Matthew 21:8-9…Ready

Matthew 21:8-9…Ready

21:8  A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”  “Hosanna in the highest!” (joyfully praised God for all the miracles they had seen-(Luke 19:37b) (Notice Jesus does not correct these people, He doesn’t say wait, hold on a moment you got it all wrong-(New) (Watch Video https://youtu.be/Cwy9m8XrswQ?si=IZ1O-PwUL75zFVTj (For Complete Expository See Book)

Extended Sermons

“Teaches how Jesus may not be the Savior we expect or want, but He is the Savior we need the most.” → This probably is not the Salvation we would have chosen or picked, but it’s the Salvation we need at this moment of our lives. What the crowds wanted was someone who would save them from Roman occupation. But that’s not what Jesus came to do for them, at least not on that day.  What Jesus had in mind was something so much bigger and so much better than what they had in mind. They just wanted someone improve their lives. But Jesus came to meet our greatest need and our true need and that is to Save our souls and redeem our lives. Our greatest need is reconciliation, restoring what sin has destroyed. The greatest news of the Gospel is not that we get liberation from our problems, but that we get liberations from sin and death.

“Warns if not careful our worship can be filled with a lot of shouting, dancing, and excitement with no real substance.” → When we allow ourselves to get swept up in only the charismatic aspects of worship, we risk missing the true heart and purpose behind honoring God. Authentic worship requires more than just external expression; it calls for genuine devotion and surrender, ensuring that our praise is rooted in faith and understanding, not just emotional fervor. Excitement is not the evidence that people are understanding or operating in the truth. Religious zeal can be empty and passion itself can be misguided. You have the same thing with this crowd, they have all the hoopla, the shouting, and waving of palm branches, yet they didn’t have a clear grasp on the truth of who Christ was. Though the people appeared zealous in praise, their allegiance was shallow—rooted more in excitement and expectation than in genuine faith. The same thing happens in many churches. People are drawn to the “event” not necessarily the Savior. They marvel at the worship band, the atmosphere, the crowd, or even the charisma of the speaker. However, none of these is the true substance of worship. You can enjoy all these things and never truly come in contact with God! Such responses serve as a caution. First; we should be cautious of crowds. This is not saying that big gatherings or big churches are bad. What rather we should not assume that they are big because they are blessed, or because they are good. This might be the case but it also might not be the case. We have a duty to examine whether a group or church is simply celebrating themselves or whether they are truly honoring Christ. Second; we should examine our own lives. We say we are followers of Christ . . . but are we? Are we cheering for Jesus without actually knowing who He is? Are we serving just because others are serving or are we serving the Lord? Is worship something we do because it makes us feel better? Are we going through the motions without ever asking why we are doing what we are doing? Do we read the Bible without hearing what it says? Are our prayers just words spoken into the air or are we talking to the Lord of Heaven and earth? Do we talk about being His follower but have no time to serve Him? Do we our wear Crosses and Christian t-shirts without any corresponding difference in our behavior from the rest of the world? These are all questions we should ask: Am I part of the crowd or am I part of His family? Am I merely a fan, or am I a follower? Am I being  swept away by the emotional highs, or am I anchor in a real, personal relationship with Christ Jesus. We should praise and worship Jesus from a place of understanding and genuine devotion. Our commitment must go beyond mere excitement to a deeper, unwavering faith that remains strong even when the initial fervor fades away.

“Even today, people want a Jesus who will ride in and make all their problems and troubles go away, only to fall away when it doesn’t happen. Or they want a Jesus who make their lives happy, comfortable, and secure, and when tragedy or disaster hits,  they become disillusioned.” → Will you be a 24/7 believer, not just someone who cheers on a good day but abandons Jesus when things get hard. Many want a Jesus who will bring an immediate solution to their problem. A Jesus who will change their circumstances. A Jesus who will ride in and fix our finances, who will make all our bills go away, who give us our best life now.  And when it doesn’t happen we say we’re out of here. Faith based solely on what Jesus can do for us is shallow and fleeting, easily shaken by disappointment or hardship, rather than grounded in a deep relationship in who is—Savior, Lord, and King. The challenge remains for each of us to seek Jesus for His true identity and redemptive purpose, rather than merely as a solution to life’s troubles, lest we miss the deeper relationship and transformation He offers.

Additional Notes & Applications

Calls for asking when you come to church are you joyfully praising God, or are you bored and disengaged, thinking you got better things to do? (Jesus died for your sins, can you not spend one day joyfully praising Him)

Calls for honoring God with the ordinary everyday resources and talents we have around us.

Demonstrates how many can approve the Gospel, but few become consistent disciples.

Warns against seeking and praising the Lord in hopes of benefiting personally in what we can get out of it.

Warns against jumping on the bad Wagen and following the crowd because it’s popular.

Warns against only praising Jesus because were in a pickle or a jam, and we need His help to get us out of it.

Calls for receiving and accepting Christ on His own terms, rather than on our terms. Are you setting the standards and requirements on what you’ve determined Jesus needs to meet before you receive Him?

Warns if not careful we can think of Jesus in worldly terms of the here and now, and not in the terms of eternity.

Demonstrates what it really comes down is this, either you’re going to crown Jesus or you’re going to kill Him.

Warns if not careful we can think of Jesus in worldly terms of the here and now, and not in the terms of eternity.

Challenges believers in daring to be different that things can change with Jesus.

Calls for laying it all out there. By letting Himself be publicly acknowledged and praised as the Messiah. Jesus knew what He was getting into, yet He still stay true to God’s work and mission in dying to Save sinners

As believers we need the same exuberant worship, always be praising and rejoicing in the Lord. When serving  the Lord, do you have an attitude of rejoicing? Are you doing things at church more as an obligation rather than joyfully for the Lord? You will know the difference because joyful service makes for an uplifted countenance and hope in Christ. We are not be joyful in our service just when we feel good but always. Rejoicing in the Lord brings joy and encouragement to the saddest of hearts.

A question arises. Up to this point in Jesus’ ministry, He had commanded the disciples to keep His Messianic nature a secret. Why does He now make it so public? Not only is He allowing it, He’s prepared for it, He’s in charge of it, and He’s actually encouraging it. To understand this, there are at least two reasons why He’s allowing this shift in accepting Messianic praises.  One, It’s time the Lord Jesus is ready to be arrested, to be betrayed, to be put on trial, and to die. In others words the Fathers time and will had come. We know this, because all the other times it was done it only fueled the the excitement of the crowd to make Him King by force, leading to His premerger arrest. For His time had not yet come. Second, it was probably strategic, Jesus allowed as a final witness to the religious leaders, and the Jewish people’s guilt as a whole.

Note out of all the characters in this story, some praising Jesus, others a week later, shouting for His crucifixion. You know who is the only one most compliant? The Donkey. The very animal how is usually associated with stubbornness and non-compliance, is the one in this story is the most compliant! Isaiah in chapter one says it this way “The ox knows its master, the donkey its owner’s manger, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.”-(Is. 1:3)

According to credible scholarship the date of Jesus’ entry based on the Jewish calendar was Sunday the Ninth day of “Nissan” [April] A.D. 33. Which coincides with the fulfillment of Danials prophecy of the “Seventy weeks” or “7 years” equaling 490 years. In which Danial marking the end of the 69th week (483 years) from the decree to rebuild Jerusalem, signaling the arrival of the “Anointed One,” the Messiah, right on schedule. The clock starts with the command to restore and rebuild Jerusalem (Nehemiah 2:1-8, around 445 BC). The 69 Weeks: (7+62) = 483 years (using prophetic year counts).The End Point of 483-year period concluded precisely with Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, proving His identity as the promised Messiah. This entry marked the moment the Messiah was “presented,” but it also foreshadowed Israel’s rejection, leading to His crucifixion being “cut off” and to put an “end to transgression” (sin) in the very next “week”. As well as the Temple’s destruction in AD 70, all laid out in Daniel 9:24-2  In essence, the Triumphal Entry was the precise, divinely appointed moment the 69 prophetic weeks ended, revealing Jesus as the long-awaited Messiah, even as His presentation set the stage for His sacrificial death and the judgment on Jerusalem.