Matthew 21

¹ And Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, ² saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. ³ If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.” ⁴ This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying, ⁵ “Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’” ⁶ The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. ⁷ They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. ⁸ Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. ⁹ And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” ¹⁰ And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” ¹¹ And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”

In Thomas Madden’s review of Jonathan Phillips’ book, The Life and Legend of the Sultan Saladin, he describes how the Muslim Saladin conquered and then triumphantly entered Jerusalem in 1187 AD (an event so shocking, Madden tells us, that Pope Urban III died after hearing about!). Many of the details are quite fascinating. He writes:

The conquest of Jerusalem was the centerpiece of Saladin’s career. He wanted it to be a religious moment, as well as high-profile revenge for the Christians’ capture of the city in 1099. According to Imad al-Din, Saladin proclaimed:

I wish to deal with Jerusalem in the same way that the Christians treated it when they took it from the Muslims . . . they inundated it with blood and did not permit a moment’s peace. I will cut the throats of their men and enslave their women.

But when Saladin laid siege to Jerusalem, its garrison commander, Balian of Ibelin, dissuaded him from this plan…Balian knew that Saladin had staked much on his triumphal entry into Jerusalem and the restoration of the Dome of the Rock and the al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount. Balian vowed to destroy these holy sites unless Saladin agreed to a peaceful surrender. Faced with that credible threat, the sultan agreed to terms of surrender. He then rode triumphantly into Jerusalem on October 2, 1187—the anniversary of Muhammad’s Night Journey.

Saladin’s approach to the inhabitants of Jerusalem is most interesting. Madden explains:

According to the surrender agreement, the conquered could ransom themselves at the cost of ten dinars per man, five per woman, and one per child. After payment, one received a receipt allowing departure from the city with whatever goods one could carry. There were approximately sixty thousand Christian men in the city and an unknown number of women and children. Since the ransoms were costly, people were forced to sell their goods to redeem themselves and their families. Merchants from neighboring territories swept into the area to take advantage of the bargains. Balian of Ibelin organized an effort to collect funds from wealthy Christians, the patriarch of Jerusalem, and the military orders that paid out thirty thousand dinars to redeem eighteen thousand poor. Others were allowed to leave without ransom as an act of charity on the part of Saladin or his supporters. Though most of Jerusalem’s Christian inhabitants managed to depart and make their way to Tyre, when all was said and done about sixteen thousand poor had been led to the slave markets of Egypt and Syria.[1]

Saladin’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem was markedly different from Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Consider:

• Saladin came to Jerusalem wanting the blood of the people. Jesus came to Jerusalem to shed His blood for the people.
• Saladin had to be blackmailed out of his desire to kill. Jesus willingly laid down His life.
• Saladin made the inhabitants raise a ransom price to free themselves. Jesus died as a ransom payment to free us.

Two famous figures. Two triumphal entries into Jerusalem. But two very, very different events. May we be grateful that they were! Let us consider more closely the triumphal entry of Jesus.

Jesus enters Jerusalem lowly and humbly, in contrast to earthly powers.

Jesus, in His first advent, came lowly. He was born lowly. He lived lowly. He entered Jerusalem lowly. He was humble and His triumphal entry was humble.

¹ And Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, ² saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. ³ If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.” ⁴ This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying, ⁵ “Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’” ⁶ The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them.

Let us first note that Jesus realizes that this entry into Jerusalem will be unlike His earlier entries. The church father John Chrysostom writes of this entry:

He had often entered Jerusalem before, but never with so much at stake. Why were earlier visits different? They came early in the dispensation, when he was not very well known. The time of his Passion had not drawn near. He mixed in without distinction, keeping his identity under wraps…But by now he had given them sufficient proof of his miraculous power. The cross was at the door He now makes himself more conspicuous. He does not hesitate to do things that were likely to inflame them. All this happens with dramatic impact.[2]

Yes, “the cross was at the door.” This entry was different. Things were being set in motion. So one might think He would enter with a grandiose display. But no. He comes “mounted on a donkey.” A donkey!

Winston Church once said of another, “He is a humble man, but then, he has much to be humble about!”[3] That is funny! But, of course, that does not apply to Jesus. He was God’s Son! He was the Savior! He is King of Heaven and Earth! No, this entry was certainly not befitting the reality of His person…but it was befitting the reality of His purpose, of His mission, indeed, of His love for us. Jesus comes down, down, down to reach us! He humbles himself. The great expression of this is found in Philippians 2.

⁴ Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. ⁵ Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, ⁶ who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, ⁷ but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. ⁸ And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

He “emptied himself.” He took the form “of a servant.” “He humbled himself.”

Behold our King! This is what love looks like!

Humility can be shocking. Muhammad Ali once wrote of going to visit Billy Graham. Ali wrote:

When I arrived at the airport, Mr. Graham himself was waiting for me. I expected to be chauffeured in a Rolls Royce or at least a Mercedes, but we got in his Oldsmobile and he drove it himself. I couldn’t believe he came to the airport driving his own car. When we approached his home I thought he would live on a thousand-acre farm and we drove up to this house made of logs. No mansion with crystal chandeliers and gold carpets, it was the kind of a house a man of God would live in. I look up to him.[4]

Yes, we do look up to the great people of the world who humble themselves willingly. It is so surprising. It is so rare! The way of the world is not like this, naturally. Calvin Miller was correct when he wrote:

Ego plays at life

To fill the hours with smiling politics

But only power can satisfy the arrogant.[5]

That is true! But the truly powerful are those who can set it aside, and none are more powerful than Jesus! The creator of the world comes riding on a donkey to die by the hands of His own creation. Who could conceive of such a thing as this! Unbelievable! Indescribable! Behold, the King comes lowly!

Jesus enters Jerusalem to the fickle acclaim of the crowd.

And He comes to great acclaim, fickle though it will prove to be. The crowd rejoices…for now. Watch:

⁷ They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. ⁸ Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. ⁹ And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” ¹⁰ And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” ¹¹ And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”

Every preacher who preaches on this text points out that some who shouted “Hosanna!” at the triumphal entry shouted “Crucify Him!” shortly thereafter. And that is correct. Though not all did.

Many cried out in genuine faith. They praised God. They saw Jesus as the coming King, the “Son of David.” They saw Him as from God. They saw Him as a prophet. Yes, some believed.

Others were undoubtedly caught up in the religious fervor of the moment, the religious show, if you will. Beware the religious pep rally that majors on enthusiasm and missed the cross! Beware the hype that does not walk to Calvary! Beware the fervor that lacks commitment! Mobs may exist in religion just as much as in any other walk of life. Beware the religious mob!

It is easy to shout “Hosanna!” when it costs nothing. How hard it is to shout it when doing so may result in suffering.

Have you seen the 1936 photograph of the huge crowd giving the Nazi salute? You may have seen this photograph because it is famous for a very unique feature. Namely, there is one man who is not giving the salute. He is surrounded by people giving the salute. He is not. Many think that man is August Landmesser. It might be. Other names have been proposed. Whoever it is, he is standing with arms crossed refusing to give the Nazi salute. For this reason, he has been hailed a tremendous picture of courage and conviction.

It is hard to stand against the crowd and be true to one’s convictions. It takes courage and, more than anything, it takes actual belief. What we see in this scene when compared to the scenes to come is that at least many of these cheering Jesus seem to have been caught up in a moment, but they lacked conviction.

“The whole city was stirred up.” Jesus created quite the buzz! But being “stirred up” clearly does not mean one has actual conviction.

Jesus enters Jerusalem in fulfillment of prophecy.

Matthew tells us that Jesus entered Jerusalem “to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet.” He is speaking of Zechariah in Zechariah 9. Most of us are familiar with those aspects of this prophecy that Matthew provides, but have you ever heard the wider context? It is quite telling and brings further weight to Jesus’ triumphal entry.

⁹ Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. ¹⁰ I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall speak peace to the nations; his rule shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth. ¹¹ As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit. ¹² Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope; today I declare that I will restore to you double. ¹³ For I have bent Judah as my bow; I have made Ephraim its arrow. I will stir up your sons, O Zion, against your sons, O Greece, and wield you like a warrior’s sword. ¹⁴ Then the Lord will appear over them, and his arrow will go forth like lightning; the Lord God will sound the trumpet and will march forth in the whirlwinds of the south. ¹⁵ The Lord of hosts will protect them, and they shall devour, and tread down the sling stones, and they shall drink and roar as if drunk with wine, and be full like a bowl, drenched like the corners of the altar. ¹⁶ On that day the Lord their God will save them, as the flock of his people; for like the jewels of a crown they shall shine on his land. ¹⁷ For how great is his goodness, and how great his beauty! Grain shall make the young men flourish, and new wine the young women.

We can see, then, that the prophecy was not merely about how the coming King would enter the city. Consider the many dynamics of the prophesy:

• The coming King would bring joy (v.9).
• The coming King would bring celebration (v.9).
• The coming King is bringing salvation with Him (v.9).
• The coming King will bring peace (v.10).
• The coming King will rule the entire earth (v.10).
• The coming King will establish a covenant with God’s people (v.11).
• The coming King will set the prisoner free (v.11).
• The coming King will restore a double portion (v.12).
• The coming King will destroy the enemies of God’s people (v.13-15).
• The coming King will save His people (v.16).
• The coming King will bless His people (v.17).

This, Jesus accomplished! His coming on a donkey signified that the King who would accomplish all of these things had come at last!

Those who would turn on Jesus or flee in terror or stand in mute denial among the baying mob undoubtedly could not understand how this Jesus could accomplish these things while going to a cross. Even so, we know that it was through the cross and the empty tomb that He was able to do all of this! What they saw as His defeat was nothing less than the painful path of His victory…and hours!

Indeed, the King had come, and the humility of riding that donkey would give way soon to the greater humility of taking that cross. Such is the Kingdom! Our Victor conquers through a cross and an empty tomb! Yes, such is the Kingdom, and such is our King!

Behold, He comes…

 

[1] https://www.firstthings.com/article/2020/04/the-great-saracen

[2] Simonetti, Manlio, ed. Matthew 14–28. Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture. Gen Ed. Thomas C. Oden. New Testament Ib (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 20020), p.123.

[3] Ortlund, Gavin. Humility. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2023.

[4] Brown-Cooper, Karen. Growing Up Brown. (Xulon Press, 2007), p.90.

[5] Miller, Calvin. The Divine Symphony (Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House Publishers, 2000), p.108.