SEE, YOUR KING COMES TO YOU

Matthew 21:1-22
Key Verses 21:4-5

⁴This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: ⁵"Say to the Daughter of Zion, 'See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.' "

In today's passage Jesus makes his entrance into Jerusalem. He had gone to Jerusalem many times before, but he had a specific mission this time. He had already taught what he was going to do there. He would suffer, die, and then be raised to life (Mat 20:17-19). This would happen within days of his entering Jerusalem. But he did not enter Jerusalem as a victim. He entered as a triumphant king. In the key verse, the Lord tells us through the prophet to see our king who is coming to us. He is coming to us. It means that we need to: 1) See what king of king he is; 2) See that he is coming to us, meaning that we need be ready to receive him, that is, welcome Jesus our king; 3) See what will happen if we receive him and if we don’t. May we learn of and accept Jesus our king from today's passage.

1. The Lord needs them (1-3, 6)

How did Jesus prepare for his arrival into Jerusalem? Look at verses 1-3. "¹As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, ²saying to them, 'Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. ³If anyone says anything to you, tell him that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.'"

First, Jesus prepared disciples who obey. The directions he gave them may have looked tricky. It might seem that they were stealing someone else’s donkeys! But Jesus made it clear that he was not stealing, borrowing, or renting these donkeys. He was the Lord and he needed them. If anyone questioned them, all they had to respond with was, “The Lord needs them.” 

Look at verse 6. “The disciples went and did just as Jesus had instructed them.” And the result was that Jesus was revealed as a king to many, many people with great joy, thanks, and shouting. A good environment for Jesus is prepared through those who are ready to obey him fully. Many times we are too technical about what the Lord needs. It is true that Jesus is God. He is not needy in the sense that we are needy. He is gives graciously. But he is looking for those who are ready to listen. “The Lord needs them!” Jesus needs them to prepare a good environment.

2. The Gentle King (4-5)

Jesus had his disciples prepare a mother donkey and her young colt. These two donkeys were born and raised for the very purpose of being picked up that day and used to carry the Lord Jesus into Jerusalem. They were the luckiest donkeys in all of donkey history. Jesus did this for a specific reason. Let’s look at verses 4-5. ⁴This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: ⁵"Say to the Daughter of Zion, 'See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.' "

The way Jesus entered Jerusalem fulfilled Scripture. Specifically, Matthew focuses on what the prophet Zechariah prophesied. Jesus revealed now that he is the king—the promised king that God would send to this world, to his people. Actually, Jesus hid his kingly identity before this time. Throughout his ministry, when people confessed that he was the Christ he commanded them not to tell anyone (Mat 8:4; 9:30; 16:16, 20). He knew the people would try to make him king by force according to their own desires. But now he revealed his identity as a king to all the people. What kind of king is Jesus?

Here we see that Jesus came “gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” The Lord chose the image of humble and gentle donkeys as the best way to reveal what he is like as a king. Jesus is not like worldly kings and rulers. He is gentle and he is humble. There is no king that would ride in on a donkey. Donkeys are not fast or strong like trained horses. What he did might be like the president riding on a Vespa. Here is a picture of a presidential motorcade. Jesus did not enter like a modern president. He did not enter like King Aragon from the movie "Return of the King" (of The Lord of the Rings trilogy) (picture). If someone like Aragon came rushing into the city on that kind of a horse, wielding such a powerful looking sword, you would quickly submit to him or run away. Worldly leaders secure their kingdoms through fear and intimidation by displaying their might and physical force. Worldly leaders are also afraid that their positions might be usurped. (One of the Herods had his sons killed along with one of his wives’ family members for fear that they were conspiring to usurp his throne. Then he had all the baby boys under 2 years of age killed after the time Jesus was born. Recently, there have been so many protests and even deaths in Iran because of the problem of trusting leadership.) These kinds of leaders think about their own security first. They also keep people at a distance. They impose their rule on others forcefully.

But how about Jesus riding on a donkey? Do we submit so readily to him as he comes to us with this image? No. More often than not we treat Jesus like a waiter, rather than our king. Jesus said,”The Lords needs them.” But we say, “Lord, I need such and such. Go get it for me.” Jesus is different from worldly kings, but he is still a king—in fact, he is the King of Kings. He is gentle and humble. He does not force his kingdom and rule upon us. He gives us a chance to come to him. We can because he first came to us in gentleness. He is approachable. He is not distant. Under such a king, we can be nurtured and grow properly as God’s children. He is not oppressive or scary.

Today, our culture is very suspicious of authority figures and "obedience" borders on being a bad word. We don’t really have a concept of what having a king really means. So we have to see our king with the greatest attention and open hearts. He is our gentle king. He claimed his kingdom and salvation not through physical force or cunning politics, but he was humble and laid down his life in love and obedience to God. That is how Jesus was victorious. He went to Jerusalem resolute to suffer and die for the sins of the world, and be raised to life to give us a real hope in the kingdom of God. He shed his blood to win the victory for us. In one sense Jesus is the Lamb of God. And yet he is also our great and powerful king who loved us. 

We should not think that Jesus is not coming to us anymore. He is still coming to those who are ready to receive him. In Revelation 3:20 Jesus says, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.” 

3. Hosanna! (7-11)

How did the people receive Jesus? Let's look at verses 7-11. 7They brought the donkey and the colt, placed their cloaks on them, and Jesus sat on them. 8A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, "Hosanna to the Son of David!" "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!"  "Hosanna in the highest!"10When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, "Who is this?" 11The crowds answered, "This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee."

First, they lined the road before Jesus with their cloaks. Those who didn't have cloaks to lay down cut palm branches and laid them down. These were traditional ways of welcoming a victorious king into his city and showing their submission to him.

Second, they shouted praise to Jesus. “Hosanna to the Son of David!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Hosanna in the highest!” What they shouted were shouts of praise from the Scriptures. They welcomed Jesus as their king and as God’s chosen servant. The large crowds stirred up the whole city of Jerusalem. 

They welcomed Jesus with great rejoicing and shouts of praise and by laying down their best before him! They show us how we can receive Jesus as our king too. By laying down our lives and our best before him, and obeying him, and with great rejoicing and praise. Each week we sing hymn 124, “All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name.” The lyrics tell us that it is a song for a king. “All hail the power of Jesus’ name / Let angels prostrate fall / Bring forth the royal diadem (crown) / And crown him Lord of all!” We also sing praises before each worship service. Please come at 11am and join in praise before the message! The way to receive Jesus is to lay down what we have before him, open our hearts, and confess our sins and experience his gentleness and power. 

Most likely the people did not fully understand what they were saying. They did not have a right expectation of Jesus and their good favor to him would not last long (less than one week later they would shout to crucify him). But their shouts of praise here were 100% accurate and worthy of Jesus. Jesus is the king, the Son of David, who is the promised Savior. He is the king who saves! (Hosanna means, “Save!” but later became a traditional phrase of praise.) The purpose of a king is to provide for and protect his people. Jesus secures true security and provision for his people, for he secured the kingdom of heaven for them. The people expected Jesus to save them from Rome and rebuild the kingdom of Israel. But Jesus saves from the power of the devil, and from sin and death. No matter how much one prospers in this world, with money or recognition or anything else, he cannot save himself from the power of the devil and from sin and death. In Jesus we have the surety of all the provisions and security we need in this life and for eternal life.  He is the Creator God, the king of all the universe, who became flesh and made himself known.

When I open my heart and submit to Jesus, I experienced his power as a king, and yet his gentleness to help me grow up. I really don’t like thinking about the past because it makes me cringe. I see just one immature or senseless act after another. But Jesus didn’t judge or crush me when he first came and entered my life. And since then he has been gentle in that he has patiently bore with me so that I could grow up as a servant of God. He was gentle in that sense, but powerful to work in and through my life, when I submitted to him fully. Laying down our lives before Jesus is the sure way to receive him and experience his life and power and gentleness. This passage fills my heart with thanks to Jesus and also gives me the prayer topic to learn and practice his gentleness. 

4. A house of prayer (12-17)

What happens we receive Jesus? Let’s look at what he did first. Jesus went to the temple area and cleared it out. Verses 12-13 read: ¹²Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. ¹³"It is written," he said to them, " 'My house will be called a house of prayer,' but you are making it a 'den of robbers.'"

Jesus cleanses and restores those who accept him. In this case he went to the temple first. The temple was a very important place. It was the place God designated where he would meet with his people and atone for their sins. When Jesus cleared out the temple area, he had in mind to restore the purpose of the temple. But the physical temple in Jerusalem is not the ultimate meaning (or manifestation) of the temple. Jesus knew this when he spoke about the temple (John 2:21-22). This temple had been built and rebuilt several times throughout Jewish history. And today there is no temple in Jerusalem. The house that God is building is the body of Jesus, that is, each believer. We are God's temple. So, as Jesus cleared the temple, Jesus cleanses and restores the purpose of God's house in each person. 

The purpose laid out here is very clear: to be a house of prayer. As God's house, we are the temple for the Holy Spirit, so we are to have fellowship with God. We are also God's instrument to reveal his glory and salvation to the world. We learn here that to be a house of God, to be a people of God, is to be a praying people. Jesus quoted Isaiah. The rest of this verse says, “my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations” (Isaiah 56:7). God has all nations in his heart and mind and all nations must be in our prayers too. But first we must clean out our hearts of all the impure motives and robbers and merchants by listening to and accepting Jesus’ rebuke and challenges. We can’t have both robbers and prayers in our hearts. 

Look at verses 14-15. 14The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them. 15But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple area, "Hosanna to the Son of David," they were indignant.

Jesus' other activities at the temple area further demonstrates that when we receive Jesus, he cleanses and restores. Here we see that the blind and lame came to Jesus and he healed them. Children were praising him! It would be wonderful if praises to Jesus came out of the mouths of our children all the time like this! Jesus makes peoples bodies and hearts and mouths sound and godly (meaning, our whole being is used for God’s purpose alone). 

Jesus did many wonderful things, which even the religious leaders saw, including children praising Jesus. But the religious leaders did not accept Jesus. They asked Jesus, "Do you hear what these children are saying?" Jesus replied, "Yes." He said that it was ordained by God. Who was their king? Themselves! In our hearts (meaning, our lives) is room for only one throne, big enough for only one king. Who sits on that thrown? It is us? Someone else? Is it Jesus? 

5. Have faith and pray (18-22)

Look at verses 18-20. 18Early in the morning, as he was on his way back to the city, he was hungry. 19Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, "May you never bear fruit again!" Immediately the tree withered. 20When the disciples saw this, they were amazed. "How did the fig tree wither so quickly?" they asked.

Jesus was hungry and saw a fig tree. It must have had many leaves but it didn't have any fruit. Maybe this was a picture of Jerusalem at that time. Lots of things were going on and it was dressed nicely, but no real fruit was there. Verse 19 says that the fig tree withered “immediately” and that the disciples were amazed. Jesus then used this situation to teach his disciples about faith and prayer.

Look at verses 21-22.  ²¹Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done. ²²If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."

Jesus’ words here show us how we can make sure not to be like this fig tree, only full of leaves but no fruit: faith and prayer. Prayer is a serious matter. It is the purpose of the temple. It is the power for a believer to carry out God’s work which he has called us to do. To pray effectively, we need faith—faith that does not doubt. The disciples were amazed by the fig tree, but Jesus spoke of much greater things—they could tell a mountain to move, and it would listen! A mountain is a mountain. Jesus doesn’t downplay the reality of a mountain. He was not offering a suggestion or telling a joke. And for this reason we can see how prayer that comes from faith that does not doubt is truly powerful. And what is our faith in? It is in Jesus our king.

This passage has come at the right time. The campuses are beginning across southern California. We want to do something for Jesus at the campus. But it seems like moving a mountain--impossible! Great! It means that it is a chance for God to display his power through us when we pray and believe and do not doubt. This was very rebuking and encouraging to me as I thought about how to serve the Cal State LA ministry once the quarter starts in a two weeks. It’s been 5 years since we started praying for this campus. And everything I have tried to do there, from school work to ministry, is like moving a mountain. But I thank God! When I pray, believing and not doubting, that mountain is going to get right up and throw itself into the sea—meaning, God will show his work powerfully.

I also learned through this passage that when I accept Jesus as my king, he changes me into a servant of God who prays with power. So, I need to listen to his rebukes also, repent, and grow in his gentleness. As I thought about this point, I tried to read and listen carefully in doing the daily bread morning devotional. This week we covered passages from the book of James. James is very direct and to the point on what to do and especially what to repent of. One word convicted me sharply. James 3:9-10 read:  ⁹With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. ¹⁰Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be.  This passage convicted me because this is my case. The more I drive in LA, the more anger and road rage increase in my heart. It’s gotten so bad that what James said is about me. With my tongue I praise God, and then with the same tongue I curse others. Based on this word, I repented and decided not to curse others anymore. And when I submitted to Jesus’ word, his power worked in me. Rather than feeling like I’m holding my tongue on the road, I don’t feel angered or bothered at all. It is a great miracle that I am thankful for right now. 

Thank God for sending Jesus as our king, for he is gentle and humble and powerful. May God help us to see our king Jesus and receive him. May God bless us to win the spiritual battle at the campuses through praying and participating in Jesus’ sufferings by faith.

One Word: See, your king comes to you

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