I shed that thou might be ransomed me and delivered from the dead. I gave my life for thee. What have you given for me? Does that not hit home in light of everything that God incarnate has given for us? if we withheld anything from Him. I've said this multiple times and I want to remind you again that Scripture is pregnant with so much truth, is it not? So many glorious diadems that if we would just dig, if we would unearth If we would wash the pay dirt, so to speak, with the water of Scripture and of meditation, it is bursting with truth. It isn't just having the Word. It is seeing. It is perceiving. And it is allowing God's Word to do the work in our hearts. This morning will demand your full faculties. I remember in schooling all of my professors had warned their students never to make promises. I'm not doing it and you're waiting for the but. If you follow through, if you follow along this morning, my prayer, not my promise, but my prayer, is that you will see wondrous truths from his word. And you, like me, will be meditating on the glory of his unsearchable riches, but you must take heed to yourself. You remain in the text, God will honor you. I have an hour and a half-ish with you this morning. You think I'm kidding. Well, we'll see. Please turn to Luke chapter 19, Luke chapter 19. The title of the sermon is this, My King. Is he yours? My King. I'll be reading from Luke. Chapter 19 verses 28 through 40. And when he had said these things. He went on ahead. Going up to Jerusalem. When he drew near to Bethphage and Bethany at the mount that is called Olivet, he sent two of the disciples saying, go into the village in front of you, where on entering you will find a colt tied on which no one has yet sat. Untie it. Bring it here. If anyone asks you, why are you untying it? You shall say this, the Lord has need of it. So those who were sent went away and found it just as he had told them. And as they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, why are you untying the colt? And they said, the Lord has need of it. And they brought it to Jesus. And throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. And as he rode along, they spread their cloaks on the road. As he was drawing near, already on the way down the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, saying, Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven and glory in the highest. Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, teacher, rebuke your disciples. He answered, I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out. Point number one, I want us to look at the preparation of the king, the preparation of the king. This will be verses 28 through 34. This is, if you have an ESV or some of your Bibles may have a title at the top of this text, the triumphal entry. Technically, this is really the triumphal procession. I don't want to split hairs here, but This is the triumphal procession, and this text here is actually present in all four Gospels. Now, it is said that God only has to say something once for it to be true. It doesn't have to be in all four Gospels, but there's a particular flavor and a particular thrust when an account has a golden thread through all four disciples, in all four gospels. And we learned and we saw last week with the parable of the 10 minas and weeks before with Zacchaeus that Jesus was in Jericho and he is on his way where? To Jerusalem. And Jerusalem is southwest of Jericho. And you'll notice in verse 28, that when he had said these things, well, what things? It is the parable of the 10 minas. Speaking of discipleship, of investing the gospel that God has entrusted to you and giving back him a return. We are not to bury anything in the ground. We are not to hide anything in our hood or in our pocket, but we are to take the gospel and we are to invest it. Why? Because our master expects a return, does he not? And as I mentioned last week and two weeks before, listen, all of us have received one Mina, have we not? And the mina is the gospel. And we are not to make excuses in our lives when we have failed to carry out the gospel wherever God has placed us. The gospel not only regenerates, but the gospel sanctifies, does it not? That is, friend, the gospel is more than just mere witnessing, friend. The gospel is is when we fall short of the glory of God. We look outside of ourselves to a righteousness that we never possessed to begin with. That when we fail, that when we perhaps turn to the right or to the left, that there is a Savior who has cried out from the cross, it is finished. All is paid for. All of our sins. As far as the east is from the west, amen? He's removed our transgressions from us. He's drowned it from the depths of the sea. He's cast it behind his back. He remembers our sins no more. That is the gospel, friend. It is the gospel that we must always remind ourselves of. Not only that, but it is the gospel that we must be encouraging one another with as well. The gospel, friend, is not just for unbelievers. The gospel is for you, and the gospel is for me. So the question is this, have you been investing your gospel, Mina, where God has you? Among your family, among your friends, among coworkers, among strangers, when opportunities come about, have you invested His, Mina? One of the note as well in chapter 19, I want us to look at verse 16, please. As a way of reminder. The first came, this is the first servant, came before him saying, Lord, whose? Whose friend? Your Mina, do you see it? Wait, is it the Lord's Mina or is it my Mina? Yes. Yes. Your mina, it's almost as if the gospel takes on a life of its own. So on one end, we are accountable for stewarding the good news, but on the other end, we are dependent upon God to make His mina grow and work. And so when we fail To believe the gospel, to entrust the gospel, to share the gospel, to be reminded of the gospel, it is on us. But when God sees fit for our minna to grow, it is as if, Lord, your minna has produced. This is what Jesus means in verse, or Luke mentions as he comments in verse 28, after he has said these things. He went on ahead, going to Bethphage and Bethany. These two towns are located on the eastern side of the Kidron Valley. I've never been there before. I would like to go there at some point so I can put some... flesh on this, so to speak, but we don't know where the exact location of Bethphage is apparently, but most likely it is east of the Mount of Olives. Bethphage means house of the unripe figs. And what is fascinating about this text, and a bit of irony, is that Jesus, the very next day of this, is going to curse a fig tree. Not only that, but Jesus prior has already noted the fruit of an unproductive fig tree. So let's look at verse 29. When he drew, this is Jesus drew near to Bethphage and Bethany at the mount that is called Olivet, he sent two of the disciples saying, go into the village in front of you, where on entering you'll find a colt tied in which no one has ever yet sat. Untie it, bring it here. If anyone asks you, why are you untying it? You shall say this, the Lord has need of it. You'll notice here in our text that Jesus sends how many disciples? Two, on ahead, the disciples are not named. They're not named in either Matthew, Mark, not here in Luke or in John. Don't try to figure it out because the gospel writers do not inform us. We are also not informed as well. Please look at it. Jesus commands these two disciples in verse 30 saying, go into the village in front of you. Well, what village? The village is not mentioned. The disciples are not mentioned, the village is not mentioned. We don't even know if the two disciples are part of the original 12 or perhaps part of the kind of subcategory, the multitude of disciples who had been following Jesus since chapter six. We don't know who they are. Now, additionally, you'll notice in verse 30, this colt here, it would have been a baby donkey, so to speak. Now, if you know anything about farming and animals, a colt can...it typically refers to, oftentimes, a horse, a baby horse. the context in the first century, it could refer to different kinds of animals. And obviously, in this context, it would refer to a baby donkey. And this cult here, it would have been four years or younger. And notice as well the description of this colt in verse 30. You'll find a colt tied, which no one has ever yet sat, untie it and bring it here. So this donkey had never been trained, it had never pulled anything, and additionally, it had not been tamed. This is an unbroken colt. And notice the class conditional in verse 31. Do you see what it is? If, do you see it? If anyone asks you, why are you untying it? You shall say this, the Lord has need of it. So Jesus is describing to these two disciples who have gone ahead what they can expect. The cultural backdrop here, is that this may be what's called the engaria. The engaria was a term that was used to describe the right of particularly Roman officials, but sometimes Pharisees and sometimes even rabbis, to be able to use property, to use animals for their own benefit. Reminds me a lot of what happened prior to the passing of the Third Amendment. Third Amendment was the right not to have troops quartered in home during times of peace. And this is kind of the flip side of that. During this time, a Roman dignitary, a Pharisee or rabbi could borrow whatever belonged to people if they needed it. So these owners here may believe in that, but bottom line is I want you to notice that there's no questions here. It's all informing. Look at verse 31. If anyone asks you, why are you untying it? You shall say, the Lord has need of it. Do you see that? So question, did Jesus go on ahead or at some point, did Jesus know the owners? How does this work? I think this alludes to his omniscience, does it not? How do we know? This is the reason why. Because Jesus knows, first, the location of the beasts, does he not? Second, he also knows that they're tied up. Third, he knows that the cult has an unwritten history. And fourth, he knows how to procure it. And friend, don't miss this. Jesus does not ask for permission. Look at it, please, again. Look at verse 31. The disciples are not asking any questions. Do you see? Look at verse 31. If anyone asks you, why are you untying it? You shall say this, the Lord has need of it. You see it? It's not, can you give it to the Lord? It's a fact, the Lord needs it. Jesus does not need permission to use what belongs to him. He only needs to explain. Let's try it a different way. Clearly you're not tracking. Jesus doesn't ask any questions. The owner of everything does not ask questions. He is informing his disciples what the owners are going to do. Why? Well, because he owns every cattle on a thousand hills. The Lord has need of it. What's fascinating as well is how humbling this is for me. I want you to think about it. This is the creator. This is who Paul writes in Colossians 1.16 that everything was made for him and through him and in him all things sold together. Is this not fascinating? Jesus, the eternal son during his public ministry, listen, he had no home. He had nowhere to lay his head, did he? He had no money. The God who possessed everything, possesses everything, emptied himself. Do you see it, friend? This is the one who dwells in unapproachable light saying, hey, Let me borrow your cult. Do you see the humility? Do you see the humiliation? The amazing part of the kenosis? The fact that in the incarnation, the eternal son laid aside his divine prerogatives. He could have created a cult out of nothing. Why? He spoke the world into existence. And what does our savior do? He humbles himself. He has less than you and I. And there he is, giving direction to his disciples. Just tell the owners, the Lord needs it. Let's have some more fun. Turn to Matthew chapter 21, please. Matthew chapter 21. Pay attention to Matthew's account. There are no contradictions, but I want you to pay very close attention to Matthew's account. Verse one, Matthew 21, verse one. Now, when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples saying to them, go into the village in front of you And immediately you'll find a donkey tied and a colt with her. Untie what? And bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, you shall say the Lord needs them. And he'll send them at once. Look down at verse six. The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. Verse seven, they brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks and he sat on them. So all of the stories perhaps that you've seen, you've heard, perhaps the movies you've seen, how many animals were brought to Jesus? Friend, look at verse two. Go into the village in front of you. Immediately you'll find a donkey tied and a colt with her. Untie what? Friend, you can talk to me. Untie what? Them. Do you see? Untie them. Now, maybe technically they just untied them, but they only brought one to him. No, friend, look. Untie them and bring what? Okay, maybe you didn't get that. Look at verse seven. They brought the donkey and what? The colt and put on them their cloaks. Friend, how many animals were brought to Jesus? Two. And you thought there was one. I know, I know. You never thought you'd be so amazed that there are two animals were brought. I know, I'm with you. Two animals were brought. You got questions, don't you? Right? I mean, I had questions. Maybe you have questions. If you don't, I'll give you questions and we can both answer them at the same time. So the question is this, what happened? So I get the cult. I know Jesus rode the cult into Jerusalem, but what about the donkey? What about the adult? Two options. Option number one, Jesus rode the donkey down the Mount of Olives because the adult would have been stronger and would have been able to take the weight of the Messiah. Or Jesus rode the colt down the Mount of Olives and had the presence of the donkey to calm the colt because it is unbroken. Not only that, but please look at verse seven of Matthew 21. They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks and he sat on what? Now, I'm not gonna tell you what I'm thinking about in my study this morning. Talk about straddling a fence here, right? Look, I'm just trying to figure out, I'm trying to figure out what this looks like. You guys tracking? So, I'm here in my study thinking to myself, all right, the them, all right, what is the them or who is the them? What is the them and what is the they? Well, I've provided this for you on your outline. The question is, did Jesus straddle both animals? The answer, friend, is no, he did not. The them refers to the garments because the noun is the nearest antecedent to the pronoun them. So the them is the garments, not the animals. Yes. They put their cloaks on both animals, but they placed Jesus on them. What is the them? The them is not both animals at the same time. The them is the plurality of the garments. Do you see? So. Turn back to Luke chapter 19, please. Let me give you a reader's digest of everything that is transpiring so we are all on the same page about animals and donkeys and colts. Here's a summary. Both a donkey and a colt were brought to Jesus, both animals. While garments were placed on both of them, Jesus mounted at least one of them perhaps two not at the same time He rode he definitely rode into Jerusalem on a what Colt but I just I just I just I just want I just want to know What about what about the adult donkey? I? Want to know? We're not informed did Jesus As Jesus is entering Jerusalem mounted on a colt, is the donkey with him? We're not informed. The colt is the focus. There are two points of application that I wanna give you. And the first is this. The disciple of Jesus Christ is to walk in loving obedience. The disciple of Jesus Christ is to walk in loving obedience. Friend, the Christian ethic that is prescribed in scripture is non-negotiable. Do you understand that? Friend, you can know what the will of God is this morning. How do you know what the will of God is? Because he gives you his will in his word. Look, we can know what God wants from us because he tells us. He wants you, friend, to be sanctified. Did you know that? Now, how hard is that? He wants you and I to make disciples. He wants us to pray. He wants us to love one another. He wants us to be reconciled with one another. He wants us to prefer one another. He wants us to live in harmony with one another. He wants us to love our enemies. God wants you and I to lay aside everything that is hindering our commitment to Him at whatever expense. Friend, He wants you. He doesn't just want your raw, cold, anemic, lukewarm obedience. He wants you. He wants your heart. He wants you to give Him not only the process, but entrust to Him the outcome. And many of us just twiddle our thumbs all day and just wonder, well, I wonder what God wants from me. I wonder what God wants us to do. You know God's will because He's prescribed it to you. Obey it and give everything to Him. The disciples here were given very straightforward commands. This. Go into the village and tie a colt. It's never been ridden. If anyone asks you about anything, inform them that, well, the Lord has need of it. And you know what's fascinating? They did that. They did what the Lord had commanded them. Now, Jesus does not speak to us today like this, but he has given us this word, has he not? He has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness. Friend, you don't have to sit there wondering what God wants from you. You can know it in his word, but you must know his word. You know what God wants you to do and you fail to do it, guess what? That is called sin. You don't need to scratch your heads, friend. You can know what God wants. The second point of application is this. God owns everything, act like it. God owns everything, act like it. Now look, I don't know who the owners of the animals, and by the way, notice as well that the owners are plural. Look at verse 33. As they were untying the colt, it's what? Owners, do you see that? Plural, it's owners. I don't know anything about the owners, but all I know is that when the disciples informed them that the Lord has need of it... Oh, by the way, I can't believe I left this one out. By the way, in the Greek, here in verse 31, the Greek reads, it is the Lord's. Do you see? The Lord has need of it. It is the Lord's. It is all the Lord's. It is the Lord's. And the owners, when they heard it, they gave it. They knew that Jesus was claiming ownership. Friend, there are gonna be times in your life, above and beyond what you normally do, where it is going to be crystal clear what God wants you to do for his kingdom. Without a shadow of a doubt, and it is principled from scripture. It is not a feeling, but it is derived from the truth. There are gonna be times in your life when it is very clear that not only what belongs to you is ultimately his, but that he has the right to direct you to it. The direction is principled from scripture. No friend, you will never hear a voice And we need to be very careful about how we feel. But there will be times in your life, many times, when it seems clear as day what God wants you to do. Why? Because it is the Lord's. And you are to do what you believe that he has called you to do. We need to be a people at Crossway Church, we are, and we need to continue to be a generous church. I've said this before, and I will say it again, and there are many, there can be more, but there are many who can testify to this. And this is between you and the Lord, but there are many who can testify. that the more generous we are toward Him, toward His kingdom, toward one another, the more He's able to put in our hand. But only those who have done it have tasted of it. And oftentimes, as our hand is open, the owners of the animal's hands were open, so to say. And it's, all right, not the Lord needs it, it is the Lord's. And so if what I have and what you have concerns God's kingdom and its rights, Lord, you can have it. And it's almost as if he's saying, well, thank you for your permission. I have seen that God always provides, does he not? And he provides in so many ways that we never expect, but often we will not know until we have this kind of mentality. We are to be a generous church toward one another. Why? Because God is generous toward us. This whole scene reminds me of what I have done with all my kids, especially the youngest. He has a little container. He put little snacks in it. And I've done it with all of them. Those of you who have had children, you may remember this, but he's got a little container and a, a lid to it, and it's got kind of, it's cut so it prevents snacks from spilling out, but I have asked all my kids when they were young, I say, and this is when they're about like 14, 16 months, when they're walking-ish, and they're walking all over the place, they've got their little snack container, and I'll say to them, I'll say, I'll open up my mouth, I'll say, can I have some? And so they'll waddle over, they'll stick their hand in, and it's got all kinds of stuff on it. Oh my. But, you know, I'm trying to teach him to share, whatever that's worth. And so I'll open up my mouth and he'll...oh, I don't want to talk about it. But he'll put it in my mouth and I'll say, thank you. And then he'll walk away and I'll say, can I have one more? And he'll turn around. Actually, the other day, I wanted to see how many and he emptied out his whole container for me. But we all know that in the future, our kids are going to learn another word. Beyond no, it is no, mine. Mine. Mine. No. No. Mine. And you know, sometimes I want to sit him down. all of our kids, whether they'd understand, I'm not sure, and I'm not gonna answer them out of a whirlwind, we're not dealing with Job, and I'm not the Lord, but I just wanna ask them about 100 questions. Like, whose snacks are those? Whose container? Whose hardwood floors are you standing on? Whose clothes do you have on your back? You're saying no to me? I need to remember something. He is a reminder to me of myself often. You can learn much from a one and a half or two year old. Mine, no, mine, you can't have it, mine. I need to ask myself the same question I want to ask that little one. What do you have that you have not first received? And if you've received it, why are your hands holding onto it so tightly? God owns everything, does he not? So stewardship is not mere containment, but causing it to grow. It is a meaner that is invested, not something to be buried or hidden. You can learn much from a two-year-old. The very selfishness that accompanies that child is often in our hearts. We need to be a people who are generous. Let me put it a different way. If God owns everything, prove it. I'm not telling you to give away all your possessions and follow Christ, but I am saying this, that oftentimes God We may feel as though God wants us to do something, and it may be subjective. But if you're convinced it is the Lord's, then do it and walk in obedience. The owners held very loosely what belonged to them. It isn't necessarily the Lord needs it. It is that it is the Lord's. May that be true of all of us here this morning. God owns everything and you and I believe it. Don't just say it, act like it. And much of it goes on behind the scenes. Point number two, I want us to look at the presentation of the King. The presentation of the King This is verses 35 and verse 36. And they brought it to Jesus. The it is the cult. You may be wondering why Luke only refers to one. Well, because Luke is just focused on one. What about the other? We're not informed about the other. Luke here notes. and they brought it to Jesus, and throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set, oh, I love this, friend, they set Jesus on it. Oh, what did that look like? They set. The fact that Yahweh incarnate allows his creation to do that as if they're demonstrating something is just wildly fascinating. Oh, well, thank you very much. Thank you for placing me on this colt. But he allows them to. They placed him on it. Verse 36, and he wrote along, they spread their cloaks on the road. As he was drawing near already on the way down the Mount of Olives, the whole multitudes of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen. There are. So many motifs in these two verses. This will require you and moving forward to pay attention. This will be an exercise on your understanding of the Old Testament. And if you're not confident of it, I will explain to you the meaning. But my prayer is that light bulbs will go on, so to speak. And you'll see the various motifs. First, I want you to notice the motif of donkeys, of colts, of the vine, of garments, this, a first century Jew would have been like, got it, I got it. We're 2,000 years removed, that's fine. First is this, Jacob's blessing to his sons in particular to Judah. This is in Genesis chapter 49 verses 10 through 11, we will not turn to it. But you'll remember that the prophecy that Jacob gives to Judah is that, listen, the scepter. The scepter will not depart from where? Judah. What is a scepter? A scepter is a symbol of what? Power, of authority, of royalty. It will not depart until what? Tribute comes. Question, what describes or defines the tribute? It is this, obedience of all peoples. Not only that, But he says, binding the foal or colt to the vine, and his donkey's colt to the choice vine. Now, friend, you may be wondering, all right, I'm tracking. So why does Matthew alone include that there were two animals, a donkey and a colt, but yet Mark and Matthew, Luke and John only mentioned one animal. Well, I'm so glad you asked. I was thinking the same thing. The reason is because Matthew is writing to primarily, largely a Jewish audience. And they would have heard this and they would have thought, yes, yes, Jacob's prophecy to Judah. Now you may not be convinced of this, so let's try something else. Isaiah in chapter 11, verse one, he notes of the The stump of what? Of Jesse. Not only that, but Matthew in chapter 1 verse 3 notes that Jesus is from the tribe of where? Judah. But not only that, John in Revelation chapter 5 verse 5 says that Jesus is the lion from the tribe of what? Do you see the theme? And what ties this to the theme, listen, is the donkey and the cult in Genesis 49, but we're not done, friend. Not only that, but the prophecy of the cult never have been written. This is from Zechariah chapter nine, verse nine. And this cult, by the way, this cult is very important. Prior really to Solomon, to David and Solomon's empire, the colt was the symbol of power. But it eventually pivoted now toward horses being the symbol of power and authority. And so God, knowing this kind of pivoting, and this was as the nation of Israel interacted with other nations, with horses, et cetera, et cetera, but the whole point is that the cult at one point, the donkey at one point was a symbol of power. It became a horse, but God knowing the whole The whole spectrum of progressive revelation sees a donkey or a colt as a sign of humility. Humility. Third, David's instruction to his son Solomon. David instructed his soldiers. to take Solomon to Gihon on a mule, showing his endorsement as king. Do you see it? Do you see Colt, Colt, Colt? Do you see it? Donkey, Colt? But we're not done. When King Jehu in 2 Kings chapter nine, verse three was anointed and when he was crowned king, his servants laid garments down on the steps and they proclaimed after a trumpet was blown, Jehu is king. You need to know that when a king would return from a military victory, crowds would line the street. You guys have been to a parade, haven't you? Crowds would line the street. And most kings and most horses were decked out in purple. Why? Because purple is a symbol of opulence, symbol of strength, of royalty. The eternal incarnate Yahweh's triumphal entry is in humility with no pomp and no splendor. Kings would enter their capital on a red carpet. This king sat on worn clothes. I want to give you a point of application. It is this, just one. dwell and meditate on the humility of the eternal son. There, Yahweh incarnate is, being mounted on a colt, sitting on worn clothes, and walking all over worn clothes. I want you to look, please, at verse 36. As he rode along, they spread their cloaks on the road. You see that? Why did they spread their cloaks on the road? Friend, this is why. Because it's all they had. It's all they had. In this culture, the taking off of the cloak, the outer garment, and laying it down on the ground, this is what it meant. It meant, Jesus, you are much greater than I, and you are much worthy of honor. You're so worthy of all honor that even your donkey has the right to walk on my clothes. It is not an insult to me, but it is a privilege, and I wish I could give you more. It is a privilege to give you what I have. It's yours, but I wish I could give you more. That's what this means. For the disciple of Christ who sees, he or she says, God, if I had a thousand lives to give you, I would give you it. And if I had more to give you, I'd want to give you more. They laid it down because that's all that they had. May we meditate on this. It is highly instructive to all of us. Point number three, I want us to look at the proclamation of the king. The proclamation of the king. This is verses 37 and 38. As he was drawing near already on the way down the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, saying, blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord, peace in heaven and glory in the highest. So the presence of the cult is not the only element of this procession that would have caused light bulbs to go on. There is a combination of messianic motifs that has a wow factor that I need to show you. So not just the cult in Genesis 49, not just the donkey and the colt, the foal, not just the coronation of Solomon, Not just Long Live Jehu, that theme of a cult, but there is much, much more. I want you to notice twice in the text the location of where Jesus is. Verse 29, I want you to notice that it is a mount that's called what? Olive at what? Mount of Olives. Just in case you missed it in verse 37, he was already on the way down, where? Mount of Olives. So there are eschatological associations at some point, Lord willing, and I think this falls like number 20 on my list, but at some point I would like to preach a sermon called The Mountain on the East. Because the Mount of Olives is east of Jerusalem. Now why is that important? This is why. The Mount of Olives, listen, is where Jesus ascended into heaven. Now, let's try something else. In Zechariah chapter 14, verse nine, don't turn to it, I'm gonna tell you what it reads. We're informed that the Messiah's feet will touch the mountain and it will split in two. In 586 BC, when the temple was destroyed, Ezekiel had a vision where the glory of the Lord, listen, departed from Jerusalem and rested on the mountain. Isn't that fascinating? I want you to notice as well here in verse 38. I read from Psalm 118 this morning. But Psalm 118 was used pre-exilic Israel, so prior to the exile, Babylonian and Assyrian. as a royal entry of enthronement. And scholars believe that it was saying often as kings would enter Jerusalem following a military victory. And lastly, palm branches. We're not informed of this, but John tells us in John chapter 12 that the crowd was laying down palm branches. Matthew in Matthew chapter 21 notes that they laid down branches. Now, why are palm branches important? Friend, if you miss this, you will miss 57% of the sermon. There are two subcategories of palm branches. Do not miss this. The first is the Feast of Tabernacles, also known as the Feast of Booths, also known as Sukkot. Sukkot the Feast of Tabernacles the Feast of Booths it celebrated God as creator God as sustainer and God as deliverer when Following Israel's deliverance from Egypt now. Why is this important? This is why? because the Feast of Tabernacles was the nation of Israel's celebration of God delivering them from bondage where in Egypt and In the Torah, they were commanded, listen, to construct the sukkahs, to construct the booths out of palm branches. Why? Because palm branches were a tangible reminder of God's deliverance. Now you wanna hear something fascinating? Technically, the feast of booths or tabernacles, listen, That was celebrated in the fall. But what season is this? This is the spring. They're celebrating what national festival? Passover. So I know you're wondering, and I'm going to answer the question. You want to know why are the Jews using palm branches, which is a symbol of God's harvest of God's deliverance, which occurs in the fall with the symbol of palm branches. Why are they attributing it now to Passover in the spring? The reason is because they are expecting deliverance. That is why. But we're not done yet. There's another motif of palm branches, and I provided this on your outline. It is the Maccabean revolt. And Jews would have known this. Under the Seleucid king, Antiochus Epiphanes IV, you'll know that he had desecrated the temple. How? Well, because he established an idol of Zeus. Not only that, But he commanded the sacrifice of swine or pigs using the coals from the altar of incense. And he forced the priests to eat of the pigs. So what happened? Oh, there was something called the Maccabean Rebellion, which was 167 to 160 BC. Zealot Jews wound up removing him, kicking him out, And what Jewish holiday came from the Maccabean Revolt? It was Hanukkah. But it gets better, friend. You know what the symbol on the coins of the Maccabean Revolt was? The symbol were palm branches. So. The BMW logo is blue and silver or white, and it's an airplane propeller. That's the symbol. Subaru has a circle with six stars in it. It's Japanese. which pointing to the Pleiades and the arrangement of stars and the name Subaru in Japanese, it means united. And so just as in all of these symbols has meaning, the palm branches has two main meanings. First, Deliverance and likewise, freedom. So friend, the palm branch is much more than merely a plant. Wanna try something different? Okay. The crowd here is laying down branches, palm branches, and notice what they add. Look at verse 38. If we were to turn back to Psalm 118.22, listen. Psalm 118.38 reads this, blessed is the one. I know you see it. Look at verse 38. They're singing, blessed is the what? Blessed is the what? Listen, the disciples and the crowds are inserting King into the messianic psalm and they are attributing the deliverance to Jesus. You know, the irony of is Jesus is their King. But he's a king of a different kind of deliverance. What kind of deliverance? Forgiveness of sin. Try it some else. The The disciples in the crowds are expecting physical deliverance from the Romans, just like what happened as God delivered the nation of Israel from Egypt, and just as the Maccabeans liberated themselves from Antiochus Epiphanes IV. They're expecting a similar deliverance, but they're not going to get it. It is of a different kind. And the crowd here, not in our text, but in the parallel accounts, will cry, Hosanna. Hosanna means what? God save us, God deliver us. There's one point of application that is simple. Speak well of your king. Speak well of your king. and do it publicly. Is he not worthy of it? Is he not worthy of it? He's done it all for you. What will you withhold from him? So the fourth point of application is the petition against the king. So we've seen the preparation of the king, the presentation of the king, the proclamation of the king, and lastly, the petition against the king. Now, not everyone in the crowd, as we'll see, is electrified by the excitement during Passover. There are various motifs of Jesus' procession into Jerusalem and we're informed of the grumpy Pharisees. Please look at verse 39. And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, Teacher, rebuke your disciples. He answered, I tell you, even if these were silent, the very stones would cry out. I want you to notice what some of the Pharisees called him. They called him teacher. Now, whenever you read in the gospel according to Luke, now in other gospels as well, but particular in the gospel according to Luke, whenever you read the word teacher, it means that they don't really have any kind of positive view toward Jesus. They're kind of putting their toes in the water. They're sizing Jesus up, so to speak. The question is, why are the Pharisees there? It's almost like they just come out of nowhere, right? Well, I'm gonna tell you why they're there. The reason is because Mary, listen, Mary the day before had anointed Jesus. Additionally, Jesus has raised Lazarus from the dead. Jesus raised Lazarus Where? In Bethany, right? And John tells us in chapter 11 that when Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead, the chief priests wanted to what? Kill who? Lazarus. And so I'm not surprised that the Pharisees are here. They're curious. And they're hearing the crowd singing this messianic psalm, and they got a problem with it. Let's tie it to last week. Here's the question. Please look at chapter 19, verse 14. I have a question, and I'm thinking out loud. I know the answer, but I want to share this with you. But his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him saying, we don't want this man to reign over us. Do you see? Look at verse 39. Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, Teacher, rebuke your disciples. Are the Pharisees a delegate who doesn't want Jesus to reign over them? Will the Pharisees be the ones, in verse 27, who during the destruction of Jerusalem which we already saw there is a historical truth, not merely about it, but a historical truth. In verse 27, but for these enemies of mine who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slaughter them before me. Do you see it? You'll notice as well at the end of verse 40, Jesus basically is basking, finally. The crowd speaking what is true? Yes Hosanna God deliver God save us. I will save you but not like you think Not in the way that you think I will deliver you and when he doesn't do it as they expect they will cry crucify him kill him Jesus says, look, I'm not telling them to be quiet, I'm not telling anyone to be quiet, but you know what, even if I do, stones will cry out. This is an anthropomorphical language in which scripture uses things, so to speak, and put put human terms on it. Now, technically, anthropomorphism is using human terms to describe God, but in a kind of a twist here, there are inanimate objects here. For example, do you remember in Genesis chapter 4, in verse 10, after Cain killed Abel, Yahweh told Cain that Abel's blood is what? crying out. Do you see that? It's crying out. Jesus multiple times speaks of the stones of the temple no longer being there. And there's also perhaps a motif, an allusion to what the stone did that was sealed over Joseph of Arimathea's tomb. Even the stone knew what to do. No? The stone did a moonwalk out of the way. Even the stone knew what to do. Get out of the way. Yes. God will receive praise. Additionally, we're informed in Romans chapter 8, that creation itself what? Groans. Creation cries out. So even though adamant objects may not cry out, even if that was the case, all of creation will. Why? Because Jesus is worthy. Jesus is the distant nobleman who has gone out to receive a kingdom. What was the kingdom that he received? It was the kingdom purchased by his blood. It was the blood that was shed on Calvary for you. For you. So, the conflict has reached a boiling point. Now, I'm not done yet. Let's contrast. Please. Jerusalem is the holy city where the temple is, where all the furniture is. It's where the priests are. But then, You have the tabernacle of God coming in to Jerusalem. And there will be conflict, won't there? There will be conflict. There is one other thing. Did you know that the ark was carried by two unbroken animals? The cart is what had in it what? What did the ark have? contents. It was a symbol of God's presence. Jesus is riding on an unbroken what? Colt. You see? There will be conflict. Last two points of application and I'm out of time is this. You need to know this morning that God loves you, especially if you're in Christ. but He loves you. He knew all the details of the donkey, He knew all the details of the colt, and He knows all of the details of your life. Jesus rode into Jerusalem with a heavy heart, and He knows what awaits Him. He gave Himself in love. Listen to the Father for you, if you're in Him. Friend, He cares for you. You need to know that. The one enthroned eternal unchanging is there sitting on ragged clothes walking in the garments of the crowd on a donkey in humility soon to be humiliated. That's the first point of application that God loves you and he displayed it if you were in Christ on what he did for you on the cross. Second point of application is this. Count the cost of following Christ. Count the cost of following Christ. There will be those who want to silence you and who want to tell you to stop. If he's your king, speak well of him because he is worthy of it. Let us pray. Father, we're thankful for so much color in this text. So many motifs, the wondrous brilliance of your word. Pray that our time this morning was not just an exercise of interesting and fun eschatological nuances, but that we would see the love displayed through our Savior. May we be a congregation that are not just serious about the Word, but serious about doing the Word, living it out. If there's anybody here who has not come to faith in Christ, may you do the work in their hearts. If there's someone here who perhaps has been apathetic, indifferent toward their commitment to Him, may you convict them of it. May you awaken them. and may you summon them to loving obedience. Christ is worthy to be praised. Give us grace to do it. We'll give you the thanks in Jesus' name, amen.