Come to Christ, the King of Peace
Matthew 21:1-11
St. John’s United Church of Christ
Greeley, Colorado
March 24, 2024
Rev. Juvenal Cervantes
Today we’re setting the tone for the week as we focus on the sufferings of Christ and as we look forward to Easter Sunday. We’re talking about the king and the kingdom.
Our passage in Matthew presents Christ coming to Jerusalem for the last time and he’ll end up on the cross before the week is over.
In an incredible book, theologian N.T. Wright, called, “How God Became King,” he notes that many of us, particularly in modern Christianity in the west have gotten it wrong. We’ve missed the storyline of the bible. That is a bold statement, but then back it up to explain why he says this.
Consider what he says, “The gospels were all about God becoming king, but the creeds, which came later and formed our doctrine, our theology are focused on Jesus being God. Now, He is God, but the big question is what does this embodied God is up to in the world? What is He doing? This is the gospel ministry of Jesus and we are to then join Him on what he’s doing.
We miss out on the most important question. We know that Jesus is king and he died so that we can go to heaven someday and get beamed up and yes, we’ll have that glory that’s coming someday.
When in reality the New Testament and Jesus tell us that the kingdom came within and it is here now and we join him. I guess is it is a lot easier to talk about creeds and theologies and ideologies and debate who’s in and who’s out than it is to die to ourselves and live under the reign and rule of the king.
Therefore, there is no greater moment or event that shows us who is this king, what kind of king is he than the triumphal entry.
Today we’re going to see that Jesus is king over us, he is king for us, and he is the king that is with us. Our hope is that we slow down and experience peace in the midst of the crazy lives that we live.
Our focal passage is Matthew 21. The final week of Jesus’ life take up 29 chapters of the gospels which are 89 chapters’ total. In fact, if you find this story in the book of John read the passion, the triumphal entry of Christ. Then go there and read the rest of the gospel. Do that this week, in every one of the gospels.
Then what we see, for instance in the book of John which starts in chapter 12, we find the triumphal entry of Christ. Does anyone know how many chapters are in the book of John? Twenty-one. Almost half of the book is about the last week of the life of Jesus.
In Matthew it is two-fifths of the entire book. In Mark it is three-fourth’s, in Luke it is one-third. Clearly, the last week of Jesus’s life is central. We can argue that everything in all of Scriptures is pointing to this. In fact, four chapters of the gospels cover the first thirty years of his life then the last three and a half years of Christ life is covered in 89 chapters. The last twenty-nine chapters covers the last week, as I’ve noted, the final week of Jesus’ life is the hinge point of all of history.
This is why Palm Sunday is a big deal on the Christian calendar. We don’t just rush toward Easter, we stop and we celebrate the king who has come into Jerusalem this last time, to redeems us. There is so much we can learn in this last week. It is central. In fact, Paul would say later, and it is our focus here, “I came and I did not know anything among you, except Christ and him crucified. That’s all I’ve got. That’s our story and we’re sticking to it.”
As a church, we’re all about Christ, he lived, he died for us on the cross, he is reigning and ruling over us. We have been forgiven. Christ crucified is our message.
Mathew Chapter 21:
Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, (if you’ve been to Jerusalem, it is a hill that overlooks the city) then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them,
“Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me
If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.” Matthew 21:1-3
Now, Jesus is directing something here: He is staging something and he needs one prop, he needs a donkey. So he sends his disciples to get a donkey and say’s “Come on, we’re going to do this.
What is he orchestrating here? Look at verse four:
This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying, “Say to the daughter of Zion, (that’s an idiom for the Jewish people)
‘Behold, your king is coming to you,
humble, and mounted on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’” Matthew 21:4-5
That’s straight out of Zachariah 9:9, all four gospels quote this.
Then look at verse six:
The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. Matthew 21:6
As crazy as this request is, the disciples went and did this. Jesus said, “You just ask for this and if anyone says anything, say, this is what Christ wants.” The disciples said, “Okay, we’ll do this, whatever.”
Notice: Jesus is directing everything.
King Jesus is over all.
In light of what is happening in our world and I can only imagine what is happening in your world, the thing that you need anything more in your life and the thing that I pray over people as a pastor, is peace and rest. What do you need more than soulful, gospel, rest in your life? Jesus is coming as king and he is over us. You need to know that Jesus is sovereign over all. History is moving in a linear fashion, toward the end and the purposes of Christ, not only in the universe, but in your life as well.
Be encouraged today. The triumphal entry reminds us that Jesus is over us and his purposes will not be thwarted.
Look at verse seven:
They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them (the donkeys).
Some gospels say there was one donkey, others say there’s a lot. But he’s not going to rodeo, riding on multiple donkeys. He’s on one donkey and he puts their cloaks on them and most of the crowd has a cloaks, jackets and they throw them on the roads. Others have branches, because they don’t have much,
Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. Matthew 21:7-8
Here’s what’s happening: Jesus is orchestrating all of this and he now mocks or simulates a parade of a victorious king coming in, after conquering other nations.
Phillip Yancy in a great book, “The Jesus I Never Knew,” imagines a Roman soldier coming upon this scene. Because the who city is stirred and there is this crowd coming around Jesus as he is coming to Jerusalem. He imagines, and it could have happened just like this:
The Roman soldiers come and say, “We got to settle down the people, what’s happening here?” He puts out his spear and he has seen an actual victory parade like this done right. The conquering king would come in, there would be shields and swords, and chariots flashing in the sunlight, there may be a stallion, probably with a host of not only the spoils of the war, but also following him would be prisoners of war, chained up as if to say, “Mess with us and this is what happens to you!”
And there are coming in and the people say, “Yes, we’ve won the victory and this is our king leading the way.” The Roman soldier trying to walk through the crowds, “What is going on, what is happening? We should have known about this.” Then he sees a man, he sees grown men on a little donkey, a baby donkey. This is awkward.
And then we’ll see in a moment, he’s weeping. Luke tells us. The Roman soldiers says, “What?!!! This is laughable. This is not the way kings come in, this is not my kind of king.”
And for many of us, we could say, “This is not my kind of king. I want a king that is powerful, powering up on people, taking people down, that’s what I want.” That’s the American king.
This king shows us something different.
Look at verse 9:
And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting,
“Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” Matthew 21:9
“Hosanna” is a proclamation of praise and adoration. “Son of David” is a direct label of the messiah- they get it, evidently.
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest!” This Son of David, designated as the conquering king.
What I want you to see is that this king is not only over us, but this king Jesus is for us.
King Jesus is for us.
There is a theological term in Latin: Pro novas, which means “God is for us.”
God is for us; He wants the best for you.
Verse 10:
And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?
And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.” Matthew 21:10-11
Okay, is he a prophet, is it the Son of David, because if that’s the case, he is messiah, we may not understand what this messiah is all about. Who is he? It kind of echoes in this space, “What is he to me?” By the end of the week they are going to yell, “Crucify him, he’s a thief, he’s blasphemous.” Who is he?
Who is Christ to you? That’s the key question. He’s over you, he is for you, he is for us.
King Jesus is with us.
He’s come to live and to dwell among us. Luke offers this detail. He empathizes that he is the son of suffering.
As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it 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. Luke 19:41-42
Most people are going to miss him. Within forty years there is going to be an insurrection that is going to take place in Jerusalem, about a four-year insurrection in Jerusalem up against the Roman government. They are going to shut it down. They are going to destroy Jerusalem and the temple, 70AD.
Jesus, the one in all time and only sacrificial lamb gives his life on the cross and the entire temple, the entire religious system is broken down, because it is no longer needed.
And Jesus know this is coming. And Jesus is weeping. Why does Jesus weep? He weeps for three reasons: He weeps over people, he weeps over cities (the people in it) and he weeps over the fact that we will not receive his peace, we reject his peace. He so wants us to experience his peace.
Many of you know the shortest verse in the bible. Do you know that this bible verse is found?
Jesus wept. John 11:35
In that passage, Jesus weeps. In that case he weeps because his friend has passed away. Martha and Mary are there and he empathizes with them. And he weeps with us. He joins you in your sadness and in your weeping, he is with you. He weeps over the fact that we weep. He weeps again here and he weeps in the garden. He is overwhelmed with distress, it is implied here, he is with deep anxiety and deeply sorrowful. Why? Not because the nails that are going to through this wrist, but because he is going to take the whole wrath of God, God’s holy reaction to sin. He hates sin. Jesus is going to take it all on himself so that we don’t have to.
He says. “If only you knew the peace that I have for you.” He wants us to experience his peace, He says, “Many are not going to get it! I am about to go to the cross, I am about to die.
So many of your today, you need peace today, and yet Palm Sunday show us that there are these coexisting realities: grief and hope, of strength and weakness, of death and life.
C.S. Lewis said, “We come to Christ for peace, because apart from him it doesn’t exist.” We can come to him.
Jesus weeps over you. Jesus weeps for you. The greater the love, the greater the grief. Jesus weeps with you.
Paul said, “We want you to be informed that we don’t grieve as those who are without hope.” We’re longing for, we hungering for a better world. Everybody knows it, believer or not, the world is broken. We’re like a fish out of water, gasping for air, we know that this is not what it’s supposed to be. So even our grief is an expression of faith.
Are you for him? Are you with him? Do you come to him? If you don’t come to him, no wonder you experience so much anxiety and worry. Bring your burdens to him. He says, “Come to me and I will give you rest.”