That's Who? Riding on a What? Why?, Part 1

From the beginning of January until now, Chuck Swindoll has been guiding us through a verse-by-verse study of the first book in the New Testament, The Gospel According to Matthew, which he divided into four major sections, The King's Arrival, The King's Kingdom, The King's Ministry, and today on Insight for a Living, we're stepping into the fourth section, The King's Commission. It happened when Jesus entered the city of Jerusalem in a manner no one expected. Chuck titled today's message, That's Who? Writing on a What?

Why? It is absolutely wonderful that we have the Scriptures in our own tongue for us to open and read at any time, freely and often and publicly. Let's just never get over that. I think it's so easy for us in a blessed place like ours to take all of this for granted. Just every once in a while, just pause when you're in your home or at your apartment or wherever you are when you do your reading, and just say thank you, Lord, for providing us with written instructions on how to live our lives. You've not left it up to our feelings or the opinions of others or the culture of our times.

You have written it in words that we can understand. And how wonderful that we have various versions we can read. There are even paraphrases that broaden our understanding. There's an Amplified Bible, there is The Message, another form of rendering of the Scriptures, and some are much more literal and others are more readable. We have all of that available to us.

And different size print. Isn't that great? I have giant print in my Bible. And you have yours maybe on the little app, the whole Bible. Isn't that amazing?

We're so grateful for that. We're reading from Matthew 21, and we're reading of the very first, though they didn't call it this at that time, the very first Palm Sunday. This is when it originated, when Jesus came into Jerusalem in a very unusual way. We read of it in Matthew 21. I'm reading from the New Living Translation. You're reading from another version, quite likely. And we'll work our way through these first 11 verses so that we might ultimately understand what they are saying, not only in that day, but in our day, which is the goal of biblical exposition. What did it mean then, and what does it mean to us now?

It's called bridging the text. We bridge it from the first century to the 21st. As Jesus and the disciples approached Jerusalem, they came to the town of Bethage on the Mount of Olives. Jesus sent two of them on ahead.

Go into the village over there, he said. As soon as you enter it, you will see a donkey tied there with its colt beside it. Untie them and bring them to me.

If anyone asks what you are doing, just say, the Lord needs them, and he will immediately let you take them. This took place to fulfill the prophecy that said, tell the people of Jerusalem, look, your king is coming to you. He's humble riding on a donkey, riding on a donkey's colt. The two disciples did as Jesus commanded. They brought the donkey and the colt to him and threw their garments over the colt, and he sat on it.

Most of the crowd spread their garments on the road ahead of him, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. Jesus was in the center of the procession, and the people all around him were shouting, praise God for the Son of David. Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord.

Praise God in highest heaven. The entire city of Jerusalem was in an uproar as he entered. Who is this, they asked. And the crowds replied, it's Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee. I wondered when I first read that this past week, if he were to come into the city, our city, if he were to enter, would they recognize it? Would they know who it was? You're listening to Insight for Living.

To study the book of Matthew with Chuck Swindoll, be sure to download his Searching the Scripture studies by going to insightworld.org slash studies. And now the message from Chuck that he's titled, That's Who? Riding on a What? Why? It didn't seem at all like Palm Sunday. In fact, no one there thought of it as Palm Sunday, though it was Palm Sunday, 9th of April. What an unusual day for those people who gathered to come together. Some to celebrate quietly, not flaunting it, but down deep inside, gratefully relieved. Others with hearts breaking as a result of the long years of bloody struggle until finally the day arrives.

This was a day where there's a mixture of humiliation and for them defeat. Robert Edward Lee was meticulously dressed in his well-pressed gray uniform. Stars on his collar were highly polished. He had arrived on Traveler, his muscular mount, as he walked up the steps of the McLean house and took his place in the parlor. He looked the part of a commanding general, deep red silk sash hanging from his waist with his beautiful sword by his side. You wouldn't know by looking that he had just completed another bloody battle, and his men starving and many of them barefoot fighting to the last. He's awaiting the arrival of Ulysses Simpson Grant, Lieutenant General. He's on his way, also on horseback, a little late, and what a contrast with General Lee. Fifteen years younger, three inches shorter, biographer Jay Winick, in his work April 1865, says Lee was tall and stately. Grant was stubby and rumpled. Grant arrived swordless, wearing a private shirt.

Interestingly, one biographer said one button was in the wrong buttonhole. His boots and trousers muddy from the ride. His hair was uncombed and matted. He looked nothing like the commanding general of the Union Army, as he and Lee faced each other for the first time in two decades, having fought in Mexico years earlier alongside one another. But now the fight was over. Both stood, stern-faced.

They had business to do at the table. And Lee surrendered the Army of Virginia and ultimately the Confederate Army. He expected to be taken prisoner, but was not, was in fact treated much better than expected, even released and allowed to return to his troops and ultimately to his home.

With head bowed, he mounted traveler, tipped his hat, Grant in return, and slowly rode away April 9, 1865. Didn't seem at all like Palm Sunday. No one there realized that before the following Easter, a death would occur that would stun the world. If you and I journey much, much further back, we will come across a scene that in some ways was similar. It occurred in another place far, far away where people spoke another language and the circumstances were altogether different, though still a study in contrast.

And talk about an unusual celebration. Some were cheering, others were staring. Some understood, others were at a loss to understand what this strange sight was all about.

Interestingly, both scenes, whether in 1865 or way back in the first century, both scenes were scenes of surrender. To be sure, a king was entering a city back in that first century, but what a strange entrance. There were those I'm sure who expected a conquering king to arrive on a chariot gold plated, pulled by white stallions, as he conquered the Romans and gave the Jews back their freedom. But that was not to be.

It was not a conquering like that. For this king came to die. And even in this final week called in Christian literature Holy Week, even at the beginning of Holy Week, it is good for us to remember why these things took place as they did.

Strange though they seemed at the time, they made all the sense in the world. A word about the Holy Week. First, the four gospels devote nearly one third of their length to the final week of Jesus' life. Look how many chapters remain in Matthew. We're in chapter 21 and you go all the way to 28, covering one week. Only two of the four gospels even mention Jesus' birth.

All four offer a page, maybe a little more, on the resurrection, as powerful and important as that was. But when it comes to his passion, his crucifixion, that single week prior to the death of the Savior, each writer lingers over it with attention to detail as if to say, slow down. Slow down. Read carefully. Enter into the scene.

Don't rush. This is mission accomplished when he is nailed to that cross and later raised from the tomb. Read it carefully. So we need to take our time and let the wonder in.

Christian author Philip Yancey puts it into perspective when he writes, The simple, unadorned rendering has a grinding power that no miracles break in, no supernatural rescue attempts. This is tragedy beyond Sophocles and Shakespeare. For those who came expecting a conquering king were they in for a surprise.

But most came not having a clue, frankly. He prepares for his arrival in the first three verses, according to the narrative in Matthew 21. They've approached Jerusalem and they've become to the crest of the Mount of Olives. When you travel to the Holy Land, you always will visit the Mount of Olives.

It is a slow rising hillside all the way up to the crest. It's east of Jerusalem, and so they're looking west toward the city, the old city. But before they began the decline, Jesus has instructions for his men. They are, they are in for a surprise.

He has it all planned. Remember they have come from Jericho up to Jerusalem? Jericho, 1800 feet below sea level, Jerusalem 2300 feet above sea level.

The climb has been steady, 3600 feet to the crest of the Mount of Olives. And there they stand. There's a strange twist to all of this. Up until now, Jesus has stayed out of the limelight, remember? Remember how often he said, don't tell anyone about this. Even after an incredible healing, don't tell anyone.

After a major meeting, don't share this. Those who wanted to make him king, he slipped out of their presence and hid himself away. Lest they presume that it's time for him to become the conquering king. That will come later. But first, he must die.

The disciples, it seemed, would never get that straight. What's interesting about this scene, and I mentioned contrast earlier, is that now he comes into the limelight. It's as if he's saying to everyone, don't hold back. Let your praise sound forth. I'll no longer hide in the shadows. Let your words be heard by all. I'm coming as your Messiah.

Look at the words. He tells his disciples, go into the village, verse 2. As soon as you enter it, you will see a donkey tied there with its colt beside it. Donkeys are not tall animals, not at all the height of a horse. They're already shorter, but a colt is even shorter than the donkey itself, the mother of the colt.

There will be a colt standing beside it. Untie them. You wanted both of them. Bring them to me.

And if anyone asks what you're doing, just say, look at the password. The Lord needs them. That had to be arranged ahead of time. We're not told how he arranged it or through whom he made that arrangement. Just if for some reason the owner of the donkey and the colt is resistant, just say the Lord needs them. That's all you need to say. He will know. That's the password.

And he will let you take them. Now Matthew is so good about this because in the middle of a narrative, when you're in the process of seeing things unfold and putting yourself in that scene, which we always do when we are studying our Bibles, you come to a place where Matthew interrupts the narrative and reminds you that this didn't just happen in a vacuum. It just didn't happen to be the first day of Holy Week.

It didn't just happen there at this site. It all is a fulfillment of Scripture. Matthew writes, this took place to fulfill the prophecy. By the way, one of the ways we know God's Word is God's Word is the prophecy fulfilled within the time of the writing of God's Word. Let me say it again. One of the ways we have the assurance of the inerrancy of Scripture is that prophecies made during the days of Scripture are sometimes fulfilled within the same days that the Scriptures are being written.

Here's a case in point. Matthew is quoting from a prophet. Now, hold your place here and we'll be right back. Go back to Zechariah. I'm going to watch how many of you know where to go when I say Zechariah. Well, you know it's the Old Testament, having a little fun with you. It's the next to last book of the Old Testament.

Haggad, Zechariah, Malachi, this is Zechariah chapter 9 verse 9. This is the exact prophecy that will be fulfilled. We are going back, get this, 500 years. 500 years before the moment recorded in Matthew 21. We go back to the writing prophet, Zechariah chapter 9 verse 9.

Let's see what he says. Rejoice, O people of Zion, shout and triumph, O people of Jerusalem. Look, look at this, 500 years earlier. Look, your king is coming to you. He is righteous and victorious, yet he is humble, riding on a donkey.

Riding on a donkey's colt. Now, for just a moment before you go back, put yourself in Zechariah's place. Don't you think he wondered, what in the world am I writing? And why am I writing something like that? You see, when they are under the unction of the Spirit of God, prophets would sometimes write, not knowing fully the meaning of what they are writing. But they are writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. God, who has the full panoramic view of all of time and beyond, from eternity past to eternity future, has pinpointed the Zechariah 9 statement with the fulfillment of it in Matthew 21. So I just want you to see where it was written, Zechariah 9. So let's go back to Matthew 21. And Matthew runs ahead and says, this may look like it was a spontaneous moment.

It wasn't that at all. It was all part of the fulfillment of prophecy. Tell the people of Jerusalem, look, your king is coming to you. Sound familiar?

It's exactly what we read in Zechariah. Your king is coming to you. He's humble, riding on a donkey. Riding on a donkey's colt. I pause. It'll give you a moment to picture it in your mind.

One of the best things you can do while reading your Bible is to pause and let the picture in. Most of us have been on horseback. I doubt that most of us have ever ridden a donkey. I know some of you have. But it's doubtful any of you have ever ridden the colt of a donkey.

And this is a colt, of course, that's never been broken. Unless Jesus is riding. And by the way, how tall would that be? Just a few feet off the ground. Jesus' feet would have dragged in the dust of the road.

Maybe even his knees. Picture it. Riding on the back of this colt of a donkey. What a lowly, humble scene as Jesus coming into Jerusalem as a king. Where's the chariot? Where are the stallions? Where are the guards out front shouting, bow the knee! Bow the knee!

They're not there. This isn't that kind of entrance. This isn't an entrance of surrender, of submission, of humility. Something we rarely connect with a king. It's the fulfillment of a prophecy and Jesus is fulfilling it. Riding on the back of a colt. The imagery is striking. Jesus, the king of the Jews, riding into the holy city on the back of a donkey. You're listening to Insight for Living and please stay with us because Chuck Swindoll is just getting started in this message he titled with three questions. That's who?

Riding on a what? Why? And to learn more about Chuck Swindoll and this ministry, please visit us online at insightworld.org. Well, as you look forward to a relaxing weekend, perhaps you'll take some extra time to browse through the variety of free Bible study resources at your disposal. For instance, you've likely heard us mention the Searching the Scriptures studies online.

These are interactive, meaning that you can type your thoughts directly into the document or feel free to print out the PDF and use the notes in your personal quiet times. And pastors and leaders can use these notes for teaching a class or preparing a sermon as well. To access the Searching the Scriptures guide for Chuck's daily teaching, go to insight.org slash studies. In addition, Chuck is recommending an insightful book by pastor and author Vody Baucom. In Fault Lines, Vody helps Christians understand the nuances of the social justice movement and in particular, the implications of critical race theory.

This isn't an esoteric book. Fault Lines is written for anyone who truly wants to understand how to engage in conversations about social justice from a biblical perspective and to do so with grace and compassion. Again, the book is called Fault Lines and you'll find all the details for purchasing a copy at insight.org slash offer. We're deeply grateful to those who understand that these daily programs are made possible through the voluntary contributions from people who value Chuck's teaching and want to see Insight for Living continue. To give a donation right now, call us. If you're listening in the United States, call 800-772-8888.

Our phone number again is 800-772-8888 or go to insight.org. Thank you for your generous support. Filling in for the moment from my friend Dave Spiker, I'm Wayne Shepard. Have a great weekend and join us again Monday when our study in Matthew's Gospel continues right here on Insight for Living. The preceding message, That's Who? Writing on a What? Why? was copyrighted in 2017 and 2019 and the sound recording was copyrighted in 2019 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights are reserved worldwide. Production of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited.