Palm Sunday
Published by Stanley Pouw in 2025 · 13 April 2025
Matthew 21:1-11, “When they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage at the Mount of Olives, Jesus then sent two disciples, 2 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. 3 If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them at once.”4 This took place so that what was spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled:
5 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.” 6 The disciples went and did just as Jesus directed them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt; then they laid their clothes on them, and he sat on them. 8 A very large crowd spread their clothes on the road; others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them on the road.
9 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! 10 When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in an uproar, saying, “Who is this?” 11 The crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.” With this chapter, we begin the last week of the life of our Lord.
Europe has given us a long history of the pomp and the glory of those events in which a king is inaugurated into his royal status. Sometimes he was raised on a shield or he was made to stand on a sacred stone, or he was presented with a sword or given a crown to mark out the inauguration into that official place of king. It was a grand and glorious occasion, usually followed by a great banquet.
But this is not like those coronations: a donkey’s colt, a bunch of branches, and some old clothes. But then this is no ordinary king, and Jesus Christ has no ordinary kingdom. He said to Pilate, “I am not a king like you think kings are. My kingdom is not of this world.” It is His last public act prior to being crucified. And it has to be treated with a great respect, and it has to be understood for the earthly coronation of Jesus.
Verse 1 tells us, “When they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage at the Mount of Olives, Jesus then sent two disciples.” We’ll call point one the end of the pilgrimage. Jerusalem was to be the end. He dies in the city. This is the end of 33 years. Thirty years of living in obscurity, three-plus years of ministry, and it all ends here. The goal of the Lord’s life and ministry is about to be reached.
And He was moving directly toward Jerusalem knowing it was Passover time, knowing it was time to come to the end of His pilgrimage, knowing it was time to get ready to die. And so a crowd collected as He came to the south. And finally He crossed the Jordan, back over to Judea. And together they moved up to Jerusalem to that great event called Passover. Little do they know that He is the Passover Lamb?
At the same time, the city is literally teeming with humanity. There was a census ten years after this particular event when there was a counting of the sacrificial lambs, and the count is somewhere around 260,000 Passover lambs that were slaughtered during that week. And the Jewish law prescribed one lamb for ten people, so there could have been as many as 2.6 million people in the city.
Jesus came to a place called Bethphage. Now we don’t know anything about this place. Verse 2 says He sent two disciples saying, “Go into the village ahead of you.” Bethany is two miles east of Jerusalem, just on the other side of the Mount of Olives. He is on His way to Jerusalem, but before He goes into the city He stops. And He goes to Bethany because that was where His friends lived Mary, Martha, and Lazarus.
Six days before the Lamb of God, the Passover lamb, the true sacrifice, the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world is to be offered; six days from the nails; six days from the thorns, all the spitting, the cursing, the spear, the crown, the hatred, the bitterness, the sin bearing, the loneliness of being God-forsaken. Well the next day, John 12:9-12 tells us that many Jews came to Bethany to see Him.
And there was a great gathering about Him. It looks good. With the exception of Judas. And the coronation is near, and He knows that. Everything is on schedule. He’s being anointed. His friends are caring for Him. Many people are moving out to see Him who have heard of His power in raising Lazarus from the dead, which He had already done. And everyone knew Lazarus. And that’s how it all starts.
Let’s go back to Matthew 21. The first day Jesus arrives there, He has supper. The next day, a multitude gathers to Him. And probably on the next day, Monday, Jesus sent two disciples. He initiates His own coronation. He sets it in motion. He initiated everything. He controlled every element of His own ministry, every turn, every action was sovereignly His to initiate. Maybe He sent out Peter and John.
Jesus wanted to demonstrate to the world that He was no victim that He was not caught up in some euphoric Messianic movement, but that it was all under His total control. And He wanted to create a mass demonstration. He wanted the people to cry “Hosanna to the Son of David. Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.” He wanted them to cry out that He was the Messiah.
They knew what He had taught and they knew what He had done. And the climax of it all was the resurrection of Lazarus whom they had known to be dead for four days. And out of their own mouths came their own affirmation that became for them, because they knew who He was. And He set the scene to put it in their own mouths, and they said it. The credentials were all true. The proof was unanswerable.
And there is another reason that He created this mass demonstration, because it would lead to the anger of the Pharisees, which ultimately would lead them to desire His life, which would ultimately lead to His crucifixion. And He had to set that in motion, because it was important that He die on the Passover day. On Mondays when He rode in there, was the day traditionally that the Jews selected their lamb for sacrifice.
And He offered Himself on that day as the Lamb for the whole world. And He had set it in motion so that by Friday the Passover day, He would die. And so Jesus took charge of all the events, creating the situation as He wanted to create it. He also send the disciples to get these two animals, in order to fulfill prophecy. Verse 4. “It was all done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet.”
Now look at the exactness of prophecy. He is going to be the king the prophets predicted. Turn to Zechariah 9:9. In the first eight verses of Zechariah 9, there’s a prophecy of a great ruler that will come. And there’s going to be a deliverance for Israel under him. It talks about how he’ll deliver them from the Syrians and the Philistia and he’ll save Israel. Basically verses 1 to 8 is a prophecy of Alexander the Great.
But after Alexander the Great, there will come someone greater than he, and verse 9 is a contrast. Alexander is just used for comparison. Verse 9, “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.” Nobody rides a donkey at a coronation. But, says the prophet, your king will ride one.
Now back to Matthew 21:2, “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.” Go into Bethphage, close to the Mount of Olives, northeast of Jerusalem. And just as you get into the village, you’re going to find these two animals. Jesus had supernatural knowledge and He knew the folks there and He knew they had these animals.
Verse 3, “If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them at once.” As believers they would not withhold their animals from the Lord. Mark and Luke tell us exactly where the two animals were found. And that neither of them had ever been ridden. Because it was an honor for someone to ride an animal who had never been ridden. And it was difficult to ride an animal like that.
Why do they have to take the mother if He’s going to ride the colt?” To ride a donkey colt would be difficult unless you took the mother. Well why ride the colt? Why not ride the mother?” Because the colt is more lowly than its mother. This isn’t a coronation like any other. He’s not a king like any other human king. He says, the Lord has need of them, sovereign Lordship, and they’ll send them with you.
Verse 4, “This took place so that what was spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled.” Zechariah 9:9 says in verse 5, “Tell Daughter of Zion, “See, your King is coming to you, gentle, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” Well that means the people of Jerusalem. So amazing that the King of kings, the Messiah of Israel, God’s Son, should come riding in on a donkey’s colt.
The people wanted a military Messiah. They wanted one who would come in and by great power to overthrow Rome. He was coming in a way that would show them that He was not interested in doing that. Riding on a donkey’s colt weaponless, meek and lowly was different. But He arranged it all to fulfill prophecy because prophecy was consistent with who He was. He came to make peace with God for men.
Verse 6 says, “The disciples went and did just as Jesus directed them.” You have to take Jesus for who He is, not for who you want Him to be. Verse 7 says, “They brought the donkey and the colt; then they laid their clothes on them, and he sat on them.” They didn’t know which one He was going to ride, but He choose to ride the lowliest one. Luke 19:35 says, “He took His seat on the colt with the help of the disciples.”
And so Jesus fulfills all prophecy. One of the most amazing passages in the Bible is Daniel 9:24 - 27. And he prophesies there that from the decree of Artaxerxes to rebuild the temple and the coming of Messiah, will be 69 times 7, which is 483 years. Daniel said there will be a period that amounts to 173,880 days from the decree of Artaxerxes to the coming of Jesus. And scholars have affirmed that this exactly happened.
Verses 8 – 9 say, “A very large crowd spread their clothes on the road; others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them on the road. 9 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!” They threw their clothes down, creating some kind of a carpet for Him.
Notice verse 9, “Then the crowds who went ahead of Him and those who followed shouted” helps us understand the multitude. They’ve been collected as He crossed the Jordan through Jericho, up the hill to Bethany. The crowd has swelled as people have come there to see Him there. And out of the city comes this massive humanity that are already there that have heard of Him raising Lazarus from the dead.
The people have really disregarded their leaders, because in John 11 we are told there that the Pharisees warned the people that if they knew anything about Him they were to report Him so that they could capture Him and take Him prisoner. It was just a total chaotic event. The people were throwing down their clothes. What did that mean? Well, in 2 Kings 9:13, they did that for Jehu when he was made King.
And so they’re celebrating salvation. There’s an excitement, an ecstasy as He comes in. They knew who He was. They knew what He taught. And they knew what He’d done. And they knew He could raise the dead. And so this multitude moves out, throws everything at His feet. And they cry out, “Hosanna to the Son of David.” Hosanna means save me now. But it is not soul salvation. It is military deliverance.
It’s Passover. And it celebrates the deliverance from Egypt. How God delivered His people out of bondage of Egypt. A man on a donkey without an army, without a weapon and a mass of hundreds of thousands of people crushing around Him, crying out, “Save me now.” They wanted material kingdom, physical kingdom, and earthly deliverance. And they know who He is. Hosanna to the Son of David.
The credentials had convinced them that He was the Messiah, they just didn’t understand the nature of His Messiahship. They knew He was the King, they just didn’t understand the nature of His kingdom. People in all times want Jesus, but they want the Jesus of their own devising. They want the Jesus who walks in and says, “I’m going to solve all your problems. I’m going to deliver you from all your enemies.”
Jesus was saying to them, you need to solve your problem with God. And that’s why Jesus came. And they wouldn’t accept Him on His own terms, so by the end of the week, they cried for His blood and killed Him. The world is still like that. People are open to the Jesus they want. But as soon as He confronts the sinfulness of sin and seeks to turn the heart toward God in true salvation, they curse Him.
But here is the real heavenly coronation of Revelation 5. The Lamb takes the scroll, verse 8 says, “The four living creatures, the four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps and golden bowls full of incense which are the prayers of saints. Verse 9 says, “And they sang a new song: You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slaughtered, and you purchased people for God.”
But the world has to understand that the first time He came as a suffering servant to provide men salvation. The second time He comes as a King to grant His sovereignty. Verses 10 – 11, “You made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they will reign on the earth. 11 Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels around the throne, and also of the living creatures and of the elders. Their number was countless thousands.” Let us pray.