The Triumphant Entry
The Triumphant Entry

The Triumphant Entry

Sermon Text

Matthew 21:1-11

Date
11/04/2025
Reading Time

~15 min read

Speaker
Ps Paul Cheng
Occasion
Friday Prayer Meeting
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💭 Consider this: How would you answer the question, 'Who is Jesus to you?' Are you more drawn to Jesus for what He can do for you, or for who He truly is?

TRANSCRIPT

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I greet all of you in the blessed name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. In one week's time, we will be commemorating Good Friday, so it is timely that we consider what our Lord Jesus did the week before His death on the cross of Calvary. Our text for tonight's message is taken from Matthew 21:1–11.

In this world, people live and people die. People come and go, and soon it will be our turn. The most important life that has ever been lived on this earth was the life of Jesus Christ. And as we study the life of Christ, one of the most important parts of His life was this particular week that will lead to His death and His subsequent resurrection.

This passage is about the triumphant entry of Christ into Jerusalem, sometimes known as Palm Sunday, followed by the Passion Week, which will lead to Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday the following week. The events of this Passion Week would begin with this triumphant entry and then followed by the second cleansing of the temple, the final teachings of Christ, the institution of the Lord's Supper, the arrest of Christ, the trial, and finally the crucifixion.

This final week, or Passion Week as people used to call it, was so important that all four Gospels spoke about it. If you study the Gospels carefully, you will notice that about one quarter of the book of Matthew spoke about it, one-third of Mark, fifteen of the Gospel of Luke, and most interestingly, half of the book of John. Altogether, there are 89 chapters about the Passion Week. So we can say that all these events were so important. But it all began with the triumphant entry into Jerusalem. The title of our message is: ‘The Triumphant Entry’.

I. It Was Planned

Let us begin with verse one of Matthew chapter 21: “And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, unto the mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples, Saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto me” (Matthew 21:1–2).

The name Bethphage means house of figs. Perhaps it was situated in a place where there were many fig trees. We do not know the exact location—most likely it was between Bethany and Jerusalem.

The first significant lesson we can learn from here is that Jesus Himself arranged what was about to happen. It was not something that happened by chance or coincidence. The Lord Himself carefully planned for it.

Matthew was the only Gospel to mention there were two animals. Verse two says there was a mother donkey and her young donkey. Mark and Luke only mentioned a young donkey. Critics of the Bible are quick to suggest that Matthew was wrong and mistaken—there should only be one donkey, not two. Well, the Bible is perfect, inerrant, and infallible, and there are no mistakes. Matthew was simply recording what the other Gospels did not write. The other Gospels were only focusing on the one donkey.

Since this young donkey had never been sat upon by anyone before, it was necessary for the mother donkey to walk beside it for a certain distance until it could go on its own. That was why Matthew mentioned there were two donkeys instead of one.

Another interesting thing was found in verse three: “And if any man say ought unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send them” (Matthew 21:3).

Being the all-knowing, omniscient God, Jesus told His disciples that if the owner were to ask you, then this is what you ought to say. And the amazing thing was that the owner would simply give them the two donkeys. Most likely he was a believer. But firstly, Jesus knew there were two donkeys there, and He knew that the owner would allow them to take the two donkeys. This is the omniscience of God.

Why did Jesus arrange to enter Jerusalem in such a way? He had always been walking from place to place, sometimes for days throughout the region. Then all of a sudden, He arranged for Himself to ride on a donkey into Jerusalem. Why did He do that?

If you remember, previously there were times when the people wanted to exalt Him and He had moved away from them. There were times when He had done certain miracles — like healing the sick, the lame, the blind — and He strictly told them not to mention Him to anyone. Why? Because the time had not come for Him to reveal Himself.

II. It Was Prepared

Now the time had come for our Lord Jesus to face the cross of Calvary, and soon He would be betrayed, arrested, tried, and crucified. Therefore, it was significant for Jesus to declare Himself openly. Previously, He had only declared Himself to His disciples, though they did not really understand Him. Now the time had come for Him to declare Himself openly.

By doing this, Jesus would be drawing much attention to Himself. He would be creating a commotion, and the Jewish leaders who already hated Him so much would be enraged. And then that would lead to His death. In a sense, Jesus was preparing for His own death. He was not caught by surprise. He was not a victim of bad circumstances. He was not a subject of the Romans or the Jews. He was in sovereign control of the events. He knew all things, including the persecution all the way to the cross. He came for this sole purpose. And when the time came, He went triumphantly.

Dear friend, it is so comforting to know that our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is in sovereign control of every situation. Oftentimes, when we go through trials, we tend to think: Does Jesus know? Does He know what I am going through? Does He know my pain, worries, and anxieties? Does He know my family is going through this struggle?

Well, our Lord Jesus knows everything about us, including the circumstances that surround us. Not only He knows—He cares. And He’s able to help us when we call out to Him. We are in His plan, and He is preparing us for something far greater than what we are going through. That is our all-knowing Lord and Saviour.

III. It Was A Prophecy Fulfilled

Look at verse four: “All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass” (Matthew 21:4–5).

Zion was the highest mountain in Jerusalem, and the word daughter was a reference to the people living in that area. So, the daughter of Zion was a Hebrew figure of speech to refer to the people of Jerusalem. This was a fulfilment of the prophecy in Zechariah chapter 9 about the coming King of Jerusalem.

Allow me to give you a brief background of Zechariah chapter 9. The first eight verses of Zechariah chapter 9 prophesy that there would come a great human conqueror, and some Bible commentators believe that it was Alexander the Great.

If we believe that it was Alexander the Great, well, about 200 years after the prophecy of Zechariah, Alexander the Great came and he had a massive conquering campaign from Syria to Phoenicia to Felicia and even Israel. He conquered Israel, and although he became the protector of Israel, Zechariah went on to say in verse 9 that there would be another Protector of Israel who was of a different kind. And He was none other than the Messiah.

Alexander the Great inspired fear and terror. He orchestrated war. He fought, he killed, he was cruel and oppressive. But this coming king of Israel, he was different. He did not make war but peace. He was not cruel but kind and righteous. He did not kill but save. He was not proud but humble.

He was not riding on a magnificent horse like all the other conquerors, but he was riding on a young donkey. Most kings would take everything from the people, rob them of everything, but this king would give everything to his people, including his own life.

He was the total opposite of the kind of king anyone would have imagined. This was a prophecy fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ. Therefore, instead of riding on a magnificent horse or a huge metal chariot, Jesus came riding humbly on a young donkey as a fulfilment of Zechariah’s prophecy.

Verse 6: “And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them, And brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set him thereon” (Matthew 21:6–7). So the disciples spread their clothes on both the donkeys, but Jesus only sat on the young donkey, with the mother donkey walking beside it.

And a great multitude spread their garments in the way. Others cut down branches from the trees and strawed them in the way. Now, as Jesus and his disciples were moving toward Jerusalem, they had attracted much attention.

If you remember, the people had heard His teachings. They had seen His miracles. They were impressed. They were excited. They saw Jesus as someone very special. Perhaps He was the Christ, the Messiah.

In a week’s time, they would be commemorating the Passover. It was a time they would remember the great deliverance from Egypt — how God delivered their forefathers from Egypt through Moses the leader.

They were all expecting for the Messiah to come. And if Jesus was the Messiah, then He would deliver them the way Moses had delivered their forefathers, but in a greater fashion. Jesus would deliver them from the oppressive Romans. He would chase the Romans out and He would give them back their freedom — or so they thought.

Jesus had said that He was greater than Moses, and most of the people truly believed that He was greater than Moses. Why? Because He had raised people from the dead. Moses never did that.

But they had a distorted eschatological view of the coming Messiah. They did not understand that His first coming was to die for the sins of His people. And His second coming will be as the King of kings and the Lord of lords.

With this distorted view, they were excited. They started to spread their garments along the way, and others placed the palm branches along the path. That is where we get the words ‘Palm Sunday’. That was very symbolic of the people receiving their King.

So the problem was that the people expected Jesus to be who they wanted Him to be, and to do what they wanted Him to do. And when that did not happen, what did they do? They rejected Him utterly.

Now, this is the same problem with many people today as well. We expect Jesus to be who we want Him to be. We want Him to fulfil our dreams, to give us good health and strength, to bring us prosperity and happiness, to grant us success, to make us rich, to bless our families, etc.

And when things do not turn out the way we want them to be, we become discouraged and disappointed. We start to doubt God. We murmur and complain. Why? Why didn’t God just answer my prayers? Why didn’t God just grant me the desires of my heart? Why didn’t God just give to me what I asked of Him?

THE BOOK OF MATTHEW
The Triumphant Entry
The Triumphant Entry

Matthew 21:1-11