I invite you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Matthew, the very first book of the New Testament, Matthew chapter 21. If you're using the Pew Bibles, that can be found on page 981. Matthew 21, we'll be considering from verses 1 down to verse 17. Hear now the very word of God. 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. 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 and on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden. The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and 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! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest! And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was steward, saying, Who is this? And the crowd said, This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth of Galilee. And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple. and he overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. He said to them, It is written, My house shall be called a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of robbers. And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, Hosanna to the son of David, they were indignant. And they said to him, Do you hear what these are saying? And Jesus said to them, Yes, have you never read? Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies, you have prepared praise. And leaving them, he went out of the city to Bethany and lodge there. Well, I've mentioned to you before that one of my favorite books and movies or stories is The Lord of the Rings, that trilogy. And if maybe you're a fan like me, then maybe your favorite of those three is the last one, The Return of the King. There's nothing like a good story of a return of a king, an unexpected king's return. A king who nobody knows is the king, but he comes riding onto the scene, saves the day, restores order, and is himself restored to his rightful rule. The return of the king has all of that, and that's why it's such a beloved story. What we have before us here this morning is something of the return of the king. This triumphal entry of Jesus has all the makings of amazing moment, not just in the life of Jesus, but in the history of redemption. This is the triumphal entry. This is the return of the king, the arrival and return of the unexpected king. The text begins with mentioning that Jesus and his disciples are drawing near to Jerusalem. They've come to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives. Now, the Mount of Olives is just across a valley called the Kendron Valley from Jerusalem. And the Mount of Olives is more like a high hillside than it is a mountain. But from the Mount of Olives, one can see right into the city of Jerusalem. It would kind of be like being at the top of one of the high hillsides here in Escondido. I know that some of you live on some of those high hillsides, And you can look down and you can maybe see the church. You can see people and cars and roads. So there's Jesus standing on the Mount of Olives, opposite of the city of Jerusalem. And I think what Matthew is doing here is he's really setting the stage for what is about to happen. He's announcing to his readers, the king has arrived. Now, although Jesus is the king, we do have to remember that he is the unexpected king. Jesus is not the typical king that the people would have expected. Jesus really is an unexpected king. Children, why is Jesus an unexpected king? Well, he's the unexpected king because he comes in an unlikely way. He doesn't come in the way that any typical king would come onto the scene. And he's also the unexpected king because he comes to do what no typical king would do. He comes to restore spiritual order. And so that serves as those two points will serve as our points this morning. Jesus is the unexpected king because he comes in an unexpected way and he comes to do the unexpected. as readers of the gospel of matthew as those who have celebrated palm sunday many times before we know don't we who jesus is we know what he intends to do once he comes into jerusalem but you see the people of that day did not know they did not understand it may not be apparent to us initially but there's a lot of confusion in this text before us there was confusion over what was happening and we'll see that although the people celebrate the arrival of jesus there was much excitement there was much expectation and celebration but when things begin to unfold and jesus's true mission is revealed what we find is that everyone will abandon jesus see jesus really was as the prophet isaiah says in isaiah 53 a man of sorrow and acquainted with grief and why because he was despised and rejected by men he isn't the king that they expected so although this is jesus's triumphal entry we'll see you soon see that this triumph is short-lived because no one really understands his purpose his mission and so his entry itself is unexpected and this is true not just for the crowds that are there surrounding jesus but sadly this is also true for jesus's disciples they too didn't understand what was going on john's account tells us that very thing in john 12 his disciples did not understand the things that were happening it was only after christ was glorified that they came to understand well matthew here tells us the same thing he points out the confusion of the disciples but not by just telling us he displays it see in the last chapter in chapter 20 jesus had just foretold his death to his disciples for the third time the third time in chapter 20 he tells his disciples what's going to happen to him when he goes into Jerusalem. He tells them that he would be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes. They would condemn him to death, hand him over to the Gentiles who would mock him, flog him, and eventually crucify him. And what's his disciples' response? Well, again, Matthew doesn't just tell us they didn't understand. He presents their lack of understanding in the form of a question. A question that comes from two of the closest friends of Jesus, James and John, who send their mother to Jesus to ask, in light of what Jesus has just said, he's going into Jerusalem, he's going to be handed over and eventually crucified, and what's their response? May we reign with you on your right and your left. See, Jesus is indeed the unexpected king. yes everyone expected a king everyone expected a kingdom but jesus wasn't about what everybody expected yes he had his sights set on jerusalem we've read that he set his face like flint on that city but you see jesus didn't come to jerusalem to rule as men desire to rule he didn't come to jerusalem to rule as the people would have liked him to rule he didn't come to jerusalem to rule as his disciples desired him to rule he didn't come to conquer that city in the traditional sense of the term he came to serve he came to humble himself and offer himself as a sacrifice for many and that's reflected here in the way we see jesus enter jerusalem we see this unexpected king humble himself with jerusalem before jesus he sends two of his disciples into the village in front of them where they will find a donkey and her colt both tied up there to untie them and bring them to jesus we're told this took place to fulfill what the words of the prophet the prophet being quoted here is zachariah where in zachariah 9 9 it says say to the daughter of zion behold your king is coming to you humble and mounted on a donkey on a colt the fall of a beast of burden remember brothers and sisters this is Jesus the Christ Jesus the king this is Emmanuel God in flesh the king of glory the king of kings the lord of lords this is the commander of the armies of the lord and he comes into jerusalem the city of god humble and riding on a donkey you see there will indeed be a day and time where jesus will ride onto the scene in an expected way on a white horse with power as revelation 19 says then i saw heaven open and behold a white horse the one sitting on it is called faithful and true and in righteousness he judges and makes war his eyes are like a flame of fire and on his head are many diadins and he has a name written that no one knows but himself he's clothed in a robe dipped in blood and the name and the name by which he is called is the word of god and the armies of heaven arrayed fine linen white and pure were following him on white horses you see as i said there's a day when jesus will ride onto the scene on a white horse and power and prestige but not here not here in the text before us here he comes humbly mounted on a donkey as the unexpected king ready and willing to serve and offer himself as a sacrifice for many so he tells his disciples go go into the nearby village the disciples do as he tells them he brings they bring back the donkey and colt out of respect for jesus they begin to lay their cloaks on that donkey and jesus sits on it now the crowd too seeing that this display of respect by the disciples they join in they see what's happening and they join in and they begin to lay their cloaks, their jackets down. Verse 8 says, most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the ground and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. See, there was great expectation here. It's a very jubilant moment in time. The people knew something was going on. They knew the prophecy of Zechariah 9. They knew what it meant their king had arrived this is expressed not only by what they do but by what they say they begin to shout hosanna the sun to the son of david blessed is he who comes in the name of the lord hosanna in the highest like i said the people knew something was going on they attributed what was going on to the fact that jesus was the son of david he is the messianic figure that was promised to god's people in the old testament he was the rightful king but even more than that they cried out hosanna hosanna in the highest now hosanna means please save us the people were crying out for salvation. Israel was under Roman rule, Roman occupation. Yes, they had the right to practice their religion, but as a people, they longed for the days of the kingdom of Israel. They longed for the days of King David. They longed for the days of the son of David, Solomon. You see, it was the days of King Solomon that epitomized the greatness of the kingdom of Israel. 1 Kings 4 describes it well. It says, Judah and Israel were as many as the sand by the sea. They ate and drank and were happy. That was a promise that the Lord made to Abraham, accomplished, fulfilled in the days of King Solomon. People knew that. People desired that. But 1 Kings 4 also describes the vast expanse of the land of Solomon's kingdom, a description that was also promised to Abraham. In addition to that, 1 Kings 4 describes that the other nations brought tribute and served Solomon all his days, and they came to Solomon to hear the great wisdom that he had. The reign of Solomon was indeed a high point for the history of Israel, And that's what these people surrounding Jesus imagined and desired. And so they cry out, Hosanna, Hosanna, save us, save us. They're essentially quoting Psalm 118. Save us, we pray, O Lord, our 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. It's obvious the Israelites wanted and desired salvation. But as we know, their idea of salvation was quite different than the salvation that Christ knew they needed. And this makes the humility of Christ all the more humiliating for him. And that's what makes this text all the more sad when you think about it. Here is Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the King of Israel. The people desire a king. They desire salvation from the hand of their king. But they desire salvation in the form that they would have it. They desire salvation from Roman rule. They want an earthly king. They want an earthly kingdom. Like Israel of old, they wanted a kingdom that they could touch. These poor souls still suffered from what the people suffered from in 1 Samuel 8. When the elders of Israel gathered around Samuel and demanded a king like one of the nations. God was their king at that time, wasn't he? But that wasn't enough. The Israelites thought they knew what they wanted and needed. Sadly, they needed much more than a human king. The same goes for the Israelites in Jesus' day. They too need a Savior who would save them not just from political chaos but save them from themselves save them from their sins jesus knows all of this he knows this all so well he knows the hearts of these people he knows that they are not genuinely praising him and celebrating him he knows they only want from him what they can get. And so what this triumphal entry brings us to, the readers of this text, it brings us face to face with the humiliation and the suffering of Jesus Christ our Lord. Jesus not only humbled himself and rides into Jerusalem on a colt, but he comes into Jerusalem at the celebration and praise of people who will reject him people who don't know him people who don't care about him people who have no idea what he is even there to do and jesus knows that when they do find out they'll abandon him all of them even his very own disciples see jesus really did come to his own And they knew him not He came to his people And although they celebrated him They did so for all the wrong reasons And yet Jesus came Anyways He came Anyways He came because he knew What he needed to do He knew he needed To live and die To save His people That's you that's me he suffered this humiliation for us and for our sins and so this morning i think this should give us pause and cause each of us to ask ourselves the question why do we appreciate jesus why do we come to christ you see there are parallels to god's people then and now we find ourselves in a day where christians and christianity struggles to exert influence in the affairs of today we're probably more familiar with the loss of influence than the influence we have in today's affairs but not only influence this country tempts us to be satisfied with the kingdom of men just like the israelites were tempted to be satisfied with the people in jesus's day were tempted to trust in whatever they thought was worthy of a kingdom. Well, the American dream is a temptation for us, right? We're tempted to be satisfied with Jesus so long as we get a piece of that American dream. What would happen if our comforts were taken away? Our affluence and influence? Would we be tempted to be dissatisfied with Jesus, our Lord? see i think that's why so many christians today can be so apathetic we've deceived ourselves into thinking that we can be satisfied with the things of the world we desire a spouse a house a family our dream job financial security we desire what we see other people around us have and we're tempted to desire those things even more than our Lord and Savior. And that's where the problem lies. See, there's nothing wrong with desiring these things. Who doesn't desire to have a family? Who doesn't desire to have a good job, to be financially stable? But when we think that we need these things more than we need Jesus Christ, our Lord, and the salvation that He provides for us, then friends, we have an idolatry problem. and that problem can't be solved by financial security that problem can't be solved by believing we are living the american dream that problem can only be solved by a savior who can save us from our sins and that's who this is this unexpected king jesus is the savior who can save us from our sins. And that's where the text leads to next. He is the unexpected king because he restores spiritual order. Jesus is entering the city of Jerusalem when we've seen already that there is much excitement and expectation surrounding his arrival. But far from coming to conquer this city, as I said in a traditional sense, he comes in the most unexpected way with righteousness and salvation and with that in mind jesus goes to the temple area from a human perspective he's the king who's just arrived at the capital city surely there's somewhere else that jesus should go but i think what matthew is doing here is he's emphasizing the purpose for which jesus has come to jerusalem and the purpose for which jesus comes into the world his purpose is spiritual again he's not the expected king that the people would have expected they would have expected him to have gone to pilot confronted the romans but instead where does jesus go he goes and he confronts the spiritual leaders and the unrighteous practices that they were allowing to persist in the most holy place of all of israel the temple jesus confronts the spiritual establishment of the day in their practices what we see here is he's establishing righteousness because he is the righteous king and thank god that he is the righteous king because we as a people need righteousness don't we we need a righteous king one who is pure in heart one that psalm 24 speaks of a king who establishes righteousness for his people one who provides righteousness for those who are unrighteous so jesus goes to the temple and he cleanses it purifies it from the sinfulness that was allowed to reside there maybe you remember in the book of exodus after moses is given the ten commandments Moses is given all the details on how to build the tabernacle. And along with those details, he's given details on all the articles that will be used in the tabernacle. And along with that, the Lord describes how those articles are to be purified. The Lord takes his worship serious. And so he prescribes for the priests ways to purify the things used in his worship. well here's jesus purifying the temple area restoring the spiritual order required by god verse 12 says jesus entered the temple drove out all who sold and bought in the temple and he overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons you see it was passover week and so there would have been people who came to jerusalem from far and wide for the celebration and to offer sacrifices and offerings now since many people came from long distances it wasn't practical for them to travel with animals and so animals were made available to be purchased there in jerusalem in addition because people had to bring offerings as well as sacrifices there were money changers available to exchange currency again people came from all over the empire and with them different currency that they use in the places that they lived and so these services of being able to buy animals and exchange currency were necessary services and they were a benefit to the people but you see the problem wasn't that animals were being sold and money being exchanged the problem was where this was taking place and how it was taking place see the temple had different sections to it at the very center of the temple was the temple itself the holy place but then outside of the temple you had these courtyards where various people were allowed to reside and to pray and worship the most outer courtyard was called the courtyard of the gentiles this was the closest place that the gentiles were allowed to get to the temple this was a place that gentiles would come and pray and worship but it was also most likely the place where all of this commerce and exchanging of currency was happening imagine that imagine trying to pray and worship among the the crowds buying and purchasing animals and money being exchanged it would be too much to be able to focus on worship and pray the fact that this was happening where the gentiles were asked to worship were expected to worship goes to show us how the religious establishment felt about gentile worship so although this service was a benefit for the people and necessary given their trial their travel the point is it didn't have to happen where it was taking place it shouldn't have happened there these services should have happened outside of the temple area especially out of respect for the worship of god almighty but it wasn't just where this was happening problem was also how it was happening it's clear by what jesus says in verse 13 calling the merchants and traders robbers that the trading that was happening there wasn't honest trade people were being ripped off people had come from all over the empire to jerusalem they knew they had to offer sacrifices and offerings the money exchangers and the merchants knew this and so they exploited that need and they took the people for all that they could now we complain today about high gas prices and high utility prices and rightly so the state and the utility companies know we have no choice but to pay but all of this was happening all of this happening in the text was happening and they're under the approval of the religious establishment the approval of men who were supposed to be the spiritual leaders of the people this was scandalous brothers and sisters so jesus comes into jerusalem goes to the temple area the most sacred place of all of israel he purifies it he asserts his authority as king to say this was confrontational would be an understatement what jesus did would have been a direct offense to the religious leaders these sinful activities were allowed to continue under their watch and for jesus to now come in and drive it all out was an indictment upon them but jesus is the unexpected king he's not one of these religious leaders he doesn't come with the authority of men he's the king who comes with the authority of god almighty and he will not allow the unrighteous acts of men to go on without being challenged so he drives them out asserting his authority asserting his rule now we see here the humility of jesus coming into jerusalem and then we see his righteous authority and driving out the money changers and the merchants from the temple area but after purifying the temple area challenging the religious establishment matthew presents us really with a juxtaposition he presents us with the compassion of jesus he tells us that jesus encounters the blind the lame and children jesus having just drove out the merchants finds the blind and the lame now coming to him they probably heard who jesus was they heard and saw the commotion they heard about the miracles that he had done and so they flocked to him and notice how he responds he doesn't cast them out does he he doesn't drive them out no in a day when the people there would have thought of these blind and lame as second-class citizens, maybe even cursed by God because of their infirmities. Jesus has compassion on them. He heals them. We see here the heart of Jesus. We see his care, his concern, his love for those who are in need. What kind of king takes the time to deal with the needs of those considered the most low? Only an unexpected king like Jesus. Well, Matthew doesn't tell us all that much about these encounters that Jesus had with the lame and the blind. But what we do know is that the works and miracles of Jesus were supposed to serve as a testimony to who he is. Anyone, you see, could ride in to Jerusalem on a donkey. Anyone could drive out merchants in the courts. But could anyone heal the blind and the lame? Absolutely not. Only Jesus, the rightful King. The King who comes in humility. The King who comes in righteousness and purity. He also comes with power to heal. And you would think that these miracles, these works that Jesus does there in the presence of all people would cause the religious leaders to reconsider their thoughts and ideas of who he is. Sadly, that's just not the case. And so Matthew presents us with an unexpected testimony here to who Jesus is. He presents us with the testimony of children. There were children there that day. And in light of the miracles of Jesus, the children began to cry out, Hosanna to the Son of David. It's unlikely the children understood fully the significance of what they were saying. But the priests and the scribes, they understood. They knew that reference to Son of David was a messianic reference. And so it's these words that serve as a kind of straw that breaks the camel's back for the scribes and priests. So they get indignant with Jesus, Matthew tells us. Indignant and they confront Him. verse 16 they asked do you hear what these are saying one could imagine the tone in which they asked jesus this question question was supposed to correct jesus it was supposed to rebuke him but jesus hears clearly he hears what these children are saying and although what they say is unexpected to the priest and the scribes this is exactly what jesus expects to hear from the people and the fact is there's nothing wrong with what they say jesus is the christ he is the messiah he is the king of kings the lord of lords if there's anywhere that anyone should turn to for salvation it's him it's him problem doesn't lie with jesus the problem lies with these religious leaders they are the ones who aren't seen clearly who don't understand correctly who can't hear jesus has just performed miracles in their presence if that isn't enough testimony to the arrival of the king then nothing could convince them jesus knows this so he answers them and poses a question to them. He says, yes, I hear them. Have you never read out of the mouths of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise? Jesus quotes a portion of Psalm 8. Psalm 8, which speaks of praise prepared for the Lord God. Jesus takes that reference and he applies it to himself. Jesus is describing himself here as God Almighty. He accepts the praise of Psalm 8, described as only belonging to the Lord. And so with the words of these children, Jesus is testifying to himself. And furthermore, he's testifying against the religious leaders there. They can't accept who he is, even with the miracles performed in their presence. But it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter what they think it doesn't matter what the people think it doesn't matter even what the disciples think jesus is the king he is the lord he doesn't need the acknowledgement of the religious establishment to prove that he doesn't need the acknowledgement of any men because he knows what's in the heart of men sin sin and he knows that he came to destroy sin he came to save from sin and although he was rejected by all the people even his own he will accomplish the task set out for him he would come and conquer the worst enemies humanity ever faced sin and death and he would do so in the most unexpected way offering himself as a sacrifice for many because although he is the unexpected king he is the king nevertheless so i ask you brothers and sisters this morning how do you respond to this king how do you respond to king jesus do you trust in him do you know him as king and lord have you cried out to him hosanna hosanna in the highest have you cried out to him save us please lord it is in him and him alone that any can find salvation, the salvation that we all need, the forgiveness of our sins. Let's pray. Lord, on this Palm Sunday, a day that we remember the triumphal entry of Jesus, we thank you for him. We thank you, Lord, for his sacrifice. We thank you, Lord, that although he was rejected and despised by men, he came to this earth and served men, living and dying for them. Father, in light of the wonderful things that Christ has done for us, we can't help but acknowledge our sin and seek forgiveness in no one other than Jesus. We thank you for the wonderful gospel that's pictured in this text before us this morning, Lord. And we pray and ask that by your spirit and through your word, Lord, you would impress it deep and deep in our hearts. That you would remind us, Father, we are your people bought by the blood of Jesus Christ who lived and died to make us your people. Thank you. We pray this all in Christ's name. Amen.