This morning, we return to Mark's gospel. So will you take your Bibles and turn to Mark chapter 11; we're going to be examining verses one through 14 in a very general way this morning and then, in a few weeks when I'm back with you, we will look at it more closely. And I've entitled my discourse to you, "The Royal Entrance and False Coronation." This will be part one. Let me read the text to you. Mark 11, beginning in verse one. " As they approached Jerusalem at Bethpage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, He sent two of His disciples and said to them, 'Go into the village opposite you, and immediately as you enter it, you will find a colt there, on which no one yet has ever sat. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone says to you, 'Why are you doing this?' You say the Lord has need of it. And immediately he will send it back here.' They went away and found a colt tied at the door outside the street, and they untied it. Some of the bystanders were saying to them, 'What are you doing untying the colt?' They spoke to them, just as Jesus had told them, and they gave them permission. They brought the colt to Jesus and put their coats on it. And He sat on it. And many spread their coats in the road and others spread leafy branches, which they had cut from the fields. Those who went in front and those who followed were shouting: 'Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord; blessed is the coming kingdom of our father, David; Hosanna! in the highest!' Jesus entered Jerusalem and came into the temple; and after looking around at everything, He left for Bethany with the 12, since it was already late."

This is a very familiar passage of scripture to most Christians. They have read it, they've heard it preached before probably many times. And yet, I have found that for most, they have a very shallow understanding of the historical and theological implications of this magnificent piece of scripture, this amazing event that speaks of God's Kingdom purposes, and how they relate to the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And my goal this morning, is to help deepen your understanding of these things, so that you will not only understand better this text but be more and more amazed at all that God is doing. So today will not be a typical verse by verse exposition. But rather, and that will happen the next time I'm with you, but rather, this will largely be a historical and theological introduction. And I trust that the truth you're about to hear will shed light upon this very dark and depraved world, which is a veritable Sodom and Gomorrah, awaiting divine judgment. And the more we contemplate the person and the work of Christ, especially as it relates to the kingdom of God, and our future in it, the more our hearts will long for his return.

Now, may I remind you from the outset that the kingdom of God is the dominant and unifying theme of Scripture. And it is the climactic fulfillment of God's redemptive purposes. And that, of course, is going to include Israel as well as the church. Now, spiritually we know that God is currently reigning in the hearts of the redeemed. We understand that. In fact, the apostle Paul says in Philippians, three, in verse 24, "Our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ." But we also know that the most glorious aspect of the kingdom is yet future, it's yet to come. For example, in Isaiah chapter nine in verse seven, we read, "There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore." And my how I long for that day, every moment of my life. And for this reason, you will recall that Jesus taught us to pray, in Matthew six, "Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be your name." In other words, make your name sanctified, make it holy, in my life and throughout the world. And then Jesus said, you're to go on and say, "Your kingdom come your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." And I might add that all three petitions regarding God's name, regarding the kingdom and his will, in the original language, all of those verbs are in the emphatic position, which attests to their profound importance. And each one of them, grammatically, is in what we call the aorist active imperative form, which indicates that this is going to be a single or instantaneous event, that there will be something that will explode upon the scene, namely, the hallowing of his name, the kingdom that's coming; his will being "done on earth as it is in heaven," all consistent with kingdom prophecy. So, in other words, this is not merely speaking of some spiritualized kingdom that already exists. That would cause those texts to beg for relevance. Moreover, it's not speaking of a kingdom that is going to gradually appear as the church brings it to fruition. But rather, we're asked to pray for God to suddenly and instantaneously burst forth in all of his glory, so that his name will be hallowed, so that his kingdom will come, and that his will be done.

Now, let me give you some more historical and theological background to this amazing scene of Jesus coming into Jerusalem. First of all, we know that God chose Israel to be his covenant people, to be a holy nation, to be a holy kingdom. They were chosen to represent God among the nations as we read in Deuteronomy four. We are told that they were ultimately to bring blessing to all of the nations consistent with the Abrahamic covenant in Genesis 12. And also, they are to demonstrate God's great love and God's great faithfulness. But they disobeyed God, and they were enslaved by the nations. And what we see throughout Scripture is Israel is basically depicted as a microcosm of God's redemptive purposes and all of his elect. For example, if you go to Romans chapter nine, you will see the apostle Paul speaking of Israel's election. In chapter 10, you will read about Israel's defection. In chapter 11, you will read about Israel's salvation and eventual restoration. But for now, because Israel rejected her Messiah, they are currently experiencing a period of temporary and partial hardening as God saves many Gentiles. We read about this in, for example, Romans 11 and verse 25. But because God is faithful to his covenant promises, Israel's unbelief will one day be reversed, during the time of the day of the Lord, the coming day of the Lord. And God will restore them, God will save them when Christ returns, consistent with Zechariah's prophecy in Zechariah, chapter 10 and verse 12. And at that point, the Messianic kingdom will be established when the Lord returns. And Israel will enjoy the blessings of the kingdom. They will assume their role of leadership and service among the nations and those blessings of course, will be extended to Gentiles as well.

Now you will recall and here's some big picture perspective. Remember when the angel came to Mary? When she was to conceive a son that would be king. In Luke chapter one, verse 32, we read this, "He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most and the Lord God will give Him the throne of his father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end." And certainly, throughout Jesus's life he proved himself to be the Son of God. From his miracles to his parables, he demonstrated that he indeed was the Messiah of Old Testament prophecy, who had come to officially and finally offer himself as the king of the Messianic Kingdom, an exact fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. An offer, however, that was conditioned upon Israel's national repentance. In fact, he was fully prepared to establish his earthly kingdom as the prophets predicted when he first came. We read about this, in Mark one and verse 15, Jesus said, "'The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.'" So indeed, this announcement of the kingdom required Israel to make a decision, to repent, and to believe in who he was. Because we know that God's promises to Abraham had to be received by faith. But they refused, despite all of the miracles that they saw and experienced, and perhaps even benefited from; they rejected him. The rejection by the civil leaders and religious leaders was unmistakable. When they blaspheme the Holy Spirit, you will recall, in Mark 3:22, they said, that "'He is possessed by Beelzebul,' and 'He casts out the demons by the ruler of the demons,'" and so forth. However, we know that, as in the realm of jurisprudence, a legal proffer, or in other words, an offer of proof, must be made. And so, an official offer had to be made to the nation of Israel as a whole, in order for them to determine their final decision of who he really was. This was Israel's time and her visitation to receive the king.

Now, many will argue that the kingdom of God that Jesus was offering was merely a spiritual kingdom, the rule of God in the hearts of men. And certainly, there's some merit to that. But such an announcement would have been silly to the people of that day because such a rule of God had always been recognized by them. That's not what the Old Testament prophets were prophesying. What Jesus was offering them, was God's mediatorial kingdom, on Earth, through the reign of the Messiah. But once again, while his promises cannot be abrogated, in other words, annulled, or rescinded, such a kingdom on earth was always conditioned upon regeneration, and repentance, resulting in faith and obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ.

So now Jesus comes to offer himself to Israel, as their promised Messiah, their promised king, who will establish the kingdom if they repent. And you will remember that prior to our Lord's entrance into Jerusalem, according to Luke 10, one, "The Lord appointed 70 others, and sent them in pairs ahead of Him to every city and place where He Himself was going to come." And as we read that passage, we see that their mission was very simple. "'Every city that receives you,'" he said, "'heal those who are sick and say to them, 'The kingdom of God has come near to you.'" we read that in verses eight and nine of Luke 10. And then he said in verses 10, and 11, if they don't receive you, "'Go out into the streets and say, 'even the dust of your city which clings to our feet, wipe off and protest against you; yet be sure of this, that the kingdom of God has come near.'" So, everything that is happening here, in Jesus' final journey to Jerusalem, all that's recorded in the Gospels, is part of God's deliberate, purposeful, precise plan, which by the way, took probably around five months. And his plan is to present himself to Israel as the Messiah of Old Testament prophecy. And he's conducting himself once again as the public claimant to the messianic title.

Now, as we look at this, what I would call a royal entrance and false coronation, there are a number of circumstances that are worthy of our investigation to help us see how Jesus regarded this event as a fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies, especially pertaining to the mediatorial kingdom upon the earth and the future nation of Israel; very important consideration. So let me give some of them to you. Number one, we must look at Jesus stage setting encounters and miracles. Now, some of this will be review, but it's important to keep it all kind of in context. To be sure, the messianic expectations were running high at this time of year. This was the Passover season. It was the time when the Jews are celebrating God's deliverance from the Egyptians that took place some 1400 years earlier. But this Passover was different because of what they had seen in Jesus, they had never seen anything like this. All of the miracles, healing of the sick, the blind, the deaf, lepers, raising the dead, absolutely astounding. And certainly, the raising of Lazarus from the dead was on the lips of virtually every person in the region. 1000s of pilgrims now are with Jesus, as he goes first through Jericho, and then eventually, ascends up to Mount Zion to Jerusalem. And many of these people are wanting not only to see Jesus, but they want to see Lazarus. I mean, wouldn't you? I want to see this guy that was raised from the dead, I understand he's with Him. We read about this in John 12 beginning in verse nine, "The large crowd of the Jews then learned that Jesus was there, and they came not for Jesus’ sake only, but that they might also see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead." Now catch this, "But the chief priests planned to put Lazarus to death also; because on account of him, many of the Jews were going away, and were believing in Jesus." So that gives you a sense of what's going on. We have reason to believe that there were approximately 2 million Jews that are awaiting Jesus' entry in Jerusalem to the utter consternation of the religious leaders. Moreover, as Jesus makes his way to Jerusalem, remember, he encounters this rich young ruler. He demonstrates how that that kind of a person who is in love with material things will never enter the kingdom of God apart from divine intervention, he said, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." Then he went on to say, "but with God, all things are possible." And then we read next that he gives sight to two blind men, also there and Jericho. proving once again his deity, but also demonstrating the power of regenerating grace where he gives sight to the spiritually blind, as well as the physically blind. And then next, we see this amazing scenario with Zacchaeus that is essentially a juxtaposition of the most salient themes of those first two encounters, because he gives spiritual sight to a spiritually blind man who was fabulously wealthy and corrupt. And there we have an example of the camel going through the eye of the needle. What an amazing testimony, especially to his disciples that he's trying to instruct in preparing them for what is to come. And in the context of Zacchaeus' conversion, we know that Jesus preaches a sermon on a most important theme that ran absolutely contrary to all of the Jewish hopes and dreams, contrary to even what the disciples were thinking.

What he wanted to demonstrate to them is that he was not coming to conquer, but to seek and to save. Luke 19 and verse 10, Jesus says, "'For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.'" And that was the theme of the sermon that he gave there with Zacchaeus and the others that were listening. So, all of these miracles now are setting the stage for his regal entry into Jerusalem.

A second observation is Jesus stage setting parable in Luke 19. Bear in mind during this final season of Jesus ministry, he's going to describe the mystery form of the kingdom and how that that will assume all that will happen during the interregnum. An interregnum is just an interval between two successive periods; a time period where a king is not reigning, a kingdom doesn't have a leader. In this case, the interregnum will intervene between Jesus's death and his second coming, when he comes again as King of kings and Lord of lords. And his parable in Luke 19 is designed to prepare them for this interregnum. You will recall that in Luke 19, Jesus gives this parable of a noble man, referring to Christ, he travels to a distant country referring to Heaven, to receive a kingdom that is to receive official authority to reign and then he returns to rule over that kingdom. And we read in that parable that Jesus is saying that he's wanting to correct the erroneous assumption that they had, that the kingdom was going to appear immediately. Instead of appearing later on at a future time, after the nobleman's departure, after him receiving the authority and then returning as King--an interval of time that was unspecified, causing every generation to live in anticipation, you will recall that he describes two groups. He describes, first of all slaves, those that profess allegiance to him, those that are loyal subjects. And that represents those who profess to be faithful servants of Christ. Some are, some aren't, regardless of what they profess. And also he describes citizens that hated him, especially representing Israel, but also all who reject the Lord Jesus Christ. In verse 14 of that passage we read, "'But his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him saying, 'We do not want this man to reign over us.'" And I might add, that this is what will begin to play out in the final week of Jesus ministry on earth, often called his Passion Week. And sadly, the multitudes that are shouting "Hosanna to the Son of David!" are soon going to turn on him and demonstrate their final rejection. In a few days Israel will scream, according to John 19:15, "'Away with Him! Away with Him! Crucify him!'" Pilate said to them, 'Shall I crucify your King?' The chief priests answered, 'We have no king but Caesar.'" And as we will see before the week is out, Israel will eventually be united in their repudiation of the nobleman's regal claim to be their king.

I might pause for a moment this is so typical of so many people that follow Christ today. The Jesus that they have concocted is not the true Jesus. Most people have come up with a Jesus, that's kind of the smiley face, God that winks at sin, that just kind of loves everybody, everybody is going to heaven. You can do anything you want. This is the Jesus of love. But they never understand that because of his holiness, he's also the Jesus of wrath, a Jesus of judgment. People don't want that. They want a false Messiah that came to make them happy, not holy. Kind of a genie in the bottle type of a thing that will do whatever they ask the genie to do. And certainly that's what the Jews wanted. They wanted a deliverer from Roman bondage. They wanted social justice, they wanted the end of poverty, the end of disease, they wanted the end of I don't know, poor self-esteem, they wanted no more unhappiness. They wanted, shall we say, a malleable Jesus, like the prosperity gospel Jesus, the one that you can manipulate, to give you stuff. Or they wanted, the leftist woke Jesus of the social justice gospel. And like the Jews, all of these people will reject the true Jesus.

Now to be sure, Jesus didn't meet the Jewish expectations. They wanted a conquering king; they did not want a suffering Savior. But Jesus, when he came, again said, "I came this time to seek and to save that which is lost," because only then can sinners enter the kingdom.

Now back to the parable. After receiving his kingdom authority from heaven, we know that the nobleman returns to earth over a realm of his subjects that are living in it, and the first regal action of the king now is to judges slaves who were entrusted with what he had given them in his absence. And he eventually executed judgment on both the disloyal slaves and the citizens that hated him. And of course, all of this parallels the eschatological prophecies that we read in the Old Testament and in the New Testament, especially as it relates to Israel's rejection of her Messiah, and the second coming of Christ. And I might also add that this is going to be a preview of all that will happen at the beginning of his Passion Week, because he's going to continue to expose Israel's hypocrisy. He's going to expose their apostasy by cleansing the temple, he is going to continue to do what he does so best and that is humiliate the Jewish leaders, embarrass them publicly, call them out. And in fact, what we're going to see is that for two days, he will rule in the temple precincts, answering the public charges and challenges against him. And he will pronounce the judgment of God on those who reject Him. The fickle crowd is going to turn against him, they will eventually be apoplectic with rage, and they will call for his crucifixion. I'm reminded of what Jesus said in John seven, seven, that "'The world hates Me because I testify of it, that it's deeds are evil.'" John one, verse 11, "He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him." And Jesus will later promise them of coming judgment in Luke 19:44, "because you did not recognize the time of your visitation." And because of the rebellion, we know that the kingdom was temporarily withdrawn and postponed on Earth awaiting a future day.

And this brings us to a third circumstance that helps us understand what was going on as it relates to Old Testament prophecy, and the kingdom of God. Number three, we must look at Jesus' lament over Jerusalem. Luke 19:41, "When He approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it." The term wept, in the original language carries the idea of crying aloud profusely. saying, "'If you had known in this day.'" Let me pause there. This, as we will see from other passages in a moment, this is Israel's day, a precise day of opportunity that was prophesied by the prophet Daniel, "If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will throw up a barricade against you and surround you and hem you in on every side, and they will level you to the ground, and your children within you. And they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.'" And of course, all of this came true in 70 AD with the Roman invasion. And tragically, Israel could not see as Jesus says, "'The things which make for peace.'" And because of that, God judged them. And now these things would be as he says, "hidden from your eyes." And the things that would make for peace, will be postponed until his second coming.

I'm always amazed when I read Bible prophecy. I'm just astounded at it. And there is no other religious book in the world that has prophecies because this is the only one written by God. Nobody else wants to write prophecies, and they don't come true and you look like an idiot, right? But this is so astounding. In fact, if you read Jesus' Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24, and 25. And what we have here in Luke 19:41 through 44, we see that Jesus gives these incredibly detailed descriptions of what is going to happen. I mean, this isn't just vague things. This is a detailed description. And I was reading one scholar by the name of Pearson, he identified 25 distinct predictions in that context of Scripture. And he says, "And on the laws of compound probability, the chance of all meeting in one fulfilling event is one in 20 million." And my friend, David Larson, who has now gone home to be with the Lord, said this, "Comparing the predictions with the historical fulfillment, as described in Josephus, and an eyewitness, Antacitus, we cannot but agree with Eusebius. If anyone compares the words of our Savior with the accounts of the historian, how can anyone fail to wonder and to admit the foreknowledge and prophecy of our Savior were truly divine and marvelously strange." And then Larson concludes, "The words of Jesus spoken in another context come to mind." Then he quotes John 14:29. "I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen, you will believe."

Let me give you another fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy, in the context of all that's happening in his regal entry. This has to do, number four, with Jesus perfectly timed arrival into Jerusalem. Now a little bit of background. Since according to John 12, Jesus was at Bethany quote, "six days before the Passover," which was probably on Saturday, on Shabbat. It was on the next day, which would be Sunday, the Jewish crowds came to see Jesus. And according to John 12, Jesus, quote, "and Lazarus whom he raised from the dead." So when we look at John 12, verse 12, we read, "On the next day, the great multitude who had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took the branches of the palm trees and went out to meet Him and began to cry out 'Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel.'" So when you look at this, you see that it is more likely that it was on Monday, not traditional Palm Sunday, after Jesus had been in Bethany with Lazarus, that he traveled through Bethpage making his way through the eastern gate of Jerusalem. And I might also add that a Monday triumphal entry is also very important. Because in Exodus chapter 12, verses two through six, we read that, according to the Mosaic Law, sacrificial lambs, for Passover had to be selected on the 10th day of the first month. They would select the lamb and then they would take the lamb into their home. And they would love the little lamb until the time for the sacrifice on the 14th. And only a Monday triumphal entry would fulfill this important symbolism. Because Jesus, the year Jesus was crucified, the 10th of Nissan was on Monday, of the Passover week. And this would allow, and I hope you see the symbolism, this would allow the Jewish people to nationally select Jesus as the Lamb, to take them unto themselves as the Passover lamb, to take them into their hearts, in their home symbolically, and to love Him. And yet, because of their sinfulness, to sacrifice him on Friday, the 14th of Nissan. Isn't it astonishing? I mean, think about this, the exact day of the king's presentation was not something random, but one determined, one that was decreed in eternity past by a sovereign God, who not only knows the end from the beginning, but has ordained the end from the beginning. In fact, 600 years before the Holy Spirit revealed to the prophet Daniel the precise date that this would happen, though he didn't fully understand what he was writing down. Daniel 9:25, "So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there will be seven weeks and 62 weeks." This is referring to weeks of years, "heptads." 69 weeks of prophetic years, consisting of 360 days each add up to 173,880 days. So when we do the math, which I'm not going to take time to go through all of it, what you have is 483 years after the Persian Artaxerxes' decree to rebuild Jerusalem, which happened in 445 BC, the first advent of Messiah would be fulfilled precisely, at the triumphal entry on the 10th of Nissan, AD 30. And it was precisely on that day that our Lord rode into Jerusalem as the messianic king of Israel. This is when the Jewish people took in their Passover lamb, and they loved him for a while, until the time of the sacrifice on the 14th, consistent with Mosaic Law. You get the idea that God is not capricious in what he does? I might add, as a footnote, as we look at these judgments that Daniel describes, 69 weeks of years have been fulfilled, but there are 70 total. So there's one more week of years yet to be fulfilled. We typically call that Daniel's 70th week, and it refers to the pre-kingdom tribulation judgments right before our Lord returns. And during that time, the Antichrist will rule and we're seeing that being, the way for all of that, being paved right now, in our culture and in our world. These are days pertaining to the days of the Antichrist, as Daniel will go on to prophesy in verse 27. He adds this, "And he will make a firm covenant," referring to the Antichrist, "with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week," in other words, after three and a half years, "he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations, will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed is poured out on the one who makes desolate."

Let me give you a fifth fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies concerning the kingdom and the future of the nation Israel, in the context of what's happening here with Jesus regal entry into Jerusalem. And that has to do with Jesus prophecy, fulfilling mount. Now as a old horseman, this is always fascinating to me, and I'm not going to get into all of the details this time, I'll get into it at another time, but this is an miraculous thing. In Mark 11, two we read, Jesus, "said to them, 'Go into the village opposite you, and immediately as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, on which no one yet has ever sat; untie it and bring it here.'" Beginning of verse seven, he says that "They brought the colt to Jesus and put their coats on it; and He sat on it." By the way, those are details, if you understand anything about horses, you know that that's not going to happen, unless a miracle happens. And the details of that are very, very important for us to see. Because dear friends this is a preview of millennial blessing in the animal kingdom. And it says, "And many spread their coats in the road, and other spread leafy branches which they had cut from the fields. Those who went in front of those who followed were shouting: 'Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord; blessed is the coming kingdom of our father, David; Hosanna, in the highest!'" And Matthew records this in chapter 21, verse four, "This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet." And here's the prophecy: "Say to the daughter of Zion, 'Behold, your King is coming to you, gentle and mounted on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of the beast of burden.'" Zechariah nine nine is where he got that. Isn't it amazing how Jesus was careful to fulfill every single detail of the predictions of his triumphal entry into Jerusalem as the king of Israel? And to know that about 550 years before this happened, the Holy Spirit inspired the prophet Zechariah to pen these words and Zechariah nine nine. A detailed description of the king's mount is foretold. And certainly this reveals the humility of the king and the honor that would mark the event. "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph," this is Zachariah nine nine, "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; He is just and endowed with salvation, humble and mounted on a donkey, even on a colt the foal of a donkey."

I might also add that this is a messianic millennial prophecy that's also recorded in Genesis, chapter 49 and verse 11, spoken some 1859 years BC. You see the entire prophecy of all that Zechariah and all the prophets said, all of those things were fulfilled literally. In fact, I want to pause here. This is very important. It's a bit technical, but I find it very important to note. Matthew only quotes Zechariah nine, nine. He stops there. He doesn't quote verse 10. He only quotes verse nine, pertaining to the Messiah's entry into Jerusalem and his lowly mount. He mentions nothing about the next verse that speaks about the promises pertaining to the Messiah's rule and reign and bringing peace upon the earth. The very next verse says, "I will cut off," cut off by the way, in the original language carries the idea of a violent eradication of war, a termination of these things, "I will cut off," I will completely terminate, "the chariot from Ephraim," another word for Israel, "and the horse from Jerusalem; and the bow of war will be cut off. And he will speak peace to the nations; and His dominion will be from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth." Why didn't Matthew mention any of that? Well, the answer is simple. Because the king at that point, did not come to establish his kingdom and occupy his messianic throne and rule at that time. What verse 10 is speaking about is the peace that will exist during the kingdom age. Alva J. McClain says quote, "If the colt ridden by the king, upon his arrival had to be literal," and we know that it was, "so also," he goes on to say, "must the warfare be literal, which will be abolished when he reigns." All right? He goes on to say, "If Matthew had believed in a present Messianic reign, ushered in by the first coming of the King, here would have been the time and place to cite, in full, the details of Zechariah, nine, nine through 10." But he says, "Not a word about the wondrous things of verse 10." Well, of course, verse 10 is going to happen, but it didn't happen when Jesus came the first time, it will happen when he comes the second time. And I marvel at all this. Jesus' humble entry into Jerusalem, was really a precursor to his second coming when he will come riding on a white horse as its described in Revelation 19:11, when he will come to conquer his enemies, and usher in peace and prosperity, all consistent with his is Abrahamic and Davidic, and New Covenant promises.

Now notice what else Jesus did to demonstrate that he indeed was the messianic king of Israel, according to Old Testament prophecy. And this is my sixth point in this little outline. And here we look at Jesus permitting the public to proclaim his regal person, Jesus permitting the public to proclaim his regal person. This is really interesting. First of all, notice all four gospels describe how the people give full throated praise to Jesus as the Messiah. When he comes in, again, Mark 11, at the end of verse nine, "Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord; blessed is the coming Kingdom of our David, of our father David; Hosanna, in the highest!" Matthew chapter 21, verse eight, "Most of the crowd spread their coats in the road, and others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them in the road. The crowds were going ahead of Him, and those who followed were shouting, 'Hosanna, to the son of David;" By the way, the "Son of David” was a common messianic title. They knew exactly who he was and claimed to be. "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest!" And I might add that this was taken from Psalm 118 verse 26, "Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord." That by the way, Psalm 118, is the sixth and final psalm of the Egyptian Hallel sung before and after the Passover meal in the Jewish community. And it was also sung at the Last Supper by Jesus and his disciples. So you see how all of these intricacies fit together precisely, to accomplish God's plan. Luke 19 verse 38, "Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord; Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!" John 12, verse 12, "A large crowd who had come to the feast," goes on to say, "took the branches of the palm trees and went out to meet Him, and began to shout, 'Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel.'"

I might add that to the idea of spreading your garments in the road for a coming King was something that they would do. And it basically denoted your willingness to be in total submission to the king and let him just kind of march over you. So that's what they were doing here. And the waving of the palm branches was customary when welcoming an approaching monarch. Moreover, the waving of the palm branches was part of the Feast of Tabernacles. And this all fits in to the whole theme of what's happening here. That was a seven-day celebration commemorating the deliverance and the protection and the provision that God gave the Israelites during the wilderness wanderings of the Exodus. And it also was a testimony to God's blessing to them in the harvest time in the autumn, according to Leviticus 23:39 through 40. And I might also add that that will be celebrated during the Millennial Kingdom, according to Zechariah 14:16. So the people understood the Regal meaning of the Lord's entry into Jerusalem. But here's what's fascinating. Prior to this scenario, the Lord Jesus would not allow any public acclamation of his Messiahship.

Boy, there's a big shift here, what is going on? You remember Matthew 16:20, "Then He warned the disciples that they should tell no one that he was the Christ." Any public proclamation of Him as Messiah would really upset everything that he's trying to do, because then at that point, not only would they lose all attention to his gospel message, but also they're going to want to make him king right then and there. You see, people want free stuff. That's part of our human nature. I mean, be honest, we all want free stuff. And certainly, then they wanted free stuff. And that's what they saw with Jesus. You know, I'm not interested about this, you know, all this forgiveness of sin, I'm good. You know I keep the law. I mean, that's the idea. I'm a good person. I'm a child of Abraham, or whatever. People think that way today. I mean, people want reward without responsibility, right? And by the way, politicians have played this game for years, to get people reward without responsibility. This is how they stay in power. I mean, this has been the whole modus operandi of the Democratic Party for years and years and years; to offer people free stuff, reward without responsibility, so that they can stay in power. That's why we're $33 trillion in debt and we don't have a border; to let more and more people come in to vote them into office. So I mean, this is nothing new. And that's what was going on with those people.

You see if I can put it very clearly, man's lust for the fleeting pleasures of life will utterly eclipse any thought of needing to be reconciled to a holy God. Now bear in mind prior to this massive public ovation of his Messiah ship, Jesus just allowed his miraculous works and the prophetic scriptures and his teaching to give witness to him, but he would not allow public acclamation. You will recall in John six and verse 15, we read, "So Jesus, perceiving that they were intending to come and take Him by force to make Him king withdrew again to the mountain by Himself alone." He didn't want that. And this was also why Jesus removed himself from the large cities and went into the desert regions, especially removed himself from Jerusalem in order to conduct his ministry, but now--now is the perfect time. This is the time. Now he allows the multitudes to shout the truth of who he is, with all of their might. Luke 19:38, "Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord; Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!" But then notice what happens. "Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, 'Teacher, rebuke Your disciples!' But Jesus answered, 'I tell you, if these become silent, the stones will cry out!'"

I might also add that Jesus is allowing this for another reason. You see Israel's public acknowledgement and praise of his royal credentials would later be used against them when they rejected him. Isn't it amazing what began with praise very quickly deteriorated into condemnation. My dear friends, how quickly sinful men and women will turn against the true Christ, once they understand that he is not the idol that they have created him to be. So everything Jesus did, was orchestrated to reach the high point of this day of his triumphal entry, a day of Messianic presentation foretold by the Old Testament prophets, predicting the manner, the moment, the meaning of the king's final offer.

And following this, as we are going to see, he will speak a new series of parables, once he's in Jerusalem; parables about the kingdom. He will do battle with the religious elite one last time and humiliate them and then he is going to state his last lament, and judgment upon all, who reject Him. So dear friends, I hope with this overview, you can begin to see the amazing realities historically, theologically that's going on here, in this incredible scene. And I would challenge you to reflect upon this passage, because it encompasses all that Christ has done and will do. And remember this, that the one who came in humility, the lowly Messiah, the suffering servant, who offered Himself as the Lamb of God, is going to return again one day in power and great glory. And he will conquer his enemies. He will judge the nations, he will judge the wicked, all those that mock at him today--our King is coming again and he will establish his kingdom. My how I long for that day--how I long for that day, to think that he came first in obscurity, but he will come again in dazzling clarity. He said in Matthew 24:27, "'For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes even to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be.'" Nobody will miss it the next time he comes. He came the first time in humility, the second time, he's coming in glory. He came the first time to seek and to save--he will come again to judge the nations. He came the first time as a lamb, but he will come again as the Lion of Judah. He came the first time and he opened not his mouth, but he will return, as we read in Revelation 19:15, "and from His mouth comes a sharp sword ao that with it, He may strike down the nations and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fear the wrath of God, the Almighty."

Dear friend, if you have trusted in Christ as your only hope of salvation, you don't have to fear any of this. But if you haven't, you need to be absolutely terrified. Because the day is coming, when you will have to face the Lord Jesus Christ. And you will either do so in triumph or in terror. The good news is the gospel--that God has provided a way for each one of us as sinful people to be reconciled to Him as a holy God by placing our faith in our substitute, who paid the penalty for our sin in his body on the cross. And if you reject that, and you mock at that, one day you will experience the wrath of the Lord Jesus Christ, for he is the judge of heaven and earth. So let's rejoice in all that is ours in Christ, amen? And celebrate what he has done, is doing and will do. Let's pray.

Father, thank you so much for the power of your word. It brings such clarity to our understanding of all that we've seen historically, and it gives us such hope in what is yet future. So I pray once again, that you will move upon the heart of anyone that does not know you as Savior. Especially religious people who have played a religious game but they're Christian in name only. Lord, I pray that you will save them by your grace. And when you cause all of us who know and love you to live in light of your coming glory and we ask it for Jesus sake. Amen.