definition. Jesus then gave the parable of the servants in the vineyard (Matthew 20:1-16, unique to Matthew’s gospel).
Then the Lord Jesus Christ spoke directly and privately to the disciples, telling them exactly what was going to happen (Matthew 20:17-28). Needless to say, the disciples didn’t get the message: the mother of James and John, along with these two, asked for a special position for her sons in the kingdom to come! The other Ten clearly didn’t like this and Jesus had to put a stop to it, reminding all of them that there is a much different definition of greatness in God’s kingdom as compared to any other kingdom on this earth.
Now they’re close to Jerusalem. They’re in Bethphage (location uncertain but may be near Bethany) and were close to the Mount of Olives.
And they didn’t know it, but they would be making history that day. They also didn’t know that they would be fulfilling a prophecy made nearly 500 years before!
This last step in the preparation phase involved a borrowed donkey (“ass”, KJV; the animal will be referred to as a donkey for the rest of this message) and a colt. Jesus sent two (unnamed in this passage) of His disciples to borrow the donkey and her colt (verse 2) and bring the animals to Him. I’ve only seen donkeys and related animals from a distance, and didn’t know this, but a radio preacher and Bible teacher made an observation about this passage. He said that a donkey’s colt that had never been ridden or “broken,” like this one (see Mark 11:2) was a killer! If nothing else, for the Lord to ride a donkey which had never felt a human on its back would prove He was Lord of nature, too.
Eventually the two disciples brought the two animals to Jesus. All of them put some of their clothing on the donkey’s back and then did a very commendable thing—they set Jesus on the donkey. Now the preparation was finished, and the Lord was ready for His journey to Jerusalem.
2 The presentation, heading to Jerusalem
Text, Matthew 21:8-9, KJV: 8 And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strawed them in the way. 9 And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.
By now the disciples had placed their clothing on the donkey’s back and in a caring way, placed the Lord Himself on the donkey to prepare for His journey to Jerusalem. Before He got there, word reached ‘a very great multitude” and these folks joined the disciples. They also, like the disciples, took off some of their clothing and placed their clothing on the ground! They did even more than this by cutting down branches from some of the trees, placing them on the ground just like some of the clothing.
As this group walked towards Jerusalem, they began shouting “Hosanna to the Son of David, etc. (see verse 9).” The word “Hosanna” seems to have several different meanings, but a common thread is “Save us, Lord!”
Again, nothing is stated in this passage about which road or highway, if any, our Lord took in order to reach Jerusalem, nor is there any mention about which gate He entered. What is very important is that on that day, in front of their eyes, the people of and near Jerusalem were seeing a prophecy fulfilled. They had a chance to be part of a part of that very thing, and some were doing just that—following Jesus, and placing tree branches on the road in front of Him.
But something else was about to happen, something nobody saw coming.
3 The proclamation, inside Jerusalem
Text, Matthew21:10-11, KJV: 10 And when he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is this? 11 And the multitude said, This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee.
I have to confess, this verse has not been easy to understand. Why would the people be saying, “Who is this?” After all, this wasn’t the first time our Lord had been in Jerusalem! In fact, some of the religious leaders and other leaders had approached Jesus many times about many topics, seeing Him “up close and personal” as some say. For them or anyone else who had seen Jesus perform the miracles, teach the way He did, and interact with people as He did, and still wonder “who is this?” is something we may never comprehend.
Some did comprehend, and those were the people of “the multitude”. They got it partly right: they said, “This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee”. This was partly right because Jesus truly was a Prophet, the One Who brought God’s true messages to the people of Israel. But the people were partly wrong, too, because Jesus wasn’t coming into Jerusalem this time as a Prophet. He had come many times before to worship, teach, preach, heal, and do things according to His Father’s will (John 5 has one such discourse or conversation) but it seems He and the disciples arrived on foot.
This time, He came riding a donkey.
This time, He showed them He was fulfilling at least one prophecy.
And this time, He was coming as the promised King. After all, John the Baptist had preached that the kingdom of Heaven was “at hand”, and Jesus Himself had preached the same message. Now He was, incredibly, not demanding people obey Him, or anything else.
He was offering the people a chance to accept Him as their King! What king had ever done that before? Some of course had addressed the nation of Israel, such as David, Solomon, and Rehoboam but I don’t read where they had ever offered the people a chance to accept them as king. This action of our Lord, His grace in giving people a choice and a chance, stand alone in most of human history.
Conclusion: We do know the rest of the story, how that Jesus was “despised and rejected”, eventually crucified, but He rose from the dead. We don’t know why the people refused to accept Him as their King, but we can know the joy of salvation because of Him.
Oh yes, one day He will come back but then He will be “King of kings, and Lord of lords (Revelation 19) “. That’s one day I’m looking forward to! Will you be part of His coming Kingdom? If not, you can be. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved!
Scripture quotations are from the King James Version of the Bible (KJV).
