On Palm Sunday, Jesus entered Jerusalem at the time the Passover lambs were chosen. He proclaimed Himself as the Promised Messiah, the King of kings, by riding on a donkey as prophesied in Daniel 9, coming from the East. In Matthew chapter 21, Matthew recorded four ways that Jesus declared His kingship in this triumphal entry.

Christ Declares His Kingship by Riding on a Donkey (Zechariah 9:9)

First, notice Matthew 21:1-5. Jesus sends two of His disciples to get an ass or a donkey. Verse 2: "Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto me." Why? What is our Lord doing? Why does He want to ride into Jerusalem on a donkey? Never before has He done such a thing. Matthew tells us why in verses 4-5, ⁴ "All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, ⁵ “Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass. This is a quotation from the prophet Zechariah (Zechariah 9:9). Jesus has chosen to act out the fulfilment of this prophecy and to declare His kingship in the action of riding on a donkey. Christ is saying, "Yes, I am King, but I am gentle and lowly. I am not, in my first coming, on a white war-horse with a sword and a rod of iron to judge you. I am coming to save you.

However, is Christ only coming for the "daughter of Zion," Israel? Listen to the context in Zechariah 9:9-10 ¨and our Lord, of course, knew the context of this passage  ⁹ “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass. ¹⁰ And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off: and he shall speak peace unto the heathen: and His dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth. Christ intentionally acts out the fulfilment of Zechariah 9:9 and declares His humble, gentile, saving, Jewish and universal kingship, and He is calling all to receive it!

Christ Declares His Kingship by Cleansing the Temple (Isaiah 56:7)

Second, in verses 12-13 of Matthew 21, Jesus acts out another Old Testament text. It says He "went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves.” He is saying, “Don\'t think that this meek, gentle, lowly Saviour-King is without passion for His Father\'s glory! Then to explain what He is doing He quotes Isaiah 56:7. Verse 13 of Matthew 21 says, "It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves."

There are two things that make this action and this Old Testament quote so significant. One is that the context in Isaiah is about the coming Kingdom of God, and so Jesus is putting Himself in the position of the coming King. And the other is that the context is universal, not just Jewish or confined to the nation of Israel. The prophet Isaiah wrote in Isaiah 56:6-8:
⁶ “Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the LORD, to serve him, and to love the name of the LORD, to be His servants, every one that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant; ⁷ Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people. ⁸ The Lord GOD which gathereth the outcasts of Israel saith, Yet will I gather others to him, beside those that are gathered unto him.”

Therefore, when Jesus chooses a prophetic word to interpret His action in the temple, He chooses one that underlines His coming on a donkey as King and the fact that His kingship is "for all the peoples" whether they like it or not.

Christ Declares His Kingship by Healing (Isaiah 35:4-6)

Third, in verse 14 of Matthew 21, it says, "And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple; and he healed them." Imagine what an impact this must have had. The temple was the most public place in the city of Jerusalem. It is where the blind, the lame, the paralysed and all sorts of people who were seriously and critically ill came. Not people with headaches and sore throats and eyesores. This was a public demonstration of something about Jesus Himself¡ªand He was able to heal them all instantly and miraculously!

When John the Baptist was in jail he sent and asked Jesus, "Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?" (Matthew 11:3) In other words, are you the coming king of Israel, the Messiah? How could John the Baptist ask such question? He did so in his human weakness. And Jesus sent this word back to John in Matthew 11:4-5, "Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see: ⁵ The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. In other words, He is saying to  John, "Yes. I am the coming Messiah, the King of kings. There is none else do not look for another!"

Why does the healing of the blind and the lame in the temple after coming into Jerusalem on a donkey mean: I am the coming King? Because the prophet Isaiah prophesied in Isaiah 35 of the coming kingship of the Messiah like this, "⁴Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you. 5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. ⁶ Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.” (Isaiah 35:4-6)

Yes, Jesus comes on a donkey, meek and lowly and longsuffering; He comes cleansing His Father\'s house to make it a house of prayer for all the nations; He comes healing the blind, the lame, the paralysed ¨C all to show that His kingship is now in part, and will be fully in the age to come! It is not just a kingship over other kings, but over disease and all nature (however, this does not mean we believe in faith-healing). We will not just be safe and sick when He comes in His glory. We will be safe and whole ¨C absolutely whole. Now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation. Trust Him and receive His forgiveness and become His subject!

Christ Declares His Kingship by His Response to Children (Psalm 8)

Finally, Jesus declares His kingship by the way He responds to what the people and the children are doing and saying. In verses 8 and 9 of Matthew 21, the crowds are spreading their cloaks on the road in front of Him saying, “Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.” In fact, this is what they did when kings were crowned in the Old Testament (2 Kings 9:13). Compare verse 9 with Psalm 118:25-26, “²⁵ Save now, I beseech thee, O LORD: O LORD, I beseech thee, send now prosperity. ²⁶ Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the LORD: we have blessed you out of the house of the LORD.”

Then in verse 15 the children are shouting the same things: "Hosanna to the Son of David; they were sore displeased." In other words, "The King is here, the King is here!" But the chief priests and scribes became jealously furious. So they said to Jesus in verse 16, "Hearest thou what these say?” Or, “Did you see what they were doing when they put their cloaks on the ground?" They can\'t believe Jesus is letting all this stand unchallenged. And He simply answered them with an absolutely astonishing paraphrase of Psalm 8:2 in verse 17, “Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise?” In other words, He said, "Yes, I do. I not only hear what they said. I planned it. And I receive it. I would gladly receive it from you.” And He would gladly receive it from us! What is so astonishing about this is that Psalm 8 refers to God, as verse 9 gloriously concludes, "O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!" Oh, dear friends, Jesus receives the praises of little children and then explains it by quoting a psalm where children are praising God because He is the Almighty God, the Creator of this universe!

Conclusion

Christ came the first time, and He is coming again, as the King over all kings. King of Israel, King of all the nations, King of nature and the universe. Until He comes again, there is a day of amnesty and forgiveness and longsuffering. Christ still “rides a donkey and not yet a white war-horse with a rod of iron. He is ready to save all who receive Him as Saviour, Redeemer and King. Come to Him and receive Him as your Lord and Saviour on this Palm Sunday!

Pastor David Weng

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