A Picture of Purity and Passion: Jesus' Triumphal Entry Into Jerusalem - Matthew 21:5

1:16And that means today is Palm Sunday. So really, this is about as early as that you'll celebrate Resurrection Day because of just the way it works out. But what this also means is that we are officially in the season of Lent. Lent is that 40-day period of preparation that is practiced in Catholic and Orthodox and some other circles. 40-day preparation leading up to Easter. It began on Ash Wednesday in the Western tradition and Orthodox tradition begins on Clean Monday, which is March 14th. But it's a 40-day period. It's a season marked by prayer, fasting, abstinence, almsgiving.

2:12I want to read to you what one advocate cites from a seminary press, how he describes Lent and how it is celebrated in the Orthodox circles. The Orthodox rules for Lenten fasting are the monastic rules. No meat, no eggs, or dairy products are allowed after the beginning of the season, which is Clean Monday. Fasting has as its goal the purification of our lives, the liberation of our souls and bodies from sin, the strengthening of our human powers of love for God and man, the enlightening of our entire being for communion with the blessed Trinity. These rules are. Not an end in themselves, but as a means to spiritual perfection crowned in love. So by abstaining from things such as meat, eggs, dairy, that this is instrumental in bringing about the spiritual perfection of our souls and our bodies. Of course, Colossians 2:20, Paul says something very contrary to this. If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourselves to decrees such as do not handle, do not taste, do not touch, which all refer to things destined to perish with use in accordance with the commandments and teaching of men? These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence.

4:04If you think by putting off certain fleshly desires that you will obtain some sort of victory over fleshly indulgence, you're mistaken. There is no biblical basis for Lent. So where did it come from? I'm glad you asked. Well, back centuries before Christ, when Babylon was destroyed, the pagan high priest at that time fled to Pergamum, or Revelation 2:13, Pergamos, where Satan's throne is. So he fled from Pergamum and then fled to Rome. And by the fourth century AD, much of the polytheistic paganism of Rome had found its way into the church, the official state church of Rome. And it was from that source that the idea of Lent originated. In pagan legends, Cimmeramis was miraculously conceived by a sunbeam, and her son Tammuz was killed and was raised from the dead after 40 days of fasting by his mother. And this is the origin of Lent. The same basic legends were found in counterpart religions throughout the world. Cimmeranus was also known variously as Astarith, Isis, Aphrodite, Venus, and Ishtar. Tammuz was also known as Baal, Osiris, Eros, and Cupid. In fact, Ezekiel had a vision about the abominations that were being committed in the temple at Jerusalem, and there were those Who were weeping for Tammuz in Ezekiel 8, 13 and 14? Some like to suggest that Lent parallels Jesus' 40-day fast in the wilderness, but a close analysis, it's very different, very different.

6:18Jesus was compelled into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit. It wasn't some spiritual discipline of perfection. He was compelled by the Spirit of God into the wilderness to be alone and to purposefully weaken himself and to take on a temptation, to confront temptation and reveal and to demonstrate his power over temptation. The second Adam went into the wilderness, completely weakened, and took on all of the temptations of the devil. Total different dynamic from Lent. So, a word of caution to those of you who celebrate Lent, you're free to put off whatever you want, but understand this: Christianity is not a life of restraints, it's not primarily a life of restraints, but a life of pursuits.

7:23Of course, it's clear that Jesus said, if anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself. So, yes, there are a practice and a discipline of routine denying of self, but it's in the context of taking up his cross and following me. That denial of self comes in the context of pursuing something greater than self, and that is the Lord Christ. So, if we boil Christianity down, it's not primarily a life of restraints, though it involves restraints, but it's primarily a life of pursuits. And nobody embodied this more than our Lord Jesus Christ, and especially on that day of his triumphal entry.

8:17Word for pursuit that is commonly used throughout the New Testament means to zealously follow, zealously follow, earnestly to pursue or to promote a cause, to attach oneself to something. That's what pursuit means. That's in this context that I want to read to you these words of Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Chapter 21 of Matthew, verse 1. When they had approached Jerusalem and had come 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 there and a colt with her. Untie them, bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, The Lord has need of them, and immediately he will send them. This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet. Say to the daughter of Zion, Behold, your king is coming to you, gentle and mounted on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden. Well, we live in an age of snapshots, right? You can imagine if the technology had been around today that was that at this triumphal entry of Jesus, we'd have all these selfies, right? Pictures. We'd see these pictures with sticks, and you know, here's the donkey, and here's Jesus, and here's all this crowd taking pictures, taking snapshots, putting it all over the board. That's what we'd have, right?

10:05Well, we have such a snapshot here. It just, technology was a little different then. Pen and paper. Or maybe I should say scroll and ink. But we live in this age of snapshots. And what is before us today is a snapshot, a picture of Christ entering into Jerusalem. And much of Jesus' life is summed up in this one scene. He was certainly, certainly a man pursuing some incredibly noble objectives. And sometimes we quickly read through this and we move on, but I want to stop this morning and just look at this picture. Look at what Matthew gives us. And I want you to see not just a hero, but the hero. I want you to see the man of all times. And I want you to see some things that he displayed about himself in this scene that will move you to worship.

11:17I want you to see six characteristics of Christ that are captured in this heroic scene of Jesus entering into Jerusalem so that you will pursue Christ's likeness, so that you will pursue to be like him. What he displayed is what we are to pursue. So we'll just walk through this this morning. First of all, six characteristics that Jesus displayed when entering into Jerusalem. The first one, Jesus displayed righteousness. Righteousness. And righteousness simply means doing what is right in the sight of God. It means to do what is right, both in relationship to God and what is right. Before God to man. And it emphasizes outward actions. It's not just knowing or being able to articulate what is right, but the fortitude to do what is right. It is knowing what is right, but then taking care of the little details of doing right, to carry out the deeds. This begins, certainly we see this at the beginning of his ministry and his baptism. You remember in Matthew 3:13, he comes to be baptized, goes up to John, who John is baptizing. He's given a baptism of repentance. So Jesus comes up, and John's saying, Wait a minute, you don't need my baptism. You don't need it. You don't have anything to repent of. It is I who need to be baptized by you.

12:51You're the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit. You're the one that I need to be baptized. You don't need to come to me. And Jesus answered and said, Permit it at this time, for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness. He didn't need John's baptism. But if people were going to be baptized and clean, somebody had to, if there were people that had to were going in dirty, to have to come out clean, there had to be a basis of somebody clean to come out dirty and then go to the cross. And so he said, permit it at this time. So at the beginning of his ministry, we see this detail that he's careful to. Cross the T's and dot the I's and to do what was right. And at the end of his ministry, here, right as he's coming into Jerusalem, at the very end of his ministry, he took care of the little details. Go and find a donkey. It's important. Little detail of Scripture. And Zechariah 9:9.

13:50Read these words: Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion. Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem. Behold, your king is coming to you. He is just. That is, he is righteous and endowed with salvation, humble and mounted on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a donkey. Zechariah's words are given in a context of blessing on Israel and then a subsequent judgment upon her enemies. And here is the scene: Jesus coming into Jerusalem. He was not simply willing to do the Father's will and confront an obstinate people and to bear their sin on the cross, but he was actually taking the literal steps to do it.

14:40The king. So get this scene. Here comes the king, one of all power. This was Matthew's snapshot that he gives us. It's like, here is the king, the king, the one with all power, the one with all authority, the beautiful one that we just sung about. Who puts the stars in space, he has it all. And here he comes. Here he comes, confident, resolute, at peace. I bet you he was even smiling at times, pursuing what was right.

15:22You see, a true follower of Jesus seeks to be like him, to pursue righteousness, even to the point of carrying out the smallest details, the smallest acts of righteousness. You see, we do not have to carry the sins of the world. That was what he had to carry. And he displayed a willingness to do all the little necessary details of righteousness. That's not what we have to do. We are called to do. But we are called to go out of our way to display the love of Christ, to take care of those little acts of righteousness. Maybe it's a word of encouragement. Maybe it's a deed of kindness. Maybe it's an act of selflessness. But all that. Our burden is a lot easier, right? But still, let's be a people who pursue the small details of righteousness. Second thing, in Jesus' triumphal entry, he displayed righteousness, but second, he displayed God. Godliness. And this is very closely connected to righteousness. Yet there is a distinction. Righteousness looks to the outward behavior, the outward deeds, the little acts or big acts. Godliness has to do with the attitudes and motives. Right behavior flows from right motives. And godliness can literally be translated or understood as god-likeness. It's this god-likeness that drove Jesus. And this was evident in his supreme desire to be pleasing to the Father. He loved what the Father loved. And what drove him was to be like the Father, to do those things that pleased the Father.

17:23In fact, in John 8, 29, he said, I always do the things that are pleasing to him. That's what drives me. So that's why he could say, if you've seen me, you've seen the Father. Because everything I do is driven by that which is pleasing to him. You remember after his baptism, the words from heaven, this is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, even before he had preached his first sermon, healed, or before he went to the cross, God was very pleased with him. And he was driven by pleasing the Father. Even when pleasing the Father involved great suffering, as he was heading to on this glorious day that he marches into Jerusalem. Isaiah 53, 10 describes what the Father wanted him to do, what would please the Father. Isaiah 53, 10 says, But the Lord was pleased to crush him, putting him to grief. If he would render himself as a guilt offering, he will see his offspring, he will prolong his days, and the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in his hand. And as a result of the anguish of his soul, he will see it and be satisfied. And by his knowledge, the righteous one, my servant, will justify the many as he will bear their iniquities. It pleased the Father to crush him.

18:53Put him to grief so that we wouldn't have to be put to grief, so that we wouldn't have to bear our iniquities. This is our king. As he comes in, the beauty of godliness to please the Father, even to the point of being crushed, so that those that the Father loves would not have to be crushed. You see, there are many in Jesus' day who looked like they pursued Christ. But really, they were pursuing their fleshly desire. They wanted a king. They wanted someone to fit their bill, to fulfill their political agenda. And sometimes today, there can be many fleshly desires that are met by having an outward form of Christianity, a form, but no power. And maybe that's true a little more in our culture, in our southern culture, where Christianity is a little more accepted. However, I think our times are changing.

20:03But certainly, there can be some fleshly desires to at least look like you can form, but deep down, not really pursuing. Jesus displayed godliness. Let us pursue this internal godliness that flows out of a worshipful heart, that flows from a worshipful heart into righteous actions before God and man. Let's do what is right out of right motives, because it pleases the Father. So, as you see, Jesus coming in to Jerusalem, he is displaying a resolute, perfect righteousness on the exterior, and driven by an internal motivation of godliness to please the Father. Third thing, Jesus displayed faithfulness. Faithfulness. Scripture, Romans 3:3 is an attribute of God. In Galatians 5:22, it is a fruit of the Spirit. And what it does is it involves trustworthiness. It involves integrity. It involves loyalty. Boiled it down to a word. It's loyalty. Jesus displayed loyalty in all circumstances at the deepest level.

21:29It's interesting that as he goes into Jerusalem, it will be this lack of faithfulness. And a couple chapters later that Jesus is going to rebuke in the hypocritical scribes and Pharisees. Matthew 23, 23, he says, Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you tithe mint and dill and cumin and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law, justice and mercy and faithfulness. His whole rebuke and confrontation with the religious leaders of his age dealt around this. You have been unfaithful with what has been entrusted to you. And because of the unfaithfulness in the leaders, there was unfaithfulness in the people. And Jesus uttered these words shortly after. Jerusalem told me. Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to you. How often I wanted to gather your children together the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling. Behold, your house is left to you desolate.

22:51You see, unfaithful leadership leads to an unfaithful nation. It's true of any nation, true of Israel, true of us. The result of faithfulness of unfaithfulness results in unfaithfulness. Unfaithful leadership produces unfaithful followers. Godless political leaders lead to a godless nation. Godless business owners, godless businesses, godless dads, godless moms, godless older brothers, they will lead, and older sisters, you lead to an ungodly home. Listen, by the way, dads, I can talk to dads, I'm a dad, right?

23:42But godless dads lead to ungodly homes. And hypocrisy is easily detected by our children. But our king displayed incredible. Faithfulness. In fact, if you could put one word, loyalty, covenant faithfulness. This is Christ. This is the King. So the truly faithful Christian, are you really following Him? A true faithful Christian will seek, will endeavor, will pursue being loyal to God, loyal to God's word, loyal to God's work, and loyal to God's people. That's the snapshot that Matthew gives us of Christ coming in forth. Jesus displayed a love.

24:44Jesus displayed love, righteousness, godliness, faithfulness, and love. He displayed a love. And by love, I don't mean that which is merely just constituted of feelings or sentiment, as important as those can be. Talking about this agape love, the love of the mind and the love of the will, not a love of mere emotion or mere affection, even that of the highest kind. He displayed a love of selflessness and self-giving. He displayed that love of conscious determination. That's what love is.

25:26Not the love of impulse, the reaction of impulse, but a love of love. Love of calculated, conscious determination. That's what love is. It involves a choice, for sure, an act of the will. But it focuses on the welfare of the one who is loved, not on the self-gratification or self-fulfillment of the one loving. Agape love is focused on the welfare of the one being loved. And Jesus displayed this: selflessness, self-giving, not preoccupied with self-gratification or self-fulfillment, but the welfare of the one loved. And Jesus displayed this love on two levels. As he comes in, get this scene. See the man, see him upon the donkey, and see what love he displays. There's a display for the love of the Father, a love for God, Father. And this is seen in his desire to do the Father's will, and that's what he's there for. In fact, John 4:34, he says, My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. John 6:38, for I have come down from heaven not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. And a few chapters later, after his triumphal entry in Matthew 26, 39, when that cup that Eric will be talking about tonight. Comes to him. He says, if it's possible, let this cup pass from me, yet not as I will, but you will. So his love for the Father is seen in that he preferred the will of the Father over himself. That's the kind of selfless love, that agape love that he displayed.

27:23But there's something else in here about the love for the Father that he displays, something very intimate, and something that for so many years I've didn't see. Jesus' love for the Father was put on display in that he wanted the love of the Father to be put on display. Jesus was jealous that the love of the Father be known. And there is only one way that the Father's love for a lost world could be fully displayed. And it involved the Son.

28:11For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life. You know how Jesus made the Father's love known? By offering himself, the Son, had to. Be willing, had to be crushed. It took obedience of the Son for the world to know of the Father's love. Can you see as Jesus is coming into Jerusalem, can you see the Father's love for you there? He wants you to see the Father's love for you, that the Father is willing to put the Son to grief in your place.

29:00He was jealous because he wanted the world to know that God is not someone to be feared in the sense of running away from, but to be loved, attracted to because of his love for you. He is not somebody to run away from, but someone to run to. Second thing, not only did he display the love of God the Father, but he displayed a love for people. John 15, 9, just as the Father has loved me, I also have loved you. Verse 13 of John 15, greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. The Father loves his people to the degree that he loved his own begotten Son.

29:54It's almost heresy, if you really believe it. God loves you as much as Christ. You're as important to him as Jesus Christ Himself. But that's what the Scripture tells us. But not only does the Father love us to this degree, but the Son loves us to this degree. I can't express my love for you any more than that I give my life for you, that I be crushed, that I deal with the mental anguish for your sin that you should deal with, because I'm going to be your guilt offering.

30:36So behold our King, there he is, coming in, righteous, godly, loyal, displaying love. Let us pursue love. Let us pursue love for God, love for people. Let us pursue putting God's love on display. That's what he did. Let us pursue putting God's love on display so that God's name isn't slandered, and so that those we minister to will know not that we love them so much as the Father loves them. This is how others are going to know that God loves them: if you will engage in those simple acts of righteousness out of a Good motivation as an act and testament of loyalty to God and love to God and love to them. And as you do those, they will come to know that God loves them. Fifth, Jesus displayed perseverance. He had come to this point.

31:53He knew what was ahead, and he knew he was going to go through it. Love the word perseverance, means to remain under. I remember I had a guy that worked for me in my company. His dad was this weightlifter. He could bench press over 700 pounds. And even as an older guy into his 40s and 50s, the guy still could bench press well over 600 pounds. Just a rock, okay? And on one day, he was in the weight room with a bunch of young bucks. And, you know, if you can, you know, growing up in school, if you can bench press 200, that's a big mark, okay? And then a few get to the 300 mark, right? And then it's like, wow, that's over the top. Well, there were some guys in this weight room, and as I remember it, they had gotten up to like the 400 mark, and they were just making a scene, turning red.

33:00So, my friend's dad comes over there watching this, and this bravado is going on for a while. So, he just comes in with bigger bravado, I guess, and comes in, why don't you put another hundred pounds on? So, here's this old man, you know, coming over there, put another hundred pounds on, takes it, just as steady, no 10 reps, puts it back up, and walks off. Well, that's pretty much silenced the bravado. But that's the idea of this word to remain under. It's that ability to take complete pressure and to do so, stable, stability under such a great trial. And that's Jesus.

33:48We get some of the scenes that Jesus' entrance was passive, fatalistic, but it wasn't. There was no vacillation, it was a victorious march, a triumphant march, it was a stability. It was a stable march, a stability in loyalty. It never wavered a bit. Constant strength, heading right in to the most horrific and severest trial. Well, we're not called to bear all that, not called to bear the sin of the world. But let us pursue perseverance in our God-given task. Tasks of knowing him, making him known. Let us persevere. Let us persevere in righteousness, in godliness, in faithfulness, in love. That's exactly what he did.

34:44And let us pursue to glorify God by being faithful to him in all circumstances, whether that's home, church, work, school, society. Finally, we come to the emphasis in the passage. Jesus displayed gentleness. And this is what particularly captured the mind of Matthew and obviously the scripture. Here is the one with all power, all glory, all might. And he comes in in gentleness, displaying gentleness. Matthew 21, 5, say to the daughter of Zion, Behold, your king is coming to you, gentle and mounted on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a beast. Your king, the king of righteousness, the king of godliness, the king of faithfulness, the king of love, the king of all power, gentle.

35:51Zechariah, behold, your king is coming to you, just and endowed. You see, Jesus. And he comes gently. And the context of Zechariah 9:9, Behold, your king is coming to you, just and endowed with salvation, humble and mounted on a donkey, is one of comfort to Israel, who has gone through judgment. And he's going to speak peace to the nations. It's interesting to note that before Jesus returns as the conquering king, he is going to speak terms of peace to the nations.

36:31He comes speaking terms of peace, even in his generation. And through the church, he speaks peace to the nation. He gives the terms of peace. And as Isaiah 62, the context there, Jesus will return as a conquering king. But he is gentle, gentle. The idea of gentleness is one does not exalt one's self-importance, considerate of others. Gentleness. Gentleness is about a behavior towards others. Humbleness refers to perhaps an attitude towards oneself, but gentleness speaks about behavior towards others. You see, Jesus is unlike any other king who lived. What a contrast, this entry. What a contrast. To the triumphal entry of ancient kings who come in on their war horses, riding proudly through the gates with a harsh countenance, sword raised, trailed by captive kings and princes in chains. This is the way the kings of old made their entrance. Not Jesus, gentle. There is a softness and a gentleness about Christ that is very different from earthly kings. In fact, it was very notorious. Jesus said, I am gentle and humble in heart. You will find rest for your souls. 2 Corinthians Paul says this, I urge you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ. Paul himself swears or he exhorts by the gentleness of Christ. There was something about the persona of Christ that was well known in the early church. He had a characteristic of gentleness.

38:25And this was seen early in the church fathers. In fact, I want you to consider for a moment Ignatius of Antioch. He was the earliest post-New Testament martyr, and he obviously was impressed by Jesus' gentleness. One historian comments about him. He was at Antioch, one of the most important churches of his day, shortly, probably somewhere around 100 AD. Could have been probably the second bishop, perhaps the third. So he was one of the most prominent Christians of his time.

39:00Let me read to you what a historian says about him. Just as we become aware of a meteor only when, after traveling silently through space for untold millions of miles, it blazes briefly through the atmosphere before dying in a shower of fire. So it is with Ignatius, bishop of Antioch in Syria. We meet him for the first time and only time for a few weeks, shortly before his death as a martyr in Rome early in the second century. But during those few weeks, he wrote virtually, as his last will and testament, seven letters of extraordinary interest because of the unparalleled light they shed on the history of the church at this time and what they reveal about the remarkable personality of its author. Ignatius was martyred in Rome during the reign of Emperor Trajan, and tradition holds that he actually died in the Colosseum. But he writes a letter to the Ephesian church. And by the way, he mentions Timothy by name several times in this letter. I want to read to you what he is saying.

40:12And it is this gentleness of Christ that comes to the forefront in his thinking. So this is the first martyr, really post-New Testament martyr. Pray continually for the rest of mankind as well, that they may find God. For there is in Them hope for repentance. Therefore, allow them to be instructed by you, at least by your deeds. In response to their anger, be gentle. In response to their boasts, be humble. In response to their slander, offer prayers. In response to their errors, be steadfast in the faith. In response to their cruelty, be gentle. Let us be eager to be imitators of the Lord with complete purity and self-control.

41:04Friends, I call upon you to admire the gentleness of the Lord. He allows us, he allowed you to see his willingness to help you before he asks you to trust him. He allows us to see the extent of his love for us before he asks us to love him. This is the gentleness of Christ. Let us pursue, let us pursue his gentleness. You know, Christianity is about pursuits. It's not merely about self-denial. Yes, you're free to do whatever you want. Matters of food, eat.

41:49But understand that pursuit, Christianity, is about pursuing, not merely self-denial or asceticism or harsh treatment of the body. It's about pursuing that which is right, that which is godly, pursuing faithfulness, perseverance, love, and gentleness. You know, when I first met my wife, I didn't know very much about the weather in Minnesota. I grew up in northern New Mexico, and it was, I thought I knew it, it was cold. You know, I lived at 7,000 plus feet, 7,500 feet, and it got cold, and I thought I was accustomed to the cold. We had a ski slope just up the mountain, so I knew what it was like to be cold. And so when I was invited up there for Christmas, she said, well, it's going to be cold. And I said, don't worry, I know what cold is. I'll be fine.

42:46I got up there and experienced a bone-piercing cold that I had never experienced in my life. I mean, you couldn't even walk from the door of a restaurant to the car without getting into intense shivers. Very cold. Well, something happened up there in these northern climates. A little boy, and this is a true story, about three years old, was out playing and wandered away from his home, got about a mile away from his home in this cold weather. And I'm going to tell you something, you don't have long out there. Helicopter. Search, a big search party, went out, but he had a little dog that pursued him, that followed him, that stayed with him. And after a number of hours, they found the little boy and they found the dog on top of him, keeping him warm. The story is a happy ending, but that's the picture of pursuing this little dog pursuing, staying close.

44:05And that is what we're called to do: we glorify Christ as he displayed righteousness, godliness, faithfulness, love, perseverance, and gentleness. He displays it so that we can pursue it. As Paul uses the analogy of a prize, I press on toward the goal for the prize and the upward call of Jesus Christ. What He displayed, we are to pursue. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you. Help us to pursue. Help us to go after. Help us to leave all, no matter what the conditions, to seek that which is right and godly and faithful, to persevere in them, to love, to be gentle. The manifestation of all these, Father, is our gentleness. Gentleness towards one another.

45:04Father, we just thank you for your heroic entrance. We thank you for the picture that you've given us of you this morning. Father, may we worship you by pursuing you. In Jesus' name, amen.