Hearing the Voice of the Holy Spirit

INTRO

To summarize, the words we’ve established for each book of the Bible so far are: Genesis=Seed; Exodus=Deliverer; Leviticus=Atonement; Numbers=Rock; and Deuteronomy=Prophet. Those five words cover the Pentateuch. For Matthew, that one word is King. No other chapter in Matthew emphasized Jesus as the King more than chapter 21. In this chapter, is the only time that Jesus set up an event to bring attention to Himself.

TEACHING

Matthew 21:1-5: Jesus and His disciples made the 17-mile journey from Jericho to Jerusalem. On the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples to go into the village to find a donkey and colt tied there and told them to bring them back to Him. Notice, Jesus told these disciples they would see the animals “at once.” Jesus began to give radical ways to trust the voice of the Holy Spirit. John 10:14-16 says:

“I am the good shepherd. I know My own sheep, and they know Me, as the Father knows Me, and I know the Father. I lay down My life for the sheep. But I have other sheep that are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will listen to My voice. Then there will be one flock, one shepherd.”

is the beginning of the process of sanctification––of growing in the Lord through the Holy Spirit. Jesus had already prepared the owner’s heart to allow the disciples to take the animals (v. 3).

We can trust the Holy Spirit’s voice: “Whenever they bring you before synagogues and rulers and authorities, don’t worry about how you should defend yourselves or what you should say. For the Holy Spirit will teach you at that very hour what must be said” (Luke 12:11-12).

And, we can trust God to give us directions of what to say: “Yahweh said to him, ‘Who made the human mouth? Who makes him mute or deaf, seeing or blind? Is it not I, Yahweh? Now go! I will help you speak and I will teach you what to say’” (Exodus 4:11-12).

Matthew 21:4-5: The preparation and the instructions led the disciples to walk out the prophecy of both Isaiah 62:11 and Zechariah 9:9. When you hear from the Holy Spirit, He has already prepared you for what He sends you to do. Trust His voice and walk it out. Verse 5 points directly to Jesus as the King. A king riding on a donkey represents humility. A king riding a horse represents authority. Jesus had to come in humility as King (1 Kings 1:33; Zechariah 9:9b), before He could return on a white horse as King (Revelation 19:11).

Matthew 21:6-8: The disciples did exactly as Jesus instructed. They heard the voice of the Holy Spirit and responded in faith. They didn’t need a meeting to figure out what to do. There is freedom in following the Holy Spirit’s voice. By following directions and bringing back two animals, they played a part in preparing the way for the King. We should not minimize the importance of anything the Holy Spirit asks us to do. God can use any of us at any time to accomplish His will.

They laid their own robes on the animals; they gave up everything for Him to sit on the colt––a wild, unridden animal (Psalm 8:6-7; Mark 11:7; John 12:14). Jesus was in control of everything, even a wild animal that had never been ridden. The crowd began to spread their personal robes on the road for Jesus to ride over. When two gave up their robes, so did everyone in the crowd (v. 8). This all started because they trusted the voice of the Lord, they walked out the prophecy, they went in obedience, and they gave everything up . . . because they believed the King was coming. The human side of the people wanted Jesus to be a political king.

Matthew 21:9-10: The crowds went before Jesus and after Him, quoting praises from Psalm 118:25-26 to Jesus. The palm branches spread on the road anticipate the coming of the Millennial Age when on the day of the Lord the kingdom will be implemented. The people saw that Jesus was a part of the lineage of David the king (Matthew 1:1).

The word Hosanna means, “Save us now!” The people shouted out to Him, expecting Him to save them from the political conditions they were in. They didn’t view Him as the Messiah. From Matthew 10 and through Matthew 28, the disciples were told to go out and find the lost sheep of Israel, but they were rejected all along the way. That’s why in Matthew 28, the whole mission is changed, and all the Gentiles were added to the lost sheep. When Jesus entered Jerusalem, many believe He went through the Sheep Gate, which was where the sheep were brought into Jerusalem for sacrifice. That creates an amazing picture of Jesus as the ultimate sacrifice.

The word “shaken” in verse 10 can be interpreted as: being moved, being stirred (What is going on?), or being deeply disturbed. The third interpretation is probably most correct, because the people of Jerusalem questioned who Jesus was, and the crowds kept saying, “This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee!” They were distraught because they knew Him and where He had come from. When people hear the Holy Spirit’s voice, when they walk out those instructions, when they enter a city and call out the name of Jesus, the city will be shaken!

CLOSING

It is our job to prepare the way for the King. I pray that the Holy Spirit would begin to show us what we each need to do to prepare His way, to show us His next steps. May we be obedient to the message we hear today.