Matthew 21:1-9
1 As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, 2 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. 3 If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.” 4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: 5 “Say to Daughter Zion, ‘See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’” 6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on. 8 A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 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 heaven!” (Matthew 21:1-9)
UNRIVALED POPULARITY
This is the day on which Jesus’ standing reached its peak — His popularity was unrivaled. In John 12:19 we read that on this very day even His opponents exclaimed to one another:
19 So the Pharisees said to one another, “See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!” (John 12:19)
Jesus had won the love and gratitude of the people through all the miracles and signs He had performed — and especially through their climax, the raising of His friend Lazarus four days after his burial (John 12:17-18).
17 Now the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word. 18 Many people, because they had heard that he had performed this sign, went out to meet him. (John 12:17-18)
Jesus had performed this last miracle before His own resurrection on the day before He entered Jerusalem. He was entering Jerusalem as a king. Yet at the same time, by riding on a colt, He was signaling that He was coming not to impose Himself, but to bring peace.
STIRRED EMOTIONS
Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem stirred up strong feelings. Different emotions were written on people’s faces:
- Jesus’ disciples rejoiced (Luke 19:37):
37 When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen: (Luke 19:37)
- The crowd was jubilant (Matthew 21:8-9):
8 A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 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 heaven!” (Matthew 21:8-9)
They were welcoming their king (John 12:12-13):
12 The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. 13 They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, “Hosanna!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Blessed is the king of Israel!” (John 12:12-13)
- The Pharisees seethed with malice (Luke 19:39):
39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!” (Luke 19:39)
- Jesus wept (Luke 19:41):
41 As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it… (Luke 19:41)
He wept over the misunderstanding, the blindness, and the ignorance of His people (Luke 19:42-44):
42 and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. 43 The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. 44 They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.” (Luke 19:42-44)
A FATAL MISMATCH
The Jews welcomed Jesus as their deliverer and savior, but there was a fundamental difference between the meanings that the people and Jesus poured into the word “anointed one.” The word “anointed one” means “God’s chosen one.” In Hebrew it is “Messiah,” and in Greek “Christ.” In other words, an equals sign can be placed between the words “Messiah,” “Christ,” and “Anointed One.” But the society of that time invested the term “anointed one” not with a spiritual meaning, but with a political one. They longed for a king like David who would be a political leader — a military conqueror who would throw off Roman rule, become a world emperor, and so impose Jewish government. For the people of that time, a crucified anointed one was an utter absurdity and an unrivaled insult to their national pride.
A HIGHER DELIVERANCE
The problems of humanity, however, are immeasurably greater than any political rule. In Isaiah 55:8-9 the Lord God Himself speaks and says:
8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. 9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9)
We need a higher liberation — liberation from the tyranny of sin and death — a spiritual liberation! Jesus invested the term “anointed one” with a spiritual meaning. In fact, an “anointed one” is someone who has been anointed with the Holy Spirit for the fulfillment of a specific task entrusted to him by God, a task for which God gives that person the supernatural gifts and abilities needed to accomplish his mission. At the very beginning of His ministry, the Lord Jesus Christ introduced Himself in just this way (Luke 4:18-19):
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Luke 4:18-19)
AN ATTEMPT TO THWART IT
Contrary to the commonly held view, Jesus taught that He, as God’s Anointed One, had to suffer and die. In order for us to be set free from the power, the wages, and the presence of sin, a sacrifice is needed — a sacrifice great and valuable enough to satisfy God’s righteousness and holiness. Such a sacrifice could only be the death of God’s sinless Anointed One. This idea was especially repugnant to Satan. That is why he did not hesitate to use Jesus’ leading disciple — the one who first confessed Him as the Anointed One — in an attempt to shake His resolve to offer Himself as a sacrifice for humanity (Matthew 16:13-17, 20-28).
13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” 14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” 17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven.” 20 Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah. (Matthew 16:13-17, 20)
Jesus did not want it to become widely known that He was the Anointed One, because that would have hindered His suffering and death!
21 From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. 22 Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!” 23 Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.” 24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. 26 What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? 27 For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done. 28 Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.” (Matthew 16:21-28)
These last words in verse 28 referred to Peter, James, and John, who saw Jesus transfigured on the mountain of transfiguration.
IRREFUTABLE TESTIMONY
The fact that Jesus was the Anointed One was most clearly revealed precisely there, on the “mountain of transfiguration.” In 2 Peter 1:16-17 the apostle tells us:
16 For we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17 He received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” 18 We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain. 19 We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. (2 Peter 1:16-19)
The transfiguration of Jesus was a confirmation of the Old Testament prophecies! And here the apostle Peter encourages us to pay attention to them. The result of this will be that the lordship and deity of Jesus will rise up out of the sacred Scriptures, and He will become ever more real to us. This is the aim of this sermon as well — to look deeply into the Scriptures, and coming out of them, to have the Lord Jesus Himself appear to us as the risen Anointed One and the glorified Son of God.
After the revelation on the “mountain of transfiguration,” Jesus said to His disciples (Matthew 17:9):
9 As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus instructed them, “Don’t tell anyone what you have seen, until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.” (Matthew 17:9)
Here again we see that, before His resurrection, Jesus did not want it to become widely known that He was the Anointed One, because that would have hindered His crucifixion!
A DELICATE MATTER
Jesus was the Anointed One. But before He came into His glory, He had to pass through the cross! The question of the anointed one is of the utmost importance. Jesus was trying to achieve — and did achieve — an exceptional balance in this regard. On the one hand, people needed to know that the anointed one had come, and that Jesus was precisely that anointed one. For according to Isaiah 53:11 the knowledge of the anointed one is saving. There it says:
11 After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. (Isaiah 53:11)
And how could we know about Him if He had not revealed Himself to us? And Jesus did reveal Himself by fulfilling the prophetic Scriptures.
On the other hand, however, if the people had accepted Him as “the anointed one” before the crucifixion, there was a danger that they would forcibly raise Him up as their political leader, and thus thwart His mission. That is why Jesus was especially careful. He did not want the truth that He was the Anointed One to be spread publicly before He went to the cross (Matthew 16:20). At the same time, in private conversations — such as the one with the Samaritan woman — He declared that He was the Messiah. And He insisted that His disciples be certain of this. When He was questioned by the authorities, Jesus, of course, both before the high priest and before Pilate, never denied that He was precisely the Anointed One (Mark 14:61-62):
61 But Jesus remained silent and gave no answer. Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?” 62 “I am,” said Jesus. “And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.” (Mark 14:61-62)
LIFTING THE VEIL
After His sacrifice — His self-offering on Golgotha — the name “Anointed One,” or Christ, began to be used openly and applied to Jesus of Nazareth. This is so because after the crucifixion the danger of investing it with a political meaning had passed. In Acts 11:26 we read that His disciples began to be called “Christians,” that is, “anointed ones” — people who belong to the Anointed One and follow Him. Their preaching, their central message, consisted of proofs that Jesus of Nazareth had fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies and therefore that He was precisely the Anointed One. Of course, they stressed the fact that He brings not political but spiritual liberation:
- Acts 2:36 — the apostle Peter concludes his sermon at Pentecost with the words:
36 Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah. (Acts 2:36)
- Acts 17:2-3:
2 As was his custom, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, 3 explaining and proving that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead. “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah,” he said. (Acts 17:2-3)
- Acts 26:22-23:
22 But God has helped me to this very day; so I stand here and testify to small and great alike. I am saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen— 23 that the Messiah would suffer and, as the first to rise from the dead, would bring the message of light to his own people and to the Gentiles. (Acts 26:22-23)
MISUNDERSTANDING THAT LEADS TO INSTABILITY AND FICKLENESS
The day on which Jesus triumphantly entered Jerusalem was great. On that day He entered as a king. Palm Sunday, however, should remind us to guard against a superficial acknowledgment of Jesus. Let us not be like the crowd! We must not forget that the same crowd that shouted “Hosanna!” was shouting “Crucify Him!” only a few days later (John 19:14-15):
14 It was the day of Preparation of the Passover; it was about noon. “Here is your king,” Pilate said to the Jews. 15 But they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!” “Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked. “We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests answered. (John 19:14-15)
They turned on Him because they did not have God’s understanding of things. But to us He has given it, in His Word. That is why we must very carefully examine the writings of the prophets and the accounts of the apostles, who were witnesses of His words and deeds — so that we may be convinced and certain in our faith that Jesus of Nazareth is precisely God’s Anointed One. He is not some idealized figure. He is not some fantasy — a product of human imagination. Jesus was a real person. Yet if we examine His life, we will surely be convinced that He is no ordinary man. He is the Son of God and God’s Anointed One.
THE TESTIMONY OF THE PROPHETS
What did the prophets say about the Anointed One? Which prophecies had already been fulfilled by the moment of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem? And which prophecies were yet to be fulfilled? Of course, they are so many that they are the subject of a separate study. But I will still mention a few of them — those about Jesus’ origin, character, and person:
- Origin
- Descendant of David
The Gospel of Matthew (Matthew 1:1) begins like this:
1 This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham: (Matthew 1:1)
Jesus had a royal lineage. This corresponded to God’s words to David in 2 Samuel 7:12-14:
12 When your days are over and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be his father, and he will be my son. (2 Samuel 7:12-14)
- Born of a virgin
In Matthew 1:18, 22-23 it says that Jesus was conceived by a virgin:
18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 1:18)
This was a fulfillment of the prophecy from Isaiah 7:14:
14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14)
- Born in Bethlehem. Jesus was born in Bethlehem. This was foretold in Micah 5:2:
2 But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times. (Micah 5:2)
This was known to the leading Jewish elders and scribes in the time of King Herod. That is why, when he asked them where the anointed one was to be born, they answered him at once, without a second thought, quoting the prophet Micah.
- Character. In character Jesus was not quarrelsome, vengeful, or one who wished to impose himself. He was affirming and constructive. In Matthew 12:14-21 it says:
14 But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus. 15 Aware of this, Jesus withdrew from that place. A large crowd followed him, and he healed all who were ill. 16 He warned them not to tell others about him. 17 This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah (these are the words of Isaiah 42:1-4): 18 “Here is my servant whom I have chosen, the one I love, in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations. 19 He will not quarrel or cry out; no one will hear his voice in the streets. 20 A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out, till he has brought justice through to victory. 21 In his name the nations will put their hope.” (Matthew 12:14-21)
- Person. The Father’s words to the Son on the mountain of transfiguration — “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him.” — are actually a combination of three prophecies:
- The one from Psalm 2:7 about David’s son:
7 “You are my son; today I have become your father.” (Psalm 2:7)
- The one from Isaiah 42:1 about God’s chosen servant:
1 Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him. (Isaiah 42:1)
- The one from Deuteronomy 18:15 about the promised prophet:
15 The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him. (Deuteronomy 18:15)
- The one from Psalm 2:7 about David’s son:
Jesus fulfilled all the prophecies that concerned His first coming. Somewhere I read that in all about 332 Old Testament prophecies are fulfilled in Jesus. The mathematical probability — the chance that they would be fulfilled by accident in one single person — is 1 in 10 to the power of 84, with 123 zeros after it. This possibility is simply unreal.
A CATEGORICAL CONCLUSION
And so we can boldly say that Jesus of Nazareth is the Son of David. He is the Son of Man. He is God’s Anointed One. No one else is! In Acts 4:12 it says:
12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved. (Acts 4:12)
This is the good news. Believe that Jesus is the Anointed One, receive Him by faith as your Lord, and you will be saved. Amen!