Matthew 21:1-11 Sermon for March 29, 2026

When they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage at the Mount of Olives, Jesus then sent two disciples, telling them, ‘Go into the village ahead of you. At once you will find a donkey tied there with her colt. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them at once.’ This took place so that what was spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled: Tell Daughter Zion, ‘See, your King is coming to you, gentle, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’ The disciples went and did just as Jesus directed them. They brought the donkey and the colt; then they laid their clothes on them, and he sat on them. A very large crowd spread their clothes on the road; others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them on the road. Then the crowds who went ahead of him and those who followed shouted: Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven! When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in an uproar, saying, ‘Who is this?’ The crowds were saying, ‘This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.’ Today, we begin to trace the steps of Jesus as He intentionally walks to the cross. Now, this is important to note, and it’ll feed into our first take-away of the night and it’s this: What we are reading in our passage here is the deliberate and sovereign movement of Jesus. In other words, nothing of what we are reading is by mistake or takes Jesus by surprise. No, Christ Jesus is NOT a passive victim of all that has and will transpire. In fact, He is deliberately moving towards the cross and it is all by divine design. It is all eternally decreed. What you need to understand is this: all that has and will transpire in the life of Christ has been meticulously decreed by our God. What will happen needs to happen. Throughout the life of Jesus, and you’ll see this motif clearly in the Gospel of John, Jesus always and purposefully has his eye set on Jerusalem. He knew this moment would come and He willingly walked the path. This is a key understand we must grasp unto and it all weaves into the pivotal theology of God’s Sovereignty. And just a word about God’s sovereignty for a minute: I am finding it a little incredulous the amount of people who have an issue with God’s sovereignty. What’s interesting is that many folks in today’s churches get all bent out of shape by this essential teaching of Scripture but when they are forced to fall on their knees in prayer begging for the mercy of God over something in their life, all bets are all of a sudden on God’s sovereignty. Just really think about that. And my friends, I’m going to be beating this drum of God’s sovereignty over and over again because it is absolutely essential to our understanding of who God is and how God works. Robert Purnell, back in the 1600’s, wrote in his magisterial work, “Whatever God does in time, he had decreed to do from all eternity. So that God’s decree is what he has from all eternity decided with himself to bring about in time.” This is directly taken from Ephesians 1:11, which states, “In him we have also received an inheritance, because we were predestined according to the plan of the one who works out everything in agreement with the purpose of his will.” So, our first point in understand our oh-so familiar passage today is that this is all the outworkings of God Himself, and it’s been carefully designed from the beginning of time. The second take-away is this: this is a direct fulfillment (of Scripture) of Zechariah 9:9, which says, “Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout in triumph, Daughter Jerusalem! Look, your King is coming to you; he is righteous and victorious, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” So, that was written in the early post-exilic period of the 5th century. More than 500 years prior. This also is a fulfillment of Isaiah 62:11, which says, “Look, the Lord has proclaimed to the ends of the earth, ‘Say to Daughter Zion: Look, your salvation is coming, his wages are with him, and his reward accompanies him.’” So, why do I mention this? Two reasons: The first is to remind us of the unity of Scripture. It is a continuity of the covenant story. Jesus is the climax of a redemptive history, which is linear. There is something happening, and it’s not random. It is absolutely beautiful to see the divine harmony and unity of all 66 books of God’s Word. The second reason is to help us understand that what we are reading today is not a form of sentimental pageantry. It is a covenant fulfillment. In other words, God is moving towards the satisfaction of His wrath of mankind, and we’re going to talk about what that means this Friday. But, in short, there are only two categories of people that exists and it’s this: you’re either a child of God, meaning that thew righteousness of Jesus has been credited to you by faith alone, through grace alone, in Christ alone all to the glory of God alone. Or…you remain under God’s wrath due to sin in which you refuse the free gift of salvation. The third take-away is that our Lord comes in utmost humility. He road in on a donkey; not a horse. You have to understand how scandalous this was. The people were expected a King on a horse who would free them from the oppression of Rome! Yet, our King came in on a donkey, in the form of meekness and suffering, to free them from sin. The people had an picture of what they were expecting and it completely shattered their expectations. Again, Jesus chose the donkey on purpose. Jesus could have chosen a horse and come with military strength, because He is, after all, God! But he doesn’t. He comes for a greater purpose and it’s to see people free from their bondage of sin. What good is it to be free from Rome and not free from the wages of sin? What good is it to have the government in place you want but to have your soul trekking to hell? What good is it to have the American Dream, yet be eternally lost? What good is it to profit all that life has to offer yet lose your soul? And what we will see is the people singing, Hosanna! This leads to our fourth point and it’s this: The praise from the crowd is very much real, but oh-so misguided. It’s misaligned. And there is a grave danger for us to take heed of today. Many people in many of our churches are no different than the people that day singing Hosanna. What do I mean by that? First, it’s important to understand that the people that day had very real feelings. I’m sure the emotions were high and heart-felt. They said the right words, but were expecting a totally different outcome. You have to understand that these are the same people who will shout, “Crucify him!” just days later. The people’s praise was pragmatic. They wanted Jesus as a means to an earthly end. And we see that all the time today! We see people only wanted Jesus for what He can give them. It’s almost as if many want the created things and not the Creator Himself. They want a kind of Jesus that fits their mold. They want a Jesus they’ve crafted in their imagination. My friends, we need to drive this point home. This week isn’t primarily about the pageantry of Easter and all that. It isn’t about dressing up, eating food, gathering with family, taking pictures, and all that stuff! That’s the danger! We’re doing all this religious stuff, this man centered religious stuff and missing the point! YOU are the people singing Hosanna and then shouting Crucify Him days later! How many of us want the Jesus of Scripture? Yet, were walking around as functional atheists, mad that Jesus didn’t come through on our expectations. We wanted Jesus but He’s let us down because life isn’t going the way we want, the money isn’t coming in the way we want, society isn’t flowing the way we desire, the healing isn’t coming on our terms, the prayers are not answered the way we expected. We’ve got a major problem today and it’s this: so many are getting heartfelt about Jesus but are not saved! That’s the distinction between Hosanna and Crucify Him! This is a hard truth we need to grasp unto: just because you cry at the name of Jesus, you get emotional at singing some songs, you get enthusiastic at your favorite tik-tok preacher or whatever, doesn’t mean you are following Jesus as Christ, Lord, and King. This is a danger and a warning for you and I. We should desire Jesus and welcome Him into every crevice of our lives. If you are rejecting Jesus in any square inch of your life, you are not being obedient to the Jesus of Scripture. If you are professional at doing all the ‘right church stuff’ and you’re not exuding the fruit of the Spirit, you are warned right now. And, now, we get to our fifth and final takeaway and it’s this: In verse 10 and 11, we see that the people are like, “Who is this guy?” In other words, they are spiritually blind. This sort of piggy-backs our last point. I heard someone once say, “The crowd is stirred, but not converted.” The crowds may call him Lord. The crowds may call Him King. The crowds may call Him Savior. But do they call Him Lord, Savior AND King at the same time! One of the issues in today’s churches is that stirring of people who, frankly, are not converted. Just look at the discourse in John 9. It’s all about spiritual blindness. 35-41: Jesus heard that they had thrown the man out, and when he found him, he asked, ‘Do you believe in the Son of Man?’ ‘Who is he, Sir, that I may believe in him?’ he asked. Jesus answered, ‘You have seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.’ ‘I believe, Lord!’ he said, and he worshiped him. Jesus said, ‘I came into this world for judgment, in order that those who do not see will see and those who do see will become blind.’ Some of the Pharisees who were with him heard these things and asked him, ‘We aren’t blind too, are we?’ ‘If you were blind,’ Jesus told them, ‘you wouldn’t have sin. But now that you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.’ My goodness folks! Something like this said today in many of our churches would warrant a mandated sensitivity training. Jesus isn’t pulling punches here. Your eyes need to be spiritually open. You need to be born again! And only the Spirit can open the eyes to Jesus as Christ. Ad this is a grave truth today: you can attend church, get married in a church, be baptized in a church, serve in a church, clean the church, give to the church, build a church, go to youth group in church, sing in a church…and yet still be on the way to hell. If you are in church but not in Christ, you’re in grave danger. The people that day were not in Christ. And we need to be careful in distinguishing the difference: just because you’ve done all the ‘right’ things and get emotional singing some songs, doesn’t equate to faith in Jesus. Being stirred does not mean being converted. As I invite the worship team back up here, I want to end with this: It isn’t too late to fall at the feet of Jesus and come with empty hands. Root yourself in the truths of Scripture and it’ll carry you. If we continue to let emotions get us, what happens when we’re ‘not feeling it?’ There is no difference in singing Hosanna one day and shouting Crucify Him the next. The cure? The answer? To see your utter brokenness, your complete inability to save yourself, your dire predicament as a result of your sin, and to truly know that only Jesus can do for you what you cannot do for yourself. You need the Spirit to open your eyes, to give you a new heart (Ezekiel 36), and to transform you from the inside out.