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Thank you. Thank you so much. Well, please do keep your Bibles open. In Matthew, chapter 21. So we look at that together.

Now, I wonder how you expect your leaders to arrive. We expect the president to arrive on air force one. We expect the royal family to turn up in a state carriage. At leaders across the world. We expect to turn up in limousines and jeeps and motorcades.

Except in this country, for some reason we seem to hate it. Do you remember there was that big scandal a few years ago about how much money was being spent on the UK government having a plane that they could use? If a politician travels in first class, it's somehow an expenses scandal. A few years ago, there was a photo of Boris travelling to work on a bike, looking rather dishevelled. And we kind of thought that was normal, I mean, as normal as it gets with Boris and know, but we thought that was okay.

Why wouldn't the prime minister come to work on a bike?

I wonder if as a nation we've actually been more influenced than we think by Jesus Christ. We've actually come to expect and assume that our leaders travel with some sense of humility.

While we're in Palm Sunday, we see something here of that humility. The king of the universe riding on a donkey. Now, in the run up to Easter, we've taken a break from our studies in Romans and we're in Matthew's gospel. We are following Jesus journey in the book of Matthew to the cross. You see, back in Matthew, chapter 16, there are two pivotal moments that set the scene for this day.

Firstly, Jesus asks his disciples, remember the question he asked them. He said, who do people say I am? And the disciples replied with a whole list of ideas. Here are some of the people that the people say you are, and said, well, what about you? Who do you say I am?

And Peter responds, you are the Christ, the son of the living God. You're God's king. You're the messiah, you're the one who's come to save. You're God's king.

And immediately after that revelation, Jesus then says that he's come to die. Verse 21 of chapter 16, he said, it says, from that time, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and on the third day be raised. At that point, Peter rebukes him. He says, not you, Lord. You're the Christ, you're God's king.

You're not going to suffer. Surely you've not come to die at which point Jesus rebukes him. Be quiet, Peter.

Roll forward to chapter 21, verse one. Now, when they drew near to Jerusalem, Matthew is signposting this for us. What happened in chapter 16, what we are alerted to them, is now about to come to pass. We know what's coming. Jesus has come to Jerusalem to die.

And yet that same question of identity, who Jesus is, still remains a mystery for many. As Jesus arrives, that question remains in the air. It's there in verse ten.

Who is this? Who is this?

Well, as we see in this palm Sunday scene, Jesus arrives in Jerusalem as he said he would. But it's also a drama. It's an acted out enactment of an answer to that question. Who is this? And as Matthew writes and Jesus enacts, we're going to see at least two answers to that question.

And they're both answers which come from the Old Testament. Here's the first answer we see. Who is this? This is the humble king. This is the humble king.

In this section, Jesus explains his identity through the fulfilment of Old Testament prophecies, the coming true of things which God spoke in the past. And it begins with a donkey. That's the first thing that Jesus does when he arrives in Jerusalem. He tells his disciples, go and find a donkey and its cult there in verse two.

And what should the disciples say if anyone asks? I mean, it's a fairly od request, isn't it? Go and look for a donkey. What are they to say? Verse three say, the Lord needs them.

The Lord needs them. Now, up to this point, Jesus has been fairly content to carry out his ministry on foot. He spent most of his time walking around from place to place. But now as he approaches Jerusalem, he needs a donkey.

Of course, this has nothing to do with the need for transport. He's not tired. He doesn't need to rest his feet. But it has everything to do with his need to fulfil prophecy. You see, Matthew understands this really clearly.

Look at verse four with me.

This took place to fulfil what was spoken by the prophet, saying, 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.

Matthew understands this is the fulfilment of prophecy. Jesus the Christ, he's the promised king. He's the king of Jerusalem. He's God's king. But here he's fulfilling the prophecy of Zechariah nine, verse nine, that God's king will come in humility.

That's not how we expect an ancient king, or indeed any king or ruler to come. A chariot, a great stallion. Surely that would be more fitting. That would be how an ancient king should arrive. But Zechariah's prophecy continues.

It doesn't continue in Matthew, but if we read in Zechariah chapter nine, the very next verse says, I will cut off the chariots from Ephraim and the war horse from Jerusalem. And the battle bow shall be cut off and he shall speak peace to the nations. His rule shall be from sea to sea.

He's talking here about the king, the supreme ruler, the ruler from sea to sea. But he comes to bring peace. He comes humbly and ultimately he will abolish and redefine what kingship is. No longer will it be about parading power, but rather it will be about exalting humble service. See, even that phrase, humble king, sounds like a contradiction.

That's not how we expect kings to be. It's a paradox.

John Stott considered this question about Jesus' humility. And he was answering the bigger question, why am I a Christian? And he says this. Consider Jesus' humility. His claims for himself are very disturbing because they are so self centred.

Yet in his behaviour, he was clothed with humility. Is this not unique in the history of the world? There have been lots of arrogant people, but they all behaved like it. There have also been lots of humble people, but they never made great claims for themselves. It's this combination of egocentricity and humility that is so startling.

The egocentricity of his teaching and the humility of his behaviour.

This is why the claims of Jesus are so compelling, so inviting. Millions of people across the world today and throughout history have followed this humble king, not in spite of his humility and lowliness, but because of it.

Jesus, in his humility, draws close. He becomes like us. He walks with us, he washes our feet. He gives his life for us, a humility that invites us to follow. You see, the journey to Jerusalem is a journey to the cross, to death, to suffering.

But paradoxically, it's a journey to glory, to life, a journey to come home to our heavenly Father.

In a recent book some of us read a few years ago called gentle and lowly, the author, Dane Ortland, helps us to see that the humility of Jesus isn't just a posture that he adopts. It's not something that just happens to be expedient to his mission, but rather humility and humble service. A gentleness towards us gets close to the heart of who Jesus is.

He is humble. He is gentle and lowly. He is tender toward his people. What kind of king is this? A humble king, gentle and lonely, filled with love for sinners, bringing hope to the world like an elder brother, leading us home to a loving heavenly father.

John Stott was answering that question. What does it mean to you to be a Christian? What is it that's compelling about Jesus? What do you love about Jesus? That's a great question to be asking ourselves and to be asking one another.

What is it about Jesus that you love?

I think for me, one of the answers is here. It's his humility that he's not like other kings. The way he approaches us, the way he treats us. He comes down to meet us, to walk our road, to share our life, to love us.

I think it's an answer that gets other people thinking as well. A humble king. That's not how we expect our leaders to be a humble king. I'm not sure that's how many expect God to be. Many have preconceptions of God as a distant figure, lots of power, very little personality.

But Jesus shows that's not what God is like. Sure, he's got power. He's the king of the universe, but he comes humbly, gently, lowly. He is the humble king. But secondly, he's the Hosanna king.

He's the Hosanna king. You see, the second part of this account looks anything but humble. There's crowds. They're taking off their cloaks and laying them on the road. They're cutting down branches and laying them on the floor for Jesus to walk over.

This is the red carpet treatment being rolled out for Jesus. They're shouting and praising. Look at verse nine to see what they're saying. 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. Now, this isn't so much the fulfilment of prophecy, but yet the clouds, the crowds are very clearly quoting from Psalm 118. Psalm 118 says these words, save us, we pray, o Lord. O Lord, we pray. Give us success.

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. We bless you from the house of the Lord. This word Hosanna, it's a shout of praise. God saves. Praise the God who saves.

But it also echoes the plea, the prayer of Psalm 118. God save us. God save us. You see, Psalm 118 prophetically gets to the heart of who Jesus is and why he's come. He comes in the name of the Lord.

He comes bringing God's salvation, his rescue. He comes to bless God's people.

But what kind of rescue does he bring? What kind of saviour is he? Now? Jesus here doesn't come as a conquering saviour. He doesn't come as a warrior to defeat the Romans.

He doesn't come to preserve the temple or to restore this city of Jerusalem. He didn't come with an army. He didn't enter into politics. Rather, he came to give his life.

There's a particular political, religious view at the moment. It's got particular prominence in the united states, but it's getting more traction in this country as well. It's sometimes called christian nationalism.

It thinks that Jesus' mission is to preserve the west, to protect conservative cultures, and Christians therefore invited to be part of his culture war.

It's a very strange reading of the scriptures, this Jesus who comes in humility and then wants us to fight for him, friends, his kingdom is not of this world. His battle is not against flesh and blood. Cultures are not preserved by force, but only by the fruits of the Holy Spirit.

This isn't the kind of king he is. This isn't the kind of rescue that he's come to bring, friends. He's not come to win nations or cultures. He's come to win people. He's come to save you and me and people like you and me across the world.

He's not into fighting armies. He's not into playing politics. He's into rescuing people. It's not that kind of rescue. It's not that kind of salvation.

Neither is his rescue just one for the elite. He didn't come to save the good and righteous, the religious and the dutiful.

He didn't come just to save those who shouted Hosanna. Indeed, you get a sense here that their words are somewhat hollow. Do you see that at the end there? Verse eleven. They're pressed.

The crowds are asked, well, who is this? Verse eleven? And the crowd said, this is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth.

You, in spite of everything, in spite of everything that's been revealed, the question of his identity is still uncertain for many. Who is this prophet from Nazareth? You see, Jesus hasn't come, as he says earlier in the gospel, to rescue those who honour him with their lips, but whose hearts are far from him. There's a whole crowd of people who know the right thing to say, but don't really know Jesus himself. He doesn't come to save just the religious elite, the leaders.

Indeed, later on in the chapter he will come and cleanse the temple and say, you've turned this place into a den of robbers.

No, rather, just like as he came, Jesus came to save the least and the lowly. Later on in this chapter he praises the faith of children. He elevates tax collectors and prostitutes in his kingdom.

This king is the Hosanna king, the one who's come to save. But it's not the kind of rescue we expect or assume.

He's come to save the least and the lonely people like you and like me. You see, he comes in humility, but we still need saving. We still need him as humble as he is to be our saviour. He comes gently, but he still comes as king. The one who rightly rules over all things.

So how will we welcome him?

I pray not with hollow words.

I pray not assuming he's come to save something more than he has.

He's come to save you and me. Say, friends, will you have the humility to cry Hosanna? Will you have the humility to cry God, save me?

That's why he's come. And that takes humility because it says I can't save myself. I need God to rescue me. And I'm so thankful that Jesus has come to give his life in my place that I might be free.

Will you cry Hosanna?

Secondly, will you give up everything?

We see that in Jesus' example, don't we? The one who has emptied himself, the king of the universe, who gives up everything to seek and save the lost, what does he demand in return?

Everything. My life, my all. If he is the king, the true king, the king of everything, then he's king of me. And. And this Easter he invites us to take off our crowns and to follow him.

Amen.