The Promise Making and Promise Keeping, Redeeming King
Jeremy Bell
Matthew 21:1-11
April 14, 2019
Sermon Audio
Main Point: Our promise making and promise keeping God has come to take away our sin!
I. Jesus Fulfills the Promise of a Humble King
- This is the prophetic word Jesus referred to in verse 5:
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. — Zechariah 9:9
- God is purposeful and specific in His promises, and they will, every one of them, be fulfilled.
- Every promise God makes, He will fulfill. God does what He says He will do, therefore we can entrust ourselves to Him!
II. Jesus Fulfills the Promise of a King from David’s Lineage
- For centuries, God had promised that a Savior would come.
- This King of Israel would come to redeem His people.
- This King would come from the family line of David
- This is promised in many places in the Old Testament
- Psalm 89:35-37
- Jeremiah 23:5-6
- Luke 1:31-33
- Isaiah 9:6-7
- The fulfillment of the covenant God made with David centuries before was being fulfilled before their very eyes. That’s why they excitedly exclaim “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest (verse 9)!”
- Part of their rejoicing was the affirmation that God keeps His promises.
- He is the only one to whom we can look with perfect confidence that He will keep what He has declared.
III. Jesus Fulfills the Promise of a Perfect Passover Lamb
- Faithful saints were there to look back in thankfulness (deliverance from Egypt) and look forward in expectation (the Savior to come).
- Jesus entered the city on Passover Day. Passover was a reminder of the ultimate redemption that God promised to provide through a perfect Lamb, whose perfect blood would take away death!
- After the fall, the Lord promised to crush the head of the serpent, the embodiment and representation of Satan, the enemy of God (Genesis 3:14-15). Close to 4,000 years later, the promise is fulfilled!
- God is a promise making and promise keeping God!
IV. What does this mean for us on Palm Sunday 2019?
- God will always do what He says!
The reason God’s covenants with Noah, Abraham, Moses, and David ought to increase the joy of our faith is that in all of them the main point is that God exerts all his omnipotence and all his omniscience to do good to his people, and we are that people if we follow Christ in the obedience of faith. The most practical truths any Christian can know are that God is all-powerful, all-wise, and all for you. Nothing will have a more important practical impact on the way you use your money, spend your leisure, pursue your vocation, rear children, deal with conflict, or handle anxiety. Heartfelt confidence that the sovereign God is working everything together for your good out of sheer grace affects every area of your life.” — John Piper
- God has come to redeem us.
Questions For Discussion/Application:
- Re-read the text, Matthew 21:1-11. What initial observations and insights do you have from reading this text?
- In this passage, what Old Testament promises do we see that Jesus fulfills?
- What other Old Testament promises/prophecies can you think of that Jesus fulfills?
- God fulfilled his promises to His people to give them a Savior King. How does knowing this strengthen our faith?
- Read the Piper quote above. What practical impact can it have when the believer lives in the reality of the truth that “God is all-powerful, all-wise, and all for you?”