Hosanna; Behold Your King (Mt.21, 27) ~ 20250413~ Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org
04/13 Palm Sunday; Hosanna; Behold Your King; (Mt.21, 27); Audio available at: http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20250413_hosanna-behold-your-king.mp3
Today is Palm Sunday. If you remember two weeks ago we looked at John 12, where Mary of Bethany anointed Jesus with very costly fragrant oil. His disciples objected to the waste, but Jesus affirmed what she did as a ‘beautiful thing’. He recognized it, not as the anointing for service as a prophet, priest, or king; but in preparation of his body for burial. John continues:
John 12:9 When the large crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus was there, they came, not only on account of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 10 So the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well, 11 because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus. 12 The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. 13 So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” 14 And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written, 15 “Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey's colt!”
This is ‘Palm Sunday’.
The Humble King (Zechariah 9)
Matthew’s account fills in some details.
Matthew 21:1 Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.” 4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying, 5 “Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’”
This is a quote from Zechariah 9, written some 500 years earlier.
Zechariah 9:9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. .. 16 On that day the LORD their God will save them, as the flock of his people; for like the jewels of a crown they shall shine on his land. 17 For how great is his goodness, and how great his beauty! ...
Throughout Jesus’ ministry, he had avoided unnecessary attention. After many of his miraculous healings, “Jesus charged them to tell no one” (Mk.7:36; Lk.5:14; 8:56). He “strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ” (Mt.16:20).
John 6:15 Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself. (cf. Mt.14:22; Mk.6:45)
Jesus said things like ‘My hour has not yet come’ (Jn.2:4). But on this occasion, he intentionally orchestrated his public reception into Jerusalem. He presented himself to the crowds as their coming king, righteous and having salvation. Not riding in on a mighty war horse, but humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
The Son of David
Matthew 21:6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. 8 Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” 10 And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” 11 And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”
The crowds hailed him as ‘the Son of David’. In the Old Testament, this phrase is used almost exclusively in reference to Solomon, son of David, king of Israel. God said some amazing things to David about his son. Through the prophet Samuel, God said:
2 Samuel 7:11 ...I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the LORD declares to you that the LORD will make you a house. 12 When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men, 15 but my steadfast love will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. 16 And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.’” 17 In accordance with all these words, and in accordance with all this vision, Nathan spoke to David.
God promised that David’s house, David’s kingdom, David’s throne would be established forever. But the heart of David’s son Solomon was led astray by his foreign wives to serve other gods;
1 Kings 11:11 Therefore the LORD said to Solomon, “Since this has been your practice and you have not kept my covenant and my statutes that I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you and will give it to your servant.
It is not until Matthew 1 do we read:
Matthew 1:1 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
In response to the mighty works Jesus did;
Matthew 12:23 And all the people were amazed, and said, “Can this be the Son of David?”
Jesus himself said;
Matthew 12:42 The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.
After Palm Sunday, after Jesus is hailed as the coming King, David’s greater Son, after again cleansing the temple, on Tuesday of Passion week,
Matthew 22:41 Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question, 42 saying, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?” They said to him, “The son of David.” 43 He said to them, “How is it then that David, in the Spirit, calls him Lord, saying, 44 “‘The LORD said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet”’? 45 If then David calls him Lord, how is he his son?” 46 And no one was able to answer him a word, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions.
Jesus presents himself not only as David’s greater Son, one greater than Solomon, but as David’s Lord, David’s Master.
Hosanna; Save Now!
Matthew 21:9 And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”
Not only did the crowds hail Jesus as David’s greater Son, but they welcomed him with the words of Psalm 118; ‘Hosanna, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’ Here’s a little more of the context of Psalm 118
Psalm 118:19 Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the LORD. 20 This is the gate of the LORD; the righteous shall enter through it. 21 I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation. 22 The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. 23 This is the LORD's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. 24 This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. 25 Save us, we pray, O LORD! O LORD, we pray, give us success! 26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD! We bless you from the house of the LORD. 27 The LORD is God, and he has made his light to shine upon us. Bind the festal sacrifice with cords, up to the horns of the altar! 28 You are my God, and I will give thanks to you; you are my God; I will extol you. 29 Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!
In Matthew 24:42 Jesus quotes Psalm 118:22, identifying himself with the stone the builders rejected. The people recognize that this is the day that the LORD has made, a day of rejoicing, a day of salvation. So they cry out ‘Hosanna!’, the Hebrew of Psalm 118:26, which means ‘Save now!’ or ‘Save us we pray’. The people recognize Jesus as the King who is bringing salvation, who comes in the name of, with the authority of, as a representative of YHWH God himself.
Luke tells us that;
Luke 19:39 And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” 40 He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.”
Romans 8 tells us that all creation is groaning to be set free. All creation must recognize their coming King and Creator. One day the mountains will break forth in singing; the trees clap their hands (Is.55:12). “Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble…” (Zech.9:9).
Behold Your King!
We are going to jump forward in the story. After being condemned by the Jewish Sanhedrin of blasphemy for claiming to be the cloud-riding Son of Man from Daniel 7, when they brought him before Pilate, among other things, they accused him of claiming to be Messiah, a king (Lk.23:2).
Mark 15:2 And Pilate asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” And he answered him, “You have said so.”
Mark 15:12 And Pilate again said to them, “Then what shall I do with the man you call the King of the Jews?” 13 And they cried out again, “Crucify him.”
Mark 15:16 And the soldiers led him away inside the palace (that is, the governor's headquarters), and they called together the whole battalion. 17 And they clothed him in a purple cloak, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on him. 18 And they began to salute him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 19 And they were striking his head with a reed and spitting on him and kneeling down in homage to him. 20 And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. And they led him out to crucify him.
John 19:14 Now it was the day of Preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, “Behold your King!” 15 They cried out, “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.”
John 19:18 There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them. 19 Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.”
John tells us at the beginning of his gospel:
John 1:11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.
He Saved Others; He Cannot Save Himself
Just a few days earlier the people had been crying out: “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” (Mt.21:9). Hosanna; ‘Save us we pray! Save now!’ Now,
Matthew 27:39 And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads 40 and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” 41 So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying, 42 “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. 43 He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” 44 And the robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way.
Their cries turned from ‘Save us, we pray’ to a mocking ‘save yourself’. Even the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders could not deny that Jesus saved many. Salvation in the general sense can mean rescue from any danger; rescue from drowning, rescue from disease, rescue from demons. Jesus made the blind see, the lame walk, lepers were cleansed, even the dead were raised. The evidence was too much even for Jesus’ enemies to deny or ignore.
He saved others. That was their admission. But looking at Jesus, nailed to the cross, their assertion was ‘He cannot save himself.’
Jesus was in complete sovereign control. We saw that last week, when we looked at the garden and the cup. Jesus had determined to drink the cup that his Father had given him to drink. Jesus was no helpless victim; he was a willing substitute. Jesus said:
John 10:17 ...I lay down my life... 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord.
Jesus was not a victim of an unfortunate turn of circumstances. The Word who was with God and who was God, the one who created all things (Jn.1:1-3) ‘humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross (Phil.2:8).
There was truth to what they said deeper than they knew. In order to save others, he could not save himself. “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” (Mt.26:39). Jesus came “to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mt.20:28)
The omnipotent Son of God had the power to come down from the cross, but even if those who demanded it would have then believed in him, they would perish in their sins, because it was only in the sacrifice of the spotless Lamb of God that sins could be taken away. It is because he willingly chose to stay on that cross and endure the wrath of God against my sin, that I can today believe and be saved. Hosanna; save us we pray! That is why he came, and that is what he accomplished there on the cross.
And because he did, there is another Palm Sunday coming;
Revelation 7:9 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
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2025.04.13 Sermon Notes
Hosanna to the Son of David (Matt.21; 27)
Palm Sunday
John 12:9-15
Jesus the humble King
Matthew 21:1-5; Zechariah 9:9, 16-17; John 6:15
The Son of David will reign forever
Matthew 21:6-11; 2 Samuel 7:11-17
Jesus is the greater Solomon
1 Kings 11:11; Matthew 1:1; 12:23, 42; 22:41-46
Jesus is David’s Lord
Matthew 22:41-46; Psalm 110:1
Hosanna; Save Now!
Matthew 21:9; Psalm 118:19-29; Luke 19:39
Behold Your King!
Mark 15:2, 12-13, 16-20; 19:14-15; John 19:18-19; 1:11
He saved others; himself he cannot save
Matthew 27:39-44; John 10:17-18; Matthew 20:28; 26:39
Because of the cross, Palm Sunday is coming!
Revelation 7:9-10
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Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org