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Here in Matthew Chapter 21, we find Jesus commencing
His final week of ministry upon this earth before the cross. He is now ready to
offer Himself publicly to
1: And when they drew nigh unto
2: Saying unto them, 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.
3: And if any man say ought unto you, ye shall say,
The Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send them.
Some believe that Christ arranged previously with a
man for the use of a donkey and colt for just this particular day, and he knew
that they would be there. However, others believe that this was a miraculous
demonstration of Christ’s Lordship over all things, and that he used His Godly
trait of Omniscience just as he had demonstrated before when calling
Nathaniel...
47: Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of
him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!
He had never met Nathaniel before. How did Jesus
know who Nathaniel was?
48: Nathanael saith unto him, Whence knowest thou
me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou
wast under the fig tree, I saw thee.
And just as Christ could see Nathaniel before time,
He saw, also, these two animals. And he dispatched his disciples to gather them
in.
And the Scripture says,
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.
Let me quote you specifically this prophecy, because
we will see that only a portion of that prophecy was recorded here in Matthew 21:4,
5
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of
Now note: Matthew doesn’t record the “rejoicing” part of that prophecy. Nor does he say anything about the King’s bringing “Salvation.”
Because “the rejoicing of
And victory for
Jesus is going to be riding into
It is not yet a day of
rejoicing for
It is not yet a day of
victory for
But it is a day for the Lamb of God to begin his
approach to the altar of sacrifice.
On this very day, the Jews
are preparing for the celebration of the PASSOVER.
On this very day, Jews are
selecting that perfect lamb from the folds that they will offer to God as a
sacrifice for their sins.
And on this very day, Christ, the Lamb of God, will
present himself as the Messiah of Israel in perfect accord with the prophecy of
Zechariah!
6: And the disciples went, and did as Jesus
commanded them,
7: And brought the ass, and the colt, and put on
them their clothes, and they set him thereon.
8: And a very great multitude spread their garments
in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strawed them in the
way.
9: And the multitudes that went before, and that
followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh
in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.
In these verses we note something very wonderful. Before,
when men wanted to exalt Christ, Christ would say, be quiet, tell no one, for
my time is not yet. But now Christ will not silence the multitudes...
Today is the day of which the Angel told Daniel that
Christ would come to His people.
25: Know therefore and understand, that from the
going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the
Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the
street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.
“Daniel,” the angel was saying, “your Messiah will
come 483 years after the commandment goes forth to rebuild the walls and the
streets of
This is the very day that Christ was prophesied to
come! Jesus was not going to silence the people today!
Luke tells us that the Pharisees wanted Jesus to
tell the people to be quiet and to rebuke them.
39: And some of the Pharisees from among the
multitude said unto him, Master, rebuke thy disciples.
40: And he answered and said unto them, I tell you
that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.
Here is a wonderful, and yet very tragic truth:
If we will not lift praises
to the Lord Jesus Christ,
If we will not exalt and
extol the King of Kings, and the Lord of Lords,
Nature itself will receive
that great privilege.
Greatly misunderstood are Paul’s words,
I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp
authority over the man...
The Bible makes it clear that God holds man
responsible for his house (1 Corinthians 11:3; Ephesians 5:23). This is also
true in the church leadership! The woman is not to be made to carry the burden
of teaching or preaching in the church! Men are supposed to take their God-given
role of leadership. But if they don’t, God will lay the message upon the heart
of the woman. And if the woman will not cry out...God will call the very rocks
to cry out!
God is going to have his voice heard, whether it
comes from a man, woman, child, sea breezes, or stones....God will find a
willing servant!
In this man Jesus, God was going to give the people
victory over their Oppressor. And restore the mighty
And so they cried,
…Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that
cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.
The people were expecting great things from Jesus! And
they were ready to make him their king...
They were ready to lay all that they had at the feet
of Christ! It was a great and exciting day!
10: And when he was come into
11: And the multitude said, This is Jesus the
prophet of
Many were asking the question, “Who is this man?”
If that question were asked of you today, could you
respond with an accurate answer?
Would he just be a prophet
of Nazareth of Galilee?
Would he just be a holy
man bringing spiritual enlightenments and truth?
Or would you be able to
say, “Jesus? Why, He’s my LORD and
Saviour!”
But there were those asking this question on that
very day...But the answer proved weak and frail.
Jesus was more than a prophet, and he proved that in
the following verses.
12: And Jesus went into the
13: And said unto them, It is written, My house
shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.
Money and merchandise were everywhere. What were
they selling? Doves, sparrows, and sheep, and other religious items, under the
guise of religion. The
The
What condition is your temple in today?
What is the chief concern
of your life? Money? Position? Power?
None of these will bring
the blessing that God can bring to your life.
None of these can bring
true happiness, contentment, and joy as a personal relationship and walk, day
by day, with the Lord Jesus Christ can bring.
You may not be interested in money, position, or
power. But you may be living your life every day striving to be accepted by
this person or that person, this group or that group.
My friend, I want to assure you that if you’re
looking for acceptance in this world, you are moving away from the creator of
this world.
Ye adulterers and adulteresses…
These are people who have left their first love and
are foolishly and carelessly searching for new love and acceptance in a world
of ungodliness and unbelief.
And my friend, you can’t chase after the world and
the friendship of the world and ever find contentment, peace, and acceptance
with Christ
…know ye not that the friendship of the world is
enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy
of God.
Jesus Christ said, if you want find true
satisfaction in this world. If you want to find the peace of God that passes
all understanding, you must first seek friendship with HIM.
But seek ye first the
What is your burden this morning?
What impossible challenge
are you facing?
What kind of rejection are
you facing?
Listen, when Christ is in the temple, wonderful
things can take place. Miracles can begin to happen. Jesus, first, cleansed the
temple, and then blessings began to flow .
14: And the blind and the lame came to him in the
temple; and he healed them.
When they came to Him, He healed them. And He gave
them new life, and new hope, and joy of heart!
This can happen to you as well.
Cast all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
He wants to lift that burden, and He knows exactly
how and when to lift it! But you must trust Him completely!
Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean
not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall
direct thy paths.
Christ came to the
When you give your life to Christ, and you allow the
Holy Spirit of God to begin to rule and reign in your life, the world is not
going to like it. Your friends will expect you to continue to eat, drink, and
be merry. But your heart will tell you something else. It will remind you that
you are a child of the King of Kings, and the Lord of Lords. It will remind you
that the blood of your Savior was poured out to cover your sins of lawlessness
and unrestraint in the past and it will encourage you to serve Christ, rather
than the world. And your old friends will see the change in you and they will
not like it.
15: And when the chief priests and scribes saw the
wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and
saying, Hosanna to the Son of David; they were sore displeased,
16: And said unto him, Hearest thou what these say?
And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes
and sucklings thou hast perfected praise?
The scribes and the priest were Jealous! Just like
Lucifer who became Satan. And jealousy and hatefulness and spite will never
draw Christ to you, but it will drive Him away from you!
And maybe that’s what you want!
17: And he left them, and went out of the city into
This morning, for someone, Christ has become very
real to you. Your heart has been pricked, and you want to answer God’s call,
but you’re afraid.
Christ is calling you this morning. He is the Prince of Peace.
Satan is the prince of fear and trembling—the prince
of darkness.
I encourage you, as Christ calls you this morning,
to cast off the cloak of fear and trembling, and heed the moving of the Holy
Spirit upon your heart, and step out of Satan’s darkness, and into Christ’s
marvelous light of peace and Salvation.
Christ is passing by you this morning, and he beckons
you to come.
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