Matthew 21:1-11
Mark 11:1-11, Luke 19:29-44, John 12:12-19
We have been studying the events leading up to the cross and everything that has been happening to Jesus.
We’ve looked at :
Mary anoints Jesus's feet
The Last Supper
Jesus washes the disciple’s feet
Jesus foretells His betrayal
Jesus is the Way the Truth and the Life
The indwelling promise of the Holy Spirit
Jesus is the True Vine
The disciples being persecuted / Holy Spirit
The Garden of Gethsemane/ Peter denial
Jesus Goes before the Sanhedrin, Herod, and Pilate
Jesus before Pilate and the road to the cross
Now we have come to The Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem
Matthew 21:1-11
This day is called Palm Sunday and Passover begins!
(Q) What is Palm Sunday?
(Q) What is Passover?
Lets read in
Matthew 21:1-11
Jesus Comes to Jerusalem as King
1 As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.” 4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: 5 “Say to Daughter Zion, ‘See, your king comes to you,
gentle and riding on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’ ” 6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on. 8 A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, “Hosanna[fn] to the Son of David!”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Hosanna[fn] in the highest heaven!”
10 When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?”
11 The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”
LESSON TIME! Today’s lesson is about Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem, which happened only a few days before His death on the cross. Jesus was popular at this time with the people, and many thought He was the promised Messiah (the anointed one from God), and they worshipped Jesus as He entered the city.
(Q) Why is Jesus worthy to be worshipped?
1 As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples,
It is important for us to know why Jesus went to Jerusalem. Jerusalem was an important city. Jerusalem was the place where the Passover feast, a very important Jewish holiday, was held. This was the biggest holiday of the whole year for all the Jewish people, a holiday like Christmas or Easter would be for us.
The story is found in Exodus chapter 12. When the Israelites were slaves in Egypt, the final plague God used to get Pharaoh to release them was the death of all the firstborn children in Egypt. While the Egyptian nation was being judged for their sin, God used Moses to tell His people to put the blood of a lamb over the doors of their homes if they wanted to be protected from the plague. As God judged Egypt, the Spirit of God passed over all the houses which had the blood of a lamb over the doors, protecting the people inside.
After this happened and God’s people were released from slavery, God wanted His people to have a feast each year to remember His protection and salvation forever.
Explain: Jesus is our Passover lamb and salvation
Jesus had traveled many days with His disciples to get to Jerusalem. They were not the only ones going to the Passover Feast. People had come from near and far to take part in the Passover.
The city was full of people. The people came from all over searching for salvation. And even today people are still looking for the Lamb of God.
(Q) Why do you think people just don’t accept Jesus as Lord and Savior?
Anyone can receive salvation by simply coming to Jesus. Just by placing your faith and trust in Jesus, you can be forgiven of all of your sins and have a brand new life.
2 Jesus said to them, “Go to the village ahead of you and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.”
(Q) How did Jesus know that there would be a donkey tied up and waiting for Him in the village?
Jesus knew He was going to Jerusalem. He had it all planned out.
God has had a plan of salvation for us since the beginning of the world. Jesus is that plan of salvation.
Before man was created, God knew we would need a savior, and He had a plan to send us His Son to die in our place.
Jesus also knew that He would ride into Jerusalem on a donkey. As we will see, it was all done to fulfill what God promised would happen long ago. God told us a lot of things about Jesus in the Old Testament in order to help us recognize Him as our Savior when He came. The donkey was one small part of God’s big plan.
(Q) When something is told in the past and it comes true today what do we call that?
4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:
5 “Say to Daughter Zion, ‘See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey,
and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’ ” 6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on.
When Jesus sat on the donkey and rode into Jerusalem He fulfilled the prophecy of Zechariah. Remember what we said a prophecy was.
In Zechariah 9:9, it was prophesied that Jesus would enter Jerusalem and be worshipped while riding on a donkey. You see, God had a plan, and He revealed it to men thousands of years before Jesus even came to earth.
8 A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.
When Jesus rode into Jerusalem the people lined up in the street to form a parade. They took their coats off and put them in front of the donkey Jesus was riding. They also put branches down so Jesus could parade over them.
This was a celebration that people would only do for a triumphant king. When a king would return home after conquering his enemies, he would ride into his kingdom, and the people would form a parade to celebrate his triumph.
(Q) What was Jesus triumphant over?
When He died on the cross, He conquered our enemies for us.
(Q) Who is our enemy?
The parade reminds us that Jesus is our King who has triumphed over our enemies.
Jesus is our Lord and King. He has truly triumphed over our enemies, and we have reason to praise Him and celebrate.
9 The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted,
“Hosanna to the Son of David!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Hosanna in the highest heaven!” 10 When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?” 11 The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”
The people in the parade were speaking out Jesus as their King
(Psalm 118:25-26).
It is important that we not only believe in our hearts that Jesus is our King, but that we confess with our mouths that He is our King
(Romans 10:9-10).
We must proclaim that Jesus is our King to be saved.
They yelled “Hosanna” which means "save now.”
Not everyone in Jerusalem wanted to proclaim Jesus as King. Not everyone in the world will accept Jesus as their Savior.
It is a sad ending to the lesson for anyone who does not proclaim Jesus as their King (John 19:6 and John 10:10).
When the people proclaimed Jesus as King, there were men who began to plot together to find a way to kill Jesus. They would not proclaim Him as King; so they plotted to do away with Him.
Man’s plots will never succeed because Jesus has risen from the dead, as a triumphant King.
(Q) The question is left to each of us. Will we confess with our mouths and believe in our hearts that Jesus is Lord?
Those who hated Jesus will arrest Him and crucify Him, as we will see next week. But we need to remember that God has all things in control and that dying on the cross was all part of God’s plan for Jesus. Because Jesus died, many can come to know Him as their savior.
The Bible tells us the first time Jesus rode a donkey, a symbol of humility and peace. The second time He will ride a white horse, a symbol of judgment.
Memory Verse:
9 The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted,
“Hosanna to the Son of David!”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
Pray the class out
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