The King Has Come!: Matthew 21:1-11

Hi, we want to welcome you this morning. It's good to be able to worship with you though. We're not here together. We're not assembled together. Physically, we are spiritually and you can hear the Word of God and worship.

And this is a really good time for us. The world needs good news right now. And this week is great news. This is Holy Week from Palm Sunday to Resurrection Sunday. We're celebrating Jesus Christ his atonement for us and his resurrection.

What good news? You need to focus on him on this time and realize That he is with us. He's with his church and he gives us comfort. So I want to welcome you this morning. We pray that you will be blessed as You worship God.

I want to open up with a word prayer. Let's pray Dear Heavenly Father. Thank you for the blessed resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ for his wonderful atonement for our sins on the cross and The great hope that we have in him the great hope that we have in heaven.

I pray that you would bless our worship today and bless our Our time together and we ask this in Jesus name. Amen. Some what announcements the president Has given a stay-at-home order as you know for the month of April and we will abide by that.

That.

Though we will not have services and Bible studies for this time We are still the church we will provide Sunday sermons on YouTube and Continue to update you when we will be able to meet. So also in terms of prayer Our thanks and prayers go out for the first responders the doctors nurses and medical workers Who are putting their lives on the line for us?

Also, we want to remember in prayer the police and the firefighters and the National Guard Who are doing a heroic work? Pray that the Lord will protect us as a church from the virus and Use this time to minister Christ to needy and hurting people.

Pray that the Lord will deliver our Our state country and world from this virus and That people will see their need for Christ. Pray for God's grace and comfort for those Who have gotten sick by the virus and those who have died?

Pray for the families at this time. Pray for God's blessing upon us as a church in this time of Palm Sunday and Easter and that we would find joy in Christ and his Resurrection so it's at this time. We want to have some worship life can be mundane and hard and we can lose sight of What matters we look around at the world today.

We see a lot of problems. We see a lot of violence and We're wondering what's going on. And now we have a whopper we have the coronavirus a worldwide pandemic to face and We have to ask ourselves how Can we deal with this?

And what is to be our focus. Well, first of all as the church we want to remember that trials will come and they do come and.

These.

Diseases and pandemics do come in the world and We're faced with one now. But God is in control of the world and God is in control of this. So we want to remember that. We we ought to remember that the King has come and that's what we celebrate in Palm Sunday that he that he has come and he went to the cross to die for our sins and he rose again from the dead and Now he is coming again and that's the good news and we want to focus on that in the in this time and Remember that we are we are now God's.

People.

And that Jesus is Lord and I hope he he is your Lord because Because he is Lord we we realize that he is Greater than all things and he is in control of all things and he uses all things for his glory.

Let us not forget that the grand purpose of Our lives is to know God and reflect him in our lives.

We don't.

Lose sight of that now. Even though we're not assembling together We're still God's people and our focus is still to glorify Jesus Christ. And that's what Palm Sunday reminds us of. Let's turn to Matthew 21 verses 1 through 11.

Matthew 21 verses 1 through 11. Okay, I'll read. Now when they drew near Jerusalem and came to Bethpage at the 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 and a colt with her.

Loose them and bring them to me. And if anybody says anything to you, you shall say the Lord has need of them and immediately he will send them and This was done that it might be fulfilled. Which was spoken by the Prophet saying tell the daughter of Zion behold your King is coming to you Lowly and sitting on a donkey a colt the fowl of a donkey.

So the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded him. They brought the donkey and the colt laid their clothes on them and set him on Them. And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road. Others cut down branches from the trees and Spread them on the road.

Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out saying Hosanna to the Son of David. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord Hosanna in the highest. And when he had come into Jerusalem all the city was moved saying who is this.

So the multitude said this is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee. So we're considering this morning the fact that the king has come and We want to look at the omniscient Savior, that's the first point.

The King.

The Lord Jesus is the omniscient Savior verses 1 through 3. We want to look at The fact that this is all according to God's plan.

And.

So we see something so very important in these verses something that gives us. Hope is That Jesus Christ is the king. He's not only the king of Israel. He's the king of the world and he's come and he's died for our sins.

And he's risen again to give us eternal life and he is in control of this world. And he is in control of our lives and that is our comfort in the midst of all of our Trials. And and that's what we see this morning.

And.

In verse number one. What we want to realize is the Lord Jesus was in Bethany. Let's turn to John 12 verse 1 and see that He was in Bethany. And it was six days.

Before.

Passover John 12 1 and he was there with his friends Lazarus Martha and Mary and you see John 12 1 says then six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany where Lazarus was who had been dead whom he raised from the dead in our Lord before This very eventful time when he would go and die for our sins.

Was there with his friends and received great comfort in there? Mary also Anointed him for his death now. We see the chronological order. So in chapter 12 verse 12 of John we see the very next day. We have what's called the triumphal entry or Palm Sunday, so The Lord Jesus was there in Bethany on Saturday and then the next day which was Sunday was Palm Sunday five days before Easter.

Okay, so going back to Matthew chapter 21 This was the time of Passover one of the most sacred Jewish holidays and there were many Jews in Jerusalem at that time and Jesus and his disciples Went from Bethany, which was only two miles away from Jerusalem.

To Bethpads, which was very close to Jerusalem and from there he went to the Mount of Olives. Now if you climb to the top of the Mount of Olives, you can see Jerusalem. That's how close it was. So they were there now.

Jesus does something which I consider astounding here and Many people think that the directions that the Lord gives his disciples for the preparation of The Passover was something the Lord did beforehand.

He went and got all those preparations done beforehand but in my opinion my humble opinion, I believe this is just another sign of Jesus's omniscience that he is Lord. That he knew what was going to happen and he told his disciples exactly what to do beforehand.

To go to the town there to find the donkey and that the mother would be there and then to go to the owner and Ask for the animals and that the owner would say. That he would give them to him because they asked him to give them to the Lord and What we see in my opinion shows that Jesus is Lord and He knows all things.

He's not only all powerful omnipotent. He's omniscient because he's God and he knows all things now that is such a comfort for us. Isn't it in all of our trials especially now because most of us are just zapped out.

You know where our minds are toast where? Our whole lives have been turned topsy-turvy by this coronavirus and It's all over the world. But our comfort is is that our lives as believers as his church as redeemed.

Our lives are in the hands of Jesus. He knows.

Every.

Thing about us.

He knows us better than we know ourselves. He created us. And so our lives are in his hands. Our trials are in his hands and nothing is going to come to us If no trial is going to come unless it comes through God.

And so that is our comfort here. And what we want to consider too is as The Lord everything that Jesus did Was in God's time and in God's plan.

Everything he did.

And this is What we see here God's plan God's timing. The Savior now is moving toward Jerusalem. He will go to Jerusalem for the last time and he knew that and he would accomplish God's great work for him and that is that he would die on the cross there in Jerusalem not only for the sins of.

The Jews.

But for the sins of the Gentiles he would die on the cross for the sins of the world and Jesus knew that and.

So.

It is amazing He would die on Passover showing that he is the true Passover lamb and He fulfilled Passover his death. Amazing thing. It just shows that God is in control of all things and This is done according to God's plan and that's a comfort for us in this time, so we see that Jesus is omniscient he's the omniscient Savior verses 1 through 3 and We also see in verses 4 through 8 That he is the lowly King the lowly King Christ fulfills scripture verses 4 and 5.

Again We're looking at the fact that Jesus is Lord He's omniscient and now we see That the Messiah.

Jesus.

Fulfills Bible prophecy about the Messiah that he is the King that he would be the King of Israel or the Messiah and we see that in verse 4 all this was done that it might be fulfilled. See that which was spoken by the prophet and.

So.

Jesus Christ here is fulfilling Bible prophecy according to Zechariah 99 that talked about the fact that the king the king of Israel the king of the Jews the Messiah would come and. To think about it that it was written 550 years before Jesus fulfilled it is amazing and notice What that verse says in verse number five?

Basically God is telling Israel here I Am sending you the Messiah and the king in a way that you Didn't expect you thought That he would come as a conquering king. But he came as a suffering servant and That's what we see in this verse.

It says tell the daughter of Zion now the daughter of Zion refers to Israel. Zion refers to Israel in the Old Testament scriptures. It refers to the Jewish people. So this prophecy says tell Israel the daughter of Zion behold your king is coming to you and The word king is a reference to the Messiah that Jesus is The Messiah the king of Israel who was prophesied to come and he's coming to you.

We see that our Lord Jesus Christ fulfills this scripture. How did he come. Wow. Lonely and sitting on a donkey. I like that He came home low now. The in later Jewish time.

The.

Kings who were victorious in battle They would ride out To the people on a big stown. But that wasn't the way it always was in Jewish culture and in Jewish life because Solomon When he was anointed king and we see that in first Kings 138 through 40 That he rode a donkey To the people and.

They hailed him and.

So what a picture again that Jesus is the king, but he's the humble king he's sitting on a donkey and there was not only a donkey there a Colt the young offspring But also the don't the Colts mother. Was there a fowl of a donkey?

So it shows you here in this in this verse that Jesus Christ came as a servant. God came to this world that says in Mark 10 45 Not to be served. I want to read this verse but to serve and to give his life a Ransom for me.

John 10 45. John 10 45 and this is really an example for us as Christians. We are to be Servants were to serve the Lord. We're to deny ourselves for the sake of God and for the sake of others and be like Jesus Christ.

Look what it says for Mark 10 45 for even the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve. See that With humility he came to serve not to be and to give his life a ransom For me and that's the greatest gift that the Son of God died as an expiation for our sins on the cross.

To turn away the wrath of God for us so that we will know no again. And then we also want to consider that John 1 14. John 1 14 look at what that says John 1 14 God came into this world and it says In John 1 14 and the word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory The glory as of the only begotten of the Father Full of grace and truth and Jesus Christ is the word.

He is God. He came into this world God in human flesh and What a great thing and that's what Palm Sunday is Is teaching us that God came into this world to rescue Perishing men to save us from our sin.

He came.

To die and to.

Give us salvation. I hope you have received Christ as your Savior. Going back to Matthew 21. Matthew 21 Verses 6 through 8. Matthew 21 6 through 8. Christ is hailed as King, so we're looking at the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

That he fulfills Bible prophecy that he's omniscient and now we see That he is proclaimed by the multitude as the one to come the Messiah and the King. And Look at verse number 6 how interesting. The disciples they went Into town and they did what Jesus commanded them to do.

Now that's important. They were obedient. Obedience to Jesus Christ and the Word of God is How we are blessed as Christians? So important. Let us even be obedient to the Lord. Now obedient to his word.

So they were obedient to Christ and his word. And Notice verse number 7. They brought the donkey and the coal the little colt and.

The donkey.

Now what is interesting is that little coal? Had never been Ridden before. We see that in Mark 11 2 it was unbroken.

And.

What do we see here. They put Jesus on him and he rode that donkey.

Now.

You don't normally ride an unbroken horse without getting into some trouble and some hurt but our Lord Jesus did. And What does that tell us about him that tells us that he is the creator? He created that donkey and that donkey was in submission to the Lord.

Let me just say one thing. It kind of fills me with chills when I think about it. That donkey who was nothing in himself.

But a donkey.

He.

Was called by God and given a great purpose. To carry the Lord and Savior on his back. Kind of makes me messed up when I think about it. Jesus the Lord of creation rode on that donkey. That little donkey was created for that reason to carry Jesus, you know, we're like donkeys.

We're we're nothing in ourselves. We have no righteousness outside of the righteousness of Jesus Christ but now we are called as Christians to carry our Lord Jesus and to be witnesses for him. What's what a great privilege in our lives and during this pandemic?

We don't stop Carrying Jesus. We don't stop being witnesses for Christ as a matter of fact. We need to push harder because God's putting in front of us Opportunities as a church and it's individuals to glorify Jesus in the minister to people.

We're like that donkey. That's what we were created for see you and I we were created to know God and the only way we can know God is through Jesus Christ and We were created to carry him to reflect him in our lives and look at What the disciples do?

They laid their clothes on.

These.

Animals.

That's also a thing of Jewish culture and tradition. We see that the people laid out their their clothes before King Jehu and. We see that in second Kings 913 proclaiming him to be king.

And.

Now the very disciples of Jesus Christ laid their clothes on those donkeys. You know what that says to us. That nothing is too good for Jesus. That we are to give him all. We're to give him our best. We're to give him our lives.

And so Jesus was on that donkey. Riding and God used this great multitude. And look what they did. They spread their clothes on the road right before the Lord. Before the Lord walking on that little colt.

I'm riding on that little colt and the mother walking next to him. And they laid out their clothes on the path before the Lord. In other words, they gave him the red.

He's.

He deserves. And then they cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road and if we look at John chapter 12 verse 13 we see that they cut down palm branches and They took those branches and they laid him on the road and they waved them and that's how we get the name Palm Sunday.

Because they laid those palm branches before the Lord Jesus and they were waving them before him proclaiming him to be king and Proclaiming the very victory he is to have over sin death and hell as he rides To Jerusalem and is going to die for our sins and rise again.

What a what a great thing. And that's what we see happening and that's what they're proclaiming. But i'll tell you something. This was a great Entry we call it the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, but there's going to be a greater triumphal.

Entry one day.

In revelation chapter 19 Verse 11 talks about that When our Lord Jesus Christ is going to come again in glory.

And he's going to come.

To jerusalem and to the mount of olives one day. And what great glory that's going to be. You see that's the great triumph one. And we also read in the book of revelation In revelation chapter 7 verse 9 That there are going to be a great company of saints that are going to be waving palm branches In front of the lamb.

And they are the great tribulation saints and they're going to be proclaiming him the lamb of god Who takes away the sins of the world and proclaiming that salvation is through christ?

That's.

The meaning of.

I hope you know christ today. I hope he's your king and your lord. And you are proclaiming him with your life and your praises As your lord and your king.

And so.

We've seen The omniscient savior. We've seen the lowly king. Now we see the glorious messiah. Verses 9 through 11. I love this. Now this is staggering The multitudes here who praised our lord as the coming king and the messiah Would soon in a few days to follow.

Some of them would cry out crucify him crucify. And we see how fickle man is right? So we put our faith in god or We will put our faith in men. Our faith is in god.

And so.

The multitudes here are crying out. And they're praising christ as savior lord messiah. They're saying hosanna to the son.

Of david.

Hosanna is a hebrew word That means save now.

Or.

Save.

I.

Pray. And it doesn't mean so much a prayer As it does in this context a praise. What they're Doing here is they're praising god that he sent jesus the messiah Into the world to save us. And that's what hosanna means praise to the son of david the son of david means That he is messiah.

That's what the son of david means. We go back to matthew chapter one verse one. And we see In the very genealogy Of the lord jesus christ here in the book of matthew Matthew 1 1 look what it says. The book of the genealogy of jesus christ.

The son of who? David the son of abraham. So in other words the messiah. The lord jesus christ. He came from the line of david. So he is the greater king of david who would establish david's throne For him.

And that's what they're praising god for. He's the messiah the son of david. And they're saying blessed is he who comes in the name of the lord. In other words blessed is the messiah. Praise god. Blessed is the one who has come to save us.

For we need salvation every person. Every person in this world is born a sinner and we can't save ourselves. And the only way we can come to know a holy god Is through jesus christ and the precious blood that he shed to save us from our sins.

And when you trust jesus christ as your lord and savior. And you repent and receive him He will save you. And you will be forgiven of your sins and become a child of god. And that is the greatest praise that we can have.

Praise god hosanna in the highest. The idea of highest is heaven. They're giving praise to heaven or they're giving praise to god that fickle multitude.

That god.

Sent the messiah the king The king of israel The king of the world that god himself came into this world. There's no greater thing than that. There's nothing that demands our praise more Than that. Knowing that god so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him should not perish But have everlasting life.

That's the message. That's the good news of the gospel and that's what palm sunday is all about. It's showing not only The jews their king, but it's showing the world their king. It's showing the world That we're lost and that jesus came to die for a lost and hurting world.

And I pray that we could be witnesses of him our whole lives not just in this coronavirus time. But we could praise him.

And be people.

That show others the way. You need to get the gospel.

And so.

Christ is proclaimed as the messiah. You see verse 9 is a quote from psalm 118 verses 25 and 26 and those are messianic verses clearly saying Jesus is The son of god the son of david the messiah. And this was so powerful.

That we see in verses 10 and 11 we see that the multitudes were were moved. In verse number 10 That when he had come to jerusalem The people were moved By what god was doing by what the people were doing.

They were proclaiming him to be the messiah. And they were moved. And they said who is this. It's an important statement because it what it shows us is the people didn't really know who jesus christ is.

And even today many people they don't know who jesus christ is. I'm finding many people don't even read their bible many people aren't even going to church. Many people They don't know who jesus christ is.

We live in a in a in a great country. We have so much technology. We have so many churches, but so many people are lost. They don't know who jesus christ is. That's why we need to tell them as the church and that's The big question the big question in life is stated right here.

Who is this? Who is jesus christ that's what every human being has to grapple with in this life. Because you see when jesus christ came into this world and when he came.

To.

Jerusalem here in this triumphal entry. You want to consider? that our lord jesus was humble and he Always before this he retreated from notoriety. He didn't want to be popular he retreated from fame and everything else.

But this one time he submitted to god's will to show That he's the messiah and he's going to do god's great work and he's going to affect salvation for us. As the great passover lamb that takes away the sin of the world.

And so there were those who received him back then as savior and lord and there's those who rejected him. And there are those today who have received jesus as their savior and you know. You are blessed if you have and there are those who have rejected him but every single human being Has to grapple with this question and come to grips with jesus christ.

And say who is he? Is he savior and is he lord? Because our internal destiny hangs upon that answer whether you receive christ. Or not whether you have everlasting life or everlasting war. And that's what we see here.

Many didn't know who he was. Verse number 11 and the multitude said This is jesus the prophet from nazareth of galilee. Well, they got that right that he's the prophet. But jesus is more than a prophet.

He's lord. And that's what we see. And that's what palm sunday.

Is all about.

And so to conclude.

Right now in the midst of this crisis that we're having There's good news. The good news is the king has come. The king god himself came into this world. He was proclaimed on palm sunday To be the messiah the lord the king of israel the king of the world and he went To the cross.

And on good friday praise god. The lamb of god bore our sins so that we could now have eternal life. And god be praised. On three days later jesus christ rose From the dead to give us eternal life and justify us as sinners.

The king has come.

And that's what we celebrate this holy week.

That the king has come.

He's come into this world. He's come to die. He's come to give us everlasting life. And let me ask you Who do you think that christ is. Have you received the king. Receive him now And live for him And walk with him And be obedient to god and praise him.

Because that's the life of blessing and that's what palm sunday's all about. At this time we want to close with a song That says just that. Let's pray dear heavenly father our hearts are Excited. I hope this morning that our hearts are full.

I hope that we've been encouraged to again get back to the basics of our faith. Christ. That he has come And that he's the king And that he is in control of all things. And this world is in his hands.

This trial that we're going through now is in his hands. That our lives are in his hands. And we can have peace And grace and joy in our lives. Because jesus knows and he loves us. What a awesome.

Truth.

And father, I just pray that everyone who's listening will know Jesus from their hearts and we'll have this salvation. And we'll come to trust christ as their lord and savior And that we will live for him.

In obedience.

And in praise especially now. And take the opportunities To live for him and to know That we never stop being the church. We are the church. We are god's people. Praise god lord. May you bless each and every person.

Today.