“The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, ‘Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!’ And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written, ‘Fear not, daughter of Zion behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!’ His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him. The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to bear witness. The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign. So the Pharisees said to one another, ‘You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him.’”

Matthew, Mark, and Luke are commonly known as the synoptic gospels. They come before John in the order of the Cannon of scripture, and were written decades before John’s account. While all four gospels teach the same good news of salvation in Christ, each has unique qualities inspired by the Spirit, and each touches on events unique to that book. For all that, Matthew, Mark, and Luke compliment and overlap with one another far more frequently than they do with John. Today’s passage shows us an event that is covered in all four gospel accounts – Jesus’s entry to Jerusalem for the final Passover. When Jesus came to Jerusalem for the Feast of Booths, He did so discretely. He left from His home region of Galilee after His brothers and in private, He entered the city. While Jesus and His ministry were a common subject among the people, they whispered about Him, fearful to speak out openly, as even then the religious rulers were harboring a desire to kill Him. It was during the middle of the feast that Jesus stood, and began to teach, loudly and with authority, and tensions between He and the ruling Jews continued to rise. His entry to the City of David in John 12, as He begins a sort of final countdown to His hour of glory on the cross, is anything but private. If we look only to the events of John’s gospel, we see Jesus raise Lazarus from the dead, return to the wilderness for a time, then go back to Bethany. The other gospels don’t record His raising of Lazarus, or Mary’s anointing of His feet, but they do show us more of His trip from the edges of civilization back to Jerusalem. Matthew 20, Mark 10, and Luke 18 show Jesus traveling by way of the city of Jericho, already accompanied by a large crowd. This makes sense, both from the perspective that there would have been a large influx of Jews going to Jerusalem for the Passover, and that the followers of Jesus, those who, as it says in John 10:41-42, had come to Him and believed, would amass into a crowd. The idea that these two elements would feed off of each other, with Jesus’s disciples intermingling with and directing their fellow travelers to Him makes sense. On the journey, Jesus performs at least one miracle, healing a blind man (Matthew clarifies it was actually two blind men), near Jericho. Luke 19 shows us Jesus’s interaction with the tax collector Zacchaeus, and His teaching from the parable of the ten minas. Connecting this with the events of John’s gospel, we get a full picture of how the crowds formed. John 12:9-10 shows us that when the crowds in Jerusalem (once again, far larger than usual because of the Passover), learned that Jesus was nearby in Bethany, they flocked to Him, and that Lazarus too was a source of great interest. It’s amazing to think what it could do to validate someone’s faith – imagine you’ve heard of Jesus, His teachings, His miracles, the word circulating that this is the Messiah. You get to see Him, and then someone tells you, “yeah, see that guy He’s sitting with? He was dead. Jesus brought Him back to life, it just happened.” On top of everything you’d heard about Jesus and His ministry, He has the power and authority to restore the dead to life – and the formerly dead man is right there. For all their excitement, the Bible does make it clear that the crowds still don’t quite understand. It was always on the minds of the people that the Messiah was to bring about an earthly power for God’s people. Overthrow the Romans, cement God’s people as the dominant nation, and establish and eternal, earthly kingdom. In Luke 19:11 it says that Jesus tells the parable of the ten minas,

“… because he was near to Jerusalem, and because they supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately.”

Their focus, as is the never-ending focus of the flesh, was in what was immediate. They had no comprehension that what Jesus delivered was far greater – freedom in the Spirit, liberation from sin, a new covenant between man and God, and a new kingdom which will endure into eternity. But even for them missing these points, we can see and hopefully appreciate the building excitement of the ever-growing crowd.

Christ’s Arrival in our Lives: A Promise Beyond our Hopes

1.      Christ’s Arrival is a Cause for Joy

“The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, ‘Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!’”

Jesus makes His way into Jerusalem with a crowd following behind Him as He descends the Mount of Olives, and a crowd coming to meet Him from the city. They are a collection of people expressing a deep hope and joy in the arrival of the one they hope to be the Christ. The gospels paint similar, but varied qualities of this joy, with Matthew and Mark showing the same cry of “Hosanna” as John. This alone gives us tremendous insight as to the position of the people. This word carries the dual meaning of being a cry of praise and adoration, but also as a cry for help – it places their hope of rescue on Christ. This along with them acknowledging Him as the “Son of David,” the “King who comes in the name of the Lord,” and in today’s passage, “the King of Israel,” show that they are collectively recognizing Jesus’s authority – kind of. They cry and shout in a way that mirrors when Caiphas spoke in John 11:50,

“… Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.”

He spoke a deeper truth than he realized, failing to comprehend just how profound and just how far reaching the sacrifice of Jesus would be. Likewise the people who shout with hope and excitement over Jesus as He makes His way into Jerusalem don’t grasp the wellspring of provision that Jesus is. Matthew and Mark show us the people spreading their cloaks on the ground before Him, a sign of submission before a king which we see in 2 Kings 9:12–13,

“… And he said, ‘Thus and so he spoke to me, saying, “Thus says the LORD, I anoint you king over Israel.”’ Then in haste every man of them took his garment and put it under him on the bare steps, and they blew the trumpet and proclaimed, ‘Jehu is king.’”

While their acts of submission are not wrong, it helps again see where their heads are at, as Jehu, the king we see crowned in 2 Kings 9, would be used by God to purge Jezebel and the remnants of Ahab’s house from the land. This was a process of great violence, and righteous rebellion against the wickedness that had once again taken root in Israel – but this is not the kind of revolution that Jesus has come to bring. The palm branches waved and thrown on the ground before Jesus are a sign of victory that calls forward to what we see in in Revelation 7:9–17,

“After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!’ And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, ‘Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.’ Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, ‘Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?’ I said to him, ‘Sir, you know.’ And he said to me, ‘These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

Again, the people aren’t wrong to exclaim with joy, to cast their hopes upon Jesus, or declare that He brings victory – the arrival of the King is worthy of all of these things. It’s just that what Jesus provides, what He truly is, outstrips everything that the crowds could hope for. Jesus doesn’t just move forward to rescue and deliver Israel, but to open redemption to the world. Luke 19:37–40 says of the Triumphal Entry,

“As he was drawing near—already on the way down the Mount of Olives—the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, saying, ‘Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!’ And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, ‘Teacher, rebuke your disciples.’ He answered, ‘I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.’”

This again speaks to the depth of the hope that Jesus provides – the joy of the people may be somewhat misaimed, they may not fully grasp the enormity of who Jesus truly is, yet we see Jesus validate their praise. Paul writes in Romans 8:22–25

“For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.  For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.”

Creation, the natural world, the rocks themselves recognize the glory and righteousness of the Creator. While it is important that we give consideration to the spirit behind our praise, the crowds in their excitement are at least partially on the right track, and their exultation is validated by Jesus’s words.

2.      Christ’s Arrival Fulfills Promises

“And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written, ‘Fear not, daughter of Zion behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!’ His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him.”

While John’s gospel doesn’t delve into this specific, Matthew and Mark show us that even obtaining the donkey to enter the city up was yet another example of Jesus’s divine foreknowledge. Matthew 21:1–7,

“Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, 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. If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, “The Lord needs them,” and he will send them at once.’ This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying, ‘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.”’ The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them.”

In this Jesus both declares Himself as Lord, and shows His divine perception. Something I find myself occasionally having to guard against, as we see Jesus perform miracle after miracle, is failing to appreciate each one as significant and unique. For example, failing to be filled with awe and reverence when Jesus heals the blind men by Jericho (as referenced earlier), just because we’ve seen Jesus give sight to the blind before, even displaying a greater power in John 9, when He heals a man who was born blind. God’s power is infinite and eternal. His miracles, from the creation of the universe to the fact that, as Hebrew 1:3 says,

“He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power…”

Our very existence is sustained, breath to breath, heartbeat to heartbeat, by the power and providence of God. There are none of His works that don’t deserve glory and praise. Simply because some are greater, does not mean that any of them can be called lesser. So it bears our consideration that, even in this moment of great prominence, as Jesus enters Jerusalem before the Passover, surrounded by a host of people shouting His praise, His divine foreknowledge is on display in the matter of a donkey. Jesus riding in on this donkey, as both Matthew and John tell us, is purposeful and significant because it fulfills Zechariah 9:9,

“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.”

Something that I’m hearing pop up more and more in the popular culture surrounding the church is the matter of believers “deconstructing.” If you’re not familiar, this is the term to describe someone falling away from the faith, and deconstructing their beliefs in God, His Word, and His bride of the church. It’s unsettling and heartbreaking to hear people who once claimed to be followers of Christ claim that their faith has been broken beyond repair. I don’t want to trivialize this matter, as I know there are cases of tragedy and betrayal, situations that can shake people to their core, and push them toward not only losing faith in God and the church, but in life itself. Even the most extreme cases shouldn’t be given up on or considered a lost cause, but the sad thing is that it seems that many cases aren’t extreme at all. The fad of deconstructing seems to have grated license for those who have uncertainties embedded in the foundation of their belief, and in the name of these lingering, unanswered questions, they walk away. If someone decides that their desires are irreconcilable with the Truth of the Word and departs from the church, it is certainly sad, but it makes sense. Open rebellion has always been the world’s response to the will of God. What I find far more tragic is when someone is simply afraid to ask the question that has them so troubled. In never asking, or not being able to determine an answer to their question, they leave as if the answer was never there. While we should not be so bold as to think we have the right or authority to shake our fist and question God (see Job 38-41), it would be a massive mistake to think that we cannot ask questions and God provide us with answers. 1 Peter 5:6–11 says,

“Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

Verse 7, “casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you,” is often cherrypicked, but it is in it’s proper context that it offers true promise and assurance. We are to come humbly before God, sober minded, understanding that we have a very real enemy who pursues our destruction, that we are not alone in the trials we face, and that God, in His perfect time can and will restore us, both to our good and for His glory. We are free to ask our questions and lean on God’s answers. I bring up the crucial matter of asking questions, both large and small, because what God shows again and again across scripture is that He offers answers. A dramatic example of this would be Daniel 9:20–23

“While I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my plea before the LORD my God for the holy hill of my God, while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the first, came to me in swift flight at the time of the evening sacrifice. He made me understand, speaking with me and saying, ‘O Daniel, I have now come out to give you insight and understanding. At the beginning of your pleas for mercy a word went out, and I have come to tell it to you, for you are greatly loved. Therefore consider the word and understand the vision.’”

Daniel, distressed and in exile makes his plea before God, confessing his sin and the sin of his nation, and God provides an answer. Another example of God’s assurance before the question is even asked is in the ending of the book of Ezekiel. Ezekiel is a heavy read to say the least, but is probably my favorite of the major prophets, and certainly the one I’ve spent the most time in. It deals largely with Israels exile after being dominated by Babylon, their judgement for their wickedness and inequity before God, and His promise to restore them for His name’s sake. After watching this unfold across the book, there’s a significant shift from chapters 40-48 where the book ends. God has promised at the end of chapter 39 that He will restore Israel, but from there, things go into describing the dimensions of the future temple. It gets quite detailed, and I’d read through it more than once before I stopped and asked what the purpose of all this was. It occurred to me that there is promise in the details. It’s a horribly trivial example, but I could tell you that tomorrow, I’m going to come by your house, pick you up, and we’re going to go get lunch, and you may have no reason to doubt me. But if I tell you that tomorrow at 12:30, I’m going to come by your house to pick you up for lunch, if I confirm that I have your address, tell you what kind of car I’ll be driving, and let you know what restaurant we’ll be going to, how much more certain can you be that I actually have a plan, and that I actually mean what I say? God could have sent His Son with no prior warning, revealing Himself among His people, making known His purpose for coming, and validating His position through signs and teachings, glorified by God, just as Jesus came. But instead, God announced His coming as early as Genesis 3:15, when He tells the serpent,

“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

God effectively provided the receipts before the purchase was ever made. We see one of many prophecies fulfilled as Jesus makes a point of entering Jerusalem on a donkey. John makes a point to let us know that the disciples were oblivious to the significance of this at the time, but that after Jesus was glorified, the pieces fell into place, and they understood, showing us that even those who were closest to Jesus didn’t automatically have all the answers. God does not reject and certainly doesn’t fear our questions, but if we sincerely look for answers, has provided them, along with promises to stay our doubts and draw our hearts closer to Him.

3.      Christ’s Arrival Causes Discord

“The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to bear witness. The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign. So the Pharisees said to one another, ‘You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him.’”

Beyond fulfilling the prophecy from Zechariah 9:9, Jesus riding toward His crucifixion mounted on a donkey communicates what kind of King He comes as. Revelation 19:11–13 shows us a different picture of Jesus riding forth mounted,

“Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God.”

Revelation shows the image of Jesus glorified, bringing righteous war against the wickedness that has flourished on the earth, and He is mounted on a horse. The contrast of Him approaching Jerusalem on a donkey is purposeful and significant. One day Christ will bring war to this world, one day He will establish a thousand-year reign upon this earth, before it is destroyed and the eternal kingdom established in the new heaven and earth – but war and the deaths of the enemies of God is not why He goes toward His hour of glory in John 12. No one has ever ridden a donkey for their speed or agility – they are not a mount of war, but of peace, and simply by this, Jesus communicates His purpose and intent in coming to Jerusalem. It is unfortunate and somewhat ironic that the offered peace of God causes discord among men. We see this plainly as the Pharisees observe the Triumphal Entry of Jesus, lamenting the fact that despite their conspiracies, and their orders than anyone who knows Jesus’s whereabouts report Him so that He might be arrested, the crowds flock to Him and praise Him. But this discord doesn’t exist only with the Pharisees, as it is the nature and culture of the world itself that is opposed to God. In our honor and worship of God, we should stop and with some regularity, assess why we’re doing what we’re doing. If our praise has slipped from reverence, into simply going through the motions, doing things because it’s familiar or expected, or worse, so that others will see what we’re doing and think us righteous, it’s time to stop and realign our focus onto God. Paul writes of this right attitude in Ephesians 6:5–6,

“Bondservants, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ, not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart.”

I mentioned earlier that the praise and glory that the crowd gives Jesus is right, and that the excitement they have over Him is in many ways the correct response. However it’s important to remember that many of them are still off base in why they’re excited to see their Messiah come, as they expect war and conquest against Rome, not peace. It also bears remembering that the crowd has proven itself a fickle thing. We watched in John 6 as the people went from praising Jesus as the Prophet, to seeking to make Him king by force and insurrection, to simply chasing after Him because He fed them. When Jesus corrects them and explains what He truly offers them as the Bread of Life, they walk away. It is the crowd that shouts “Hosanna,” and it is the crowd that will cry out, “crucify Him!” Jesus’s arrival in Jerusalem is cause for great joy. It is yet another example of the ways, large and small, that God fulfills His promises, but we can see the conflict stirred by the final stages of Christ’s ascension to the cross. These same qualities are present when Jesus enters our lives. Coming to know His as our Lord and Savior is the most joyous thing we can experience, embracing the reassurances and validation of God’s Word transcends and overcomes the world – but we will face discord, both within and without. Galatians 5:24–26 says,

“And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.”

Our flesh is crucified in our adoption as children of God, and while this is without question a good thing, it comes with strain as the wills and temptations of our flesh are fought against, made lesser, to be ultimately erased in glory. In this process of sanctification it is crucial that we always serve God in the right obedience and spirit, and not for gain of self, as serving the flesh leads to rebellion. Jesus explains this discord in Matthew 10:34–39,

“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”

Born into the Spirit, we are at war with the world. Delivered into the Truth, we are at war with the sin that has plagued man since the fall. War is all that the world knows to make of peace that Christ offers and embodies. This is a fight in which we have already been assured victory, a race in which we will be sustained to endure and finish in glory, if we only cling to the righteousness of God. Paul writes of the right aim and conduct in 1 Thessalonians 5:14–21,

“And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good.”

Never despair in the midst of the conflict that is all the world knows how to offer. Do not be afraid to bring your fears and concerns before the throne of God. Cling always to the joy we have in Christ, knowing that we have a King who loves us, who lived and died for us, who has made plan and provision for us since before the dawn of time, and who welcomes us into His presence for eternity.

Pastor Chris’s sermon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiQZ3f0Fp6c