Latest / Reformed Thinking / The Humble King Enters Jerusalem: Christ’s Royal Identity and the Right Response (Matthew 21:1–11)

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The Humble King Enters Jerusalem: Christ’s Royal Identity and the Right Response (Matthew 21:1–11) · Reformed Thinking

• 0:00
  You know, usually when we talk about a rescue mission, there is
• 0:02
  this expectation of absolute military precision.
• 0:07
  Oh, absolutely. Right.
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  Like a hostage situation occurs, the doors get kicked in, the
• 0:12
  helicopters arrive, and the hero looks like an action star.
• 0:15
  It is highly visible. Yeah, and it is violently
• 0:18
  decisive. Right.
• 0:19
  Yes, precisely. And quite frankly, it is
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  comforting because human beings like our saviors to look strong,
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  invincible and well, ready to break things on our behalf.
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  We love a hero kicking down the door.
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  We really do. But in the 1st century, the
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  ultimate rescue mission looked like a man riding a borrowed
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  farm animal into a volatile city.
• 0:37
  Welcome to reformed thinking. Glad to be here.
• 0:40
  For you the listener, we are setting out on an extensive
• 0:43
  analysis of Matthew 21 verses one through 11, which is
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  commonly known as the triumphal entry.
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  That is right. The goal of this deep dive is to
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  uncover the severe contrast between the king humans invent
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  in their own minds and the king God actually promised in
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  Scripture. OK.
• 0:59
  Let's impact this. Well, we are looking at a text
• 1:02
  that carries immense gravity. I mean, many modern people, even
• 1:05
  those who claim an evangelical faith, view Jesus simply as a
• 1:09
  great moral teacher or a pragmatic problem solver.
• 1:14
  Yeah, like a life coach or something.
• 1:15
  Precisely like a life coach, they want someone to validate
• 1:18
  their desires, fix their immediate earthly troubles, and
• 1:21
  maybe give them some good advice for daily living.
• 1:24
  That modern mindset aligns Florida State with the 1st
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  century crowds who wanted a political Liberator.
• 1:29
  They want a revolution, basically.
• 1:31
  Yes, they did. But to really grasp this
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  narrative, we must look at the historical reality of Christ's
• 1:37
  willful March toward a substitutionary death.
• 1:39
  He is not a victim swept up in crowd enthusiasm.
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  He's the sovereign Lord, fulfilling divine prophecy,
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  moving intentionally toward the cross to satisfy divine justice
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  for his elect. The people wanted a geopolitical
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  revolution. But Christ was orchestrating A
• 1:55
  cosmic redemption. I think to really understand why
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  the crowd reacted the way they did and why they were so
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  desperate for that political revolution, we have to talk
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  about the sheer pressure of the environment Jesus walked into.
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  The environment was incredibly hostile.
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  It really was. The year is approximately AD 33.
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  It is the season of Passover, which means Jerusalem's
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  population has swollen drastically.
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  Way beyond its normal capacity. Yeah, you have hundreds of
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  thousands of pilgrims arriving from the diaspora.
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  For anyone who might not be familiar with that term, the
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  Diaspora refers to Jewish people who had been scattered across
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  the known world over the centuries.
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  Right, living in places like Egypt, Greece or Asia Minor.
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  Exactly. I mean, think of it like a
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  massive international family reunion where relatives from
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  dozens of different countries all fled back to their ancestral
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  hometown at once. That there's a great way to
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  picture. It The city is overflowing, the
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  streets are packed and resources are stretched thin, and they are
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  gathering specifically to commemorate their historical
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  liberation from slavery in Egypt.
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  The entire festival is about freedom from an oppressor.
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  The atmosphere must have been incredibly charged.
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  I mean a literal powder keg. The political tension of this
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  specific moment cannot be overstated.
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  You have all these pilgrims singing songs about God breaking
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  the chains of their Egyptian oppressors, yet they are singing
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  those songs while staring directly at the armor of foreign
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  soldiers. Israel is under the iron fist of
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  Roman occupation. That is such a vivid image,
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  singing about freedom while looking at a Roman spear.
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  It is brutal. Every single day, the Jewish
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  people see the patrols, they pay exorbitant taxes to a Pagan
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  emperor in Rome, and they feel the crushing weight of a
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  military superpower holding them down.
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  And Pontius Pilate was not exactly a gentle ruler.
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  No, not at all. Pontius Pilate, the Roman
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  governor, was known for his ruthlessness.
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  He would bring extra troops into Jerusalem during the festivals
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  specifically to crush any hints of rebellion.
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  Just a show of sheer force. Yes, of a massive intimidation
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  tactic. So you have a subjugated people
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  desperate for a military deliverer to shatter the Roman
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  yoke. Furthermore, the local religious
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  institutions, the priesthood, the Sanhedrin, are viewed by
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  many commoners as spiritually bankrupt.
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  Let me stop you there and ask about the Sanhedrin, because we
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  hear that term a lot. These are the religious leaders,
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  essentially the Supreme Court and Parliament of the Jewish
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  people combined, right? That is correct.
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  Why were they viewed so negatively by the public?
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  If you are oppressed by Rome, wouldn't you naturally rally
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  behind your own religious leaders?
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  I mean, that seems like the logical response.
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  You would think so, but the reality was quite different.
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  The high priesthood had become intensely corrupt and highly
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  politicized. Oh wow.
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  Yeah, the Roman authorities actually had a hand in
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  appointing the high priest, and Rome kept the high priestly
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  garments locked up in the Antonia fortress, only handing
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  them over for the festivals. Wait, Rome literally held the
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  religious garments hostage? Yes.
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  They did so. The public saw the Sanhedrin as
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  pragmatic collaborators with Rome.
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  These religious leaders were willing to compromise the
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  holiness of God to maintain their own social status, wealth
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  and fragile authority. That is just wild to think
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  about. It was a very dark time.
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  The temple courts have been turned into a marketplace, an
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  economic racket that preyed on the pilgrims.
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  So the public is starving for a true righteous leader because
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  they are oppressed by pagans on the outside and exploited by
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  their own leaders on the inside. So they are getting squeezed
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  from both directions. Absolutely.
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  Looking at this through the lens of the Westminster Confession of
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  Faith, specifically Chapter 7, we see the immense theological
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  weight of this timing. Let's break that down for the
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  listener. What does Chapter 7 of the
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  Westminster Confession tell us about this specific historical
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  moment? Well, Chapter 7 deals with God's
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  covenant with man. It explains that this era, the
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  time right before the crucifixion, is the absolute
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  climax of the Old Covenant dispensation.
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  OK, that makes sense for. Centuries, God had been teaching
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  his people through types and shadows.
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  The physical temple building, the endless rivers of animal
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  sacrifices, the physical Davidic throne, These were all temporary
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  earthly representations pointing toward a greater spiritual
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  reality. Like pointing to Jesus, right?
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  Every slaughtered lamb was essentially A promissory note, a
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  credit card swipe, waiting for the actual bill to be paid.
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  Now all those types and shadows are about to meet their
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  fulfilment in the New Covenant through the blood of the Lamb.
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  That paints an incredible picture.
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  Jesus is stepping right into the center of this massive
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  redemptive transition. He is about to fulfill the
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  entire Old Testament system. It is like a modern city under
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  martial law, buzzing with rumors of a rebel leaders arrival.
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  You have troops standing on the corners, curfews in place, and a
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  populace that is exhausted, oppressed and looking for a
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  spark to ignite a revolution. That is a very accurate
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  comparison. The air is thick with
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  anticipation. With all this political
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  pressure, how hard was it for the average person in that crowd
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  to separate their immediate physical grievances from their
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  eternal spiritual needs? Extremely hard.
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  I mean, when you are worried about Roman soldiers
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  confiscating your property, how do you focus on a theological
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  transition from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant?
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  Well, it was nearly impossible for the natural man to make that
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  separation. The harsh circumstances in
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  Israel created a humanity desperate for a geopolitical
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  fix. They just wanted the pain to
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  stop. Exactly.
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  Their daily reality of physical oppression blinded them to the
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  reality of their own sin. They sought a king who would
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  change their outward circumstances rather than a king
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  who would change their inward souls.
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  Which is such a human reaction, isn't?
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  It it really is. They were so consumed with
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  escaping the wrath of Rome that they gave absolutely no thought
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  to escaping the wrath of God. They wanted a new King David to
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  ride into town, swing a sword and chop off the heads of the
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  Romans. Yeah, a bloody uprising.
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  Right. Completely missing that their
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  most urgent crisis was their violation of God's holy
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  standard. They needed a Savior who would
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  satisfy the law, but they only wanted a general who would
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  satisfy their desire for political independence.
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  Because the city was an absolute powder keg of political
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  expectations, Jesus did not just wander into Jerusalem by
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  accident. He did not get swept up in the
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  crowd's energy. No, he was totally in control.
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  He orchestrated his arrival to make a highly specific claim.
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  Matthew tells us that Jesus directs 2 disciples to go to
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  Beth Phage, a village on the Mount of Olives.
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  Yes, Beth Phage. He tells them to find a Thai
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  donkey and her cult, and he gives them specific instructions
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  on what to say. If anyone questions them, he
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  says the Lord has in need of them.
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  He maps out the entire logistical process.
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  Yeah, he maps out the entire logistical process of his
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  entrance before he even sets foot on the road.
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  It feels like he's putting all the pieces on the chess board
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  with absolute precision. What's fascinating here is that
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  this is not casual direction, and it is certainly not
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  improvisation. It demonstrates sovereign
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  intentionality and absolute omniscience.
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  Omniscience, meaning he knows everything that is going to
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  happen, right? Jesus is the active initiator of
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  redemption. He knows the animals are tied in
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  that specific village. He knows the owners will ask
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  questions when the disciples begin untying the beasts.
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  That is a massive display of authority.
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  And he knows his title. The Lord carries the supreme
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  authority to secure their release.
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  The text does not say he hoped the animals would be there, or
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  that he made an educated guess based on typical village life.
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  He didn't just cross his fingers and hope for the best.
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  No. He spoke with divine certainty.
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  Reality conforms to his word. He exercises an authority that
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  supersedes ordinary human ownership.
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  That is wild. He just claims the animals.
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  Yeah, the owners of those animals do not argue.
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  The moment they hear the Lord has need of them, they release
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  the animals. It highlights His sovereign
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  right over all creation. Wait, I have to push back on
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  this a little bit. Sure, go ahead.
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  He is about to be arrested, mocked, beaten and crucified.
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  People usually associate suffering with losing control.
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  That is the normal human perspective, yeah.
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  When we think of someone heading toward a brutal execution, we
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  picture a victim caught in a legal or political system they
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  cannot escape. We picture someone who has run
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  out of options. A helpless victim.
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  Right, but you were saying he is actively micromanaging the
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  logistics of his own funeral procession.
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  He is purposefully pulling the strings to ensure he ends up on
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  the cross. Yes, and that proves Christ's
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  act of obedience. He is not a victim of
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  circumstance and he has not been outmaneuvered by the Sanhedrin
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  or by Rome. That is a staggering thought.
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  It really changes how you read the narrative.
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  His March to the Cross is a voluntary submission to the
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  Father's decree. He's displaying absolute
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  lordship over every earthly detail.
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  Even over his own death. Yes, the same Christ will soon
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  be betrayed by Judas and nailed to a tree by Roman soldiers is
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  not helpless in this moment. He goes to the cross as one who
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  knows Florida State, what he's doing.
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  So the crucifixion wasn't a mistake or a failure of his
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  plan? Not at all.
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  His suffering will not be the triumph of man over God.
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  It will be the outworking of God's redemptive plan to save
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  his people. By securing the donkey and cult,
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  he is preparing to enter the city in a way that publicly
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  signifies his true identity, showing that even in his
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  approach to death, he remains entirely in command of the
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  narrative. No one takes his life from him.
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  He lays it down of his own accord.
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  That active orchestration leads directly to the visual statement
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  he makes upon entering the city, and this visual statement is
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  entirely scripted by ancient prophecy.
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  Down to the smallest detail. Yeah, Matthew points directly to
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  Zechariah Chapter 9, verse 9. In Isaiah chapter 62 verse 11,
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  Jesus rides on a donkey's cult, fulfilling the promise of a king
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  coming to Zion. Visual contrast is huge.
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  Let's think about that contrast for a second.
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  He does not secure a chariot. He does not gather a cavalry of
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  armed men. Those swords, No, right?
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  He deliberately chooses a beast of burden for his public
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  presentation to the nation. If I am a Roman soldier watching
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  from the fortress, or a Jewish zealot hoping for a military
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  uprising, this visual is completely jarring.
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  We must contrast a War Horse with a donkey to understand the
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  gravity of this visual statement.
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  In the ancient world, a conquering general or an emperor
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  rides a War Horse to signal military might, force, and
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  impending judgment. To terrify people, basically.
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  Yes, earthly rulers magnify themselves by display visible
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  domination and an intimidating show of force.
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  But a king riding a donkey signals an arrival in peace.
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  It changes the entire tone. It echoes the coronation of King
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  Solomon in the Old Testament, who rode to his anointing on
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  King David's mule. Jesus claims the Davidic throne,
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  but he does so as the Prince of Peace.
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  That's beautiful. His Majesty is veiled in
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  meekness. He is truly the King of Kings,
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  yet His glory is closed in stunning humility.
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  He comes of full authority, yet completely without carnal palm
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  or military threat. He's declaring war on sin and
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  death, not on Rome. It is like a Victoria's general
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  deciding to show up to his massive ticker tape parade,
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  driving a humble, beat up compact car instead of riding in
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  a heavily armored tank. That is a hilarious image, but
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  it is accurate. It completely short circuits
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  everyone's expectations of what victory looks like.
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  The crowds are ready for a display of overwhelming force.
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  They have the confetti ready for a conquering warlord.
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  And instead they get a display of striking gentleness.
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  Completely opposite of what they planned.
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  So what does this all mean for the listener trying to figure
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  out God's character? It stresses the infallibility of
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  the Word of God. God rules history so that
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  promise and fulfillment meet flawlessly in His Son.
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  Matthew does not present the Old Testament prophecy is some vague
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  prediction that Jesus just happened to match.
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  It wasn't a coincidence. No, he presents it as precise
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  divine testimony, finding its ordained goal in Christ.
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  Jesus had to be a savior who satisfies the law, not a
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  political reformer who satisfies human pride.
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  That is a tough pill to swallow for natural human pride.
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  It always is. The natural man always wants a
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  king who flatters national pride, vindicates their specific
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  political tribe, and crushes visible enemies.
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  But God promised a king whose reign will be marched by
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  righteousness, meekness, and peace with God.
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  So he meets the divine standard, not the human standard.
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  Right. Jesus fulfills Scripture not
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  simply by being the right person, but by arriving in the
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  precise manner God ordained. He is the Messiah God promised,
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  not the Messiah fallen men wished him to be.
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  Since Jesus presented himself Florida State, as Scripture
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  promised, we have to look at how the people looking right at him
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  completely missed the point. And this is where the psychology
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  of the crowd gets terrifying. The psychology is quite
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  alarming. The crowds spread their outer
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  garments and palm branches on the road.
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  They shout Hosanna to the son of David Less.
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  It is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
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  They are literally quoting Psalm 118.
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  They're using the correct scriptural text.
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  They're pulling out all the stops for a royal welcome,
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  creating a massive public spectacle of celebration.
• 15:09
  They are using their Bibles. They certainly are.
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  Wait. If they are quoting the Bible
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  and giving him royal treatment, why is the scene viewed
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  historically as a warning rather than a massive spiritual
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  triumph? If they are singing psalms and
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  honoring him, isn't that a good thing?
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  Why is their enthusiasm viewed so critically?
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  Because outward homage and Orthodox vocab do not equal
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  saving faith, These actions spreading garments and branches,
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  they signify homage, welcome and submission.
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  It looks good on the outside. It looks great on the outside.
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  Spreading garments on the road was an ancient practice used to
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  acknowledge dignity and pay tribute to a newly crowned
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  ruler, as they did for King Jehu in the Old Testament.
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  Oh right, I remember that story and.
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  Hosanna translates to Save We Pray.
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  They use orthodox biblical titles like Son of David.
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  However, their praise is genuine in its volume but entirely
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  inadequate in its substance. They are loud, but they are
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  wrong. Exactly.
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  They want a geopolitical fix. They want a crown without a
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  cross. They are applying the right
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  biblical vocabulary to entirely wrong fleshly expectations.
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  That's such a vital distinction to make.
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  They rejoice in a kingly deliverer, but they do not yet
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  comprehend that His throne lies beyond the horrors of
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  crucifixion, or that his victory comes through sacrificial
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  obedience to the Father's wrath. So you are saying they are
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  treating him like a genie in a bottle?
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  They know the magic words. They know Psalm 118, son of
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  David Hosanna. Yeah, they have the jargon down.
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  But they are using those words to try and force God to
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  accomplish their political goals.
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  Spot on. The crowd illustrates the danger
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  of a fickle, pragmatic enthusiasm that honors the king
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  with lips, while the heart wants something else entirely.
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  They're just using him. They want a cosmic Butler, not a
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  sovereign Lord. They want a deity who will clean
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  up their mess, defeat their enemies, and leave their
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  personal sins completely unchallenged.
• 17:04
  Wow, that hits close to home for a lot of modern religion,
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  doesn't it? It really does.
• 17:08
  It is highly possible to speak rightly about Jesus, to sing the
• 17:12
  right hymns, to attend the right church, while still failing to
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  grasp the true nature of his mission.
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  You can have perfect theology on paper and still miss the heart
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  of it. Yes, one may cry hosanna and
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  still misunderstand the King entirely.
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  One may rejoice in Jesus as long as he seems to meet earthly
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  hopes, yet shrink back in anger when his path leads to
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  repentance, suffering, and absolute lordship over every
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  area of life. Which is terrifying.
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  It warns US against superficial religion that thrives on
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  emotional fervor but lacks true spiritual submission.
• 17:45
  That loud but incredibly misguided enthusiasm of the
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  pilgrims traveling with Jesus spills over into the streets of
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  Jerusalem, creating a citywide crisis of identity.
• 17:56
  A massive crisis. Matthew records that all the
• 17:58
  city was stirred. The residents of Jerusalem ask
• 18:01
  who is this? And the crowd answers.
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  This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth of Galilee.
• 18:05
  Such an inadequate answer. The sheer kinetic energy of this
• 18:08
  procession hits the stone walls of the city and the residents
• 18:11
  are forced to react to this massive of disruption.
• 18:14
  That word stirred in the original Greek is a syste from
• 18:17
  which we get the word seismic. Oh, like an earthquake.
• 18:20
  Like a literal earthquake and implies severe agitation of
• 18:22
  physical shaking up of the status quo, the city is thrown
• 18:25
  into a localized earthquake of commotion.
• 18:28
  That is intense. Jerusalem is the city with the
• 18:30
  massive temple. The complex priesthood describes
• 18:34
  who copied the law. It is the place that should have
• 18:36
  instantly recognized their king. They were the headquarters of
• 18:40
  biblical knowledge. Yet they are left completely
• 18:42
  confused. They have to ask who is this And
• 18:45
  the answer given by the incoming crowd, this is the prophet Jesus
• 18:50
  from Nazareth of Galilee, is factually true but fatally
• 18:54
  incomplete. So they get a partial passing
• 18:56
  grade, but they fail the final exam.
• 18:58
  Pretty much, Jesus is indeed a prophet, but to stop there is to
• 19:03
  miss his full identity. The city feels the weight of the
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  moment, but it's very question reveals that recognition is
• 19:09
  still partial. There is awareness, but not yet
• 19:12
  full confession. Here's where it gets really
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  interesting. Identifying Jesus simply as a
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  prophet from a specific geography tries to put him in a
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  manageable box. We build love manageable boxes.
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  If I say he's a great teacher from up north, it makes him easy
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  to categorize. I can listen to a prophet, take
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  notes, maybe adopt some of his moral teachings, and then go
• 19:31
  about my day. It is safe.
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  It demands respect, sure, but it stops short of total submission
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  to Him as the Lord of all creation.
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  We do this today, don't we? We want Jesus the life coach,
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  but not Jesus the Lord. We do, and that brings us
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  directly to the Westminster Confession, chapter 8,
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  concerning Christ the Mediator. Let's unpack that.
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  Reformed theology recognizes that Jesus holds the threefold
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  office of prophet, priest, and king.
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  He is the prophet who reveals the will of God to humanity.
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  He is the priest who offers himself as a sacrifice to
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  satisfy divine justice and reconcile us to God.
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  And he's the king who rules, governs and defends his people.
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  You cannot just pick one out of the three.
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  No, you cannot. To accept him only as a prophet
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  who teaches moral lessons, while rejecting him as the priest who
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  must die for your sins, and rejecting him as the king who
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  rules your conscience, is to reject the true Christ entirely.
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  It is an all or nothing package. The crowd was very comfortable
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  with a prophet who performed miracles and fed thousands.
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  They were absolutely not prepared for a priest who
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  demanded their lives or a king who commanded absolute
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  allegiance even unto death. I think we all want a prophet to
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  give us good advice and maybe a king to protect us from our
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  enemies. Sure, that sounds nice.
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  But a priest? A priest implies that we are
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  sinful, filthy, and in desperate need of blood atonement to avoid
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  the wrath of a holy God, and that offends human pride.
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  It deeply offends human pride. Understanding this failure of
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  the crowds forces us to examine our own theological footing and
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  how we view salvation today. This historical event is not
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  just an ancient story about 1st century people getting it wrong.
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  No, it is highly relevant. It has massive implications for
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  how we approach God right now, today.
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  The narrative absolutely demolishes the Armenian idea
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  that the human will is the final arbiter of salvation.
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  OK, let me pause you there. Let me explain what you mean by
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  that. For the listener.
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  Arminianism suggests that humanity, while fallen, still
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  possesses the innate moral capacity to recognize Christ,
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  choose him, and effectively cast the deciding vote for their own
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  salvation. Yes, that is the core of it.
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  But the crowds in Jerusalem demonstrate humanity's total
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  inability to even recognize their Savior properly without
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  divine intervention. They look right at the Son of
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  God fulfilling prophecy, and they still invent a false
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  version of Him. They are completely blind their.
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  Wills are in bondage to their fleshly desires.
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  This text also destroys the prosperity gospel, which turns
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  Jesus into a heavenly vending machine for earthly gain.
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  The crowds wanted earthly prosperity, political supremacy,
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  and liberation from Rome. Christ offered them something
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  infinitely more valuable, which is justification.
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  Let's make sure the listener understands justification,
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  because that is a massive theological concept.
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  When we talk about justification by faith alone, what are we
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  talking? About we must understand the
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  doctrine of justification. By faith alone.
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  God pardons our sins and accepts us as righteous only for the
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  sake of Christ's righteousness imputed to us.
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  Imputed righteousness. That is a big term.
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  Imputed righteousness is like a billionaire transferring his
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  entire immense fortune into the bank account of someone who was
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  completely bankrupt, clearing their massive debt and making
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  them instantly wealthy on paper. I love that analogy.
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  We bring nothing but our sin. Nothing at all.
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  The triumphal entry highlights Christ's active obedience.
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  In theology, we talk about Christ's passive obedience, His
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  suffering and dying on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins.
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  But His act of obedience refers to his entire life of Florida
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  State fulfilling the law of God on behalf of the elect.
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  He lived the perfect life we failed to live.
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  He earned the righteousness we need.
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  Yes, He is heading toward the cross, not just to bear the
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  punishment we deserved, but to offer His perfect record of
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  righteousness to be credited to our account.
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  So the crowd is focusing on the wrong kind of righteousness.
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  The crowd wanted to maintain their own righteousness and just
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  get some political help. Christ demands we abandoned our
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  own righteousness entirely and trust only in His.
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  Which brings a very serious question directly to you, the
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  listener. Are you using Jesus for personal
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  gain? That is the big question.
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  Are you looking for a savior to fix your earthly circumstances
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  to get you the promotion to heal your temporal sickness, or a
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  savior to rescue your soul from the eternal wrath of God?
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  It is a sobering thought. It is so incredibly easy to fall
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  into the exact trap of the Jerusalem crowd praising God
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  loudly when life goes well, when He provides the things we want,
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  but turning away in bitterness when obedience requires
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  sacrifice, suffering or giving up our pet sins.
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  If we connect this to the bigger picture, we find what reformed
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  theology calls the third use of the law.
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  Oh this is fascinating. Please explain.
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  Historically, theologians have categorized the law of God into
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  3 uses. The first use is to restrain
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  evil in society through the threat of punishment.
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  Like speed limits and civil laws.
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  Right. The second use is like a mirror
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  showing us our sin and driving us to Christ for salvation.
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  Because we see we cannot keep it perfectly.
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  Exactly. But the third use is for the
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  believer. Believers do not obey the law to
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  be saved. We are totally incapable of
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  earning our salvation through good works.
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  Right, that goes back to justification by faith alone.
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  Yes, but because we are saved, because Christ has already
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  secured our justification through his blood and credited
• 24:52
  his righteousness to us, we joyfully submit to the King's
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  commands. It changes the motivation
• 24:58
  entirely. Our obedience becomes a response
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  of immense gratitude, not a ladder we climb to reach heaven.
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  That is a beautiful way to phrase it.
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  The people in Jerusalem wanted a king who would enact their laws,
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  validate their anger, and fulfill their fleshly desires.
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  The true Christian submits to the King's law, knowing that his
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  decrees are righteous, holy, and good, even when they contradict
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  our flesh. To briefly recap what we have
• 25:25
  covered in this deep dive, we looked at the intense historical
• 25:28
  tension in Jerusalem, a city groaning under the heavy boot of
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  Roman rule and desperate for a political hero.
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  He was a desperate situation. We saw Christ's sovereign
• 25:38
  orchestration of his arrival demonstrating his absolute
• 25:41
  omniscience by securing the donkey and the cult with divine
• 25:44
  authority. He was in total control.
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  We examined the prophetic fulfillment of the humble king
• 25:49
  riding a beast of burden, proving the infallibility of
• 25:52
  God's Word, and rejecting the carnal pomp of a warhorse.
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  A completely different kind of king.
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  And we unpacked the stark warning against superficial,
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  pragmatic religion, where massive crowds loudly praise a
• 26:04
  king they do not truly understand because they want
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  their circumstances change, not their hearts.
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  The contrast is severe and unavoidable.
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  The king humans invent in their minds, is a conqueror who wields
• 26:16
  earthly might to secure temporary comfort and flatter
• 26:19
  human pride. We want a king in our own image.
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  We really do. But the King God promised in
• 26:25
  Scripture is the sovereign Lord who wields divine authority to
• 26:29
  secure eternal redemption through his own suffering and
• 26:31
  substitutionary death. It is a totally different
• 26:34
  paradigm. He requires absolute submission
• 26:36
  and he offers infinite grace. Think about the sheer speed of
• 26:40
  human fickleness. The exact same public voice that
• 26:42
  laid down palm branches and shouted Hosanna on Sunday likely
• 26:46
  stood in a dusty courtyard shouting Crucify him by Friday.
• 26:49
  Just a few days later. It is tragic.
• 26:51
  When God's plan introduces personal discomfort, calls out
• 26:55
  our sin, or contradicts our earthly expectations, how
• 26:58
  quickly does our own praise turn to rejection?
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  That is something we all need to evaluate.
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  Thank you for joining this deep dive into the true nature of the
• 27:06
  Sovereign submission.