Was Jesus’ entry to Jerusalem triumphal?
That was a failure to the crowd expecting Jesus to claim his kingship and topple the Roman government.
Their failed expectation of Jesus as the Messiah of their humanistic dreams angered them, and they joined the Pharisees in condemning Jesus.
After the march to Jerusalem, the Apostle John recounted that:
At first, his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that these things had been done to him.
JOHN 12:16
The triumphal entry is a prophetic fulfilment of Zechariah’s prophecy: “Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”
Matthew (21:5) and John (12:15) quoted Zechariah in their account of the entry event.
In the eyes of those who believe in Jesus, his entering Jerusalem is a victory.
Let me share three factors that make Jesus’s entry to Jerusalem triumphal.
He fulfilled his mission as a sacrificial lamb (Matthew 20:18-19)
In Mathew 20:18-19, Jesus revealed God’s plan to his disciples.
18 “We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death 19 and will hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day, he will be raised to life!”
The disciples were there listening to Jesus, but the frenzy of the subsequent events after the triumphal entry probably made them forget the last sentence, “On the third day, he will be raised to life!”
He set forth to perform the “true and proper worship.”
The Apostle Paul urges in Romans 12:1 – Therefore, I urge you, brothers, and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.
He thought of Jesus, who offered himself as God’s living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to Him.
The remarkable victory of Jesus’ entry to Jerusalem that proceeded to his crucifixion is that he bore it all for us. We need not be crucified and suffer the pain and humiliation of the cross because Jesus did it all for us!
He cleansed the place of worship.
Luke 19:45-46 narrates that when Jesus entered the temple courts, he began to drive out those who were selling. “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of robbers.'”
Jesus saw the abuses that were going on in the temple. The temple sellers exploited the poor and humble pilgrims visiting Jerusalem for the Passover and buying their sacrificial animal offerings.
Notably, the perfect and unblemished sacrificial lamb, Jesus Christ, has cleansed the place of worship for any leaven.
In Matthew 16: 11-12, Jesus warned his disciples about the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
11 How is it you don’t understand that I was not talking to you about bread? But be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” 12 Then, they understood that he was not telling them to guard against the yeast used in bread but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
As Christ’s believers and disciples, we are called to enter “Jerusalem” to proclaim God’s righteousness as Jesus did.
How Jesus’ triumphal entry to Jerusalem be our true victory?
After knowing about the Triumphal Entry, perhaps you would be asking how it can be my victory. There are three things that I have pointed out.
First, we can achieve true victory when we have received Jesus in our hearts and are committed to following him.
But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place (2 Corinthians 2:14).
Second, we will triumph more when we follow his command to “Go and make disciples.”
19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
MATTHEW 28:19-20
Third, let us make our Sundays a day of rest and victory.
I’m sorry if I have confused you with the subheading because we all go to the church every Sunday morning. Some of us might even be spending the whole day.
Remember that God rested on the 7th day after He finished creation?
By the seventh day, God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day, he rested from all his work (Genesis 2:2).
My point is our toil for the Lord need not be a Sunday only affair. If Sunday is our seventh day, our work for the Lord starts on Monday until Saturday.
Then we come to church on Sunday to rest and celebrate the victory we have sown and won throughout the six days. However, how can we observe “rest” if we haven’t done any “creation” in the last six days?
And Sunday “rest” doesn’t mean doing nothing. It is a time of refreshing and rejoicing in the Lord, together with His people.
The song “Outside These Walls” by Brent Lamb provides further reflection and perspective.
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