Matthew 21:1-11

The Triumphal Entry
Book of the Bible
Matthew
Speaker
Tony Ferguson
Sermon Date

It's estimated that Jerusalem would swell to 2.5 million people around the Passover  (Josephus, Jewish Wars 6.9.3).  Jesus here makes special arrangements to enter Jerusalem as the King of Israel. This is in great contrast to His previous sentiment regarding revealing Himself to the nation as the Messiah, the coming King. Previously in the gospels, it would seem as if He were making efforts not to draw unnecessary attention to His ministry. But now, Jesus will not only allow people to recognize Him as the Messiah, the coming King in a very public way,  but Jesus will actually make arrangements for it.

This crowd of followers and disciples were excited about salvation, you could even say they were desperate for salvation - for they cried out "Hosanna", or save now! Did Christ answer their request to save now? He did! He came to Jerusalem this week for that very purpose - to save! But the salvation these crowds anticipated was vastly different from what they saw the following week. Jesus came, not to save the Jews from the Romans, but to save men and women from their sins!

 

Description of the book of Matthew

As you come to the New Testament the first three books you encounter (Matthew, Mark and Luke) are referred to as the "synoptic" gospels. They are called the "synoptic" gospels because for the most part, they have a "similar view" of the life and ministry of Jesus. Though they account for much of the same narrative regarding the life and ministry of Jesus, they are not identical, nor are they intended to be. They assemble the accounts in different contexts, and contain different amounts of detail, but they are all important. God always seeks to establish a matter on the testimony of 2 or 3 witnesses, so having these 3 synoptic gospels about the life an ministry of the Son of God is in no way redundant.

Matthew’s gospel communicates to us the life, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus in the fulfillment of the Old Testament Scriptures. From His lineage, to His birth, to His miraculous ministry, to His teachings, to His crucifixion, Matthew will time and time again point out that these things happened “that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet…”.