The Triumphal Entry

Good morning. Welcome to Calvary Chapel. Welcome all of you who are joining us online. We welcome you. And would you all stand with us?

And would you join me in prayer? Father, we thank you for the opportunity you've given us to come and worship you in song and to study your word, Lord God. I just want to ask for your blessing on our service. Father, I want to lift up the children's church teachers as they will be teaching the youngsters, Lord, and having worship time with them. And we lift up the youngsters, too,

that you would just give them a heart and a hunger for your word, Lord, and a desire for the things of you. Bring them up in your ways, Lord, and we just thank you. And now as we worship you in song and study your word, be glorified, Lord. We give you praise and thanks in Jesus' name. You may be seated. Father, we do thank you. We give you praise and glory right now, Lord.

We come just as we are. As some might say, with warts and all. And you take us and you make us, you shape us, you mold us, Lord. You love us. We thank you for that, Lord. And so, Father, I pray you would move in our hearts right now. It is easy for us each to resist sometimes what you want to do. As we come to sing, Lord, as we come to study, Lord, oh, would you just soften our hearts, Lord, in your Holy Spirit, Lord.

Oh, may we sense your presence, your love. Just present our bodies to you. Once and for all, as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to you, which is our reasonable service, our act of worship, Lord.

May we not be conformed to this world,

that we may know what that good and perfect will is, Lord, your will. You take us as we are. Know you as our Savior. You begin renovating us, Lord, making us those people you want us to be. And you do turn mourning into dancing and all those wonderful things we can trust you with.

Lord. As long as we're on topside this earth, Lord, you want us to look to you, the author and finisher of our faith. You're working in us both to will and do of your good pleasure. Nothing takes you by surprise. We can trust you in every area. We may be surprised. We don't even really totally understand. But you are in charge, Lord. And just as A.W. Tozer said, paraphrase,

when it looks like things are very confusing and all that's going behind the scenes, there's someone who's an authority, who's in control, and we can trust, Lord. And we can trust you in that.

Does this world dismay you right now? God is in control.

And just as Jesus asked the disciples, are you two going to go away there at the end of chapter 6 of John? And old Peter says, Lord, where else will we go? You have the words of eternal life. There's no place else to go. You love us. You died for us. You've risen from the dead. You raised from the dead. And you've. Ascended on high to the right hand of the Father, making intercession for us.

You love us.

One of the things John said in his first epistle. I write this that you may not sin, but if you do, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, our defense attorney. Amen? Yes. He's worthy of our praise. He's worthy of our praise. And so, Father, now as we continue our services, we fellowship a little bit here, and then we have that time in your Word.

By your Holy Spirit, your Holy Spirit, anoint and fill us afresh this morning. And as Ryan comes up and teaches your Word, anoint him by the power of your Holy Spirit to bring it forth with your power, Lord, give us hearts to receive that which you have and to yield to that which you show us, Lord, by your strength and through the guidance of the Holy Spirit. And, Father, we want to ask that you'd bless the children's church teachers as they teach the youngsters, Lord, that you would bless them. Amen.

Give them the words to say, Lord, as they teach your Word to those youngsters, and give those youngsters also hearts to receive. And, Lord, as the little ones are in the nursery, Lord, may there just be a calm there as the nursery workers are with them, and then we lift up our ushers and all that they do, just encourage them, Lord. And now, just the congregation here, move in our hearts, Lord. May your love reign among us, Lord.

In Jesus' name. Amen? Amen. The Lord bless you all. Have some fellowship.

Good morning.

Glad you could be here this morning. If you could start locating your seat. Grab a bulletin. We'll get ready to go over some announcements before we get going here.

Over on the left-hand side of your bulletin, as always, are the things that are happening throughout the week, so find some good spots to get plugged into. In the center section of your bulletin, a couple of things to pay attention to. First of all, our college and career group from here at Arc City is going to be going up September the 3rd. To join in with the folks up, the young adult group up in Wichita for a worship night.

So, if you are 18 to 25-ish range, and you're not plugged in yet to the college group, they meet on Friday nights over at Lewis' house, and they have a great time. Lots of good stuff goes on there. And so, this would be a great time for you to kind of get plugged in with them. Also, just a reminder, man, school, right? School started. Some people last week.

The lucky few for this week. School is starting. So, we just want to invite everybody to be in prayer for this school year, for the kids and the teachers that have to care for them. School is just a different place than it used to be, so we just need to keep all of them in prayer. So, please do so. Those are the things that are going on. If you would make sure that your mobile device is silenced, and for our responsive reading

this morning, we are going to be in Psalm 111. Psalm 111. We'll be looking at the New Testament. We'll be looking at the New Testament. We'll be looking at the New American Standard for the responsive reading, just so we sound the same. If you need a copy of a New American Standard, it should be one in a row. If there's not one in a row, as always, make a friend.

Psalm 111. As you're turning there, if you would stand in the honor of the reading of God's Word.

Psalm 111. I will read the odd verses, if you will follow along with Pastor Allen in the even verses. Praise the Lord. I will give thanks to the Lord with all my heart, in the company of the upright, and in the assembly. Great are the works of the Lord. They are studied by all who delight in them. Splendid and majestic is His work, and His righteousness endures forever.

He has made His wonders to be remembered. The Lord is gracious and compassionate. He has given food to those who fear Him. He will remember His covenant forever. He has made known to His people the power of His works, in giving them the heritage of the nations. The work of His hands are truth and justice. All His precepts are sure. They are upheld forever and ever.

They are performed in truth and uprightness. He has sent redemption to His people. He has ordained His covenant forever. Holy and awesome is His name. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. A good understanding have all those who do His commandments. His praise endures forever. Lord, we do thank You that You have sent forth Your redemption. Lord, as we learn about that this morning, as we learn about You coming into Jerusalem

to prepare Yourself for the crucifixion, the resurrection that guarantees our redemption. Lord, we praise You for that. Father, I pray that You would give us eyes to see and ears to hear what Your Spirit wants to minister to us this morning. And as always, may this be a day where we meet with You. Lord, we lift these things to You in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.

Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. And if you would, open up in your Bibles to the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 21. Matthew chapter 21.

The title of the message this morning is the triumphal entry, because that's exactly what's going to take place here this morning. Over the past few chapters, we've seen Jesus working His way towards Jerusalem. And as He did so, He's been instructing His disciples along the way. But now, it's time for Him to arrive at Jerusalem. And this arrival at Jerusalem is something that was not only,

not only anticipated throughout the ministry of Jesus, this arrival at Jerusalem was not just something that was anticipated throughout the life of Christ, it's something that had been anticipated since the time of Daniel the prophet. Rick referenced this a couple of weeks ago when I was gone, but in Daniel chapter 9, there's a prophecy that's given. And in that prophecy that's given in Daniel chapter 9, it says 70 weeks are decreed for the nation of Israel to bring an end. Of all these things.

And so after the 69th week, it says that from the time of the going forth of the decree to go back and rebuild the temple, after 69 sets of seven, the Messiah will be cut off, but not for Himself. What we're going to talk about this morning with the triumphal entry of Christ can actually be labeled down to the day of when the Messiah would come riding into Jerusalem to be cut off, but not for Himself, instead to be cut off for the sins of humanity, for my sins and for your sins. And so this really is one of the most pivotal points in history right here, because this begins the last week of the life of Christ on earth, the last week before He would face the crucifixion.

And so this section that we'll look at this morning, verses 1 through 17, will have three parts. We'll look at the preparation, we will look at the triumphal entry, and we will look at the cleansing of the temple. And so we pick up in verse 1 of chapter 21, and it says this, when they had approached Jerusalem and had come to Bethpage at the Mount of Olives, they had come to Bethpage at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples saying to them, go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey there, tied there, and a colt with her, untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, the Lord has need of them, and immediately he will send them.

This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet. Say to the daughter of Zion, behold, your king is coming to you, gentle and mounted on a donkey, even a colt. Excuse me, the foal of a beast of burden. Now as his disciples arrive, as Jesus and his disciples arrive just outside of Jerusalem, we're given a little bit of a locational stamp here, it's at the area of Bethpage.

We're said that, we're told that they are near the Mount of Olives, and just outside of Jerusalem. The Mount of Olives, of course, is a really important place for about the next week, because the disciples on the Mount of Olives will ask Jesus a couple of questions, particularly having to do with the end times. And he will teach them. He will teach them about that.

It's what's often referred to as the Olivet Discourse. So the Mount of Olives is a really important location for us to pay attention to. But as he's there, he needs to prepare not only himself, but his disciples for what's coming. And he needs a good ride to get into Jerusalem. So what he does is he sends his disciples on this journey. Interestingly enough, he's going to send them after a donkey, and really not even specifically

a donkey, but that which is with the donkey, the colt of a donkey. Now, if I'm a king, and I want to come riding into town. In the most amazing way possible, well, in our day and age, I would come riding in on like an Escalade, right? Like black Escalade, that thing would just be decked out. That's how I'd come rolling into town. But if I was coming rolling into town in AD 33, I would come in on a black stallion.

As a matter of fact, that's how a conquering Roman general or a Roman king would come riding into town. He would never consider riding into town on the back of a donkey. Now, this is not completely understandable. It's unheard of. As a matter of fact, this is the way kings would have ridden into town under Jewish law. Because in the book of Deuteronomy, one of the commands that's given is, you shall not

amass horses unto yourself. You shouldn't have a whole host of horses. Now, interestingly enough, we should ask ourselves the question, why is that? Well, remember, God said, do not boast in horses or chariots, but boast in them. This, that you know me. Some trust in horses and chariots, you should trust in me. And so, that's part of the reason why he said not to amass horses for yourself.

Interestingly enough, Saul and David both would have only ridden on a donkey. Really, horses were not used very much in the nation of Israel until the time of Solomon, who ironically broke that law and began to amass for himself horses. As a sidebar, the very next thing it says in the book of Deuteronomy is not to, for a king, not to amass wives. To themselves, Solomon sort of screwed that one up too, which is kind of why the kingdom got divided, but that's a whole other study all in and of itself.

But Jesus comes in in a very different way than the Roman generals would have, because he comes in on the colt of a donkey. Now, as I look at this, and his command that he gives to the disciples, I have two main questions. The two main questions I have are these. How do they know which donkey? Have you ever thought about that? This is Jerusalem in ancient Israel.

I'm thinking donkeys are somewhat common at that point in time. Now, full disclosure, I don't know very much about donkeys, right? My wife teaches in Dexter, Kansas, and occasionally donkeys show up at school because people own them and they bring them as show and tell. That's about the most I know about donkeys is what she tells me from what she's learned from her students.

So perhaps it could be that they would identify the donkey they're looking for because it would be the only one tied with its colt. I don't know. But if I'm walking through the streets of some random village and going, is that the donkey he's talking about? Well, it's got a colt with it. I hope it's the right donkey he's talking about. Okay, that's the first question that I have.

Second question that I have is this. Do you take note of what Jesus said would happen? Listen, you're going to find this donkey. It's going to be tied up with a colt. You're going to go ahead and just snag that donkey and bring it with you. If anybody shows up to say, what the heck? What are you doing with my donkey? Just be like, the master has need of him.

And he'll be like, all right, that's good. I was thinking about this this week, and I think Monday what I'm going to do is I'm going to send Lewis to Zephaniah. Zeller Ford. And I'm going to say, there's going to be a black F-150 there, and here's what I want you to do. I want you to go grab the keys to it, and I want you to drive it back. And if the owner of Zeller Ford says, what the heck are you doing with my Ford?

Be like, my boss has need of it. Let's just see what happens, right? Like, maybe this is a thing. Well, anyway, I don't think that's really what happened. Some people actually read a miracle into this that somehow, like, Jesus performed some miracle that some random guy didn't know what was coming. And so he was like, oh, well, if the king needs him, then great.

I don't think that was probably the case. I think probably what happened is that this was not Jesus' first trip to the region of Jerusalem. I think that probably in times past when Jesus would have shown up as a good Jewish male would have for all of the feasts, he probably knew somebody in that village. My guess is when he was there for the fall feasts, he said, hey, come springtime.

When the Passover season hits, I'm going to need to use your donkey. I'll probably send my disciples after him. Is it okay if I come riding into town on yours? And the guy probably said, yes. So Jesus probably arranged this ahead of time. But he has it perfectly squared away and perfectly arranged, and he gives his disciples the exact idea of what they're going to be looking for.

And so Matthew now gives us just a little bit of a commentary on why this is important. It says in verse 4, this took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet. Say to the daughter of Zion, behold, your king is coming to you. Gentle and mounted on a donkey, even on the colt, the foal of a beast of burden. Now this prophecy that Matthew points out, which by the way, he's so good at pointing out to us all the places that Jesus fulfills.

This prophecy that Matthew points out is given to us in the book of Zechariah, chapter 9, verse 9. I'd like for you to turn there real quick. It quotes it almost exact, but I think it's good for us to be able to navigate our Bibles. So go back two books. You'll go past Malachi, get to the book of Zechariah.

Zechariah. Zechariah, chapter 9, verse 9. It says, 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. Again, he almost gives us an exact quotation of what it says in Zechariah, chapter 9, verse 9.

Here's the one thing I want to point out to you. Can you imagine Zechariah? Can you imagine Zechariah writing this all those years ago? Having no idea why he's writing this down. Having no idea why there's any sort of significance. And yet, there was great messianic significance of what was happening. Because after all, that's what Zechariah is talking about.

This coming Messiah. And so, as Matthew points it out, the fact that Jesus comes riding into town is really important. Because he comes riding into town the exact way that the Messiah was supposed to come riding into town. Lowly. On the colt. On the colt of a donkey. He's fulfilling messianic prophecy. Well, the other thing that I have found to be kind of interesting about this section is this.

Go back to Matthew, chapter 21. There's two things I find to be kind of interesting about this. The first one is that after he gives the prophecy, it says that he will be coming in gentle and mounted on a donkey. Now, of course, we know that who he actually came riding in on was the colt. And if you were to look at Mark's account, you would know that this colt had never been ridden on before.

Now, again, I don't know very much about farm animals, particularly donkeys, but I do know this. No animal will be ridden on in a natural sort of way without first being broken. Because that's not what they want. They have to learn to submit to the will of the rider in order to be useful in that way. And yet, Jesus is able for the first time ever to sit on this donkey and it gave him no issue.

Because he is Lord over all of creation. Isn't it kind of interesting that the colt of this donkey was willing to submit itself to Jesus Christ, and yet you and I struggle with it so much? It's just a thought. And so, what really sticks out to me is the word gentle. The word gentle in some of your other translations is also translated lowly or meek. Lowly. Lowly.

Lowly. Lowly. Lowly. Lowly. Lowly. Lowly. Lowly. Lowly. Lowly. Lowly. Lowly. Lowly. Lowly. Lowly. Lowly. Lowly. Lowly. Lowly. Lowly. Lowly. Lowly. Lowly. Lowly. Lowly. Lowly. Lowly. Lowly. Lowly. Lowly. Lowly. Lowly. Lowly. Lowly. Lowly. Lowly. Lowly. Lowly. Lowly. Lowly. It stuck out to me because that's the way Jesus came riding into Jerusalem this very first time.

When it was time for him to approach the city, he did so in a gentle and lowly and meek and humble sort of way. Because when he came the first time, he did not roll into Jerusalem as the conquering king. When he came the first time, he rolled into Jerusalem as the suffering servant. And it makes him relatable to you and I. Everything about Jesus and the way that he showed up that first time is what makes him so relatable to you and I.

Because there is something very common about us. There is something very lowly about us. And yet Jesus, though riding in a kingly sort of fashion, the way ancient kings of Israel should have, still came in in such a way that he was gentle and humble and lowly. But the second thing that stuck out to me is this. And it's the phrase that's used to describe the donkey.

Even on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden. When I hear that phrase, beast of burden, I'm reminded of the fact that the donkey had one job. And that was to carry the burdens of others. That donkey had one job. It was to be a servant to its master. What had Jesus just told us in the previous chapter? Jesus had just told his disciples when they were debating about who was going to be the greatest.

If you want to be great in the kingdom of heaven, what must you learn to be? You must learn to be a servant. You must learn. You must learn to be the slave of all. And then he held himself up as the example that they should follow. Because after all, the son of man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. If you will, the son of man came as one who bore the burdens of humanity.

I think that this messianic prophecy that's given to us is very interesting. Because the king comes riding in very lowly. And he comes riding in lowly as a servant. Something for us all to pay attention to. Well, now that the preparations have been made, it's time for the triumphal entry. We pick up in verse 6. It says, The disciples went and did just as Jesus had instructed them.

They brought the donkey and the colt and they laid their coats on them. And he sat on the coats. 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 going ahead of him and those who followed were shouting, Hosanna to the son of David. Hosanna to the son of David. Hosanna to the son of David.

Hosanna to see who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest. And when he entered Jerusalem, all the city was stirred saying, Who is this? And the crowds were saying, This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee. Now what's interesting to me is we get no like sidebar as to what it was like to move into Jerusalem. I have questions here. When did Jesus first mount the donkey?

When did he first get on that thing to start riding into town? Was it well outside of Jerusalem? Was it as he first came to the edge of the city? When did people actually begin the process of starting to throw down jackets and palm branches in front of him? And then here's the greatest question that I have of all. How'd they know it was Jesus? How'd they know that it was time to start doing this?

How'd they know he was the Messiah? How'd they know to start saying this? Those are some questions that I have as we approach this next section. And so it starts off by saying, His disciples went and did exactly as he told them. They went, they found the donkey, they brought it to Jesus. And then the first thing it says that they do is they took their outer garments off.

And if you will, they created a saddle for Jesus on the back of the donkey. So that he could stay a little bit clean while he was doing what he was doing. And then Jesus gets on the foal of the donkey and he begins to ride it into town. And the crowds react in a most fascinating sort of way. They react by doing three things. The first two things that they do is they lay things in front of Jesus.

They took, first of all, palm branches. And they cut off palm branches and they begin to lay them in front of Jesus. Now, initially, we might think that seems like no big deal. Why would they have chosen palm branches? Well, to understand why they chose palm branches, we have to look just a little bit into the history of the nation of Israel. During the 400 silent years, which we often call the intertestamental periods

between the Old and the New Testament, there was a point in time in which the nation of Israel was taken over. Actually, the entire time. This was happening. The nation of Israel was taken over by another government. There was a man who came into town. His name was Antiochus Epiphanes. And when he came into town, he took over Jerusalem and he desecrated the temple by sacrificing a pig there in the temple.

Now, there was a group of people, notice the Maccabeans, and they revolted. It was actually called the Maccabean revolt. They revolted against Antiochus and all of his army. And as they revolted, they were led by a guy named Judas Maccabeus. They ultimately revolted against Antiochus. They ultimately took back over the city of Jerusalem. They cleansed the temple, and they were able to restore worship again.

But when the Maccabeans took back over Jerusalem, Judas Maccabeus came riding into Jerusalem as the conqueror. And do you know what it tells us in the book of 1 and 2 Maccabees that took place when he came riding into town? They took, wait for it, palm branches, and they laid them in front of him as he came riding into town. You see, if you will, they're picturing that same thing taking place.

The Romans were the conquering people, and they saw Jesus, this lightning rod sort of figure who brought so much hope to the people, they saw him as that potential conquering king. And so they started thinking about it. They said, let's lay our palm branches in front of him. Then there was a second thing that they began to lay in front of him. It says, most of the crowd spread their coats in the road.

Now that's kind of an interesting picture to me. Now, most of us probably own a good, good number of coats. I know that I do. And so to sacrifice one of them probably wouldn't be too big of a deal. But the people living in ancient Jerusalem at this point in time were not a people that were very wealthy. And they probably only owned one outer cloak. And yet, as Jesus comes riding into Jerusalem on this colt of a donkey,

they made the sacrifice of taking their one outer cloak and laying it in the dirt so that a donkey could ride on top of it. Now, as I've mentioned, I've never ridden on a donkey before, but I have ridden on horses before. And you know, I've taken note of what horses do when they're riding, when you're riding them, whatever they want, right? If they need to use the bathroom, the world is their latrine.

Not to mention, they're just dirty animals, right? And yet, what does each of these individuals do? They're taking off their outer cloak, probably the only one that they own. And they're laying it down in front of a donkey. But you see, they're not seeing the donkey. They're only seeing the king. And so, they make a sacrifice for the king because he means so much to them.

As I was thinking about this, I was thinking about a couple of different passages in Scripture, both in the Psalms and in the book of Hebrews. And we're told something about praise in both of those places. We are told that we are to bring to the Lord a sacrifice of praise. And I'm reminded that that's what we do with God, is we bring him a sacrifice. Sacrifice of praise.

Key word there being sacrifice. You see, sometimes, we're really good at praising God when everything's going our way. Am I right? Like, man, when God's pouring on the blessings, showers of blessings to me. That's a great old hymn, by the way. Then, when mercy drops around us or falling, you know, it's just, it's a great thing. And we just sing out to the Lord.

Praise God for who you are. After all, I've got time right now. Everything's going great. I'm going to praise God. That's not much of a sacrifice, though, is it? But when nothing's going your way, as a matter of fact, everything's just gone the opposite direction. Everything in your life is falling apart. You don't even have the time to really stop and praise.

But you decide, but the most important thing I can do right now is praise God. Because I can never be who God calls for me to be unless I am first a worshiper. And it doesn't matter how I feel. It doesn't matter what my circumstances are. I will praise Him in spite of whatever's happening in my life. You see, at that point in time, it becomes a sacrifice of praise.

You know what God said every time in the Old Testament that they offered a sacrifice out of a pure heart to Him? Do you know what He called it? He called it a sweet-smelling aroma. That means that when we praise God, even when it's a sacrifice, you know what God does? You know, that smells good. Because it's the aroma of Christ. They offered to God the sacrifice of praise.

And so as they're doing so, as they're laying out these coats before Him, they begin to shout something out. They begin to shout, Hosanna to the Son of David, blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest. Well, of course, this is an Old Testament quotation as well. It comes out of Psalm 118. So if you would please turn with me to Psalm 118.

And I want you to start in verse 24. It'll do. It'll do. It'll take you a minute to get past Psalm 119. But once you're past it, Psalm 118. Let's look at verse 24. Psalm 118 is what we would call a messianic psalm. In other words, as the psalmist was penning this, he may not have even realized, but it was a psalm that spoke distinctly of the Messiah. And everybody knew Psalm 118 was a messianic psalm.

So let's look at verse 24. It says, This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. And for those of you that have grown up, in church, you're singing the song right now, aren't you? That's what I'm doing, right? You're lucky I'm not singing it right now. Or making you guys sing it. If you were my students, I would. Anyway, it says,

Oh Lord, we beseech you. Do sin prosperity. Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. We have blessed you from the house of the Lord. Did you notice the language? First of all, it says, This is the day that the Lord has made. Now, the specific context of that is that it's speaking of the day that the Messiah will rule and reign. That is the day that the Lord has made,

which is why we can rejoice and be glad in it. Did you notice the next verse? Excuse me, next verse, verse 25. Oh Lord, do save, we beseech you. Oh Lord, we beseech you, sin prosperity. That phrase, do save, they end up turning and translating and using the phrase, Hosanna, which means save now. It's almost a direct quotation out of Psalm 118, this messianic psalm.

So the most fascinating thing takes place. Jesus comes riding into town on the colt of a donkey, just like Zachariah said that the Messiah would do. People begin laying palm branches in front of him because they think he's the conquering king, but they begin crying something out. They begin crying, Hosanna, the messianic psalm, the messianic cry, Hosanna, which means save now.

But what did they want Jesus to save them from? They weren't thinking anything about sin. They weren't thinking anything about spiritual things. They wanted Jesus to save them from Roman occupation. They wanted Jesus to set them free from Roman occupation. They were looking for the wrong kind of Savior. The great thing is that, though they were looking for the Savior they didn't need,

Jesus would be the Savior that they did need. As I was reading this and thinking about it, I thought how often we in the Western culture, we in the modern church today can act just like the nation of Israel at that point in time, looking for the wrong Savior. I think it happens in a couple of ways. First of all, it happens on a large scale because I think most of the church in America right now is looking for the wrong Savior.

We're looking for the Savior who will make America great again. We're looking for the Savior who will lower our gas prices. We're looking for the Savior who will lower our grocery prices, who will take it to where, we're no longer the laughing stock of the world any longer on the political and military stage. We're looking for the Savior who will set us free from inflation and border crises.

And brothers and sisters, if that's the kind of Savior you're looking for, you're acting just like the nation of Israel right now because that's the wrong kind of Savior. Don't get me wrong. We have been blessed in this nation with the ability to help in the process of choosing our leaders and we should take full advantage of that. And we should try to cast our vote for leaders that most reflect biblical values that we can.

But when it comes right down to it, we are not looking for a political Savior. Let me take that back. We should not be looking for a political Savior. We should be looking for someone who will save us from our sin. You know, though, this happens on a personal level in our lives sometimes. You see, oftentimes many people are looking for the wrong Savior because they're looking for the Savior that will make them happy.

They're looking for the Savior that will answer their prayers. They're looking for the Savior that will bring some sort of fulfillment to their life. They're looking for the Barbie Savior, right? World peace in my own apartment. That's what too many of us as individual Christians are looking for. And brothers and sisters, we have to realize something. That may be the Savior we want,

but that's not the Savior that we need because the Savior that we need will deal with the root of every problem that we have. And the root of every problem that we have has one source, and that source is sin. Sin is the root of every issue that we have, every problem that we have. Everything that we need saved from all gets rooted back in sin. Whatever issue it is that you're facing in your life,

it all roots back to some aspect of sin. Whether it's sin that you've committed or the overarching effect of sin in our culture, it all comes back to that. And Jesus will not be the Savior that makes you happy. Jesus will not be the Savior that brings you fulfillment. Jesus will not be the Savior who gives you everything that you want. Understand. Does he answer our prayers?

Absolutely. Is my life full of joy because of knowing Jesus? Yep. Do I have a purpose in my life because I know Jesus? Yep. But you know why? Because he dealt with the main issue that I had. The main issue that I had was sin. Just like the main issue that you have is sin. What kind of Savior are you looking for? Because he'll only be one kind. He won't be the kind that you want.

He will be the kind that you need. But they cried out, Hosanna. Hosanna, son of David. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest. Verse 10. And when he had entered Jerusalem, all the city was stirred, saying, who is this? That word stirred is a great word. Some of your translations may say all the city was moved. The word literally in the Greek is seismic.

You know what seismic is? It has to do with earthquakes. In other words, you could translate that literally by saying the entire city was shaken. Now, I don't think a literal earthquake took place, not yet. But that's the idea of the effect of Jesus riding into town is that the whole city was shaken to its core. The religious people were shaken. The common man was shaken.

We're going to see in just a minute that all of the financial world will be shaken. It all got rocked when Jesus rolled into town. And you know what? The one question everybody who didn't know very much about Jesus said, who is this? Right? That's the question I've had. You can imagine it, right? They're throwing their coat down. They're putting palm trees.

They're like, who is this guy? Don't get me wrong. I can put a palm branch down with the best of them, but I just don't know who this guy is. Who is this? And I love the response. Because notice what it says. The crowds were saying, well, this is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth and Galilee. And we hear that and we go, Jesus from Nazareth and Galilee. They heard that and went,

huh? That's the most common thing anybody could have said about Jesus. Remember, what is another name for Jesus? Joshua. Right? The name Jesus comes from the Hebrew word Yahshua. Well, if you translate the word Yahshua into English, that word is Joshua. Now, we hear Jesus and we think, ah, Jesus. They heard Jesus and they meant, you mean one of the 27 that I know?

Because everybody named their kid Joshua. Because everybody wanted their kid to be the Savior. Everybody wanted their kid to be the Messiah. Right? Like third Josh down the street. That's why they identified him as Jesus. This is the most common name he could have had at that point in time. But then it gets better. They're like, well, this is the prophet, Josh.

And he's from Nazareth and Galilee. Do you remember what they said about Nazareth? Does anything good come out of Nazareth? Right? Like Nazareth was the armpit of the nation of Israel. Right? Right? Like if somebody said, well, that's Joshua from Ark City. They'd be like, who? It's the most common thing you could possibly say. Because that's who Jesus identified with.

He identified with the most common of the people. Because what made him great is who he was, not what they called him. And so, as Jesus moves into Jerusalem, a lot of things are going to take place. But the very first thing that takes place after his triumphal ride into Jerusalem is the cleansing of the temple. Jesus entered the temple, drove out all those who were buying and selling in the temple.

He overturned the tables of the money changers, the seats of those who were selling doves. He said to them, it's written, my house shall be called a house of prayer. But you are making it a robber's den. The blind and the lame came to him in the temple and he healed them. But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he'd done, the children who were shouting in the temple,

Hosanna to the son of David, they became indignant, said to him, do you hear what these children are saying? And Jesus said, yes. Have you never read out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies? You have prepared praise for yourself. And he left them and went out of the city to Bethany and he spent the night there. Now again, we're given no fanfare or explanation

of how he got from riding the colt into the temple. Well, here's what I want to know. Here's my question. When did he get off the colt? How long was that ride? Was it like all the way through Jerusalem? And he's, and they're like, do it again. He's like, no, that was the last time. All right, off. I got work to do, right? I don't know. At some point in time, he gets off the colt

and it was time to go to his dad's house. Time to go where he was supposed to be. And he goes into the temple. And as he goes into the temple, he has to take care of some business. Now for us to understand what Jesus did and why he did it, let's paint quickly the picture. What the temple would have looked like at this point in time. There was a couple of outer courts

that took place in the temple. There was, first of all, the court of the Gentiles. That's where all of this is going to take place. Anybody could go into the court of the Gentiles. Then there was another court, which was the court of the women and then the court of the men. And then was the place where only the priests were allowed to go. But in this court of the Gentiles,

all of these merchants had set themselves up. And as these merchants set themselves up, they were a little bit, shall we say, shady about the way that they did some things. Everybody, when they came to Jerusalem, had to bring a sacrifice. This was the Passover. But remember, a sacrifice had to be spotless. Therefore, if you just arrived from traveling, you might show up with a lamb

that you had chosen to be your spotless sacrifice. But if I was a guy who wanted to take advantage of people and make a little bit of extra money, here's what I would do. I would say, you have to have your lamb examined by this rabbi here. Oh, we found a spot on this. That's not acceptable at all. But I have for you a brand new 2022 spotless lamb that's pre-certified.

And for a low, low price, I can make that yours so that you can offer the right sacrifice to God. And they'd make a little bit of extra money. We'll keep your old one. Don't worry about that. We'll call it a trade-in. So that was one thing that would take place. Second thing that would take place is there were money changers. Everybody, when they showed up,

to the temple, had to pay the half-shekel temple tax. Only everybody at that point in time used Roman currency. Well, you could not use Roman currency to pay the temple tax. You had to use the Jewish currency. So they had money changers who, of course, jacked up the exchange rate. They would take a whole lot more Roman currency than that half-shekel actually deserved.

And they were making money off of it. Now, as bad as these things are, I want you to think about where all these things are set up. These things are all set up in the court of the Gentiles, meaning who could go in there? The Gentiles. Who is the nation of Israel supposed to be? A light to the nations. What had they just told all of the Gentiles who don't know God

that they were supposed to be a light to? God cares about one thing and one thing only, your money. They were keeping people from knowing God. They were keeping people from approaching God. And so when Jesus showed up to the temple and he saw everything that was going on, he got fired up. But this isn't the first time that Jesus has done this, at least not according to the way

that I understand scripture. In John chapter two, he did this exact same thing, probably the very first time that he showed up at the temple as after he had started his earthly ministry. He does the exact same thing. But Jesus had undoubtedly been to the temple since then. Matter of fact, we read a couple of stories about him being at the temple. And yet, this particular time,

Jesus found that he couldn't take what was going on. He dealt with it long enough. He was going to do something about it again. Have you ever had that moment where you can let something go for so long and you're like, okay, didn't bother me today, didn't bother me today, today, it bothers me, right? I told first service a story. I had a kid in my Bible class one time

and he fell asleep every day in Bible class. Now, you all know my philosophy. If what you do here on a Sunday morning is that I give you the sweetest, most peaceful rest you've ever had in your life, sleep on. I have no issue with that whatsoever, right? I've worked with kids forever. I'm used to people, I've fallen asleep. I'm used to students falling asleep.

I don't usually throw things at them. It's crossed my mind. But I do like to say something embarrassing to them. I'll embarrass them a little bit. But this particular young man really fired me up. He fell asleep every day in my class. And not just kind of like, he fell asleep in my class. Well, this particular morning, he comes in, doesn't even open his Bible,

lays his head on the table, doesn't take part in our question of the day or our prayer request time, nothing. He literally falls asleep on the table and drools. Not a little bit. I'm just calling it out right now. I will leave this young man nameless. You've never met him before. He drooled all the table. Well, this particular morning, it just, it burned my biscuits, right?

I was just like, you know what? No, not today. I'm not letting this go today. And so I'm looking at him. I'm teaching the class. And finally, I just, in the growliest voice I could possibly work up, I hollered his name. And I think three kids wet their pants. I don't usually yell in class. Like they're just not used to hearing it. I don't usually yell in class.

I don't usually yell in class. They're not hearing that from me. I was telling my oldest daughter this story. And I'm like, yeah, they're just, they're not used to me raising my voice. And she's like, it's because they've never been to our house. That's different. You're mine. Anyway, so I hollered at him. And I make, I'm like, go stand over there in the corner

and do not fall back asleep. So he goes and he positions himself in the corner. This is the greatest part, okay? He then slowly slides down the wall and then lays over on the floor. And one of my students raised their hand. They're like, uh, Mr. Nichols, do you, do you, I think at some point in time, all I can be is impressed. And I never messed with him again, right?

Because even when you correct it, sometimes they go back. Probably the same thing happened with Jesus. So that's what happens with Jesus. He's like, I can't take it this time. I got to do something about it. They're making a mockery of the temple. They're keeping people from knowing God. I have to deal with it. And so he goes in hair on fire and he's turning over tables.

Notice what? It says, it says, Jesus entered the table and drove out all who were buying and selling in the temple. You ever thought about what that might've looked like? Jesus is driving people out. He didn't just get a little worked up and raised his voice. He forced them to leave. He drove them out of the place. Can you imagine sheep everywhere, right? Like just bleeding all over the place.

Not bleeding like, but bleeding like, right? It's all over the place. Doves flying everywhere. People just flying. Freaking out about this whole thing. And then it gets better because notice what it says. And then he overturned the tables of the money changers. And maybe my favorite part is, and the seats of those who are selling doves. It's like he's flipping tables and he's like,

and the chair, right? I read this meme one time and it said, just remember the next time you ask, what would Jesus do? Flipping tables over is absolutely in the realm of possibility. I've never looked at that statement the same sense. But Jesus is so fired up about what they're doing that he goes ape on this place. I want you to understand something though.

At no point in time do I believe Jesus lost his control. I believe Jesus was absolutely under control on this whole thing. Because it was a righteous indignation that he had at this point in time. Why? He tells us right here. He said, it's written, my house shall be called a house of prayer. He said, my house should be a place where people can seek the Lord.

Where people can seek God. And you have, have kept that from happening. Because as bad as it was that they were making extra money off of people, as bad as it was that they were taking advantage of people, the worst thing that they were doing was preventing people from knowing their savior. Was preventing people from knowing God. So he cleansed that temple.

And it was a great reminder for me that if we as a church are ever doing anything that's preventing people from knowing God, then it has to change. Because this house should be called a house of prayer. One of the other gospel accounts of this, by the way, this is given in all four gospel accounts. One of the other gospel accounts of this says, it shall be called a house of prayer for all nations.

In other words, no one excluded. But notice what Jesus says. He said, but you, you've made it into a robber's den. Goes on from there to say, and the blind and the lame came to him in the temple. And he healed them. I love this next verse because once he had dealt with the uncleanness in the temple, once he had dealt with the issue that was taking place in the temple,

ministry could really take place again. Because one of the things that happens is when you turn God into a God who only cares how much money you make, all the people that don't make any money, they feel really excluded. All the people that maybe don't have that place in society, they start feeling really excluded. And that's not ever what God intended. God intended that he would be approachable by everyone.

Even the outcasts of society, which at that point in time were the lame and the blind. Even those that maybe the rest of society looked down upon. And again, I've brought this up before, but I would like to bring it up again. We as a church should be a church that welcomes God. He welcomes all. Even the outcasts of society. Even the people who look a little bit different than us.

The people who smell a little bit different than us. The people who believe even, listen, the people who even believe politically different than us. The people who believe that sexuality is a little bit different than we do. We should be accepting of all those people. Now, before you walk out on me, we should not accept them and say, stay the way that you are.

We accept them so that we can give them the truth. Brothers and sisters, there's a whole society of people out there that absolutely feel rejected by the church because they don't feel like they could ever darken the door of a church because they would not be accepted. Brothers and sisters, may this never be. Because who were the first people that Jesus found himself ministering to?

The outcasts of society. Here's the great thing about Jesus, though. He was a man of God. He was a man of God. He was a man of God. He was a man of God. He never left people the way that he found them. He never left people in their same sinful state. He welcomed them with open arms, and then he confronted them with the truth, or he healed their diseases. He never left them the way that they were,

and that's the way we need to be as a church. As welcoming as we can to the world that is around us, but never leaving them the way that they are. As welcoming as we can to the world that is around us, and that's the way we need to be as a church. And so it says he healed the lime. He healed all of the limes. They became lemons. He healed the lame in the temple,

and the blind and the lame in the temple. But then notice what happens, verse 15. But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he had done, and the children who were shouting in the temple, Hosanna to the son of David, they became indignant. I love the way Matthew words that. Because he says when they'd seen all of the wonderful things that he'd done.

Right, like how are you gonna get angry at somebody for doing something wonderful, right? He was so kind and they hated it. All the wonderful things that he'd done, and they became indignant. Notice what it says. Do you hear what these children are saying? Do you hear what all the people here are saying? Do you hear all the praises of these people? And Jesus goes, yes.

Don't you remember where it's written? That out of the mouths of babes and nursing infants, you have prepared praise for yourself. Isn't it amazing that the kids in the temple could see what these learned scholars couldn't? The kids in the temple picked up on what all of these learned men couldn't. And maybe we should say what these learned men wouldn't. Isn't it amazing?

Remember what Jesus had said about being the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? Who do you say? The kingdom of heaven was made up of? What did you need to be converted and become like in order to be a part of the kingdom of heaven? You need to become like a child. Why? Because they can see it. They can pick up on it. You know, I've never had to convince a little kid

that God exists. Both my girls, when both my girls got saved, I had to be like, are you sure you understand what's going on? Are you sure you really understand this whole thing? And they're like, yep, I want Jesus in my heart. And because they just have that tenderness when it comes to spiritual things. And Luke's account, it says that they confronted Jesus

as he was walking into, or as he was riding into Jerusalem. And they said, tell them to stop saying what they're saying. Remember what Jesus said? Jesus said, if they stop praising me, even the rocks are gonna cry out. You can't stop it. You cannot stop the praise that comes from the heart of the people. And so, Jesus heads back to Bethany and spends the night there.

And that's where we'll close up for today. But as we close, I would like to close with two thoughts. Hopefully some challenging questions that might make us do a little bit of soul searching. Number one, what kind of savior are you looking for? What kind of savior are you looking for this morning? Are you in one of those people who's looking for someone to set you free

from all of the political garbage that's going on in the world right now? Someone to set you free from the inflation and the gas prices and the you name the next thing that's gonna come up. Somebody that sets us free from that. Maybe from IRS agents, who knows? Is that the kind of savior you're looking for? Are you looking for the kind of savior that's gonna give you a happy life

and give you all the things that you want? The savior that will allow you to name and claim every blessing that you want physically and materially in this life? Are you looking for a savior who can set you free from sin? I'm here to tell you right now, he'll never be the savior that he wants you to be, but he will be the savior that he needs you to be. And if you're here this morning

and you've been searching for a savior, forgive me in all the wrong places. If you've been looking for that wrong kind of savior, then today's the day for you to find the savior that you need. The one who can set you free from sin. All it takes is you coming to him and saying, Lord, please forgive me. Be my savior. And you know what? He will. That moment. That moment.

What kind of savior are you looking for? Second question is this. Does your temple need to be cleansed? You know, it's interesting because in 1 Corinthians, we learn that we are the temple of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit dwells in you. And if Jesus had to go into the temple of God in Jerusalem and clean out the temple because there were things in there that were keeping people from knowing God,

then perhaps that's true of my heart as well. Then perhaps sometimes in my heart, he needs to come in and he needs to overturn the tables and make the changes and make me different so that I can once again get back to knowing him. Because that's what he wants to do in our temple. Does your temple need cleaned out? I was watching. I'm not always a huge fan of the chosen.

I think you know that about me. But the scripture journals for the class that I'm teaching for the Bible class this year hadn't come in yet. I'm taking them through Matthew as well. And so I thought, I don't really want to start lecturing until they've got the proper place to take their notes to keep track of them. So let's just watch a little video on the second day of school.

So we watched that episode of the chosen where Matthew was called. It's a great episode. And there's a great thing that takes place at the very end of the episode. Jesus looks at Matthew as he's in the temple. He's in his tax collector's booth. And he calls him. And he says, Matthew, son of Alphaeus, follow me. Matthew begins to come out of his tax collector's booth

to follow Jesus. Peter's standing right next to him. And Peter says, do you know who he is? Do you know what kind of a guy he is? And Jesus said, yep, just like I knew who you were when I called you. And Peter goes, that's different. That's a totally different deal. And then Jesus said something great. He looks at him. He says, get used to different. Brothers and sisters,

if your temple needs cleaned out, it needs to be made different so that you can get used to different. Amen? Let's all stand.

Again, all of you teachers and students, we're praying for you guys as you are beginning this school year. I know that just because some of you have already had your first day doesn't mean you're done with all of your first day excitement. So please be in prayer for them. And know that we are in prayer for you here. Lord, we come before you. And I do just lift up all the changes

that are taking place in the next week or so for so many people. And just pray that you would work through those. I lift up schools that are in desperate need of students who will stand up and be witnesses for you. Teachers who will stand up and be witnesses for you. And I, in particular, want to lift up all of the Christian students and teachers that we have in this church right now

because we're blessed with some good ones. And so, Lord, I pray that you would give them the grace that they need to be witnesses for you in a world that very much doesn't want that right now. Father, be with us each as we depart this place. Take your word, marinate it into our hearts so that we come out smelling just like you. We just pray these things, Father, in Jesus' name.

Amen. Be blessed. Jesus, my Savior. Lord, there is none like you.

The wonder of... Yes, Lord. We give you praise and thanks. Father, would you go before and bless us as we leave here. May we trust you with all of our hearts and lean not into our understanding, but in all our ways acknowledge you and you'll direct our paths. We give you praise in Jesus' name. Amen. Lord, bless y'all. Have a great week.