IN Matthew's gospel we come now to the events of the week preceding the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. The record, and this is true of all the gospels, commences with what has become known as Palm Sunday, and the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. In the light of the practice of Jesus throughout his ministry before, where Jesus is at pains to keep out of the public view as much as possible and hide his true identity, his action here is strange. Instead of hiding, here Jesus publicly declares himself as king and Messiah. Because of this, this action which commenced his last week of ministry must have great significance and purpose. This is what we need to inquire into and seek to understand.

The whole action from start to finish is a declaration by Jesus that he is the promised Messiah, the Christ, the King.

This declaration commences with his disciples when he sends two of his disciples on ahead in order to obtain the donkey's colt he needed to ride into Jerusalem. Questions rise in our minds as we read this event, to which we are not given an answer. For instances did Jesus arrange for these animals to be taken beforehand, or did he exercise his divine sovereignty and by divine power achieve his purpose. We don't know! What is made plain is that Jesus was doing a deliberate act in order to make plain that he was the promised Messiah, and also to declare in this way the sort of Messiah king he really was.

Matthew informs us that Jesus needed these animals in order to fulfill the prophecy given in Zechariah 9:9 which speaks clearly that the Messiah would appear in this way. This prophecy was known and accepted as Messianic.

We can also deduce that the owners of the donkey and its colt were disciples and believers in Jesus, for they did not hesitate to give permission for the animals to be taken, when they were told that it was the Lord who needed them. Jesus declares himself as 'the Lord', no just any lord, but the ruler of heaven and earth.

The revelation was so public that its truth was made plain to all, whether they would receive it or not. It is plain that the crowd got the message for they praised Jesus in an unmistakable way as the Messiah who was to come. They called him the Son of David. They declared he came in the name of the Lord. They praised him as the angels did at his birth, crying 'Hosanna in the highest'. Hosanna means 'save' and so they were praising and praying that Jesus would save them as their king.

The trouble was that the crowd's conception of that salvation was totally different to the true reality. Jesus came to save us from our sins, and from Satan's dominion, and save us for membership in his eternal and heavenly kingdom. He came to bring peace on the earth, by reconciling us to God, and by this to reconcile man with man. The common perception of the salvation brought by the Messiah was very earthbound. The idea was salvation from earthly dominion and the setting up of the Jews over the rest of the world. When this human and earthly perception was not realized, the crowd turned against Jesus, and joined in the cry for him to be crucified. In this we see the corruption and sin in the human heart, and how earthbound the fallen human soul is.

The prophecy from Zechariah is spoken to the Daughter of Zion. In the view of the Jews this meant the Jewish nation, and this is what God's calling of the nation of the Jews out of the other nations of the world originally signified, but the bible makes plain that the Daughter of Zion is the spiritual chosen nation, those who are true believers and disciples of Jesus. Jesus is king and Saviour to them. This hosanna, this saving, he accomplished on the cross and declared to be accomplished by his resurrection.

There was much grace, and this grace still is present, in this declaration of Jesus as the king and Messiah. He plainly declared himself and so gave opportunity for people to believe and receive him. Even to the end Jesus gave every opportunity for people to come to him and be saved. The sad fact is that such is the power of sin and corruption that most rejected Jesus when he did not fulfill their earthly hopes and desires. Jesus saw this and weeps over Jerusalem because of their blindness and hardness of heart.

The whole episode leaves no doubt as to the true identity of Jesus. The publicity was all inclusive. We are told that the whole city of Jerusalem was stirred. The news and evidence travelied around the whole city. People were asking who this king was and were left in no doubt that it was Jesus. This shows that God has made salvation in Jesus so clear, that no one in the end and on the day of judgement will be able to claim that they did not know and had no opportunity to know. Today, the Bible with this evidence is available for all to read, and if the world and followers of other religions, join together to reject the Bible and refuse to accept it as God's true revelation to fallen mankind, then they have no excuse when they stand before the throne of Jesus when he returns to judge the world.