The Coming of the Gentle King
Matthew 21:1-17

Back in February, when we were reflecting on Jesus’ warnings against false teachers in Matthew Chapter 7, I shared with you that if I had believed some of what I was taught in seminary, and much of what I read, I would have lost my Christian faith. I wrote, “It is arguable that more damage has been done to Christianity by those who are within than by those who are without. I always found it strange when I was in seminary that if you believed much of the things you read, you would probably not be a Christian. One book stood out: Gunther Bornkamm’s, Jesus of Nazareth. The conclusion of the book was that the only thing we can know with certainty about the historical Jesus is that he was a first-century Jew who ran afoul of the religious authorities and Romans and was executed. Everything else in the New Testament was the invention of the early church.”
I came across another example of this tendency in my preparations for this Sunday’s sermon on Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. A number of modern commentators take the position that the story we just read is a religious fiction of the early church. Certainly, Jesus entered Jerusalem, they say, but he must have done so discretely, even secretly. They reason that the Romans, who occupied Jerusalem, would never have permitted a public procession in which someone other than Caesar was hailed as the king.
While such an interpretation of the text raises an interesting point (namely, “Why didn’t the Romans quash this mass outpouring of treasonous sentiment?”), it is deeply rooted in unbelief. I did not realize it when I was in seminary, but the assumptions of the historical critical approach to scripture are anti-supernatural. Many modern biblical scholars interpret the Bible the way you would interpret any other work of literature. They interpret the Bible using only the naturalistic tools of historical analysis. The assumption is that divine inspiration and predictive prophecy, that is prophecy that foretells the future, are impossible. With those assumptions, they are forced to seek rational explanations of scripture like the one I described about the triumphal entry. I have found over the years that commentaries which approach the scriptures with an anti-supernatural assumption lack a life-giving message. They are interesting academic exercises, but they do not preach. There is little spiritual vitality in them.
There are several reasons not to believe the modern skeptics. The apostles who wrote the gospels were eyewitnesses of the events. Furthermore, they are never portrayed as dishonest or deceitful chroniclers of Jesus’ life. Jesus himself is deeply involved in planning his entry into Jerusalem. He sends disciples ahead of him to make preparations, and he gives them specific instructions. He says, “‘Go into the village ahead 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, just say this, ‘The Lord needs them.’ And he will send them immediately” (Mt.21:22-3). Finally, this was not a random or spontaneous event, at least not from God’s vantage point. Verse 4 of our chapter tells us that the triumphal entry happened in order to fulfill what had been spoken by the prophet Zechariah (predictive prophecy). “Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem! Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey” (Zech. 9:9). The triumphal entry was the beginning of the fulfillment of God’s ancient plan of salvation.
Well, who are we to trust? The skeptics of academia or the scriptures? As for me, I prefer to trust in God’s word written. If we assume that the Bible is no ordinary book, if we assume that God is and that the Bible is the inspired word of God, we can embrace the scriptures as God’s good gift to the human race and benefit from their intended divine purpose: to teach us the way of salvation and to instruct us in the values of the kingdom of God.
It is important to note that the inspiration of scripture is not the essence of Christianity. The Apostles Creed distills the fundamentals of the faith: God is our creator; Christ is our redeemer; the Holy Spirit is the agent of our salvation. You can be a Christian without understanding the importance of the doctrine of inspiration. Failure to recognize this distinction has resulted in the endless splintering of Christianity into a myriad of denominations ever since the protestant reformation. However, it is also true that surrendering a high view of the Bible impoverishes us spiritually. We are left to our own devices. We are left to grope after God in an effort to find him. After all, without the scriptures we would know nothing about the fundamentals of our faith. We would not know God’s way with us or God’s way with the world without the Bible.
Well, enough on this subject. What is the life-giving message of this morning’s divinely inspired text? Palm Sunday marks the beginning of eight momentous days. Jesus cleanses the temple, imparts final teachings to the disciples, and institutes the Lord’s Supper. He is arrested, tried, tortured, crucified, buried, and on the third day rises from the dead.
The events of Holy Week are so important that the gospels devote one third of their content to the events. Commentator James Boyce highlights the importance of what we read about. “These are the climactic events, not only of Jesus’ life, but of all history. They were planned from before the foundation of the world, and our salvation from sin and wrath depends on them.” Truly, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the true hinge of salvation history.
It is startling to consider who is seated upon this donkey. The second person of the trinity, the incarnate Son of God, the sinless Lamb of God who takes way the sin of the world, the Messiah, the one promised from ancient times who fulfills God’s plan and promises, this is who rides into Jerusalem on a donkey.
It is astounding that Jesus does not ride into Jerusalem on a war horse accompanied by legions of angels. One day he will come as a conquering king. The Book of Revelation describes that day. “Then I saw heaven opened, and there was a white horse! Its rider is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems; and he has a name inscribed that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, wearing fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron; he will tread the wine press of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh, he has a name inscribed, ‘King of kings and Lord of lords’” (Rev. 19:12-16).
One day, Jesus will return as the conquering king, but not yet. Instead, in his first coming, Jesus comes as a gentle king to make peace, peace between God and man. He comes to announce and enact the year of the Lord’s favor, not the day of vengeance of our God. Jesus empties himself, takes the form of a servant, and humbles himself to the point of death, even death on the cursed cross.
On Good Friday, he will pay the price for human sin. He will purchase our forgiveness and make atonement for us. On Easter Sunday, he will rise again from the dead in a glorious resurrection body and destroy death’s iron grip over the sons of Adam and the daughters of Eve. This is the gospel. This is the life-giving message of our text. Jesus is the gentle king who comes to make peace between God and man.
When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil asking, “Who is this?” This question is the most crucial question anyone can ask. Is Jesus the promised king? Is he the Son of God? Is he the Savior? Can he be trusted to save us from sin, death, and judgment? Or, as many modern people assume, is Jesus only a great teacher of religion and ethics?
Jesus cannot be both. If Jesus was only a human teacher, he was an insane megalomaniac, but if Jesus was the Son of God, then he is our Savior. C. S. Lewis put it very well in his book Mere Christianity. Lewis wrote, “You must make your choice. Either this man was and is the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool; you can spit at him and kill him as a demon; or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that one to us. He did not intend to.”
Ever since the events of Holy Week, human beings have been forced to answer the question, “Who is this?” Who is Jesus? Was he just a first-century Jew who ran afoul of the religious authorities and the Romans and was executed? Or is he the son of David, the blessed one who comes in the name of the Lord? Is he the one who fulfills God’s ancient plan of salvation? We believe the latter.
We believe the scriptures are the inspired Word of God written. We believe that Jesus is the Word made flesh who dwelt among us full of grace and truth. We believe that Jesus is who he claimed to be. He is the Christ, the Son of the living God, the Savior. We hail him as the gentle king who came to make peace between God and mankind. We believe that he will come again to judge the living and the dead and his kingdom will have no end. We spread our cloaks and palm branches before him to welcome him, and we bend the knee confessing him as our Lord. We shout with the crowds, “Praise to the Son of David! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Let there be praise in the highest heaven!" On Palm Sunday we confess our faith and trust in God’s salvation. Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! Amen.