That's Who? Riding on a What? Why?, Part 2

Jesus often surprised His listeners with shocking illustrations. For instance, to teach His ambitious disciples a lesson on humility, He pointed to little children as models for greatness. And to teach about generosity, He pointed to an impoverished widow as a model of generosity. Why did Jesus choose to enter Jerusalem hailed as the King of the Jews riding on a donkey? Chuck titled his message, That's Who? Riding on a What? Why?

Let me mention something and then I'll pray. When we were getting ready to build this building, we were in the smaller multipurpose building as we first got started here. And we were interested in the culture, in the climate around us. Many see us as being the buckle of the Bible Belt. We're surrounded by people everywhere in this area who carry a Bible or believe in the Bible or they know Jesus and on and on. So we dispatched a group of our members, younger, middle, older alike, with clipboards.

And we had them go to the local mall, Frisco Center. And we had them ask, Who is Jesus? You would be amazed how many had no clue. They had no clue. One man wanted to know if it was a trick question. He asked his friend. Others took a stab at it and their answers were all over the spectrum. Very few were able to identify Jesus.

You know what? Even more so now, because there are so many more of us and so many who come who have no clue. Truth be told, you may not be able to fill out a three by five card answering the question, Who is Jesus of Nazareth?

in one or two sentences. For that reason and many others, we're so glad you're here because we believe in Jesus and we want to help people know him better. Not in a religious way, but in a real way so that you can understand how beautifully and perfectly he fits into your world, into this world in which we live, into every culture. And for that reason, we pray and and we give our gifts. So let's pray. First off, Lord, want you to know how much we love you.

We've told you that a number of times, but today maybe not until now. And so right now I want to go on record and tell you we love you. We love your son. We love the work of your spirit as he moves among us, encouraging and comforting and guiding and convicting, filling us with hope and renewing us when we're down and refreshing us when we're troubled and comforting us when we're grieved. We love you, Lord, and we love your son, Jesus.

And we love this book that tells us all about this. And as you introduce him to us in various ways, like today, I pray that we will take it in and let it, let it land deep within us, that we might realize that when you put these things in your book, you meant every word of it and you designed it to shape, strengthen, stabilize our lives. May that be the result of today's time together.

May we leave impressed with you and more convinced than ever that your word tells us the truth. Thank you now, Father, for the joy of giving. We learned that joy from you because you so loved us, you gave us your son. And in return, we so love you, we give from our occupation, from our savings, from our possessions, how thrilled we are to do that.

And we do so with confidence. Find favor in the reason we give and in the gift itself. And bless those who cannot give today. And encourage all of us, Father, as a result of the time together. May we leave again impressed with you and confident in your word. In the name of Jesus, whom we love, to whom we give our gifts today.

Everyone has it. Amen. 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 titled, That's Who?

Writing on a What? Why? 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. 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. 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 two. 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.

If anyone asks what you're doing, just say, look at the password. The Lord needs them. Matthew writes, this took place to fulfill the prophecy. Now hold your place here and we'll be right back. Go back to Zechariah. 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 nine, verse nine.

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. God who has the full panoramic view of all of time and beyond, from eternity past to eternity future, has pinpointed the Zechariah nine, nine statement with the fulfillment of it in Matthew 21. So I just want you to see where it was written, Zechariah nine. 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.

Picture it. He's sitting 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? 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 a fulfillment of a prophecy, and Jesus is fulfilling it, riding on the back of a colt. There's more.

Keep reading. The two disciples did as Jesus commanded. They brought the donkey and the colt to him, threw their garment over the colt, and he sat on it. Most of the crowd spread their garments on the road ahead of him.

Others, here's where Palm Sunday comes in, cut palms or cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. This was out of respect for the one coming. Jesus was in the center of the procession, and the people all around him were shouting. Look at what they were shouting. This is a spontaneous shout.

Or was it? Look, praise God for the son of David. Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord. Praise God in the highest heaven. I don't know if your Bible is so marked, but mine has a different font when I get to this verse, here in verse 9, which tells me that it is a quotation. When I trace the quotation, you know where I wind up?

Let me show you. Go back, not to Zechariah, go back to the Psalms, way back to Psalm 118, verses 24 and 25, because that will be exactly what is being said by the crowd as Jesus enters on the donkey. Look at verse 24. Learn, by the way, when you study your Bible to go from one passage to another to fill in the things that one section of one passage will not complete.

You want to see it all. This is the day the Lord is made. I'm reading from Psalm 118, 24. This is the day the Lord is made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. Now look closely.

You see it? Psalm 118, 24 and 25. The reason I had you turn is because these are the words that are spoken by those who recognize him as he comes into the city. Please, Lord, please save us. Please, Lord, please give us success. Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. We will bless you from the house of the Lord. The Lord is God shining upon us.

And further, it goes on. But I wanted you to see, Lord, save us. Hosanna, hosanna.

We get our word hosanna from that. It means save now. Now I'm sure when the psalmist wrote this, is the psalm identified?

I don't see an identity. Whoever the psalmist was that wrote this, you wonder if he had some concept of where it would wind up, where it would be said. But the very thing he writes is being stated by those who are witnessing Jesus coming in on the back of the coat. The footnote from the Net Bible reads, the underlying Aramaic and Hebrew expression meant, oh Lord, save us. In words familiar to every Jew, the author is indicating that at this very point, every Messianic expression expectation is now at the point of realization. It is clear from the words of the psalm, shouted by the crowd, that Jesus is being proclaimed as Messianic king. It is the fulfillment of the Messianic statement, and they are making the statement in honor of Jesus himself. He's fulfilling that prophecy. Praise God in highest heaven.

This is a great moment. By the way, it's a courageous moment, for Jesus is wanted in our terms today. His picture is in every post office. He could have hidden out and come in some back road, but he doesn't. He not only enters from the height of Mount Olive, the Mount of Olives, he enters in a way that no one can miss. He's a man sitting on the back of the coat of a donkey. And the crowd of followers, don't forget the two blind men who have been healed.

Remember last time we were together? They're in the crowd. They're there shouting. They're praising God.

He was living out the fulfillment of that prophecy. What a great moment. I'm going to pause here and let us take a breath and let me tell you, give you a page out of my own journal. I do that. I use my story because I don't know yours. If I did, maybe yours would be far better than mine, but I'm going to use mine. I know in measure something of what that must have felt like. And that needs an explanation because I'm certainly not in that category of one to be praised.

But I do understand what it must feel like to live to the point of something being fulfilled. I was raised in a very modest home. As I recall, our little place in East Houston on Quent Street cost my folks not even $6,000. And it was a house that was built on blocks. Some of you know what that means. And it had asbestos siding.

That'll date it, won't it? And we had three little bedrooms and we had a one bath, tiny bath. We had a little kitchen and we had a dining living room combined in a front porch that we screened in after we had moved in. And a little slab was called a three bedroom with one bath and a slab.

The little ribbon driveway that you drove in, if you stayed on the ribbon, you drove in and you got to the concrete slab where you parked your car. That was where I grew up. My older brother Orville, my older sister Lucy and I grew up there in our younger years, our teenage years and a little beyond. My mother never was employed outside the home and my father was a very diligent laborer and was a part of the war machine. He was a little too old for the draft and so very patriotic.

We were there through the war, et cetera, World War II. And my mother, you have to understand how she was put together. She really loved the Lord and she really wanted us kids to love the Lord. Well, the first part was working for her, but the last part was a little later coming, not for my brother.

He loved Jesus when he was in the womb, but that's another subject and I didn't. And so I'm getting ready to go out and play sandlot football. I must've been 11, 12 years old and I'm running through the kitchen and my mother says, Charles, come here. I want to show you something. And I could kind of feel a mother's sermon coming on and I didn't want to really sit through it or stand through it. And I said, mother, I can do it later when I come back. She said, no, you're going to come here right now.

I want to show you what the Lord gave me and it has you in mind. I thought, oh, brother, what's this going to be? And I stood there and was kind of tossing the ball up in the air. She said, stand still and listen to me.

So I did. And she said, I've been reading in Proverbs and I found the verse for you. And I thought, oh, brother, what verse is that going to be? She said, it's Proverbs 1816. She had written it out on a little four by six card and she had taped it on the wall in front of the sink. It read, a man's gift makes room for him and brings him before great men. I thought, that's great, mom.

Can I go? And she said, no, I'm going to tell you what this, what the Lord has told me about this. And I go, mom, you know, all the guys are waiting out there for you. She said, listen to me. She said, I believe that the Lord is going to use you in ways that we would never ever guess. And I thought, that's great, mom.

I hope he does. And are we through? She said, listen to me. When you are older, you will realize that God is fulfilling this in your life.

So I kind of tilted my head and I read it again. A man's gift makes room for him, whatever that meant, and brings him before great men. In light of our little home and our little modest growing up years, great people didn't register with me. And it meant a lot to her. As I recall, she had tears in her eyes and she said, put her arms around me. And she said, I want you to know I'm claiming this for you. Well, it's hard to know what to say after that, especially with a prophetess standing there with her arm around you. And I said, that's great, mom.

Keep claiming. Are we through? And she didn't like that response. And I left and I thought, oh, brother, why couldn't I have just a normal mother that just fixes a meal and we eat and do the dishes and go on? But I've got Mrs. Martin Luther as a mother here. And anyway, she met well. She really met well.

And she knew what she's talking about. Well, let me let me cut to the chase because this time is moving on. I want you to know how that unfolded in my life.

I would have never guessed how the grace of God would work. And I want to say this before I go any further and I'll say more next time on mothers. I want to say to you, mothers. Don't hold back. God gives you wonderful things. And you have your little family or maybe a large number of family members. As he leads you, you're to share with them what he gives you.

It'll make a difference. In a message originally delivered on Mother's Day, Chuck Swindoll spoke to the unparalleled influence of moms upon their children. You're listening to Insight for Living. And there's much more from this 21st chapter of Matthew that Chuck wants to show us. And maybe today's teaching has inspired you to dig deeper into the book of Matthew on your own. If that's the case, let me remind you about the Searching the Scriptures studies that are easily accessed online. 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.

To access the Searching the Scriptures guide for Chuck's daily teaching, go to insight.org slash studies. And as we conclude today's program, I'm inviting you to become one of our monthly companions. The steady financial support from our monthly companions has accelerated our pursuit of an audacious God-sized dream and that is to bring Insight for Living to all 195 countries of the world. We refer to this mission as Vision 195.

By becoming a monthly companion, you can have a ministry of your own by participating in Vision 195. To sign up right now, call us. If you're listening in the United States, call 800-772-8888 or go to insight.org slash monthly companion. To give a one-time donation today, once again call us.

If you're listening in the United States, call 800-772-8888. Thanks for your generous support. In March 2022, Insight for Living Ministries is hosting an unforgettable journey to Israel, carefully planned to deepen your understanding of the Bible and draw you closer to God. Chuck Swindoll For thousands of years, no place has been more meaningful to God's children than the land of Israel.

The rugged landscape reminds us to find refuge in God alone. The fertile valleys invite us to follow our shepherd. Jerusalem's position at the very center of the world announces the good news of Christ to every nation. And now you can see Israel with Chuck Swindoll and Insight for Living Ministries March 6 through 17, 2022. Every time I visited the Holy Land, I returned home with a refreshed heart for God and a renewed vision for the world.

Really, I mean it every time. And so I want you to have the same life-changing experience. To learn more, go to insight.org slash events or call this number 1-888-447-0444. Insight for Living Ministries Tour to Israel is paid for and made possible by only those who choose to attend. I'm Wayne Shepard, sitting in from my friend Dave Spiker. Be sure to join us again Tuesday when Chuck Swindoll continues our study in the book of Matthew on Insight for Living. The preceding message, That's Who, Writing on a Why, 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. Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited.