Triumphal Entry (Pt 1)


Mark 11:7-9 (ESV)
[7] And they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it, and he sat on it. [8] And many spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut from the fields. [9] And those who went before and those who followed were shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!

Each of the gospels records the event we call Palm Sunday. We call it the Triumphal Entry. We often remember the day with palm branches and celebration. It is the day that Jesus rode into Jerusalem while the crowds lay cloaks and palm branches on the ground before him and shouted praises. But it was hardly a triumph. The Pharisees rebuked Jesus for letting his disciples act in such a manner (Lk 19:39). The city of Jerusalem “was stirred up, saying, ‘Who is this?’” (Mat 21:10). Following his “Triumphal Entry” into Jerusalem Jesus cleansed the temple of the money-changers and taught the people. The chief priests and the scribes responded by “seeking a way to destroy him, for they feared him, because all the crowd was astonished at his teaching” (Mk 11:18).

The Triumphal Entry looked like the coming of a king, and so it was. But it was not a king coming to reign. It was a king coming to be rejected. Jesus had been ministering in the north around Galilee. This return to Jerusalem precipitated his crucifixion. The king had come, but the king had come to die. He was unrecognized by the people of his capital city. He was rejected by his religious leaders. Of course what they did not realize, what the Enemy did not see coming, was that it truly was a triumphal entry. Coming to his death, Jesus knew that his death was the very thing that would establish his kingdom. Thus, when the chief priests told him to rebuke his disciples, “He answered, ‘I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out’” (Lk 19:40).

Jesus had come in triumph, but those for whom he came rejected him. “He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him” (Jn 1:11). The Good News is that, “to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” Today we have three options before us. We can join the complacent crowds who say, “Who is this?” We can join the chief priests and scribes in opposing him. Or we can join his disciples and believe. The king came. The king was rejected and killed. The king rose from the dead. The king was and is triumphant. The king will come again, and when he comes no one will be saying, “Who is this?”

Revelation 1:5b-7 (ESV)
To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood [6] and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. [7] Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.
Jesus disciples worshiped while the city wondered who Jesus was. When he returns his disciples will celebrate while the world who rejected him will weep for they will realize that Jesus truly is King. You can believe today, or you can believe with regret when he comes back, but either way Jesus is King.

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