Palm Sunday: Pray, Surrender, Share (Matthew 21:1-11

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Palm Sunday: Pray, Surrender, Share (Matthew 21:1-11)

Prepared and preached by Pastor Steve Rhodes for and at Bethel Friends Church in Poland, OH on Sunday, March 29, 2026

Royal processions from England to Thailand to South Africa have certain elements in common: uniformed soldiers, banners and flags, and a gloriously bedecked king—riding in an ornate horse-drawn carriage or carried on a golden, jeweled throne.[1]

Jesus is the King. How did He enter Jerusalem?

My theme: As was prophesied, Jesus entered Jerusalem as King.

The Application:

Pray, Surrender, and share.

  1. Jesus enters Jerusalem as the King.
    1. In verses 1-3, we see the preparation.
    2. Matthew 21:1-3: Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.”
    3. Jesus is going to enter Jerusalem.
    4. He will allow Himself to be worshipped.
    5. The Mount of Olives is really a ridge running north to south about 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) long, east of Jerusalem across the Kidron Valley. Its central elevation is about 30 meters (100 ft) higher than Jerusalem. It was named for the large number of olive trees which grew on it.[2]
    6. This borrowing of a donkey may be seen in terms of royal emissaries temporarily impressing (demanding the service of) an animal; Jesus as Lord has the right to whatever his followers claim to own. On the historical level, the donkey’s owner probably saw it as helpful hospitality to visitors to the feast or perhaps as the honor of helping on his way a famous rabbi. Some commentators have also suggested that the owner was away and those who kept the house, hearing that “the master” had need of the donkey, thought they were sending it to its real owner; but they surely would have known the other servants in their household, and they recognized that the disciples were not part of the household. Cf. perhaps Genesis 49:10–11.[3]
    7. Jesus plainly refers to himself as the Lord, the sovereign orchestrator of these events.[4]
    8. In verses 4-5, we see this was done to fulfill prophecy:
    9. Matthew 21:4-5:
    10. 4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying, 5 “Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’ ”
    11. This is done to fulfill prophecy (Zech. 9:9).[5]
    12. Grk “Tell the daughter of Zion” (the phrase “daughter of Zion” is an idiom for the inhabitants of Jerusalem: “people of Zion”).[6]
    13. The text is messianic, as ancient interpreters generally acknowledged, but applying this part to himself redefines Jesus’ messiahship: officials used donkeys for civil, not military, processions (e.g., 1 Kings 1:33). Thus this text is not a “triumphal entry” in the sense of Roman triumphal processions; it is Jerusalem’s reception of a meek and peaceful king.[7]
    14. In verses 6-11, we see the parade.
    15. Matthew 21:6-11:
    16. 6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. 8 Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” 10 And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” 11 And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”
    17. Matthew alone mentions two animals. Having the mother donkey move alongside her unbroken colt would be the best way to calm it during the noisy entrance into Jerusalem. [8]
    18. They are worshipping Jesus.
    19. Hosanna- literally means “O save us.”
  2. Notice Jesus came in humility.
    1. Jesus came on a donkey.
    2. He did not come on a war horse.
    3. As one writes:
    4. Any general who rides into a battle on a donkey is going to be slaughtered. You’d be better on foot. You’d be better on a steed. But if you ride in on a donkey, you’re going to be slaughtered.[1]
    5. Further:
    6. Jesus is saying: “I’m the King, but not a king like you think. What if I did free you from the Romans? Do you realize if I freed you from the Romans, if that was the only liberation I gave you, you would turn around and enslave somebody else? You know why? If I liberate you from the Romans, what are you going to do about your guilt? What are you going to do about that deep sense of nakedness and spiritual emptiness you have? What are you going to do about the fact that you are desperately trying to prove yourself?”
    7. He says, “What are you going to do about the fact of your real slavery? While you are trampling down other races and other classes to prove to yourself that you’re significant, you have a slavery that goes far deeper than the slavery of Rome. If all I do is liberate you from Rome, what are we going to do about liberating you from death, which is the thing that is running your life and causing all the breakdown in the world? I’ve come to give you real liberation.”[2]
    8. Jesus entered Jerusalem to die for our sins and rise again.
    9. He entered Jerusalem to die.
    10. He entered to serve us by dying in our place.
  3. Surrender to King Jesus.
    1. How do you respond to King Jesus?
    2. Are you surrendered to Jesus?
    3. Is He your Lord?
    4. As one writes:
    5. When Jesus Christ comes to your intellect, because of his claims, because he says, “I’m the absolute King,” what he’s doing is saying, “You can despise me horribly as a lunatic, or you can throw everything over and serve me completely, but there’s nothing in the middle. No person with any intellectual integrity … I will not allow you … Kill me or crown me. Nothing else.”[3]
  4. My theme this year has been prayer.
    1. Are we praying for the lost to be saved?
    2. 2 Peter 3:9–10 (ESV) 9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.
    3. Jesus is waiting for more to be saved. Then, He will come again.
    4. Share Jesus with others this week.
    5. Share how Jesus saved you from your sins.
    6. Share how Jesus is the hope of the world.
    7. Invite others to our Resurrection Sunday service.
    8. Pray that your friends, family, and others come to know Jesus.

The whole point of the gospel is we’re saved through weakness, not through strength. Every other religion and every other philosophy … whether you get it from something that’s two thousand years old or whether you make it up yourself (they’re all the same) … what they all say is, “I’m going to clean up my life and I’m going to do better. I’m going to save through strength.” That’s what the disciples want. “Save us through strength!” Jesus says, “No! You can’t be saved until you see that you must die.”

You see, Jesus Christ comes and he dies in our place, which means we’re not saved by strength; we’re saved by grace. We’re not saved by our moral efforts; we’re saved by his grace.[1]

If you come to him and say, “I would like you to be my consultant. I would like you to be my partner. I would like you to be my counselor,” you know what Jesus Christ says? Jesus says, “Oh, I can be more than that. I can be your shepherd. I can be your brother. I can be your guide. I can be your friend. But I won’t be anything unless I’m King. Either I will be King, or I will be nothing. I want all of you or I want none of you.”[2]

The application is to “Pray, surrender, and share.”

[1] Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013).

[2] Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013).

[1] Today In the Word, Moody Press, Dec 24, 2022, accessed February 23, 2026

https://www.todayintheword.org/daily-devotional/peace-on-earth/into-jerusalem/

 

[2] Biblical Studies Press, The NET Bible First Edition Notes (Biblical Studies Press, 2006), Mt 21:1.

[3] Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1993), Mt 21:1–3.

[4] Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 1865.

[5] H. L. Willmington, The Outline Bible (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 1999), Mt 21:4–5.

[6] Biblical Studies Press, The NET Bible First Edition Notes (Biblical Studies Press, 2006), Mt 21:5.

[7] Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1993), Mt 21:4–7.

[8] Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 1865.

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