Behold Your King! (Matthew 21:1-11)

Kootenai Church

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Open your Bibles to the 21st chapter of the Gospel of Matthew. Matthew chapter 21.

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Matthew 21, and let's pray.

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Our great God and Father, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we come and ask for your spirit's enablement this morning as we seek to lift up and glorify

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Christ through his word. May your spirit grant us the ability to communicate the truth here.

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May you enable us to be alert in mind and heart to receive what you have, that Christ would be seen in the glory of his kingdom.

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In his name we pray, amen. When I was a child,

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I can remember flannel graphs in Sunday school. Perhaps some of you remember them as well. And they used them to illustrate

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Bible stories. Flannel graph pictures. But the problem, at least from my perspective was, is that these stories were kind of presented in a disjointed way.

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In other words, there was a story, but it wasn't really attached to the flow and narrative of whatever was going on.

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And so my conclusion was, is that it was a story like other stories that I heard in my childhood that had been read to me.

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And so I wasn't really able to connect with it in any kind of truth proposition.

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And one of those stories that I can still remember was the story of Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey.

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And in fact, the church that I was part of, or our family was part of at the time, they would have the children on Palm Sunday come forward waving palm fronds as part of this whole endeavor.

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And we'd come and sit up front and there would be some children's message that didn't make a lot of sense to us.

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And then it was over. And that was my conclusion of what

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Palm Sunday was all about. And I really had no idea. I had no idea. Why, question, why did

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Jesus come to Jerusalem at that time of year? Why did

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Jesus come to Jerusalem at that time of year? And why was it necessary for him to come in such a public way?

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Why did he come at that time of year? And why was it necessary that he come in such a very public way?

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The purpose and result of this last journey to Jerusalem had been clearly stated by the

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Lord himself. For example, in Matthew 16, after Peter's confession of Christ, that you are the son of the living

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God, Jesus said, or it says, from that time, Matthew 16, 21,

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Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and be raised up on the third day.

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Luke 9, verse 51, and then verses 13 and 33 says, when the days were approaching for his ascension, he was determined to go to Jerusalem, for it cannot be that a prophet would perish outside of Jerusalem.

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So clearly, Jesus knew and thus planned to die in Jerusalem in fulfillment of the

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Passover lamb who takes away the sin of the world, John 1, 20. But there's more here.

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There's more here. He came publicly to the temple, the very heart of the nation, even though, even though he knew that both the leadership and the people had already rejected his message.

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They'd already rejected his message. So why did he come?

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Why did he come? The answer is this.

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It is because the rejection of him had been individual and unofficial up to this point.

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It had been individual and unofficial. Until now, he had not made to the nation an official offer of his kingdom.

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And thus, the nation had yet to render an official decision as to whether they would have him as their king.

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This official offer had to be made in the capital city and it was made in the capital city at the time when the nation, the city of Jerusalem was thronging with worshipers, pilgrims drawn from all over the empire.

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The population swell in Jerusalem at the Passover was immense. People came from everywhere.

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And so, so in the economy of God, there would be a publicly recognized, explicit, decisive, and implacable rejection of God's kingship over his people.

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This would render the official decision. Now, several months earlier, at the

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Feast of Dedication, in which Jesus had proclaimed, I am the Father, are one,

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John 10, 30, he had then fled from Judea across the Jordan River into Perea in order to avoid the murderous intent of the

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Pharisees, John 10, 40. While teaching there, some

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Pharisees attempted to scare Jesus into returning to Judea where they could get at him and kill him.

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They did this by telling him that Herod was going to kill him. Herod ruled

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Perea. And Jesus responded as follows in Luke chapter 13 and verse 31.

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You don't need to turn there. I'll read it for you. Just at that time, some

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Pharisees approached, saying to him, go away, leave here, for Herod wants to kill you. And he said to them, go and tell that fox, behold,

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I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow and the third day I reach my goal. Nevertheless, I must journey on today and tomorrow and the next day for it cannot be that a prophet would perish outside of Jerusalem.

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Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those sent to her, how often

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I wanted to gather your children together just as a hen gathers her brood under her wings and you would not have it.

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Behold, your house is left to you desolate and I say to you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say, blessed is he who comes in the name of the

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Lord. Jesus saw through their ruse, laments the city of Jerusalem that generates such a hard and unbelieving heart and then quotes

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Psalm 118 and verse 26. You will not see me until the time comes when you say, blessed is he who comes in the name of the

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Lord. That prophecy was fulfilled on Palm Sunday, Palm Sunday.

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So here's what I have for you this morning. I want to look with you at three aspects of Jesus' official offer of the kingdom to the nation of Israel so that we understand the significance of this momentous day.

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Matthew 21 and beginning in verse one. When they had approached Jerusalem and had come to Bethphage at the

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Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples saying to them, go into the village opposite you and immediately you will find a donkey tied there and a colt with her.

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Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, you shall say the Lord has need of them and immediately he will send them.

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This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet. Say to the daughter of Zion, behold, your king is coming to you, gentle and mounted on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.

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The disciples went and did just as Jesus had instructed them and brought the donkey and the colt and laid their coats on them and he sat on the coats.

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Most of the crowd spread their coats in the road and others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them in the road.

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The crowds going ahead of him and those who followed were shouting Hoshanah to the son of David. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the

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Lord. Hoshanah in the highest. When he had entered Jerusalem, all the city was stirred saying, who is this?

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And the crowds were saying, this is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.

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Drop down to 14. And the blind and lame came to him in the temple and he healed them. But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he had done and the children who were shouting in the temple,

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Hoshanah to the son of David, they became indignant. Said to him, do you hear what these children are saying?

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And Jesus said to them, yes, have you never read out of the mouth of infants and nursing babes you have prepared praise for yourself?

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And he left them and went out of the city to Bethany and spent the night there. What a strange account.

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What a strange account. Now, several weeks, several weeks before this event,

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Jesus had deliberately and shrewdly taken advantage of the sudden death of his friend

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Lazarus. John chapter 11, you remember that. He delayed two days when he heard that Lazarus was sick unto death.

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And he did that in order to begin the process of publicly declaring his claim to the throne of David.

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Previously, Jesus had suppressed that kind of proclamation. He had suppressed the publicity of his miracles.

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For example, in Mark chapter seven and verse 36, Mark writes, 736, he gave them orders.

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This was after he had healed the ability, given the ability to hear and see to this man.

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And he gave orders, verse 36, not to tell anyone. But the more he ordered them, the more widely they continued to proclaim.

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That's just one. He gave orders not to tell who he was and what he had done. John chapter seven and verse four.

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John seven and verse four. This is where his brothers say to him in verse three, leave here and go into Judea so that your disciples also may see your works, which you are doing.

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For no one does anything in secret when he himself seeks to be known publicly. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.

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He's hiding it. He's concealing it. He's telling these people, don't tell what

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I have done for you. But now it's all changed. Now he actively seeks to heighten that knowledge.

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And he did this in order to galvanize the crowds, in order to galvanize the crowds by his amazing display of kingdom power.

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Why? So that the crowds themselves would protect him from the murderous intent of the

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Jewish authorities until his time had come. Again, you remember, at the end of John 11, there's a meeting of the leadership of Israel and they say, we have got to kill this man.

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If we don't, we're gonna lose it all. How is he going to enter into the capital city?

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How is he gonna make the final and official offer of the kingdom to the nation and not die before his time?

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Shrewd as a serpent, innocent as a dove. Shrewd as a serpent, innocent as a dove.

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He arranges such an outcry on the behalf of the crowds that are streaming into Jerusalem that they protect him.

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They protect him. Matthew 26, verses four and five.

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They plotted together to seize Jesus by stealth and kill him. But they were saying, not during the festival, otherwise a riot might occur among the people.

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They want him dead, but not now. Not in public. If we arrest him publicly, there will be a riot.

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After raising Lazarus from the dead, Jesus and his disciples, they withdrew from Jerusalem a few miles north to a small village

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Ephraim, according to John 11, 54, and they spent a week or so there before joining the crowds of the

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Galilean pilgrims who were traveling south to Jerusalem for the Passover. Along the way,

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Jesus taught, performed miracles, and in particular, when they crossed over from the east side of the

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Jordan River at Jericho, he healed two blind beggars,

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Matthew 20, verses 29 to 34. This further excited the crowds.

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It heightened their excitement. They have been traveling south for the Passover, and the whole way,

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Jesus has been traveling with them and doing miracles and teaching at night around the campfire. There is a fevered pitch.

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And now, as they travel the 15 grueling miles from Jericho up to Jerusalem on the backside of the

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Mount of Olives, Jesus and his disciples go with them. But interestingly,

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Jesus and his disciples stop for the night in the village of Bethany, the village of Bethany.

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It is just to the east of the crest of the Mount of Olives. And there,

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Jesus and his disciples stop and spend the night because the Sabbath is coming.

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And so they spend the night in the home of Lazarus, Mary, and Martha, their friends.

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Sundown begins, or Sabbath begins sundown on Friday and ends Sunday morning.

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The crowds, they stream on down, back down the west side of the

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Mount of Olives and into the city of Jerusalem. And they are intent on one thing, making him known.

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By this time, the city and its environs have swelled to overflowing with pilgrims.

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There's a buzz in the crowd. John 11, 56, they were seeking for Jesus and were saying to one another as they stood in the temple, what do you think?

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He'll not come to the feast at all? Do you think he'll come? Will he come?

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All the pilgrims who have been traveling with him when they arrive in the city and they spread the news, they say, yo, he's coming.

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He's coming. We've traveled all the way south with him. We know he's coming. And we know when he is coming.

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We know where he is staying and we know when he is coming. He will come into the city at the close of Sabbath on Sunday.

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Beloved, this explains the massive surge of crowds early on Sunday that streamed out of Jerusalem and up the ascent to the

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Mount of Olives to receive their king. See, Jesus has arranged this event.

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21, one, when they had approached Jerusalem and had come to Bethphage at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, go into the village opposite you and immediately you will find a donkey tied there and a colt with her.

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Untie them and bring them to me. And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, the

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Lord has need of them. And immediately he will send them. It's Sunday morning now.

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It's Sunday morning. Jesus, his 12 disciples, his friends and neighbors there in Bethany, they begin the one and a half mile walk from Bethany down to Jerusalem.

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Along the way, Jesus instructs two of his disciples to go into a nearby village called Bethphage, the house of figs, and to secure transportation for him.

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Their job was interesting. It is to bring a donkey and its unwritten colt back so Jesus can ride on them.

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Jesus says to them, if they are challenged, they are to respond, the Lord has need of them.

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The Lord has need of them. Mark and Luke tell us that they went into the village. They found a colt tied there outside in the street and when they untied it, its owner and those standing around asked him, why are you untying this animal?

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And they respond with the designated countersign. The Lord has need of them.

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Mark 11, one to six. Now, if you'll permit me a little sanctified speculation, it is my sanctified speculation that Saturday night,

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Jesus arranged to have the donkey ready. But why?

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Why? I mean, it's not like he needs a ride.

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It was to fulfill all prophecy. To fulfill all prophecy.

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Listen, the nation of Israel is white hot with messianic expectations at this point.

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And it was by this deliberate act of self -disclosure that Jesus was openly declaring himself king.

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Notice, Jesus refers to himself here for the very first time in the gospel of Matthew as Lord, rather than his favorite designation, son of man.

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It's further lifting of the veil of secrecy over his true identity.

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The time had come. The time had come for the nation to decide. There on the temple mount in the heart of the ancient city, both the leaders and the people would be exposed to Jesus's unambiguous claim to be

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Messiah. By the time this day was over, the leaders would decide what they would do.

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The crowds who are so enthusiastically behind him at this point will also be faced with a decision.

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Their decision will follow over the next two days, Monday and Tuesday of the Passion Week. Now, on previous occasions,

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Jesus had tested the people of Galilee in order to reveal their true nature. For example, in the

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Sermon on the Mount in Matthew five through seven, Jesus exposes or puts before them the test.

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You have heard that it is said, but I say. You have heard that it is said, but I say. He is directly contrasting himself with the

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Pharisees. The righteousness necessary to enter the kingdom.

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Matthew five to seven, Sermon on the Mount. John six, 53, the bread of life discourse. Truly, truly,

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I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in yourself.

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The end of John tells us, many stopped following him. A cost of discipleship,

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Luke 14 and verse 26. If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.

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Multiple times he had brought the people of Galilee, and by the way, Galilee is the largest concentration of Jews in the world at that time.

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He had brought them face to face, individually with his claims. On Monday and Tuesday, on Monday and Tuesday of the

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Passion Week, Jesus would engage in an intense, running, verbal battle over authority with Israel's leadership.

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Look at verse 24, look up at 23.

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When he entered the temple, this is Tuesday, by the way, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him, and while he was teaching, he said, and said, by what authority are you doing these things?

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Who gave you this authority? Jesus said to them, I will also ask you one thing, which if you tell me,

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I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. It is a battle over authority.

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This battle, waged in public, in the precincts of the temple, would publicly test the true nature of his popularity among the nation.

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He would demand that they turn their backs on the righteousness of the

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Pharisaical system, and turn instead to him, to bow their knee to him as the true son of David, as the king, the rightful king of Israel.

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Their refusal to bend the knee would bring the entire nation under the judicial judgment of God for their unbelief.

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Matthew 23, and beginning in verse 37. Notice it follows, by the way, after the eight woes to the

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Pharisees. Side note here, just in case. There are two leadership groups in Israel, Sadducees and Pharisees.

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The Sadducees control the temple, and the people hate them. They've been ripping them off for generations.

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They hate them. The Pharisees control the synagogues. The people love slash fear the

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Pharisees. They assume the Pharisees have the keys to life. And Jesus brings them face to face with that decision.

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Pronouncing here at the end in 23, the eight woes upon the Pharisees for their hypocrisy.

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Having previously warned his disciples, beware the hypocrisy of the scribes and Pharisees, right? Verse 37,

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Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her. How often

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I wanted to gather your children together the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling. Behold, your house is being left to you desolate.

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For I say to you, from now on, you will not see me until you say, blessed is he who comes in the name of the

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Lord. Israel will never see their

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Messiah until they repent nationally and call out blessed is he who comes in the name of the

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Lord. They remain in darkness and unbelief that is there. Previous preparation.

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Verse four, Matthew 21. Prophetic proclamation, prophetic proclamation.

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Verses four and five. This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet.

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Say to the daughter of Zion, behold, your king is coming to you, gentle and mounted on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.

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This is a quote from Zechariah 9 and verse nine. This passage, nine and 10, was commonly acknowledged to be a prophecy of Messiah.

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Commonly acknowledged. The rabbis often discussed this passage along with Daniel 7, verses 13 and 14.

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And the problem that troubled the rabbis was this. How could Messiah be lowly and at the same time a warrior?

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How could he be lowly and at the same time a warrior? The answer they came up with was that if the nation was righteous, he would come on the clouds of heaven.

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But if not, he would come on a donkey. Now, because this prophecy of Zechariah was so widely discussed and was familiar to the crowds, it would come to their minds the moment

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Jesus fulfilled it. Now, I think it's instructive to note there are several ways that Matthew limits his citation of Zechariah chapter nine.

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For comparison purposes, let me just read to you Zechariah 9, nine and 10 from the Old Testament. Rejoice greatly,

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O daughter of Zion. Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem. Behold, your king is coming to you.

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He is just and endowed with salvation, humble and mounted on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

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I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem. And the bow of war will be cut off and he will speak peace to the nations and his dominion will be from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth.

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Matthew adjusts this when he quotes it. He adjusts it.

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He begins actually with a citation from Isaiah 62, 11. Say to the daughter of Zion.

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Not rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion, but say to the daughter of Zion. Rather than the original prophecy here which exhorts the people to rejoice and shout in triumph, he says to them, say to the daughter of Zion.

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Why no rejoicing? Why no shouts of triumph? Matthew, why do you leave that out? Because there is no true rejoicing here.

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It's superficial. It's surface. He leaves out the statement that Jesus is just and endowed with salvation because sadly his coming will bring their condemnation.

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Their condemnation. And he ignores the balance of the prophecy in verse 10 regarding the king's reign.

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His rule over the nations that he would bring war to an end. Why? Because that fulfillment awaits his second coming.

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Beloved, the church age. The church age fits in the white space between the end of verse nine and verse 10 in this great prophecy.

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Certainly Matthew under divine inspiration and writing from the perspective of history, he certainly would have included those portions of Zechariah's prophecy that he knew to be true if they had been literally fulfilled in the same way that the donkey was literally fulfilled.

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In other words, if Matthew wanted to communicate that Jesus' triumphal entry brought in the Messianic kingdom with his first coming, it would have been the perfect place to do it.

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Perfect place to do it. But he doesn't. He consciously does not.

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Why? Because the kingdom did not come and is not here yet.

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Yet. The crowds are looking for a conquering warrior king.

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Jesus is offering them a suffering servant, riding a donkey rather than a war horse.

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Revelation 19 .11, his second coming, he is riding that white war horse, that white charger.

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Verse six, the disciples went and did just as Jesus had instructed them.

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They brought the donkey and the colt and laid their coats on them and he sat on the coats. Most of the crowd spread their coats in the road and others were cutting branches from the trees, spreading them in the road.

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The crowds were going ahead of him and those who followed were shouting Hoshanah to the son of David. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the

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Lord. Hoshanah in the highest. Crowds are massive.

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Absolutely massive at this point. They're pouring out of the city,

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Sunday morning. They're coming out to greet and accompany Jesus on his trip into the city.

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Jesus crests the ridge of the Mount of Olivet. He is the disciples, they catch their first glimpse of that magnificent temple,

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Herod's great temple, highlighted against the skyline. And when the city comes into view,

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Luke tells us that Jesus wept over that city because of their failure to understand him and his mission.

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And he predicted their destruction by the Romans in AD 70.

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Luke tells us that in Luke 19 and verse 41. Luke 19, 41.

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And when he approached Jerusalem, he saw the city and he wept over it. Saying, if you had known in this day, even you the things which make for peace, but now they have been hidden from your eyes.

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For the days will come upon you when your enemies will throw up a barricade against you and surround you and hem you in on every side.

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And they will level you to the ground and your children within you. And they will not leave in you one stone upon another because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.

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The time of your visitation. By the way, to the exact day, if you take the time to figure it out from Daniel chapter nine in verse 25, to the exact day he entered that city.

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At this point, the crowds are overcome with emotion. They are overcome with emotion.

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They begin to pave his path with their garments. They cut and wave and lay palm fronds in his path.

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They're loudly voicing their messianic expectations. Here was the promised son of David.

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Here was the one who would feed our armies from a few small sardines and some tortillas.

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Here is one who can raise the dead. This is a general we can get behind.

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He will throw off Rome's yoke. If there's ever a day, this is the day the

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Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118 and verse 24.

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This is the day. The situation is awash in Jewish political fervor.

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Fervor. The Lazarus miracle has fueled the crowd's enthusiasm.

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John 12, verse 17. So the people who were with him when he called

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Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to testify about him. For this reason, also the people went and met him because they had heard that he had performed this sign.

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So the Pharisees said to one another, do you see that you are doing no good?

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Look, the world is going after him. But their enthusiasm is being twisted.

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It is being twisted into this notion of nationalism and political deliverance.

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He's gonna set us free. He's gonna set us free. Yes, he is.

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Yes, if you'll have him. No, he will not in the way you want him.

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The Passover. Remember the Passover. This is the feast that remembers God's deliverance of the nation, right?

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The Passover. This is the feast that remembers when God destroyed Egypt and brought his people out of captivity.

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It's fascinating because the palm branches. The palm branches by this time had become a symbol of kind of nationalistic unity.

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When the temple was rededicated during the Maccabean era after being defiled on Antiochus Epiphanes, palm branches were used as part of that celebration.

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During both wars with Rome in 66 to 80, 66 to 70 and then the second

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Jewish war with Rome in 132 to 135, in both of those conflicts, the rebels struck their own coinage.

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And the image on those coins was that of a palm tree. A palm tree.

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The palm tree now stood for independence, for national independence.

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So you have to understand, the waving of these palm fronds, the screwing them in the road in front of him, this was by no means a neutral activity.

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This symbolizes Israel's national hope as they focus on Jesus entering the city.

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Entering the city. If we bring together, by the way, the four gospel accounts of that day, we get an idea of the enthusiasm and the confusion of the moment.

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Matthew 21, verse nine. And the multitudes going before him and those who followed after him were crying out and saying,

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Hoshana to the son of David. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hoshana in the highest.

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Mark 11, nine through 10. And those who went before him and those who followed after were crying out,

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Hoshana, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father,

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David. Hoshana in the highest. Luke 19, 38. Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the

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Lord. Peace in heaven and glory in the highest. John chapter 12, verse 13.

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By the way, you notice all four gospels record the events of this day? By the way, that's like an immediate clue.

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This is important. Hoshana, blessed is he who comes in the name of the

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Lord, even the king of Israel. Now this cry, Hoshana, this is an

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Aramaic word. It means save us now. Save us now. It's drawn from Psalm 118, verse 25.

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Part of the Hallel Psalms. Universally recognized as a great messianic psalm.

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Likewise, this next phrase, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, is drawn from Psalm 118, verse 26.

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These Old Testament prophetic statements regarding Messiah, the people had a clear indication of their own expectation when they called

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Jesus son of David, even the king of Israel. By the way, grammatically, this whole, these passages all full of what's called imperfect verbs and the importance of all of that just means that this is repetitive.

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They are repetitively saying this. Hoshana, Hoshana, blessed is he who comes in the name of the

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Lord. You get this idea that it's just like a tumult of noise. Prophetic proclamation.

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Finally, public presentation. Previous preparation, prophetic proclamation, now public presentation.

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Verses 10 and 11 and 14 through 17. You might wonder, why did you skip 12 and 13?

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I skipped it because according to Mark chapter 11 and verse 11, that happens on Monday morning. So I'm keeping it chronological for you.

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Okay. Verse 10, when he had entered Jerusalem, all the city was stirred, saying, who is this?

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That word stirred, by the way, is translated in Matthew 27, 51 as shook by an earthquake.

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Shook by an earthquake. In the midst of all of this nationalistic fervor, it is little wonder that the entire city is shaking as if by an earthquake.

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By the way, the last time this has ever happened in Jerusalem was 30 years before when the Magi came into the city, looking for him who had been born

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King of the Jews. Attracted by the commotion, the people want to know who this is.

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Who's creating such a firestorm? The people answer, verse 11.

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The cross was saying, this is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.

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I mean, this just indicates the state of confusion that's going on at this moment. They're not sure.

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Some think Hoshana, son of David, this is the king. Others, a prophet from Nazareth.

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Does anything good come out of Nazareth? They're confused. There's nearly a riot happening at this.

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By the way, again, another aside. Pilate is in the city at this time. Pilate did not live in the city of Jerusalem.

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Pilate lived in Caesarea by the sea because it's much more pleasant by the sea. But he and his army would be in Jerusalem for Passover because that is the most dangerous time in the history of that nation.

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The crowds are enthusiastic. They're vocal about the support. But the leadership of the nation, they're determined and unmoved in their opposition.

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They're going to attempt to tamp it down. And in particular, this spontaneous outpouring of support.

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I mean, after all, this kind of public support here, there's no way they can let this continue. No way.

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As they say over in John 11, 48, if this continues, the Romans will come and they will take away our place and our nation.

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If we don't tamp this down, and they want to do away with him quietly, but they can't.

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The crowds are his protection. The first to express their disapproval are the

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Pharisees, who during the procession itself, they want Jesus to stop the people from openly proclaiming him as Messiah, just like he'd always done in the past.

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You remember, during his two and a half years of public ministry, the Pharisees, they just, they dogged him, they followed him.

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They were seeking something to accuse him of. And they observed that when he did these great miracles, which was unimpeachable, undeniable, although they would attribute them to Beelzebub, the power of the evil one, right?

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They noticed that he tamped down his own publicity. And so they call on him to do exactly that.

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But Jesus responds in a very interesting way. He says, now, if they are silent, the rocks will cry out, because the day has come.

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Luke 19, verses 39 and 40, some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, teacher, rebuke your disciples.

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But Jesus answered, I tell you, if these become silent, the stones will cry out.

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Scripture often speaks of inanimate nature praising Yahweh. This is a clear, clear declaration by Jesus of his divinity, of his divinity.

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Then comes the conflict with the Sadducees, which Matthew records for us in verses 14 through 17.

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The blind and the lame came to him in the temple. He healed them. But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things he had done, and the children who were shouting in the temple, hoshanah, to the son of David, they became indignant and said to him, do you hear what these children are saying?

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And Jesus said to them, yes, have you never read, out of the mouth of infants and nursing babes, you have prepared praise for yourself?

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And he left them and went out of the city to Bethany and spent the night there. Oh, by the way, he will spend the night in Bethany all week long.

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He will do battle in the temple, and then he will leave the city to Bethany and reside under the hospitality of Lazarus, who will protect him with his life, if necessary.

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Upon entering the court of the Gentiles on this Palm Sunday, the lame and the blind, the lame and the blind, or the blind and the lame, they flock to Jesus, and he heals them, and he heals them.

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And this only further excites the crowd. Why? Because the prophet

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Isaiah says that this is exactly what the kingdom will be like.

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Catching the spirit of the day, the children begin shouting praises and prayers of deliverance along with the adults.

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The Sadducees who control the temple area, they're incensed at this. They are incensed, first off, because Jesus is healing those who have been excluded from the congregation of Israel because of their physical defects, because of their afflictions.

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Notice the expression here. When they saw the wonderful things he had done, he restored them like new.

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And the noise of the crowds? Oh, the noise, noise, noise, noise, right? It's driving them crazy. They want

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Jesus to shut the children up. Verse 16, notice how

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Jesus responds. He rebukes them. He rebukes them. And he quotes Psalm 8 and verse 2, which speak of the mighty works of Yahweh and again applies it to himself, to himself.

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Like the prophet Malachi, the Lord, Yahweh, has entered his temple.

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Following this initial confrontation, Matthew tells us

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Jesus looks around, surveys what's going on there in the temple, and then leaves for the night to rest in Bethany under the protection of Lazarus' hospitality.

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He will be back Monday morning. On the way in, he will seek for fruit from the fig tree and he will find none and curse it.

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The fig tree stands for Israel. He will drive out the money changers.

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Mark tells us he will take possession of the temple mount for two days, teaching, defeating all who come to him from the

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Pharisees and the Sadducees. And then at the end of the day on Tuesday, he will put it to the people.

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Will you have them or me? You cannot have us both. Behold your kingdom.

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He leaves them silent on Wednesday to think about it. Thursday's the preparation for the Passover.

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He arranges to have a place to celebrate it. Wednesday, Judas, who has been rebuked the prior

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Saturday night for his criticizing

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Mary, who, you remember, anointed Jesus for his burial. Why? Because Judas was a thief and was stealing from the money box.

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Judas arranges with the Sadducees to betray Jesus for 30 pieces of silver.

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Jesus arranges for a secretive sign, a man with a water jug.

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That's where you'll know where the room will be that's been prepared for us to go and celebrate Passover together because I want one more

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Passover with you. And so they do it Thursday. He washes their feet.

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He offers Judas one last chance. Judas refuses and Satan enters in.

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Jesus dismisses him and begins his final teaching period with his disciples.

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John 15, it's like he's got an internal timer. Judas is gone. He's gone to get the Romans to arrest me.

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He's counting it down as he's teaching and he goes, we get up and get out of here. Check it out, John 15, verse one.

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He takes them to Gethsemane, prays, and there is arrested, tried illegally, convicted illegally, and he's on the cross by noon on Friday.

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It's a marvelous, marvelous story. Beloved, the crowds, including his disciples, they did not understand the events that went on.

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And the reason they didn't understand it is because they had preconceived ideas, comfortable categories in which they had confined

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Jesus and his call upon their lives. John 12, verse 16, these things his disciples did not understand at the first, but when

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Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written of him and that he had done these things to him.

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They were looking for Jesus to save their nation when he came to save their souls, came to save their souls.

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And how did he do it? And how, like them, we can often be.

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When we look to Jesus as the answer to life's problems, rather than embrace him as the

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Messiah who came first and foremost to die in our place to save us from our sin, and in the process, lay claim to complete and undivided loyalty to him.

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Just like them, we face a decision too. Behold your king.

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Will you have him? I pray to God you will. Let's pray.

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Father, thank you. Thank you for the gift of eternal life secured fully and offered freely to us in the

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Lord Jesus Christ. Oh Lord, as we ourselves embark on this reminder of Passion Week in preparation for the

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Resurrection Sunday next, may you enable us to carve out some time to just think about the momentous events of that week, that we might come to Resurrection Sunday with hearts overflowing as we celebrate that which he has secured for us, life everlasting.