Calvary Bible Church - Pastor Ken’s Weblog

Passage for Sunday, March 16th, 2008
Matthew 20:17 - 21
“Say to the Daughter of Zion, `See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’ “ 

Some of the most difficult messages to prepare and give, I am discovering, are those that revolve around the most well know Bible stories, primarily those regarding Christmas, Palm Sunday and Easter. People have certain expectations on those days, and they want to hear messages that are pertinent to the occasion, I know I always did!

Now, as a preacher rather than a listener, I face the challenge of preparing and delivering a message that needs to be at least interesting and relevant enough to keep people awake while listening to a story they know as well as I do!  Fortunately, these stories are timeless, and repetition does not diminish the impact the biblical account gives.  I have been listening to Christmas and Easter messages for as long as I can remember, and now lately preaching them, and the story still thrills me!  Maybe that’s part of the meaning behind the writer of the Book of Hebrews description of God’s Word as being “living and active,” it never gets old!  We begin this morning with the theme we have focused on the last couple weeks, Jesus journey to Jerusalem, only now we find ourselves at the final stage.  If you had any doubt that Jesus knew what was waiting for Him, our opening verses dispel that doubt:

Matthew 20:17-19:  “Now as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside and said to them, “We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the teachers of the law.  They will condemn him to death and will turn him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified.  On the third day he will be raised to life!”  Doesn’t sound much like a “Triumphal Entry” now, does it.  This was the third time He had pulled the Twelve aside and told them what was going to happen, and the most detailed description.  Here He first mentions the fact He would be betrayed.  Here too He clearly states that the Gentiles would be the ones to put Him to death.  Crucifixion was a Roman method of execution, the Jews would have stoned Him, but that would not have properly fulfilled scripture.  Luke’s account records Jesus saying to the disciples: “We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the Prophets about the Son of man will be fulfilled.” (Luke 18:31)  John records Jesus own prophetic words in John 3:14-15:  “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.”   Here too He reminds them that death would not be the end for Him, but that on the third day He would rise again!  It’s interesting that there is no record of the disciples’ response to this detailed prediction.  The disciples evidently still didn’t really “get it” as evidenced by the next section:

Verses 20-23:  “Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Jesus with her sons and, kneeling down, asked a favor of him.  “What is it you want?” he asked.  She said, “Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom.”  “You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said to them. “Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?”  Jesus here uses a figure of speech, “drink the cup” meaning to undergo or experience the same thing, here He is referencing the suffering and death He would soon endure.  “We can,” they answered. (How little they understood!)  Jesus said to them, “You will indeed drink from my cup, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant.  These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared by my Father.”

They were still focused on an earthly kingdom, and trying to maneuver into the positions of authority and honor.  Jesus had just recently, following the story of the rich young ruler, promised that they would indeed sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel (19:28).  That was probably what they had in mind, as they asked, through their mother, this privilege.  It’s almost as if they halfheartedly listened as He talked about His betrayal, suffering and death, heard the part where He said he would rise again and said: “Yeah, Yeah, we know, but what about the Kingdom?  Can we have…”  They just didn’t get it.  They also must not have been listening to the last parable He told, stressing once again that the first would be last and the last first, because here they are, seeking to be put first!  He exhibited great patience, didn’t He?

I’m glad He did, and that Matthew recorded it, because I often need that patience granted to me for my foolishness!  I too am still learning!  These Brothers would indeed drink of the cup of suffering for the Lord Jesus.  James was the first recorded martyr, beheaded by Herod, and tradition says John survived being boiled in oil in an effort to get him to renounce the Lord, which he would not do.  He was banished to exile on the island of Patmos for his faith in Christ.  Be careful what you ask for, right?

Verses 24-28:  “When the ten heard about this, they were indignant with the two brothers.”  What a difference in the response.  The “ten” were probably upset that James and John beat em to the punch, so to speak!  “Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them.  Not so with you.  Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave–just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”  Jesus turns things upside down.  We, as Believers, as members of the Body, as the Church, are not to model ourselves after the world, but the Savior!

The world says it’s all about authority and power, Jesus says its all about humility, love and service.  Again, Jesus quietly points to the example He has set, in an effort to get these guys on the right page while He still has time to teach and be an example to them.  He also pointed, for the first time, to the reason He was to die.  He would suffer and die in order to pay the ransom for the lives of all who would believe in Him.  He points out that His life was the ransom paid in place of, for, many others, not Himself.  He needed no ransom because he had never been a slave to sin.  We need the ransom to be paid for us because we cannot pay it ourselves.

Peter ties the two themes together and says it well for us in I Peter 3:17-18:  “It is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.  For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.  He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit.”  The narrative continues as they make there way toward Jerusalem:

Verses 29-34:  “As Jesus and his disciples were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed him.  Two blind men were sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was going by, they shouted, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!”  The crowd rebuked them and told them to be quiet, but they shouted all the louder, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!”  How different this request than that of James and John.  These men realized this was their best opportunity to seek mercy; they may never get this close to Jesus again.  They made no demands, but pleaded mercy.  They pretended no advantage over Jesus, no sense of Him owing them anything, they simply believed that He, the Messiah, could heal them and acted on that faith.  “Jesus stopped and called them.  (Sometimes, persistence and disregard for the council of the crowd pays off!)  “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked.  “Lord,” they answered, “we want our sight.”  Not a place of honor and prestige, not power or wealth, but that which they most desired, their sight.  “Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes.  Immediately they received their sight and followed him.” Luke’s Gospel records an extra detail, he says they followed, praising God, and when the crowd saw what had occurred, they too praised God!   Jesus responded to the appeal of these men to Him as Messiah.  Son of David was a title understood to be Messianic.

By stopping, responding with compassion and healing them, Jesus demonstrated His authority as the Messiah, the Son of David.  And the disciples and crowd of people recognized that aspect of what He had done.  And now we come to the “Triumphal Entry” where Jesus publicly presents Himself as King.  Here, finally, is our “Palm Sunday” reading!

21:1-5:  “As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her.  Untie them and bring them to me.  If anyone says anything to you, tell him that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.”  This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:
“Say to the Daughter of Zion, `See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’ “  Here Jesus displays omniscience, knowing where the disciples would find the donkeys.  He displays His authority as Lord, all things are under his command, even to turning the heart of the owner of the donkey and her colt favorably to lend them to Him.  He shows His humility, he asks for them, doesn’t demand them, and He only seeks a donkey and her colt, not a chariot and horses.  Scripture needed to be fulfilled!

Verses 6-9:  “The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them.  They brought the donkey and the colt, placed their cloaks on them, and Jesus sat on them.  A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.  The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted,  “Hosanna to the Son of David!”  “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”  “Hosanna in the highest!”

Verse 10: When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?”  The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”  The Son of David comes to the City of David as the true and rightful King.  He also came as the sacrificial lamb, on the very day that Jewish families were to select the Passover lamb for the Feast.  No coincidence there, just the working of God’s plan.  The people understood in part, but as we find out, quickly turned against Him, and many of the same crowd that shouted “Hosanna” would also shout “Crucify Him” a few short days later.

People still are quick to reject Him when He doesn’t live up to their expectations or act as they think He should on their behalf!

I want to close with this little story I came across.  It’s called: “Only a Donkey”
The donkey woke up, his mind still savoring the afterglow of the most exciting day of his life. Never before had he felt such a rush of pleasure and pride.  He walked into town and found a group of people by the well.  “I’ll go show myself to them,” he thought.  But they didn’t notice him.  They went on drawing their water and paid him no mind.  “Throw your garments down,” he said crossly. “Don’t you know who I am?”  They just looked at him in amazement.  Someone slapped him across the tail and ordered him to move.  “Miserable heathens!” he muttered to himself.  “I’ll go down to the marketplace where the good people are.  They will remember me.”

But the same thing happened.  No one paid any attention to the donkey as he strutted down the main street in front of the market place.  “The palm branches!  Where are the palm branches!” he shouted. “Yesterday, you threw palm branches!”  Hurt and confused, the donkey returned home to his mother.  “Foolish child,” she said gently. “Don’t you realize that without Him, you are just an ordinary donkey?”

Just like the donkey that carried Jesus in Jerusalem, we too are most fulfilled when we are in the service of Jesus Christ.  Without him, all our best efforts are like “filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6) and amount to nothing.  We’re just … donkeys.  When we lift up Christ, however, humble ourselves and serve one another in love, we are no longer ordinary people, but key players in God’s plan to redeem the world.  Let your praises ring out, shout your Hosanna’s, not just on Sunday, but everyday!  Jesus is King!

In His Grip,