These verses of Scripture, at first glance, appear to be out of sync with the rest of our Lord's earthly life. The narrative reads like the account of some royal conqueror return to his own city. "A great multitude "swelled quickly to "multitudes," (Some estimated the crowd to be more than 300,000!) accompanied the Lord Jesus Christ in what is described as his "triumphal entry "into Jerusalem. Loud cries of praise and expressions of adulation rang through the air. "All the city was moved." Everyone wanted to know "Who is this?" "Who is this?"
Everything in these eleven verses seems to contradict the whole tenor of our Lord's earthly life and ministry. It seems to be altogether unlike him who would not cry, nor strive, nor lift up his voice in the streets. He always withdrew from the crowd, hid from applause, and urged those who were healed by his power to tell no one what he had done for them. But all of this is very easy to understand and to explain. It is not a contradiction at all.
The fact is, that public triumphal entry into Jerusalem at this time is just what we should expect to see. Our Lord knew well that the hour of his death, the hour of his glory, the hour of his manifestation was near. The time of his humiliation and earthly ministry was drawing to a close. The hour was rapidly approaching when he must finish the work, which he had come into this world to do. His last great, climatic work was before him. There was nothing left for him to do except make atonement for and redeem his people by the sacrifice of himself upon the cursed tree.
He deemed it proper that every eye should be fixed upon him as he came to be offered up as the Lamb of God. He would have his great work of redemption known and advertised by everyone in Jerusalem. The sin atoning blood of the Son of God was about to be shed. And this great deed was not to be "done in a corner" (Acts 26:26). Therefore, he who had deliberately spent most of his life in secrecy, secluded from public view, he who would not allow his admirers to make him a king, come to announce himself King in the most public manner imaginable. His death would be his entrance into his kingdom. Therefore, he made a royal procession through the streets of Jerusalem.
Proposition:This royal procession was our Lord's public declaration that he is indeed the Christ of God and that he was about to enter into his kingdom.
There are five lessons in these verses to which I call your attention.
I. Our Lord Jesus Christ is the Omniscient God – (v. 1-3). "Who is This?" A. He is the man, "Jesus of Nazareth."Genuine obedience, that obedience which arises from true faith, must be blind obedience.
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