Matthew 21 begins the account of the final week of the earthly life of Jesus. It is called Holy Week or Passion Week, as it culminates with the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. It begins on Palm Sunday, so called because the crowds placed garments and branches in the path as Jesus rode into Jerusalem. John 12:13 says they were palm branches. 

The Triumphal Entry is the first and last time Jesus travels to Jerusalem in Matthew. Jesus was born in Bethlehem. His parents fled to Egypt after his birth. He was raised in Nazareth. His ministry took place in Galilee. The Gospels tell us that Jesus traveled to Jerusalem on several occasions to observe the holy feasts. The events of Holy Week took place during the feast of Passover. Hundreds of thousands came to Jerusalem for Passover. Jesus was more than just another pilgrim who came to town. The triumphal entry was the arrival of the king. 

God promised to send a Messiah-King to deliver his people and judge his enemies. Israel lived in the hope of these messianic promises. Longing for the Messiah’s coming grew intensely in the first century, as Israel lived under Roman occupation. The dominating theme of Matthew’s Gospel is that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah-King promised in the Old Testament. In Matthew 21:1-11, Jesus presents himself to Israel as the Messiah-King in his Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem. Throughout the Gospels, Jesus discouraged people from publicly acknowledging him. It is called “The Messianic Secret.” Now the secret is out! Jesus invites and encourages the people to acknowledge him as their rightful King.

As David neared death, his son Adonijah sought to usurp the throne that was to go to Solomon. With the counsel of Nathan and Bathsheba, David made plans to coronate Solomon. 1 Kings 1:33 said Solomon was to be placed on David’s mule and be anointed and announced as king as he rode through Israel. In the Triumphal Entry, one who is greater than Solomon rides into Jerusalem as king. 

• Good Friday and Easter are about what Jesus accomplished. 
• The Triumphal Entry on Psalm Sunday is about who Jesus is. 

  Who is Jesus? Jesus is King! How does the Triumphal Entry prove Jesus is King? 

The Sovereign Arrangements

The Triumphal Entry was intentional and spontaneous. The celebration of the crowd was extemporaneous. But Matthew reports how Jesus planned and prepared this humble coronation. These sovereign arrangements highlight two details about the Lordship of Christ.

The Lord Rules. Verses 1-2 set the scene: “Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, ‘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.’” Two unnamed disciples were to run ahead to a nearby village. When they arrived, they would immediately find a donkey and her colt. The fact they would be tied indicates they were not wild animals. They belonged to someone. Yet the disciples were to untie the animals and bring them to Jesus. 

Bible commenters debate whether these instructions reflect careful planning or divine omniscience. Either way, it is a picture of the Lord who rules and reigns. These strange instructions are similar to Matthew 26:17-18: “Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Where will you have us prepare for you to eat the Passover?” He said, “Go into the city to a certain man and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, My time is at hand, I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples.” 

How can Jesus talk this way? Psalm 24:1-2 answers: “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein, for he has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers.”

The Lord Overrules. Jesus acknowledged there may be objections when the disciples commandeered the colt. That’s what happened. Luke 19:33 says the owners asked, “Why are you untying it?” Jesus requisitioned someone else’s colt for his personal use. Verse 3 instructs the disciples how to respond when the colt’s owner questioned their actions: “If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.” G. Campbell-Morgan said, “Jesus used words to indicate his universal authority, his chief proprietorship of all things.” 

What a profound paradox! “Lord” is a divine title. As Lord, he does not need anything or anyone. Yet his divine authority operates through chosen means. To prepare for his triumphal entry, to fulfill his holy word, and to accomplish his redemptive mission, the Lord needed this colt. See here the Lord’s unlimited and unimpeachable jurisdiction. The Lord rules, overrules, and super-rules. This is also a lesson about Christian stewardship. The Lord does not need your stuff because he needs your stuff. It is his stuff that he entrusts to you for his purpose. 

The Prophetic Fulfillment

Verse 4 says, “This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet.” Matthew wrote to a Jewish audience to prove that Jesus was truly the Messiah – the King of the Jews. To make that point, Matthew repeatedly shows how Jesus’ life and ministry fulfilled Old Testament prophecy. Verse 4 is the ninth of ten times Matthew tells us something happened to fulfill prophecy. Verse 5 states the prophecy: “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.”

 “Daughter of Zion” is language from Isaiah 62:11 that refers to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. The rest of the quote is from Zechariah 9:9: “Behold, your king is coming to you.” This is not the arrival of a foreign king. Your king is coming on your behalf and for your benefit. The emphasis of this prophecy is on how the king comes: “humble.”

• Worldly kings arrive with displays of authority. 
• The righteous King arrives in a display of humility. 

His humility is seen as he is “mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.”Ancient kings arrived in conquered cities on warhorses and chariots. It was the equivalent of our president riding in a car called “The Beast” and flying in a plane called “Air Force One.” Yet this King would arrive in humility and meekness. Jesus did not come to make war. He came to bring peace. 

Some think Jesus manipulated the circumstances to give the appearance that his arrival in Jerusalem was the fulfillment of scripture. What you have here is a testimony to the uniqueness and exclusivity of Jesus. In Science Speaks, Peter Stoner calculated that the odds of any person fulfilling eight messianic prophecies was one in ten to the seventeenth power – that’s a one with seventeen zeros in front of it. Imagine every piece of dry ground was covered with white tile one and a half inches square. One of those white tiles was painted red at the bottom. The odds of finding that red-bottomed tile would be one in ten to the seventeenth power. Fulfilled prophecy is not a hermeneutical trick we play to prop up our truth-claims about Jesus. Prophecy proves Jesus is the promised King! There is nobody like Jesus!

The Royal Procession

Verses 6-9 record the Triumphal Entry itself. This royal procession occurs in two scenes. 

The Disciples Acknowledge Christ. Verse 6 says, “The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them.” This is what it means to be a disciple. It is to obey the commands of Jesus – even when they don’t make sense to us. Luke 6:46 asks, “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?” The two disciples found the colt where Jesus said. When the owners objected, they repeated what Jesus told them to say. Everything happened as Jesus said. 

Has that been your experience in following Jesus?

• It may not go the way you think. 
• It may not go the way you feel. 
• It may not go the way you want. 

  All will turn out according to the Lord’s word, will, and way. 

Verse 7 says, “They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them.” By these acts, the disciples prepared Jesus for his royal procession and acknowledged him as King. John 12:16 says, “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.” Jesus is the star of his story. There are major players in minor roles. This colt upon which Jesus rode is one of them.

When asked if it was hard for her to remain humble, Corrie ten Boom replied, “When Jesus rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday on the back of a donkey, and everyone was waving palm branches and throwing garments on the road, and singing praises, do you think that for one moment it ever entered the head of the donkey that any of that was for him? If the Lord rides you, remember it’s not about you!

The People Acknowledge Christ. Verses 8-9 tell us how the crowd paid homage to Jesus by their deeds and words. 

By their deeds. Verse 8 says, “Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.” The people “spread their cloaks in the road.” This was their crude and impromptu way of rolling out the red carpet for Jesus. 2 Kings 9:13 says Israel did this when Jehu was proclaimed king. It was an act of submission and sacrifice. One’s cloak was a prized possession. Matthew 5:40 says, “And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.” In casting their cloaks, they gave Jesus their best. Those who did not have cloaks “cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.” John 12:13 specifies they were palm branches. In Leviticus 23:40, palm branches symbolize rejoicing. They were also symbols of victory. By their actions, the crowds acknowledge Jesus as King. 

By their words. Verse 9 says, “And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” “Hosanna” quotes Psalm 118:25. It is a prayer for deliverance: “Save us.” They addressed it to “the Son of David” – a messianic title that acknowledged Jesus as the promised King. It is what the blind men cried out to Jesus in Matthew 20:30. As they “blessed” Jesus, they acknowledged that he had come “in the name of the Lord.” To come in someone’s name is to act in their authority with their approval for their acclaim. They shouted, “Hosanna in the highest!” “In the highest” means God is worthy of highest praise for sending Jesus. Jesus came to save, not in the way they desired or expected. Matthew 1:21 says he came “to save his people from their sins.”

The Overwhelming Response

Matthew’s record of the Triumphal Entry concludes with the overwhelming response of the whole city to Jesus’ arrival. In verses 10-11, a question is asked and an answer is given. 

The Pressing Question. Verse 10 says, “And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, ‘Who is this?’” “Stirred up” translates a verb from which we get the word “seismic.” It refers to an earthquake. The term will be used two more times in Matthew. 

• Matthew 27:51 reports an earthquake at the crucifixion of Jesus. 
• Matthew 28:4 reports an earthquake at the resurrection of Jesus. 

A literal earthquake did not occur in our text. The city stirred up and shaken by all the hoopla. It was obvious that Jesus was the centerpiece of the frenzied crowd. They asked, “Who is this?” D.A. Carson answers the question this way: “Who really is this about whom there is so much excitement?” This is the critical question of Holy Week. All that has transpired in the life of Jesus begs the question: “Who is this?”This is the question every person must answer. Do you know Jesus? I know the president. But I don’t know the president. I know my wife Crystal and she knows me better than anyone else. Which way do you know Jesus? Do you about him? Or do you know him yourself?

The Proper Answer. Verse 11 says, “And the crowds said, ‘This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.’” Matthew 16:14 says people thought Jesus was Elijah, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.” That high opinion seems to have intensified. The definite article – the prophet – may indicate they viewed Jesus to be the prophet like Moses promised in Deuteronomy 18:15. They identified Jesus as the one “from Nazareth of Galilee.” That was the truth but not the whole truth. Matthew 2:1 says he was born in Bethlehem of Judea in fulfillment of Micah 5:2. Jesus is more than a prophet. He is Prophet, Priest, and King. 

• We need no other prophet to reveal God’s mind. 
• We need no other priest to provide access to God. 
• We need no other king to advance God’s kingdom. 

Luke 19:39-40 adds to the story: “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.” I don’t want no rocks crying out for me! Psalm 24:7-10 says, “Lift up your heads, O gates! And be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle! Lift up your heads, o gates! And lift them up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory!”