Can't You See?
Matthew 21:1-10
Today is Palm Sunday – the day we celebrate the Triumphal Entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem. God had been preparing Israel for 1500 years for the day that Jesus triumphantly entered Jerusalem because this day was the beginning of the week that would change eternity. This “eternity changing” week (Passion Week) starts with the Triumphal Entry, and it ends with the Resurrection.
In Daniel Chapter 9, there is an exact mathematical calculation prophesying the very month the Messiah would come to Israel. This very exact prophecy is Daniel 9:25-26, and you can get the message in our Daniel series called “The 70 Sevens of Daniel” to learn all about it. Using the math in that prophecy, Israel could have known the exact month God would send the Messiah and when that exact month came, Jesus Triumphantly Rode into Jerusalem – as the Messiah.
But the people couldn’t see it because they refused to see it.
That prophecy in Daniel is incredibly detailed. BUT Zechariah’s prophecy was even easier to see, and in fact, Matthew uses it when he records the Triumphal Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem.
Zechariah 9:9 (NLT)
9 Rejoice, O people of Zion! Shout in triumph, O people of Jerusalem! Look, your king is coming to you. He is righteous and victorious, yet he is humble, riding on a donkey— riding on a donkey’s colt.
So, Daniel Chapter 9 makes the exact month clear, and Zechariah Chapter 9 makes it clear exactly how the Savior is going to enter Jerusalem. And Israel knew well both Daniel Chapter 9 and Zechariah Chapter 9, but still, they refused to see that this was their Savior sent from God. And they refused to see it because they didn’t want this particular Jesus to be their Savior.
Both the Daniel 9 and the Zechariah 9 prophesies are two-part prophecies because Jesus is both the Lamb that was slain for the sin of the world and he is The Lion of the Tribe of Judah. But the people didn’t want the Lamb that was slain for the sin of the world; they only wanted the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. Israel wanted a Messiah who would fix what they thought was their biggest problem, and they thought their biggest problem was a “this world” problem. And maybe that’s the Savior you would want this morning because you may think that your “this world” problems are your real problems – but they are not.
Israel wanted a “this world” Savior like so many people do today. But God wrote in James:
James 4:14 (NKJV)
14 . . . For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.
Please hear me, guys. Jesus Christ came to deal with a much bigger problem. Jesus Christ came to be the only answer to an eternal problem that each of us has. And that problem is that sin cannot be in the presence of a Holy God, and unfortunately, by nature and by choice, we are all sinners. This means unless God sends a Savior to deal with our sin problem, then when this vapor of a life is over, we will spend eternity outside the presence of God.
But the people couldn’t see their eternal problem because they wanted so badly for Jesus to fix their “this world” problems.
And so, the same people who cried out “HOSANNA” to Jesus on Palm Sunday cried out “CRUCIFY JESUS” on Good Friday.
They quickly and violently rejected Jesus because he wasn’t the Savior they wanted, and often we are no different.
Israel had a book full of prophetic reasons to recognize Jesus as their Savior that day. But they also had 1500 years of an annual event preparing them for this day and this week. THIS was Passover week, and on this very day that Jesus rode into Jerusalem, the Passover Lambs were being brought into the city in preparation for the Passover sacrifice. THAT is why Jesus rode triumphantly into Jerusalem on that particular day because on this Passover week, all the Passover sacrifices of the 1500 years since the Exodus would all culminate in THE Passover Lamb offering himself as THE final Passover sacrifice.
God first used Abraham to make the clearest illustration of this incredible truth. Mt. Moriah is the same mountain that Calvary is on. And in Genesis 22, God told Abraham to take his only son Isaac up to Mt. Moriah and sacrifice him there. And as they were walking up the mountain to the same place that would one day be called Calvary, Isaac said to his father in verse 7,
Genesis 22:7 (ESV)
7 . . . “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”
And Abraham said prophetically to his son in verse 8,
Genesis 22:8 (ESV)
8 . . .“God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” . . .
And as Abraham raised the knife to sacrifice his only son as a picture of what God would one day do (in the same place). God did provide a lamb as a substitute for the life of Isaac. God saved Abraham from sacrificing his only son, but God could not save himself from that same sacrifice.
Two generations later, God continued his preparation of Israel for this day. In Exodus Chapter 12, when God brought the final plague upon the Pharaoh in Egypt, each family of Israel was required by God to choose a young lamb without spot or blemish. And the family was to take the lamb into their house and love and care for that lamb for four days. And then, on the evening of Passover (the same time Jesus was crucified), that innocent lamb was to be slain by the family, and the blood of that innocent lamb was to be put on the doorpost of the house. And when the Angel of Death came to bring judgment upon the sin of Egypt, the blood of the lamb would “cover” the people who belong to God. The Angel of Death would pass-over that house, and that family of God would be saved.
And after the lamb was slain and the blood was covering the house, the family would eat the Passover meal, including the Passover lamb that had been roasted so that the sacrifice God used to save them would become part of them – they would partake of that sacrifice. And if that sounds like communion – it should because it was a foreshadowing of our communion.
But God still wasn’t finished teaching about this sacrifice. After the Exodus from Egypt, God established the Day of Atonement. Not only did each family continue to bring an innocent animal as a sacrifice each year, but on the Day of Atonement (from Leviticus Chapter 16) the High Priest would bring an animal into the Tabernacle and sacrifice it and sprinkle the blood of the innocent sacrifice on the Mercy Seat which represented the very Throne of God, and the blood of this innocent sacrifice would “cover over” (atone for) the sins of the people – which is an incredible picture of what God would do with Jesus Christ.
And through all of this, year after year, God was teaching his people about the penalty required for sin and about the sacrifice of an innocent life to pay that penalty.
And listen to God’s increasing covering of the atoning sacrifice of the Innocent Lamb. First, it was the Atonement for just one person – Isaac on Mt. Moriah. Then, it was the Atonement for one household in the first Passover in Egypt. Then, it was the Atonement for the nation every year on the Day of Atonement. Then came that day when John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him and said;
John 1:29 (ESV)
29 . . . “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
On the day that Jesus Christ triumphantly entered Jerusalem, God’s final Passover Lamb was being prepared to be the Atonement for the sin of the world.
All the other Passover lambs pointed to this true and final Passover Lamb – God’s once-and-for-all sacrifice for the sin of the world.
But – the people couldn’t see it. They refused to see it because it wasn’t what they wanted. But they didn’t understand that this was the single most important gift in all eternity that God was freely giving them.
Just as Abraham said to Isaac on Mt. Moriah, in the Triumphal Entry, God was providing himself AS the only sufficient sacrifice that could truly and permanently take away our sin.
Only God himself, in the Person of Jesus Christ, could be the once and for all final sacrifice sufficient to redeem the world from sin.
That’s why 1 Corinthians 5:7 (ESV) says, 7 . . . For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.
THAT is what was really happening on the day of the Triumphal Entry.
No, now that we have that background – we probably should go ahead and read the text. But as we do, read it light of all the truths we’ve just reviewed.
Matthew 21:1–11 (NLT)
1 As Jesus and the disciples approached Jerusalem, they came to the town of Bethphage on the Mount of Olives. Jesus sent two of them on ahead.
2 “Go into the village over there,” he said. “As soon as you enter it, you will see a donkey tied there, with its colt beside it. Untie them and bring them to me.
3 If anyone asks what you are doing, just say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will immediately let you take them.”
4 This took place to fulfill the prophecy that said,
5 “Tell the people of Jerusalem, ‘Look, your King is coming to you. He is humble, riding on a donkey— riding on a donkey’s colt.’” (Zechariah 9:9 Prophecy)
6 The two disciples did as Jesus commanded.
7 They brought the donkey and the colt to him and threw their garments over the colt, and he sat on it.
8 Most of the crowd spread their garments on the road ahead of him, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.
9 Jesus was in the center of the procession, and the people all around him were shouting, “Praise God (Hosanna) for the Son of David! Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Praise God (Hosanna) in highest heaven!”
10 The entire city of Jerusalem was in an uproar as he entered. “Who is this?” they asked.
11 And the crowds replied, “It’s Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”
These people said the right words. They shouted the praise required for the announcement of the Messiah entering Jerusalem. The Savior of Israel (and of the world) had to be announced – ON THIS DAY. That’s why, in Luke 19, when the Pharisees challenged Jesus about the people shouting his praises, Jesus said in Luke Chapter 19,
Luke 19:40 (NLT)
40 . . . “If they kept quiet, the stones along the road would burst into cheers!”
Because this was the announcement to Israel that the Savior God had promised was here. He was right on time, and he came in the exact way God had promised. But still – the people refused to see what was truly happening. They were cheering, thinking Jesus was coming to win a “this life” victory – on their behalf. But Jesus was not preparing for a “this life” victory. Jesus was preparing for God’s final victory over sin. Jesus was entering Jerusalem to become God’s final Passover Lamb to take away the sin of the world.
Jesus will return as Conquering King. Jesus will ultimately rule this world AS the King of Peace. But first, Jesus had to come to deal with your sin and mine. First, Jesus had to become the perfect sacrifice sufficient to pay for the sin of the world.
And finally, when Jesus was crucified, he died just before the beginning of Passover, and AT the same time, lambs were being sacrificed all over Jerusalem according to the Law of Moses. While Jesus was being sacrificed on the Cross, fathers all over the city were saying to their families, “God has provided a Passover Lamb for us.” And while the blood of countless Passover lambs ran through the city, on a hill called Calvary outside the city wall, the blood of Jesus Christ was running down the Cross, and the True Passover Lamb of God was taking away the sin of the world.
Please don’t be blinded.
SEE: The true Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world
See the light while you can, and don’t allow the darkness to blind you.
In John’s gospel, just after the Triumphal Entry, Jesus said to the crowd that was around him,
John 12:35–36 (NLT)
35 . . . “My light will shine for you just a little longer. Walk in the light while you can, so the darkness will not overtake you. Those who walk in the darkness cannot see where they are going.
36 Put your trust in the light while there is still time; then you will become children of the light.”
Can you see the True Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world?
Put your faith in him today while there’s still time, and you will become a Child of God.
John 1:12-13 (NLT)
12 But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.
13 They are reborn—not with a physical birth . . . but a birth that comes from God.
Please SEE Jesus for WHO he IS
RECEIVE his sacrifice for your sin
And MAKE HIM your Savior and your Lord – today.
In Daniel Chapter 9, there is an exact mathematical calculation prophesying the very month the Messiah would come to Israel. This very exact prophecy is Daniel 9:25-26, and you can get the message in our Daniel series called “The 70 Sevens of Daniel” to learn all about it. Using the math in that prophecy, Israel could have known the exact month God would send the Messiah and when that exact month came, Jesus Triumphantly Rode into Jerusalem – as the Messiah.
But the people couldn’t see it because they refused to see it.
That prophecy in Daniel is incredibly detailed. BUT Zechariah’s prophecy was even easier to see, and in fact, Matthew uses it when he records the Triumphal Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem.
Zechariah 9:9 (NLT)
9 Rejoice, O people of Zion! Shout in triumph, O people of Jerusalem! Look, your king is coming to you. He is righteous and victorious, yet he is humble, riding on a donkey— riding on a donkey’s colt.
So, Daniel Chapter 9 makes the exact month clear, and Zechariah Chapter 9 makes it clear exactly how the Savior is going to enter Jerusalem. And Israel knew well both Daniel Chapter 9 and Zechariah Chapter 9, but still, they refused to see that this was their Savior sent from God. And they refused to see it because they didn’t want this particular Jesus to be their Savior.
Both the Daniel 9 and the Zechariah 9 prophesies are two-part prophecies because Jesus is both the Lamb that was slain for the sin of the world and he is The Lion of the Tribe of Judah. But the people didn’t want the Lamb that was slain for the sin of the world; they only wanted the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. Israel wanted a Messiah who would fix what they thought was their biggest problem, and they thought their biggest problem was a “this world” problem. And maybe that’s the Savior you would want this morning because you may think that your “this world” problems are your real problems – but they are not.
Israel wanted a “this world” Savior like so many people do today. But God wrote in James:
James 4:14 (NKJV)
14 . . . For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.
Please hear me, guys. Jesus Christ came to deal with a much bigger problem. Jesus Christ came to be the only answer to an eternal problem that each of us has. And that problem is that sin cannot be in the presence of a Holy God, and unfortunately, by nature and by choice, we are all sinners. This means unless God sends a Savior to deal with our sin problem, then when this vapor of a life is over, we will spend eternity outside the presence of God.
But the people couldn’t see their eternal problem because they wanted so badly for Jesus to fix their “this world” problems.
And so, the same people who cried out “HOSANNA” to Jesus on Palm Sunday cried out “CRUCIFY JESUS” on Good Friday.
They quickly and violently rejected Jesus because he wasn’t the Savior they wanted, and often we are no different.
Israel had a book full of prophetic reasons to recognize Jesus as their Savior that day. But they also had 1500 years of an annual event preparing them for this day and this week. THIS was Passover week, and on this very day that Jesus rode into Jerusalem, the Passover Lambs were being brought into the city in preparation for the Passover sacrifice. THAT is why Jesus rode triumphantly into Jerusalem on that particular day because on this Passover week, all the Passover sacrifices of the 1500 years since the Exodus would all culminate in THE Passover Lamb offering himself as THE final Passover sacrifice.
God first used Abraham to make the clearest illustration of this incredible truth. Mt. Moriah is the same mountain that Calvary is on. And in Genesis 22, God told Abraham to take his only son Isaac up to Mt. Moriah and sacrifice him there. And as they were walking up the mountain to the same place that would one day be called Calvary, Isaac said to his father in verse 7,
Genesis 22:7 (ESV)
7 . . . “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”
And Abraham said prophetically to his son in verse 8,
Genesis 22:8 (ESV)
8 . . .“God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” . . .
And as Abraham raised the knife to sacrifice his only son as a picture of what God would one day do (in the same place). God did provide a lamb as a substitute for the life of Isaac. God saved Abraham from sacrificing his only son, but God could not save himself from that same sacrifice.
Two generations later, God continued his preparation of Israel for this day. In Exodus Chapter 12, when God brought the final plague upon the Pharaoh in Egypt, each family of Israel was required by God to choose a young lamb without spot or blemish. And the family was to take the lamb into their house and love and care for that lamb for four days. And then, on the evening of Passover (the same time Jesus was crucified), that innocent lamb was to be slain by the family, and the blood of that innocent lamb was to be put on the doorpost of the house. And when the Angel of Death came to bring judgment upon the sin of Egypt, the blood of the lamb would “cover” the people who belong to God. The Angel of Death would pass-over that house, and that family of God would be saved.
And after the lamb was slain and the blood was covering the house, the family would eat the Passover meal, including the Passover lamb that had been roasted so that the sacrifice God used to save them would become part of them – they would partake of that sacrifice. And if that sounds like communion – it should because it was a foreshadowing of our communion.
But God still wasn’t finished teaching about this sacrifice. After the Exodus from Egypt, God established the Day of Atonement. Not only did each family continue to bring an innocent animal as a sacrifice each year, but on the Day of Atonement (from Leviticus Chapter 16) the High Priest would bring an animal into the Tabernacle and sacrifice it and sprinkle the blood of the innocent sacrifice on the Mercy Seat which represented the very Throne of God, and the blood of this innocent sacrifice would “cover over” (atone for) the sins of the people – which is an incredible picture of what God would do with Jesus Christ.
And through all of this, year after year, God was teaching his people about the penalty required for sin and about the sacrifice of an innocent life to pay that penalty.
And listen to God’s increasing covering of the atoning sacrifice of the Innocent Lamb. First, it was the Atonement for just one person – Isaac on Mt. Moriah. Then, it was the Atonement for one household in the first Passover in Egypt. Then, it was the Atonement for the nation every year on the Day of Atonement. Then came that day when John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him and said;
John 1:29 (ESV)
29 . . . “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
On the day that Jesus Christ triumphantly entered Jerusalem, God’s final Passover Lamb was being prepared to be the Atonement for the sin of the world.
All the other Passover lambs pointed to this true and final Passover Lamb – God’s once-and-for-all sacrifice for the sin of the world.
But – the people couldn’t see it. They refused to see it because it wasn’t what they wanted. But they didn’t understand that this was the single most important gift in all eternity that God was freely giving them.
Just as Abraham said to Isaac on Mt. Moriah, in the Triumphal Entry, God was providing himself AS the only sufficient sacrifice that could truly and permanently take away our sin.
Only God himself, in the Person of Jesus Christ, could be the once and for all final sacrifice sufficient to redeem the world from sin.
That’s why 1 Corinthians 5:7 (ESV) says, 7 . . . For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.
THAT is what was really happening on the day of the Triumphal Entry.
No, now that we have that background – we probably should go ahead and read the text. But as we do, read it light of all the truths we’ve just reviewed.
Matthew 21:1–11 (NLT)
1 As Jesus and the disciples approached Jerusalem, they came to the town of Bethphage on the Mount of Olives. Jesus sent two of them on ahead.
2 “Go into the village over there,” he said. “As soon as you enter it, you will see a donkey tied there, with its colt beside it. Untie them and bring them to me.
3 If anyone asks what you are doing, just say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will immediately let you take them.”
4 This took place to fulfill the prophecy that said,
5 “Tell the people of Jerusalem, ‘Look, your King is coming to you. He is humble, riding on a donkey— riding on a donkey’s colt.’” (Zechariah 9:9 Prophecy)
6 The two disciples did as Jesus commanded.
7 They brought the donkey and the colt to him and threw their garments over the colt, and he sat on it.
8 Most of the crowd spread their garments on the road ahead of him, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.
9 Jesus was in the center of the procession, and the people all around him were shouting, “Praise God (Hosanna) for the Son of David! Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Praise God (Hosanna) in highest heaven!”
10 The entire city of Jerusalem was in an uproar as he entered. “Who is this?” they asked.
11 And the crowds replied, “It’s Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”
These people said the right words. They shouted the praise required for the announcement of the Messiah entering Jerusalem. The Savior of Israel (and of the world) had to be announced – ON THIS DAY. That’s why, in Luke 19, when the Pharisees challenged Jesus about the people shouting his praises, Jesus said in Luke Chapter 19,
Luke 19:40 (NLT)
40 . . . “If they kept quiet, the stones along the road would burst into cheers!”
Because this was the announcement to Israel that the Savior God had promised was here. He was right on time, and he came in the exact way God had promised. But still – the people refused to see what was truly happening. They were cheering, thinking Jesus was coming to win a “this life” victory – on their behalf. But Jesus was not preparing for a “this life” victory. Jesus was preparing for God’s final victory over sin. Jesus was entering Jerusalem to become God’s final Passover Lamb to take away the sin of the world.
Jesus will return as Conquering King. Jesus will ultimately rule this world AS the King of Peace. But first, Jesus had to come to deal with your sin and mine. First, Jesus had to become the perfect sacrifice sufficient to pay for the sin of the world.
And finally, when Jesus was crucified, he died just before the beginning of Passover, and AT the same time, lambs were being sacrificed all over Jerusalem according to the Law of Moses. While Jesus was being sacrificed on the Cross, fathers all over the city were saying to their families, “God has provided a Passover Lamb for us.” And while the blood of countless Passover lambs ran through the city, on a hill called Calvary outside the city wall, the blood of Jesus Christ was running down the Cross, and the True Passover Lamb of God was taking away the sin of the world.
Please don’t be blinded.
SEE: The true Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world
See the light while you can, and don’t allow the darkness to blind you.
In John’s gospel, just after the Triumphal Entry, Jesus said to the crowd that was around him,
John 12:35–36 (NLT)
35 . . . “My light will shine for you just a little longer. Walk in the light while you can, so the darkness will not overtake you. Those who walk in the darkness cannot see where they are going.
36 Put your trust in the light while there is still time; then you will become children of the light.”
Can you see the True Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world?
Put your faith in him today while there’s still time, and you will become a Child of God.
John 1:12-13 (NLT)
12 But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.
13 They are reborn—not with a physical birth . . . but a birth that comes from God.
Please SEE Jesus for WHO he IS
RECEIVE his sacrifice for your sin
And MAKE HIM your Savior and your Lord – today.