Who is This?
He could have pulled back, but He didn’t. He could have defended Himself, but He didn’t.
Who is This? (Written by Tim Klink of Goodyear Heights Baptist Church)
Matthew 21:10
And when he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is this?
As Jesus entered Jerusalem on what we call Palm Sunday, the response from “all of the city” was a question that is probably the most important question anyone could ever ask. Jesus was someone like they had not seen before; not that He looked any different than any other Jewish man at that time, but the things He said, and the miracles He did all complemented His attitude. As you read Matthew 21, you see exactly who Jesus is.
In 21:1, we are told that He “drew nigh unto Jerusalem,” even though He knew what awaited Him. The suffering of the mock trial, the physical abuse, torture, and pain of the crucifixion were all necessary steps to His resurrection—which is God’s acceptance of His sacrifice for man’s sin. He could have pulled back, but He didn’t. He could have defended Himself, but He didn’t. He went to Jerusalem with a resolve seldom seen in mere man.
In 21:2-3 He told the disciples where to find the donkey He needed to ride on and what the owners would say, proving that He not only knows the future, but commands it. In 21:4-5, He fulfilled the prophecy in Zechariah 9:9, showing us that He knows all things past because He wrote them.
In 21:6-7 we read that what He told the disciples about the donkey came true exactly as He told them, proving He commands the future for our benefit, joy, and comfort, as well as for His glory.
In 21:8, the multitude honored Him as a king as He rode into town, but they missed the fact that He is THE King. They honored Him outwardly, but not in their heart. They admitted that He was the Messiah in 21:9 by referring to Him as the Son of David, but they were only looking for someone to deliver them from Roman rule, not from the sin that condemns all. They were only seeking a Saviour who would give them personal relief.
And after all of that, they asked “Who is this?” Consider that question in your own life. Who is Jesus to you? If He is not everything, you have missed His very reason for riding into Jerusalem.
