March 16, 2008 Matthew 21:1-11

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, tell him 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 the Daughter of Zion, `See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, 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, placed their cloaks on them, and Jesus sat on them. 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!"

¹⁰ When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, "Who is this?" ¹¹ The crowds answered, "This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee." (NIV)

The Israelites once sang of David that he killed his tens of thousands. They praised him for being a killing machine. I don=t know what David thought of that song; Saul, of course, didn=t like it. It=s not exactly something that we would want to hang our hats on, but nonetheless the people were praising him for doing the job he was called by God to do; to be a warrior and a king.

The people of Israel had much bolder and greater lyrics with which to praise Jesus in today=s celebration. Yet as glorious as their praises are, there is still something missing - an essential ingredient to understanding who He is as the Christ. It is something we dare not miss.

Don=t Miss the Missing Ingredient of the Christ

I. The ingredient is symbolized in the donkey

Just by looking at this portion of history we can see why the people called Jesus a prophet. Just look at his foresight! He knew exactly where to find the donkey for his glorious ride into Jerusalem. He knew exactly what to tell the owners. Everything happened according to the way He said it would. We can also see the power of the King. With a bold resignation He knew what He was going into Jerusalem to do. He was riding into Jerusalem on a donkey - to die.

The donkey is what trips people up. It=s not a war horse - the animal of a king. It=s a beast of burden. So why did Jesus choose it? He chose it because God=s Word predicted this was how He would enter Jerusalem in Zechariah 9, our Old Testament lesson for today. God=s Word never lies and never makes a mistake. So Jesus fulfilled what He predicted through the Holy Spirit. The disciples didn=t even think about Zechariah=s prediction or realize what had happened until after it was said and done. In hindsight it must have made them realize how trustworthy God=s Word is - and how it needs to be studied and learned more. (Think about how many things we miss because of our lack of knowledge of God=s Word!)

But there=s more to the donkey. The donkey is a beast of burden. It is not a gloriously swift or powerful animal. But it is consistent animal that manages to get the job done. This is what Jesus came to do as King. When a fighter goes in for a fight - sometimes he jumps up and down and beats his chest. It is his way of convincing himself he is really tough. Other fighters calmly enter the battle without a lot of pomp, because they know who they are. Jesus; the Prophet and King was ready for a battle; knew who he was and what He had come to do. He was confidently ready to do it.

What did Jesus come to do? Not to flex His muscle - but to let his muscles be whipped, beaten, and crucified. He came to conquer sin, death and the devil. The only way He could defeat sin and death was by first bowing to it. The only way He could conquer hell was by going through it. The donkey - the beast of burden - carried God=s Son of burden - the One who would carry the greatest burden of all - the wrath of God over sin and the punishment of hell. Like a powerful and unflashy beast Jesus would carry the world=s weight of sin and hell on His shoulders to the cross and into the grave - and leave it there.

II. The people missed it

The people didn=t seem to realize this about Jesus. At this point in Jesus= ministry the hype had come as a result of Jesus= raising of Lazarus from the dead. All of these fans of the powerful Jesus who could raise the dead had spread the Word that Jesus was in town! People were hyped! Listen again to the things they did and said about Jesus!

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!"

Just in seeing or even hearing about what Jesus did for Lazarus made the people excited to praise Jesus. In their excitement they used whatever they could to praise Jesus - even their own coats and fresh branches from olive trees. They gave him as royal a treatment as they could. They went ahead of him and shouted Hosanna.

Hosanna means basically Asave now!@ It was a term of praise more than anything. They praised Jesus as the ASon of David.@ This was an obvious reference to the promise of Savior through -

Micah 5:2 ABut 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.@

Isaiah 11:1 A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.

Let=s not under-emphasize the magnitude of this statement. This was such a clear testimony that Jesus was the Son of God - the Promised Messiah. It made the Pharisees so angry that they demanded Jesus rebuke his disciples. Jesus would not.When they entered Jerusalem, the people there said something different about Jesus.

The crowds answered, "This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee."

It didn=t bother the crowds that Jesus was from Nazareth. They accepted him as a prophet. Throughout Jesus= ministry he clearly taught God=s Word with authority. The people recognized Him to be more than a Rabbi - someone who was able to expound on God=s words like a pastor or Levite. They clearly said that His words were directly from God - they were God=s words. This is quite an accolade as well.

BUT WAIT! Isn=t it interesting what they DIDN=T call Jesus to be? What was the one office they were missing yet? The office of PRIEST - which entailed the dirtiest work of all - the slaughter! Of course - that is what this KING and PROPHET was riding on the beast of burden into Jerusalem to do - what they were unknowingly calling on Jesus to do - to SAVE NOW - by fulfilling His role as the PRIEST by being God=s chosen Son of burden.

So how far and how long did their praises last, with this missing ingredient? Where were these people on Friday when it was time for Jesus to become the sin and hell donkey who would carry a much heavier burden on His back? They liked the king and prophet who would use His power to raise the dead and possibly free them from the sorrows of sin and the oppressive government and legalistic Pharisees. They didn=t like the priest who would become the dead. The only words we hear on Friday are people jeering Him and making fun of him. It=s almost miraculous how quickly things changed.

Here we sit in 2008 looking back on this story. We know where Jesus is going. We know the praise will end. We know the crucifixion will begin. How do we respond? Do we have the gall to praise him with the somewhat ignorant people of Jerusalem? Is that right? On 9-11 they showed video of children in Palestine rejoicing and dancing over what happened in New York. It made me furious. I thought, Awhat kind of butchers are they raising to praise such acts?@ So why should we sit here and praise Jesus as He rides in to die? Should we not wish that we could go back and be the angel that blocks the donkey from going forth? Should we not be saying to Jesus - Adon=t do it!@ Shouldn=t we mourn the fact that Jesus was riding on to the punishment of death and hell that WE deserved? What an awful thing!

Yet Jesus knew what He was getting into. Right before today=s text Jesus said in Matthew 20:17‑19 -

Now as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside and said to them, AWe 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!@

Jesus was voluntarily riding into Jerusalem to die. If Jesus does not ride into Jerusalem to die - if He does not become God=s beast of burden - to bear our sins - we will go to hell. Jesus was riding on to fulfill His calling as Priest. What a wonderful and beautiful sacrifice! We need Him to go there if we want to live and not be buried eternally in hell. And so - with fear, sin, shame, and faith - knowing that there is nothing we can do and nothing we could do to change this cataclysmic event - we sound no warning - we do not stand in his path - yes, like pathetic beggars we even sadly cheer Him on for His loving grace to take something that we deserved - to take the burden of our sins as our Priest and to do this free of charge.

III. People miss it yet today

Sadly this same scene reenacts itself time and time again in the history of the Christian Church. How so?

$ People today still hail the prophet. They love to point to Ezekiel or Revelation and try and figure out how all of these seeming prophesies will come true with modern day Israel. They love to praise Jesus when he does miracles and heals people that are dying.

$ People today still hail the Powerful King. We hear a lot about God=s sovereignty and how He rules over all - how He can take over our lives and give us the power to be rich and successful and conquer Satan through proper programs and tithing.

$ Yet the priesthood of Jesus is too ugly and weak for many. By default it points the finger at the sinful world and blames them for this sacrifice. It also makes them powerless to save themselves from the simple fact that God had to enter our world to save us from it.

This is the missing ingredient. As perpetual sinners, we need to see Jesus as the priest and we need to look for him to come to us in similar ways - just as He rode on a DONKEY - a place you wouldn=t expect Him. He rides in hidden under water, splashing his blood, righteousness and forgiveness on little infants and broken adults who need to be washed of their sins. He comes riding into our filthy mouths and our sin stained hearts under the bread and wine of the Lord=s Supper - in a place that seems neither powerful nor flashy. Here Jesus is. As He buries Himself in our flesh, He brings life and salvation with Him.

The vast world of Christians say to us - Ahow can you worship Christ here! Bread, wine and water are not powerful. They are only empty symbols and pictures, rituals and rites that Christians go through in memory of Christ! Their eyes only focus on the donkey and the coats. They miss the One who says He is riding on them and in them! But the Holy Spirit has opened our eyes of faith to see Him come riding in where He predicted He would be - hidden in, with, and under these seemingly weak and common earthly elements. Why do we believe this? Because just as Zechariah predicted Jesus would come into Jerusalem on a donkey, so God=s Word PREDICTED and SAID Jesus would be here. In Romans 6 Paul says we are bathed in Jesus= death at our baptism. Through time and eternity He connects baptism to Christ and to the baptized. Jesus said, ATHIS IS my body. This IS my blood.@ We praise God for this revelation and we see Jesus here because God promises us He is here.

Did you realize that we mimic these very words of Palm Sunday every time we celebrate the Lord=s Supper? Listen to the words in the bulletin that you will be singing! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord - Hosanna in the Highest! We sing these words knowing the Amissing ingredient@ - that Jesus is not only a prophet and a king, but also a priest. With this greater revelation and faith do you use even the same energy in singing them? Do you show the same honor in coming forward? Do you use everything you have and everything you can in praising God for coming to us in a physical and holy way? Or do you treat this as if it were no big deal? LORD HAVE MERCY!

Know it or not, realize it or not, Jesus still comes riding into our hearts yet today to give us life and salvation. Through time and eternity He brings His life-giving blood. After all of these years, the same blood of the Priest that was shed 2,000 years ago has not lost one ounce of power as the Priest pours a flood of forgiveness and righteousness into your heart and soul through His holy body and blood. When your faith gets a taste of the Priest, you leave the table with even greater praise - knowing that you have spiritually tasted the Amissing ingredient.@

It was years ago that the raisin was discovered. If my information is correct, a farmer did not harvest them in time and they shriveled on the vine. He missed an essential ingredient to harvesting grapes - timing! However, when they tried the shriveled grape, it turned out to be somewhat tasty and edible - with a completely different flavor. Now not only the grape but the raisin also has a market of it=s own and is integrated into many ingredients.

On Palm Sunday the people in Jerusalem were missing an essential ingredient to their Christ. They praised Him as King. So do we! They called Him a Prophet. So do we! But they missed the saving ingredient - the Priest. In missing the Priest they ended up making the Priest as they allowed Him to die. This final ingredient is mixed into everything He is and He says and everything that we are and say. We know it. We rejoice in it. Jesus is our Prophet, King, and PRIEST! In faith we sadly cheer as we see Him ride on to take the burden of our sins. Amen.