Rsbc 1/23/00
Sunday Morning
Subject- " Christ's Identity Revealed "
Text- Matt 21-1-17
Intro - There are at least 4 outstanding verses in this text that reveal who Christ was in regard to his earthly tasks. There is no question at the entrance of his birth it was told that there was a babe born in a manager wrapped in swaddling clothes that was to be the one to fulfill three offices when he arrived at adulthood. The manifold offices that he was to be both qualified and capable of performing was Prophet, Priest, and King. No one in his or her right mind would ever think that a King would come from such lowly beginnings, and yet when he was born wise men came to present him gifts because they saw his star and knew he was King. The times in which Christ came to reveal himself was a time of Roman oppression and servitude, and the people of Israel was slaves to this system of world government and world domination. The time in which Christ our saviour would become to sacrifice for the sins of the people was closing in on him and he was well aware of it.
In the previous chapter he said...
Matthew 20:18-19 Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death, 19 And shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him: and the third day he shall rise again.
He also in the previous chapter stated theses words...
Matthew 20:28 Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.
I.... "THE FIRST IDENTITY OF CHRIST "...VS 5 This for all tense and purposes is known as the Triumphant Entry...A King making his entrance on a donkey... unheard of.
1. This was to reveal the kind of King he was.. "Lowly and Poor"
Zechariah 9:9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.
2. This was to reveal something of the nature of his Kingdom... "Not earthly"
No kingdom of this world ever had such beginnings, no royale family would openly preach and teach what Christ taught. John 18:36 Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.
3. This also was to enlighten those of the work of the King for the subjects of his Kingdom and the great news of his kingdom... In the book of Isaiah it presents another verse that is almost identical to this and it presents the King and his work...Isaiah 62:11-12 Behold, the LORD hath proclaimed unto the end of the world, Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him. 12 And they shall call them, The holy people, The redeemed of the LORD: and thou shalt be called, Sought out, A city not forsaken.
1.) That salvation was his work...
Luke 19:9-10And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.
2.) That his reward was with him... The reward of peace and freedom. In fact a number of occasions Jesus clearly announced his intentions...
John 14:27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
3.) His work was before him...
a. It was a predetermined work... Acts 2:23 Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: Nothing took God by surprise, this was all of his decree. Christ was the one that would die and in dying he would satisfy the righteous demands of the Law and fulfill it. He did that for you and I what a saviour....we have.
b. It was an humbling work...Philippians 2:8And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.