The Triumphal Entry
The Triumphal Entry
When He had said these things, He went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. As He approached Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, He sent two of the disciples and said, “Go into the village ahead of you. As you enter it, you will find a young donkey tied there, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ say this: ‘The Lord needs it.’”
So those who were sent left and found it just as He had told them. As they were untying the young donkey, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying the donkey?”
“The Lord needs it,” they said. Then they brought it to Jesus, and after throwing their robes on the donkey, they helped Jesus get on it. As He was going along, they were spreading their robes on the road. Now He came near the path down the Mount of Olives, and the whole crowd of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the miracles they had seen:
The King who comes in the name of the Lord
is the blessed One.
Peace in heaven
and glory in the highest heaven!
Some of the Pharisees from the crowd told Him, “Teacher, rebuke Your disciples.”
He answered, “I tell you, if they were to keep silent, the stones would cry out!”
~ Luke 19:28-40
The crowds thought He was entering as a Warrior King, the Lion that would set them free. They were not looking for spiritual deliverance, but freedom from tyranny.
Yet, Jesus entered as the humble Lamb, the King of Peace that would satisfy a greater need… to set them free: free from themselves, their selfish desires, their sin. Free to one day be reunited with God the Father. If only they would choose Him.
They didn’t get the Savior they wanted… They got the Savior they needed.
So did we…
No one week and all its events has had greater impact on humankind than the week that began with Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. From the peak of popular praise, to the depth of lonely rejection, to the cross and the defeat of death, this holy week and all that it encompassed, is why He came.
May we remember and draw near. And praise Him. And worship Him…
Or the stones might just cry out.
“Christ did not enter Jerusalem as a conquering nationalist, riding a chariot; He came as a peace-bringing internationalist, seated humbly on a donkey. We try to create a Jesus who will fulfill OUR expectations (as the cheering crowd did then). We want peace, comfort, prosperity—an earthly Kingdom. It is not that our expectations are too big—they are too small. It is NOT about us, but Jesus and His eternal Kingdom.”
~ Alistair Begg