Matthew 21:1-11

¹ “Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Beth-phage, 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.” 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, and on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’ ”
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.”

Including my Interim Pastorate here in 1999-2000, this will be my 9^th Palm Sunday Sermon at our Church! As I have looked back over my sermons on those occasions, I am mindful that I have really already said just about all that I know to say about this event.

But, next Sunday is Palm Sunday and I need to speak to you again from this very familiar passage on this very familiar subject… so, I have decided to focus on an aspect of these events that I have overlooked before: the blessing received by the followers of Jesus because they were there “in the right place and at the right time” to be part of this great event!

I think every regenerated person wants to be used by the Lord and be an effective part of HIS Kingdom work! I surely know that I do!

All of us realize that 99% + of what God does HE does through ordinary people involved in the ordinary circumstances of life. Week in and week out, we live and love and serve HIM through what can fairly be called our “routine” activities.

BUT ONCE IN A WHILE God does something unexpected; something magnificent; something life and world changing! And when HE does it is a joy to be part of what HE is doing.

This is what happened here on the road to Jerusalem in the Spring of 32 AD. Certainly, the excitement had been building for some time and everyone knew that things were “coming to a head.” Jesus had started talking about dying and being raised from the dead – and while the disciples did not fully get all that HE was telling them, they did catch enough of it to be excited about it.

Suddenly – out of the blue – come the words, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her.” While they did not fully understand this at the time, God had started “The Countdown to Calvary” and things would change dramatically for all of them in a very few hours.

From that moment till HIS resurrection eight days later, HIS followers would be caught up in a whirlwind of activity. One would betray HIM, one would deny HIM, and both HE and Judas would be dead before the week was over!

If they had not been close HIM on that Sunday morning, they would not have seen, or been part of, any of these events.

But, they were there!

They were there and a couple of them actually went and brought back the foal just as prophesied in Zechariah 9:9; they were there and they heard HIM called the One who, “Comes in the Name of the Lord”; further, they would be there over the next eight days and personally witness the most amazing events to ever take place on earth!

Why? They were there!

How about me? How about you? Do we desperately want to be present when Jesus does remarkable things? Of course we do!

So the answer is… Get Close and Stay Close to Jesus!

As you prepare to hear the Word of God on this coming Lord’s Day, think about these things…

Is it enough for us to be part of what HE is doing when what HE is doing is “merely” the normal, routine, and seemingly mundane things that HE always does? It should be!

Do we truly expect HIM to do the miraculous and prophesied things that HE will do one day in the world? We should!

Are we willing to be faithful on the multitude of “normal” days… even if we never see the “amazing” days? Of course!

But, do we long to see and be part of a mighty move of God? Amen!

I hope that you will carefully read over this passage in Matthew 21 and that you will seek to understand what God did at that time in the history of HIS Kingdom work.

REMEMBER: the following Sunday, April 20^th, is Easter and a much higher percentage of people will respond positively to an invitation to worship with you on Easter than on any other day of the year!

I hope to see you Sunday with a smile on your face, your Bible in your hand, and your family and friends by your side!