The Triumphant Entry
The Triumphant Entry

The Triumphant Entry

Sermon Text

Matthew 21:1-11

Date
April 11, 2025
Reading Time

~15 min read

Speaker
Ps Paul Cheng
Occasion
Friday Prayer Meeting

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—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?

Dear friend, we must bear in mind that God is who he is. And what he does is not according to our human terms. He is not like an ATM machine whereby we key in the right numbers and out comes the right amount of money. It doesn’t work like that. His thoughts are higher than our thoughts, and his ways are higher than our ways. Our finite human minds can never comprehend the mind of God.

Verse 9: “And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.” (Matthew 21:9),

The word “Hosanna” means “Save us now.” In other words, the people were shouting, “Save us now, O Son of David!” The phrase “Son of David” was a Messianic title of Christ. He is the greatest Son of David whose kingdom is everlasting. Now, this is a very significant verse because it is a quotation from Psalm 118:25–26.

Let me read for you. The Psalmist said: “Save now, I beseech thee, O Lord: O Lord, I beseech thee, send now prosperity. Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the Lord: we have blessed you out of the house of the Lord.” (Psalm 118:25–26), The Jews would often sing Psalm 118 during the Passover, and it was amazing that they were singing this Psalm as Jesus was entering into Jerusalem.

Take a moment and consider this. At this particular point in time, which was one week before the Passover, thousands and thousands of Passover lambs were brought into the city from the fields, villages, towns outside the city. Later, these lambs would be killed and eaten as part of the Passover observation.

And in the midst of all these Passover lambs making their ways into Jerusalem, there was the Lamb of God humbly sitting on a young donkey, making his way into Jerusalem to be the ultimate Lamb which all those lambs throughout the centuries were pointing to.

As John the Baptist said: “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29), So it was very significant that the people were crying out to the Lamb of God to save them. “Hosanna to the Son of David!”

But do they really understand and believe in him? Most certainly not. Perhaps only a handful. But not the vast majority. Because these same people who were shouting “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord!” will be the same ones who were screaming out, “Crucify him! Crucify him! Crucify him!” The same mouth that blesses God is the same mouth that curses him.

If these people do not believe in him, why are they shouting like that? Well, because of all the excitement, all the frenzy, all the thrill — the crowd, the multitudes. Oh, it’s very sad that likewise today, many people are attracted to Jesus because of the crowd.

Thousands and thousands will crowd into the auditorium because of some exciting church programs, because of certain catchy music and lyrics that captivated their emotions, their feelings, their enthusiasm. But when the dust is settled, these same people would walk away from Jesus. These same people would blaspheme and reject him — because there’s no foundation. It is all about their emotions.

Our faith must never be based on our emotion, which is very deceptive, but on the very words of God. We must believe who Jesus really is — what he has done for us in the past, what he is doing for us in the present, and what he has promised to do for us in the future. We must believe in the Jesus of the Bible. This ought to be the foundation of our faith — not our emotions.

Notice, there were two crowds. One group had been following Jesus along the way, and the other group was from the city of Jerusalem. Look at verse 10: “And when he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved—which means they were shaken by this great commotion—saying, Who is this? And the multitude said, This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee.” (Matthew 21:10–11),

Perhaps this is the most important question that any man or woman would have to answer for himself and herself: Who is this? It is very disappointing when the multitude said, “This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee.” After all the excitement, all the fancy, all the thrill, all the shouting — “Who is this? He’s just a prophet.” That is who he is?

Remember, Nazareth was such a small, insignificant town. So much so that in John 1:46, when Philip said to Nathanael that “We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth,” what did Nathanael say to Philip? “Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?” (John 1:46), It was a very condescending and patronising way of saying, “If he comes from there, then he is a nobody.”

Dear friend, today, if someone were to ask you: Who is this whom you believe in? Who is Jesus Christ to you? What would you say? It is not good enough to say Jesus is a prophet, or he is an excellent teacher, or he’s a good shepherd, he’s a miracle worker, he’s an amazing historical figure. It is not good enough.

We must be like Thomas. Remember Thomas? When he saw the wounds on Jesus’ hands and he thrust his fingers into his side, he cried out: “My Lord and my God.” (John 20:28). The only way for every one of us to be able to cry out to Jesus “He is my God and my Lord” is when we believe that he was the Lamb of God who was nailed to the cross of Calvary, whose blood was shed to wash away all our sins.

If you and I do that, we would be better than Thomas who said so. Well, Jesus said: “Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.” (John 20:29),

You may be asking, “But Thomas was with Jesus throughout his ministry. He saw Jesus with his physical eyes. He heard the teachings of Christ with his physical ears. But we are on this side of the cross. How is it possible that we are more blessed?”

It is possible — all because of faith. By faith, we were there when Jesus was riding on a young donkey and entered into Jerusalem triumphantly. By faith, we were there when Jesus was nailed to the cross and he shed his precious blood — without which there’s no remission of sins. By faith, we were there at the empty tomb — because our Lord Jesus was risen from the dead on the third day. It is all by faith — through the precious word of God and through the wonderworking of the Holy Spirit.

That is why every time we read the Bible, we must never distance ourselves from those events. Rather, we put ourselves there by faith. Remember, the Bible says: “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Romans 10:17),

This is the only way we are saved. The only way we can be saved — by faith. And it is the grace of God. Not of works, lest any man should boast. May the Lord continue to teach us and help us. As you and I prepare for the soon forthcoming Good Friday, let us pray.

Our Father in heaven, indeed, as we read about the triumphant entry of our Lord Jesus into Jerusalem, we are reminded that this was the week before his death on the cross of Calvary. It was all planned and arranged by our Lord Jesus, who sent out his two disciples. It was all prepared for.

Through his triumphant entry, there was a great commotion, and through that great commotion came all the Jewish leaders who hated him so much, and they were enraged, and that led to his death. Our Lord Jesus was not caught by surprise. He was all prepared for. He came for this sole purpose — to die on the cross of Calvary.

He humbled himself and rode on a young donkey, and this was a fulfilment of the prophecy in the book of Zechariah. Indeed, he was the great protector, the King. He is our King, our Lord, our Saviour. He is the greatest Son of David, whose kingdom is everlasting.

Oh Lord, help us that as we are drawn to him, it is not by our emotions, feelings, our own humanistic ideas and opinions about him, but it is because of thy word. We believe in the Jesus of the Bible, and we know what he has done for us in the past, what he is doing for us in the present and is still working in our lives, and what he has promised to do for us in the future.

Our Lord Jesus will come again, for he promised us three times in the last chapter of the last book of the Bible. Jesus said: “Behold, I come quickly.” (Revelation 22:7, 12, 20),

Oh Lord, help us as we consider our Lord Jesus who came for us. As we prepare ourselves for the soon coming Good Friday whereby we commemorate the death of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and Resurrection Sunday — how he was risen from the dead on the third day — we are reminded it all began with his triumphant entry into Jerusalem.

May thy people rightly apply the word of truth into our lives, for we pray all this in Jesus' name. Amen.

THE BOOK OF MATTHEW
The Triumphant Entry
The Triumphant Entry

Matthew 21:1-11