The Lamb Rides Forth Quietly on a Donkey

Palm Sunday

March 20, 2016

Matthew 21:1-17

The Lamb Rides Forth Quietly on a Donkey

In the name of the Father and of the ☩ Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus is the Lamb of God who went forth to die for our sins and today He is riding on a donkey.

And He didn't say anything.

This might seem strange to us because this would seem like the perfect time to pause and preach and teach to the crowds. You can't buy publicity like this. And if this had been anyone else, we might have said that He had wasted an opportunity to preach the Gospel.

But this is Jesus, the Lamb. He never misses anything.

The purpose of this procession was to show the world that He is the King of Kings and the Son of David. He is the One who comes in the name of the Lord. This royal Son of David was the Lord's chosen One who would be sacrificed to make atonement for all sinners. The prophet Isaiah predicted about Jesus:

He was oppressed and He was afflicted,

Yet He did not open His mouth;

Like a lamb that is led to slaughter,

And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers,

So He did not open His mouth. (Isaiah 53:7 NASB)

And John the Forerunner, 700 years after Isaiah's prophecy, pointed right at Jesus and said:

Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! (John 1:29)

For three years God's Lamb had traveled all across the Holy Land. He spoke and taught publicly for all three years. The only times He had to hide Himself when the mob wanted to grab Him bodily and shove Him onto a royal throne or when they tried to throw big rocks at His face to kill Him.

But now the Lamb of God wanted the crowds in Jerusalem to lay their eyes on Him. He wanted them to know exactly who they were going to nail to a tree in few days' time. He wantd them to see the Lamb quietly riding on a donkey.

But in a way He didn't need to speak; the crowds spoke for Him. They provided the commentary for the parade as they shouted the sermon:

Hosanna to the Son of David;

Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord;

Hosanna in the highest! (Matthew 21:9)

Angels had sung to the shepherds who tending their sheep in the fields nearby to Jesus' birth, and now the crowds were bookending that hymn of praise. Even though many in the chorus that Sunday did not grasp what they were saying, their shouts are still true.

This is the Lamb who rides on a donkey. He is our merciful King who laid down His life for us.

God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us,

so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God! Amen!

2 Corinthians 5:21