Who Is This?

Understanding who Jesus is should lead us to worship him and to tell others about him.

[00:00:01] Good morning. Last week I was featured in a front-page article in the Post-Bulletin. Perhaps you’ve seen it. It was about my lifetime habit of walking. I walk everywhere; I walk a minimum of 100 miles a month. I’ve done it for the last five years. But I’ve done it – basically walked my whole life. Now, this article was not something that was my idea. A friend of mine, unbeknownst to me, sent my name to the paper and said, this guy, you could get a good article about this guy. And so, they agreed and they contacted me for an interview. And as one friend remarked, it must have been a slow news day. Well, I like to walk. And Jesus, throughout his public ministry, walked literally everywhere, with a very few exceptions. We’re going to look at one of those exceptions this morning when he rode a donkey. Rode a donkey into Jerusalem. Palm Sunday, the story of the triumphal entry is recorded in all four Gospels Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. And we’re going to be looking at Matthew’s account of the triumphal entry. On the day that has become known as Palm Sunday, Jesus rode a donkey or a colt, the offspring of a donkey, into Jerusalem. As he rode into Jerusalem, he was greeted by crowds that preceded him, that followed him. And they cried out, Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest! Matthew records that the whole city was stirred up and some were asking, who is this? Some of you might be asking that question about me.

[00:01:55] I’m obviously not Pastor Kyle. Actually, several months ago, Kyle and I went for a walk at Quarry Hill. We managed to get lost. As much walking as I do, I managed to get lost on the trails, and Kyle remarked more than once, didn’t we cross that spot before? Anyways, afterwards, he asked me if I wanted to preach today because he was anticipating that he might be in a play during the Easter season. And sure enough, he is. So, he asked me if I would speak today. And I’m glad to be able to share with you from God’s Word. Most Sunday mornings during the second service, I’m in the infant nursery. I haven’t put any of them to sleep with my sermons, so hopefully I won’t do that for you either. But the parents know me as Mr. David. Some parents call me the baby whisperer. Some of their babies disagree with that, But I’m glad to be able to share with you today from God’s Word. I invite you to turn to the Book of Matthew, the first book in the New Testament. We’re going to be in Matthew chapter 21. Now we’re pausing in our study of the Gospel of Luke. Pastor Kyle has been leading us through the Gospel of Luke. We’re going to resume that in the Fall.

[00:03:14] But in two weeks, the week after Easter, we’re going to begin a new study on the book of First Samuel titled King Maker, the Ministry of Samuel. And Pastor Kyle and members of our preaching team will be leading us in our study of First Samuel starting April 27th. Again, this morning we’re in the Gospel of Matthew, the very first book of the New Testament, chapter 21. So, I invite you to turn in your Bibles to that passage. If you’re using one of the Bibles that’s in the seatbacks in front of you, it’s found on page 826. As we look at this familiar story of Palm Sunday, the Triumphal Entry, there are five names or titles that are used of Jesus in this passage. Understanding who Jesus is should lead us to worship him and to tell others about him. Now, just a note about the name Jesus itself before we look at the various titles in this passage. When a child is born, the parents often have discussions. What should we name our child? If it’s a boy, if it’s a girl, what should we name them? I remember when my wife and I, we have two daughters, and we had some rather prolonged discussions as to what we should name our child. Uh, we never could agree on a boy’s name, so we’re fortunate we had two daughters. With Jesus, there was no debate as to what he would be named because several months before he was born, it’s recorded in the very first chapter of Matthew.

[00:04:52] An angel appeared to Joseph, and the angel told Joseph that his wife was going to have a son, and he said, you shall name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. When Jesus was born, there was no debate. Mary and Joseph named him Jesus, just as he had been directed by the angel. Now, looking at Matthew chapter 21, the first title that we see is the Lord. Jesus refers to himself as the Lord. Reading beginning in verse one, “Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, 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. If anyone says anything to you, you shall say the Lord needs them and he will send them at once.” Now the title Lord, the name Lord is used over 6000 times in the Old Testament, and it’s used to refer to God. The word that Matthew uses here can also be translated master or owner, but it signifies authority, control or respect. In verse three, the disciples were told by Jesus that if anyone asks them where they were taking the animals, they were to tell them that the Lord needed them. They weren’t to say Jesus needed them, but rather, the Lord.

[00:06:35] So, whoever spoke to the disciples must have known who he was talking about, who they were talking about. Perhaps the owner of the animals was a disciple of Jesus. But Jesus said, when you tell them that the Lord needs them, he will immediately let you take them. And that is the case in Matthew 21. The name Lord commands respect and obedience. We use it a lot. I tried to make a point of counting how many times we used Lord in our songs today. It was several times, and it’s a common name that we use for Jesus. It’s easy though, sometimes just to use a name and get used to saying the name and not really realize what it means. When we call Jesus Lord, he is expecting us to obey him, to respect him, to honor him. To call Jesus Lord means we need to obey him as one of his servants. Matthew reminds us that Jesus is our Lord and we need to obey him. Growing up, I went to church every week with my family. I went to Sunday school. I prided myself, I hate to say that word, but I prided myself on being able to answer just about any question from the Bible. But I only knew Jesus as a historical figure. He was a character in the Bible. Nothing more than that to me. During my first year in college, a friend shared with me how I could know God personally through His Son, Jesus Christ.

[00:08:21] I was thrilled to hear that, and I was glad to make that decision to enter into a relationship with God through His Son, Jesus Christ. This morning, if Jesus is just a name and a book to you, I encourage you to talk to one of us to learn how you too, can come to know God personally and enter into a relationship with him. Jesus is our Lord and he wants our honor and our obedience. A second title that’s used in our passage today is Your King. Reading in Matthew 21:4-5, “This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying, 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.” Matthew is quoting from the Old Testament, and in a lot of ways, Matthew serves as a good bridge between the Old and New Testament, because this gospel is filled with Old Testament verses. In this case, he’s quoting from Zechariah 9:9. Zechariah was one of the 12 so-called minor prophets. Not because they were unimportant, but because their books were shorter in length in comparison to the major prophets of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Daniel. It’s the second to last book of the Old Testament, and it’s one of my favorites. Jeremiah makes a lot of references to prophecies regarding the Messiah who was going to come.

[00:10:09] His book is quoted or alluded to more in the New Testament than any other minor prophet. He lived about 500 years before the birth of Jesus, and when he wrote his book, Israel didn’t have a King. They had just returned from captivity in Babylon, and Zechariah wanted them to know that there was a king that would be coming, and this was how you could recognize him. He will be riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden. Now this wasn’t uncommon. David and his son Solomon both rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. But you might think of a king riding into a city, riding on a war horse, not on a donkey. But this is what Zechariah prophesied. He said, when our king comes and he is going to come, this is how you will recognize him. Now when a promise is made to you, how long are you willing for that promise to be kept? The people of Israel had to wait over 500 years for Zechariah’s promise to be kept. Matthew tells us in 21:4 that this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet. Now he used that phrase ten times in his gospel. If you read through the Gospel of Matthew, you’ll find that phrase or similar phrase used over and over again. For example, when Jesus was born to Mary, who was a virgin, Matthew tells us in chapter one of his gospel that that was a fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy.

[00:11:54] Later, when Joseph took Mary and Jesus to Egypt to flee from King Herod, he tells that that too was a fulfillment of Scripture. And throughout his gospel, you’ll see how Matthew says Jesus is the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies. Matthew’s primary audience was Jewish, and he wanted his audience to know that Jesus is the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies and promises. Essentially, he was saying, Jesus is the fulfillment of Zechariah’s prophecy. He is the king that we have been waiting for. He is our King. Now, this is not the first time that Jesus had been called a king in the Gospel of Matthew. Back in Matthew 2:2, you might recall the story of the visit of the wise men to Jerusalem. When they came after seeing the star, they asked King Herod, where is he who has been born king of the Jews? Now King Herod, as you can imagine, he was the king. He says, what do you mean? Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? Well, they were referring to Jesus, and King Herod was troubled. We read that he asked. He got all of his chief priests and scribes together, and he asked them where the Christ was to be born. That is, where was the Messiah to be born? And they told him, in Bethlehem of Judea. For so it is written by the prophet from you Bethlehem shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people, Israel. Even at his birth

[00:13:45] Jesus was recognized as being a king. Here in Matthew 21, Matthew tells his readers that Jesus was their king, the fulfillment of a 500-year-old promise. Just a few days after Jesus rode into Jerusalem, he was arrested and faced trial before the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate. Matthew’s account of the trial in chapter 27, Pilate asked Jesus a simple question: are you the King of the Jews? He had heard the rumor that that was one of Jesus’ claims, and he asked him, are you the King of the Jews? And Jesus responded, you have said so. Later, when Jesus hung on the cross, we read in Matthew 27:37, “Over his head they put the charge against him, which read, this is Jesus, the king of the Jews.” The Jewish leaders were upset that Pilate posted that on Jesus’s cross, and they said, don’t write that. Write that he said he was the king of the Jews. And Pilate said, what I’ve written, I’ve written. He is the king of the Jews. Jesus is not only the King of the Jews; he is the King of kings. Earlier, before my message, revelation 19 was read for us. In that passage, John refers to the fact that Jesus is going to return. He’s going to come back to earth, and when he comes back, he’s not going to be riding on a donkey.

[00:15:23] He’s going to be riding on a white horse. In verse 16 of revelation 19, he writes this concerning Jesus, “On his robe and on his thigh. He has a name written King of Kings and Lord of Lords.” Jesus is not only a king, he is the King, the King of kings, and the Lord of Lords. Jesus wants to be your king and my king. He wants to be sovereign in each of our lives. Now, I love the Old Testament, but what difference does it make that Jesus is the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies? One takeaway is that God always keeps his word. God always keeps his word. Zechariah’s promise was made 500 years before the birth of Jesus, but God kept his word. One of the promises that has yet to be fulfilled is that Jesus is going to return. He told his disciples that he was going to come back. The angels told the disciples when Jesus ascended into heaven that he would return. John tells his readers in revelation that Jesus is coming back, and we can be sure of that, because God always keeps his word. Jesus is Lord. He is our King. He is also the Son of David. Reading in Matthew chapter 21, beginning in verse nine, “The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and put on their cloaks, and he sat on them. Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road.

[00:17:14] Others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, Hosanna to the Son of David!” The Gospel of John is the only one of the four Gospels that records that the branches that were cut were palm branches. And so, we call this day Palm Sunday. But why did they say that Jesus was the Son of David? David lived over a thousand years before Jesus was even born. His earthly father was Joseph because he was married to Jesus’ mother, Mary. So why did they call him the Son of David? They understood that this title was linked again to the Old Testament promises of a coming Messiah, a descendant of David, who would rule forever. In Second Samuel chapter seven, the prophet Nathan was speaking to David, and he told him about some of the promises that God had made to him. I will raise up your offspring after you, David. He shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. The Jewish expectation was that David was going to have a descendant who would be king, not for a limited amount of time, but forever. And the people of Jesus’ day were expecting this king to come and hopefully overthrow the Romans. They wanted a king to come, someone who would deliver them from Roman rule. Just a few days after this, Jesus was arrested, put on trial and crucified.

[00:19:04] He came not to save the people from the Romans, but to save them from their sins. Just a few verses after our passage in verse 15 of Matthew 21, Jesus went to the temple, and we read that even the children were crying out, Hosanna to the Son of David! The chief priests and the scribes were indignant, and they said to Jesus, do you hear what they are saying? And Jesus said to them, yes. Have you never read out of the mouths of infants and nursing babies, you have prepared praise. The Jewish leaders wanted Jesus to deny what the crowds and the children were saying about him, that he was the Son of David, the long-expected Messiah. Jesus said, they’re praising me as they should, and they’re recognizing me for who I am. Jesus is the Son of David, the promised Messiah, the fulfillment of numerous prophecies. And he came not as a conquering king, but as a suffering servant. He came to deliver all who would believe in him from their sins. The Jews were looking for a political leader, a king who would deliver them from the Romans. Jesus came to deliver them and us from our sins. Jesus is the Lord. He is the King. He is the Son of David. He is also the one who comes in the name of the Lord. Reading again in Matthew chapter 21. The second half of verse nine, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

[00:20:54] Hosanna in the highest! Now earlier to start our service, we sang a song that had Hosanna in it. Do you know what the word Hosanna means? Lord, save us! They were looking for someone to save them. Again, they were probably looking for political deliverance, but God had something else in mind. They were actually quoting from Psalm 118:25-26. “Save us, we pray, oh Lord. Oh Lord, we pray, give us success. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. We bless you from the house of the Lord.” The people of Jesus’s time were preparing to celebrate Passover, one of the Jewish sacred holidays. Thousands, perhaps even millions of people would come to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover. And Psalm 118 was one of the Psalms that was regularly read during this time of celebration. Passover is still celebrated today, and in fact it started at sundown last night. Jesus is the Lord. He is the King, the Son of David, and he is the one who came in the name of the Lord. It’s interesting that Jesus referred to himself as Lord. And now the people say, you are the one who has come in the name of the Lord. Being God Himself, but also fully human, he came to serve the Lord God Almighty, his heavenly father. The last title that we can observe in this passage is that Jesus is the prophet. Now again, when Jesus entered Jerusalem, it caused quite a ruckus.

[00:22:42] People were wondering, what’s all the shouting that’s going on? And they asked, who is this? Reading in verse ten, “When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, who is this? And the crowds said, this is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth of Galilee.” Now again, Jesus had been to Jerusalem before, but with all the pilgrims that were in town to celebrate Passover, many of them were not familiar with Jesus. Most of his public ministry was in Galilee, far from Jerusalem. So, he was better known there. Those that were following him as he rode into Jerusalem, perhaps had heard his teaching, or seen him do miracles like raising Lazarus from the dead. And so when they were asked, who is this? They responded, he’s a prophet. He’s the prophet Jesus from Nazareth of Galilee. Earlier in the Gospel of Matthew in chapter 16, Jesus had asked his disciples, who do people say that the Son of Man is? It’s like one of those surveys. We have the top 100 answers. What’s the top answer to that question? Who do the people say that I am? And the disciples responded. Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others say Jeremiah or one of the prophets. Well, what do they say when they’re asked that question here in Matthew 21? Who is this? He’s a prophet. He’s a representative of God. He speaks for God and he performs miracles. Later on in chapter 21:46, Matthew records that the Jewish leaders were seeking to arrest Jesus, but they feared the crowds.

[00:24:33] Why? Because they believed that Jesus was a prophet. Well, a few days later, Judas agreed to betray Jesus. Judas, being one of Jesus’s disciples. And the Jewish leaders were finally able to arrest Jesus under the cover of darkness, put him on trial, and they convinced Pilate to have him crucified. I hope that you can be with us this Friday when we remember that day when Jesus died on the cross for the sins of the Jewish people, for your sins, and for mine. Who is Jesus? If someone asked you, Who is Jesus? Why do you go to church? Why do you talk about Jesus all the time? How would you answer? Matthew tells us that he is the Lord. He is the king. He is the Son of David. He is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. He is the prophet. These names and titles, along with many others, should be a part of our worship as they are, but they should also be a part of our witness. If someone asks you Who is Jesus? How would you answer? What would you say? We can use all the right words. We can go through all the motions. But Jesus wants us to obey him, and part of obeying him is telling others about him. May our worship today bring him honor and glory, and may our witness concerning him bring others to a saving knowledge of him. Let’s pray.

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