Palm Sunday: Remembering the Triumphal Entry of the Promised King

Palm Sunday is a day many Christians call today. It is a day where we remember Jesus entering triumphantly into Jerusalem as the promised King, the promised Messiah. It kicked off what a lot of Christians call Holy Week. It happened shortly before He would be crucified and would die for our sins.

The triumphal entry is actually shared in all four of the Gospels—in Matthew, in Mark, in Luke, and in John. If you are looking for something to read this evening, maybe you want to go out on your porch or in your backyard or in your living room, take a minute, go to your Bible, and read all the accounts of the triumphal entry. Read Matthew’s account in Matthew 21. Read Mark’s account in Mark 11. Read Luke’s account in Luke 19. And John’s account in John 12. Each one allows you to glean just a little more, but they are all saying in general the same thing: that Jesus is King. He is the promised King. And the triumphal entry is when He comes into Jerusalem and is celebrated as Messiah. He is celebrated as the promised King.

Today, we are going to go to Matthew’s account, which is in Matthew 21. If you do have your Bible, I would invite you to open up there to Matthew 21. We will have the words on the screen as well. Most scholars believe this happened on Sunday to kick off Holy Week.

The Events Leading Up to the Triumphal Entry

Something else that is interesting to think about is what happens right before the triumphal entry. Not long before Jesus entered triumphantly into Jerusalem, there was a man by the name of Lazarus that many of us have heard about. In the Gospel of John 11, we read that Lazarus had been dead four days. Then Jesus came to Bethany, the town of Bethany, where Lazarus lived and where his sisters Mary and Martha lived. After four days, Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. Lazarus came back to life. This happened just a little bit of days before Jesus entered triumphantly. It is believed.

When you picture the raising of Lazarus from the dead, it raised Lazarus from the dead, but it did a couple of other things. If you go to John 11:45, just after Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, the Scripture says, “Then many of the Jews who had come to Mary and had seen the things Jesus did believed in him.” So many Jews now believe Jesus was the Son of God. The raising of Lazarus from the dead and other miracles that Jesus did before that caused this realization for many that this guy Jesus was the Son of God.

Right before the triumphal entry, you can imagine how the multitudes get there. Jesus has been doing all these miracles and perhaps the greatest miracle—raising Lazarus from the dead.

There was another miracle that Jesus did probably just a couple of days before He entered triumphantly. When they were passing through Jericho, He healed one—another Gospel tells us it was actually two blind men. But the other Gospels tell us one of the blind men’s name: Bartimaeus. Jesus healed two blind men, one of them being blind Bartimaeus, right a day or two before He entered triumphantly.

So you can picture all the multitudes that are coming. Many already believe He is the Son of God, and they are welcoming Him as King.

But something else happened when Lazarus was raised from the dead. John 11:46 says, “But some of them went away to the Pharisees and told them the things Jesus did. Then the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered a council and said, ‘What shall we do?’” So it is interesting. A man has just been raised from the dead, and the religious leaders are getting together and saying, “Oh no, this is a problem. What shall we do?”

Then from that day on—this is John 11:53—they plotted to put Him to death.

As Jesus is coming in, in this passage we are about to read, as He is coming in welcomed as King, you understand how the multitudes get there. The multitudes get there because they have seen Jesus raising a man from the dead. They have seen Jesus make a blind man see. But what we also know is happening is, while He is welcomed as King, there are also some that are plotting to kill Him.

This is the thing we should remember. Although Jesus came in triumphantly and we celebrate that and we remember that, we also know that while He was being welcomed as the promised King, the promised Messiah, He knew what awaited Him. He knew what was coming in just days. Although He was being welcomed as King, He knew that not many days from there some of the same people that might have been shouting for Him might have been shouting to crucify Him.

Jesus knew what was coming, but He still came.

We know He knew what was coming because when we read the Gospels, He prophesied of it. Luke 9:22: “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and be raised the third day.”

Jesus, when He is coming in welcomed as King and being worshiped as King, He knew what was coming. He knew the suffering that would come. He knew He would suffer and die, but He also knew He would rise on the third day.

Luke 9:51 gives us a good description of how Jesus was fully committed though, even though He knew He would suffer. It says, “Now it came to pass when the time had come for Him to be received up that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem.” Isaiah the major prophet says He set His face like flint.

See, Jesus knew the suffering that would come. We are reading about Him being welcomed as the King and being worshiped as He comes into Jerusalem. But He knew that He would be suffering. But He still came. He set His face like flint. Nothing was going to stop our Lord and our Savior from dying for us because He loves you that much. He loves me that much. He loves us that much.

That even though He knew He would suffer and He would be nailed to that cross and He would die, He still came. I hope if you have never given your life to Jesus, that would cause you today to give your life to the Lord.

Reading the Account from Matthew 21

We are going to read there in Matthew 21 of the triumphal entry. I do invite anybody that would like to stand with me in honor of the reading of the Word of God.

Matthew chapter 21 beginning in verse 1. The Word of God says,

“Now when they drew near Jerusalem and came to Bethphage 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 anyone says anything to you, you shall say, “The Lord has need of them,” and immediately he will send them.’ All 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 foal of a donkey.”’ So the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them. 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 multitudes said, ‘This is Jesus the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee.’”

You may be seated.

Lessons from the Triumphal Entry

You know, there is a lot in this passage that we can take away. One thing that hits me—and I think hits us—as we read this passage about Jesus, the promised King, because this is where He is coming in being welcomed as the promised Messiah, the promised King, the Savior of the world.

1. The Arrival of the Promised King Was Appointed by God

One thing that I think should hit us is the arrival of Jesus, the arrival of the promised King. It was appointed. This was God’s plan.

The way Jesus entered triumphantly into Jerusalem and was worshiped, and even the way He entered on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey—it was all part of God’s plan. It was appointed to happen.

Verse 1 tells us that Jesus and the disciples arrived to a small village called Bethphage at the Mount of Olives. We talked about how Jesus had healed Lazarus in Bethany. Well, between Bethany and Jerusalem was the Mount of Olives. This little village was on the slope of the Mount of Olives, called Bethphage.

Bethany, where Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, was probably a couple miles from Jerusalem, and Bethphage was less than a mile. We know from Scripture in John 12 that Jesus returned to Bethany six days before the Passover. That would have likely put it on Saturday probably. Jesus came back to Bethany once Lazarus had been risen from the dead. We know that He had supper with Lazarus, who was now raised from the dead, and his sisters Mary and Martha—probably like a celebration. Let’s celebrate—Lazarus is alive.

So a day, maybe a day before Jesus entered triumphantly, most likely He was in Bethany. He probably spent the night there. I do not know for sure. The Bible does not tell us. But then we know probably the next day that He and His disciples started to get to Jerusalem, and they are in the final leg, and they stop at the Mount of Olives. They stop there at Bethphage.

The Lord tells them in verses 2 and 3 of this passage that we read today: He tells a couple of His disciples, “Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her.” Only Matthew’s account, I believe, tells us there is a donkey and a colt. He rides in on a colt. The other accounts tell us about the colt. Maybe that donkey was there to calm the colt as they walked in. I do not know. But Jesus rode in on the colt, the young donkey.

It is interesting though. Jesus tells them to go into the village and there will be a donkey and a colt there. It is not like Jesus had gone ahead and seen this. Jesus is God. He knows all. Jesus knew this was the time. Jesus knew the time has come. It was appointed for Jesus to come into Jerusalem triumphantly. It was appointed for Him to ride in on this colt. This colt—Mark’s account tells us—had never been ridden. It is as if this colt was born for this purpose, for Jesus to get on it. The first time somebody had ridden this colt, and for Jesus to ride in on this colt.

This was the exact timing that Jesus was to come in and be welcomed as King. This was the exact fashion, the exact way it was appointed.

We know it was appointed also because watch what it says as we continue in verses 4 and 5 of the passage: “All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet.” This is the prophet Zechariah. “Tell the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your King is coming to you, lowly and sitting on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey.’”

God—isn’t that cool how God does that? God spoke to His prophet Zechariah somewhere around 500 years before this happened, and God told him Messiah was going to come in on a colt.

The arrival of Jesus, of the promised King—it was appointed, and the exact way Jesus came in was God’s plan.

When I think about all that, I think that should encourage us. Just like this was God’s plan and it came to pass, all of God’s plans are going to come to pass. We know in God’s Word that God has a good plan for His people. We know in God’s Word that although we are sinners and although we are flawed, God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die for our sins and rise on the third day. We know from God’s Word that when we fully believe, when we place our faith and our trust in Jesus as Lord and Savior, our sins are wiped away and we are promised eternity in heaven.

So just like this was appointed and this came to pass, all of God’s plans are going to come to pass. To me, as a believer, that gives me comfort. Heaven is waiting for me as a believer. Heaven is waiting for you as a believer.

2. The Promised King Arrived with Humility

Something else we see about the promised King and the way Jesus came in: The promised King arrived with humility. It was appointed for Him to come this way, and He came in a humble way.

It says in verse 7, they brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, and set Him on them. Jesus came in a humble way. He came lowly, riding on a donkey, on the foal of a donkey, a colt. He was entering as the promised Messiah and the Savior of the world. He could have come in glorious fashion. A lot of people that were coming to conquer—a military commander or so forth—they might have come in on a strong, powerful war horse.

But even though Jesus was entering as Messiah, as the promised King, He came lowly, riding on a colt.

You have got to think about this. Think about the Lord—all that we read about a lot of accounts where He did mighty, mighty miracles of God. We spoke about how He healed Lazarus. We spoke about how He healed blind Bartimaeus. He had multitudes following. He had multitudes starting to worship Him as the Son of God.

Jesus—the example He gives us is such a good one, and I think such an important one for us in this day and age—to remain humble. So many times when someone has people following them or when somebody is popular and a lot of people like them, isn’t it so true that so often it starts to go to their head? You might see that with people that are successful in business. You might see that with people that are successful in sports. You might see that with people that are a famous singer or someone famous in Hollywood. So often it can go to someone’s head. Or you could even see that with someone that is not famous to the world, but maybe in their corner of the world.

What a great example. If our Lord and our Savior Jesus Christ, who is the Son of God, who always has been and was being worshiped, if He came in in such a humble way, what a great reminder for us to remain humble servants of the Lord.

3. The Promised King Came with Authority

Lastly, the promised King Jesus—He came in as it was appointed. He came in with humility, but also He came in with authority.

One way we see His authority asserted: In verse 2, He says to His disciples, “Loose them and bring them to Me.” Talking about the donkey. And then in verse 3, the Scripture says, “And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord has need of them,’ and immediately he will send them.”

So we start to see the authority of Jesus asserted in the fact that He tells them it is going to be there. Go get it for Me. And if anyone says anything, just tell them the Lord has need of it, and it will get sent to Me.

Then in verse 6, the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them. They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, and set Him on them. A very great multitude spread their clothes on the road. A lot of times in ancient times, people would spread their clothes on the road for royalty. Others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road.

What an amazing scene this must have been. The way the Lord came in on a colt, and multitudes of people are all around them, walking with them, waiting for Him, and they are all putting their garments on the ground. They are putting palm branches on the ground.

Then it says in verse 9: 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!”

Can you imagine what this scene must have been like when Jesus is coming on this colt? I do not know how many people—I picture many, many, many thousands—all gathered and welcoming Him, laying out the red carpet, laying out their clothes, laying out their palm branches, and saying, “Hosanna to the Son of David!”

They knew this was the promised Messiah. The Son of David refers to the Messiah who would come from the line of David. They said, “Hosanna.” That is a Hebrew word that means “Oh, save us.” They are crying out, “Save us,” because they know He is Lord. They know He is the promised Messiah.

I believe they probably pictured Him to come in a way that He would conquer. They probably pictured Him to come like He would conquer Rome and set up His kingdom right then. He will come back and conquer, and honestly He did conquer—just not in the way they were thinking. They were probably thinking He would conquer the military and conquer Rome right then. But in His first coming, Jesus came as the suffering servant, and He did conquer. He conquered sin. He conquered death. He conquered sin and death so that you and I could be forgiven.

We see the Lord when He comes in—He comes just as it was appointed for Him to come, just the way God planned. He comes with complete humility. Even though He is the Savior of the world and the King of kings, He comes lowly, riding on a donkey. But He also comes with complete authority because He is Lord. He is Savior of the world. He comes in with complete authority where He is being worshiped.

We know what happened later in that week. Right after this, I think He flipped the money tables because He saw people exchanging money in the temple. There are a lot of events that happen during Holy Week. It eventually leads to Judas betraying Him. It eventually leads to Jesus being arrested, Jesus being spat upon, Jesus being beaten, Jesus being scourged. Scourging was the way the Romans made people basically be tortured. They would beat Him with a whip 40 stripes minus one—39 times. The whip would normally have bones and metal pieces interwoven in it. So each time the Lord was whipped, it would have gone into His flesh and ripped part of His flesh out—39 times. That whip wraps around your body and then it is yanked out.

Jesus knew all that was coming. He came in as King even though He knew what was coming and even though He knew it would lead to Him hanging on the cross and dying for us.

A Closing Challenge: Is Jesus King of Your Life?

When I think about the way that Jesus came in as King and He was worshiped as King, and when I think about what He did for me and did for us so that we could be forgiven, I think about the fact that shouldn’t He be King of our life?

That is the question I want to close with today. When we think about Jesus, the promised King, the promised Messiah—is Jesus King of your life?

Is Jesus King of your life, or is something else or someone else king? Who is king of your life? Is it Jesus, or is it something else?

For Jesus to be King of our life, we have got to first trust in the King. For Jesus to be King, it starts with understanding we are sinners in need of a Savior, understanding that we need a way to be forgiven of sins, and understanding there is no way other than Jesus. There is only one way for anybody to be forgiven of sins, and that way is through faith in Jesus—not the Jesus some world or some person creates, but Jesus that we read about in the Bible. Jesus that came entering triumphantly but also went to the cross and was beaten and was nailed to the cross and hung on that cross and died on that cross and rose on the third day.

The only way to be forgiven of sins is through faith in Jesus. Have you made that decision? Have you had a moment where you have called fully on Jesus as Lord and Savior? Understanding you need forgiveness and only Jesus can forgive you. Asking the Lord to forgive you and trusting in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

Have you done that? If we want Jesus to be King of our life, first we have to submit to the King. If you have not done that, I pray today would be the day that you do it—that you trust in Jesus fully, saying, “I am trusting You, Lord.”

If you have trusted in the Lord and are born again today—anybody saved in here, giving your life to Jesus—well, what about: Is Jesus King in your life?

Sometimes as believers we can stray. The enemy loves to get us away from the Lord, or our flesh will give into sin. We spoke last Sunday about being dead to sin, alive to God.

I wonder today, as believers, is Jesus the King of your life, or is something else king? Do you want Jesus to be King in your life? He is the promised King. He is the promised Messiah. If you are a believer today, is He King in your life?

All too often, I think we can be guilty of letting other things or other people be King in our life. But when we think about what the Lord did for us—dying for our sins so that we could be forgiven and so that we will have eternity in heaven one day—shouldn’t we want Jesus to be the King of our life?

I just today want to ask you, where you are at, to just begin to pray. During invitation, be praying: Am I putting Jesus as King in my life? Is He King right now in your life? You know it. If He is, you have the Holy Spirit convicting you. Or is something else King? You know what? What does it look like for Jesus to be King in one’s life?

I do not have all the answers, but I think one thing is for certain: One who makes Jesus King loves the King. You love the King with all your heart. We remember in Matthew 22, the scribe or the expert in the law was trying to trap Jesus and said, “Teacher, tell us what is the greatest commandment in the law.” He is trying to trap Him. I can just imagine our Lord looking at him in the eyes as our Lord and saying, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind.”

So, one that makes Jesus King loves the King. Are you loving Jesus with all your heart? Is He what rules inside of your inner being? What rules on the inside? What rules on your heart? Is it Jesus?

One that loves Jesus, that wants to make Him King, loves the King. When we love the King, we will spend time with the King. One that makes Jesus King in their life—they spend time with the King. They spend time with Jesus.

Have you ever been guilty of not making time like you need to for the Lord? We so easily can get caught up in the busyness of our lives, and it happens, I think, to everybody. We get caught up with work. We get caught up with family. There are things that we need to take care of. But when we want to make Jesus King, we prioritize spending time with the King.

By the way, when we spend time with Jesus, it only helps. It helps us. We need to remind ourselves of that—like taking time to get distraction-free with the Lord. The one it blesses is you. The one it blesses is me. Sometimes we feel like we do not have time. But when we make time and we put Jesus first, there will be time. The Lord has a way of working all those things out for us.

Like when we say, “All right, Lord, I am making sure I carve out time for You—me and You only.” God will help you work all those details out. God will bring to light some things that maybe you do not need to be doing, that are not that important. God will bring even people to help you get things done that you were doing all by yourself before. I do not know the ways God will do it, but I know this: When we make Jesus King, we will spend time with the King. When we do not spend time with the King, it only hurts us.

Spending time with Jesus certainly includes prayer. How is your prayer life? Do you look like someone that is making Jesus King with your prayer life? We sometimes just need to let go and say, “I know I need the Lord, and I know when I pray and I take time with God, He can do far more than I can do in all my efforts.” It will bless us when we make it a priority every day to have time with the Lord in prayer.

When I think about spending time with the King, I also think about spending time in the Word of God—just sitting down. That is one reason I like to sit down with an old-fashioned Bible and not my phone, because if I have my phone, I will get calls, I will get texts. We have got to unplug to spend time with the King. We have got to get alone. I know that seems like sometimes it might be impossible, but I do not think it is. I think there is a way for every one of us to make time for the Lord when we put Him first, when we put Him as King.

I will close with this: One who makes Jesus King lives for the King. One who is making Jesus King does not want to live for sin and ungodliness. One that is making Jesus King does not want to live for worldly things. One who is making Jesus King wants to live for Jesus.

That does not mean we will not struggle because we have got flesh. That does not mean there will not be times that we mess up. But when we make Jesus King, we are going to be molded and shaped and helped by God to more and more live for God. We will want to be a part of worship. We will want to be a part of church. We will want to worship together. We will want to serve the Lord. We will want to make our daily life centered around what the Lord wants instead of what we want.

When we make Jesus King, we will not mind tithing. We will not be like, “Oh, I have got to give up 10%.” No, we will start giving more than 10%. Because He is King of our life, and He gave us everything. We know that God is the one that has given us everything we have got.

When we make Jesus King of our life, we will want to tell this world about Jesus.

I just wrap up by asking you a question to pray about right now today in this place: Is Jesus King in your life? And if not, what is stopping Him from being King?

When we make Jesus King of our life, the one that is blessed is us. If you want to see God really, really work through you—if I want to see God really, really work through me—the more we put Jesus at the center, the more we make Jesus King, we are going to see God work.