Theological Term of the Week: Triumphal Entry

triumphal entry
Jesus’s entry into Jerusalem riding on a colt prior to his crucifixion, when crowds welcomed him waving palm branches and shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord … . ”1

• From scripture: 

  Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples,saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.” This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying,

  “Say to the daughter of Zion,

  ‘Behold, your king is coming to you,

  humble, and mounted on a donkey,

  on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’”

  The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.” (Matthew 21:1-11 ESV)

• From the ESV Study Bible : 

Jesus’ triumphal entry, with people waving palm branches to greet him, is celebrated in Christian tradition as “Palm Sunday.” His riding into Jerusalem mounted on a donkey fulfills OT Scripture (Zech. 9:9; see also Ps. 118:25–26). The waving of palm branches, which symbolically conveyed the notion of victory over one’s enemy, probably indicates that the people (mistakenly) thought that Jesus would then and there bring national deliverance from Israel’s political enemies, the Romans. Yet Jesus’ popular acclaim would not last; within a mere five days, the shouts of praise would turn to angry calls for his crucifixion.

• From The Final Days of Jesus by Andreas Kostenberger and Justin Taylor: 

Jesus Enters Jerusalem (Matt. 21:1–11; Mark 11:1–10; Luke 19:29–44; John 12:12–19)

The Passover crowds and inhabitants of Jerusalem were filled with messianic expectation, and Jesus does not disappoint. On Sunday morning, Jesus and his disciples are on the Mount of Olives as they approach Jerusalem. He sends two of his followers to the nearby village (Bethphage or Bethany), instructing them to bring a donkey and colt on which he will sit for his entrance into Jerusalem. By this intentional symbolic action, Jesus will clearly communicate his kingship to the expectant crowds of Passover pilgrims by fulfilling the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9, that Israel’s future king would come riding on the foal of a donkey, and by copying Solomon’s entrance into Jerusalem when he was declared king.

As Jesus makes his westward descent down the Mount of Ol- ives and toward the Holy City, the crowds rightly interpret his actions with expectant joy and respond in kind by spreading robes and leafy palm branches in his pathway to create a royal red carpet (see 2 Kings 9:13) and by acclaiming him their Davidic king:

Hosanna to the Son of David!
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!

Hosanna in the highest!
Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!

(Matt. 21:9; Mark 11:10; see also Isa. 9:7)

The crowds are openly acclaiming Jesus instead of Caesar as king! 

The whole city is shaken by the events, and the crowd keeps spreading the word to any in Jerusalem who have not yet heard who Jesus is (Matt. 21:10–11). Some Pharisees instruct Jesus to re- buke the crowds for their dangerous messianic exuberance, but he refuses to correct or curtail the excitement of the crowd over his entrance into the city (Matt. 21:15–17; Luke 19:39–40). It would be hard to overestimate the political and religious volatility incited by Jesus’s actions—the Pharisees were taken by surprise and had no idea how to respond (John 12:19). Up to this point in Jesus’s ministry, he could still have managed to live a long, happy, peace- ful life, but his actions on Sunday set in motion a series of events that could result only in either his overthrow of the Romans and the current religious establishment—or his brutal death. He has crossed the point of no return; there would be no turning back. Caesar could allow no rival kings. As Jesus approaches the city, he weeps over Jerusalem (Luke 19:41–44).

Learn more:

1. GotQuestions.org: What is the significance of the triumphal entry? Answer in text or video.
2. Holman Bible Dictionary: Triumphal Entry
3. Ligonier Ministries: The Triumphal Entry
4. C. H. Spurgeon: The Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem
5. S. Lewis Johnson: The Triumphal Entry (audio)

Related terms: 

• ascension of Jesus
• crucifixion 
• king (as an office of Christ)
• Messiah
• resurrection of Jesus
• temptation of Jesus
• Transfiguration

1John 12:13 (ESV)

Filed under Person and Work of Christ

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Sunday's Hymn: Looking Upwards in a Storm

God of my life, to Thee I call;
Afflicted, at Thy feet I fall;
When the great water floods prevail
Leave not my trembling heart to fail!

Friend of the friendless and the saint,
Where should I lodge my deep complaint?
Where but with Thee, whose open door
Invites the helpless and the poor!

Did ever mourner plead with Thee,
And Thou refuse that mourner’s plea?
Does not the Word still fixed remain
That none shall seek Thy face in vain?

That were a grief I could not bear,
Didst Thou not hear and answer prayer;
But a prayer hearing, answering God
Supports me under every load.

Fair is the lot that’s cast for me!
I have an advocate with Thee;
They whom the world caresses most,
Have no such privilege to boast.

Poor though I am, despised, forgot,
Yet God, my God, forgets me not;
And he is safe, and must succeed,
For whom the Lord vouchsafes to plead.

—William Cowper

Other hymns, worship songs, or quotes for this Sunday:

• Sovereign Ruler of the Skies at The Happy Wonderer
• Lord’s Day 12, 2020 at The Thirsty Theologian

Selected Reading, March 21, 2020

Here are a few recommendations to help you maintain your hope in God in the midst of difficult circumstances.

Prayer

Reasons for Thanksgiving
I know from experience that finding God’s many blessings and thanking him for them can’t help but lift our spirits by increasing our trust in him. In the post linked above, Jared Olivetti lists several “reasons to give God thanks during the current crisis.”

A 7-Day Coronavirus Prayer Guide
Because sometimes we don’t know what to ask. 

Music

The Sweetening of All Our Songs
“One of the greatest gifts we receive from suffering is the sweetening of all our songs. Like a life jacket, the deeper we sink, the more buoyant our songs become, and the more God uses them to grip us tight and raise us up—from panic to peace, from the hissing questions of doubt to the gentle confidence of faith, from the selfish concerns that overtake us in times of trial to the neighbor-love that Christ calls us to practice especially in the darkest seasons.”—David A. Gundersen

Bread

Old-World Rye Bread
There’s something therapeutic (and yummy) about making bread. I have four or five bread recipes I keep returning to. This is one of them.