The Triumphal Entry Series

“THE TRIUMPHAL ENTRY” Luke 19:28-40

FBCF – 3/3/24

Jon Daniels

INTRO – What’s the longest journey or trip you’ve ever been on? For me, Astana, Kazakhstan – 6558 miles.

Today, we begin a journey – a journey to the cross as we consider the final days of Jesus’ ministry on earth. It’s a weeklong journey of the last days of His 33-yr earthly life, the week that is termed Holy Week. That’s why we are calling this series for the month of March, “Those Final Moments.” Each week, we will consider a significant event that took place during that week.

- Today – “The Triumphal Entry” on Palm Sunday as Jesus arrived in Jerusalem for the last time.

- Next week – “The Last Supper” that Jesus had w/ His disciples.

- Mar 17 – “The Garden” experience where Jesus cried out to His Father in prayer right before He was betrayed by Judas, arrested, & dragged before the chief priests & scribes who began to question Him, mock Him, & beat Him.

- Mar 24 – “The Cross” – Need I say more? Lord’s Supper that day

- Mar 31 – “The Empty Tomb” – The greatest day in the history of the universe!

EXPLANATION – Luke 19:28-40

Although we are looking at this last week of Jesus’ life, His journey to Jerusalem, the cross, & the grave started long before His 33 years of life on earth. It started before the foundation of the world. Think about this:

- First time Gospel was proclaimed was out of the mouth of God Himself – Genesis 3:15 – “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”

- The Protoevangelium – “The First Gospel” – This verse shows us 2 essential elements of salvation: The curse of sin on all mankind b/c of Adam’s sin & God’s provision of a Savior who would take the curse upon Himself for us. So, God’s plan for our salvation was already in place even in the Garden of Eden.

- Then we see in Genesis 3:21 that “the Lord God made for Adam & his wife garments of skin & clothed them.” The only way that animal skins could be utilized to cover the nakedness of Adam & Eve was by those animals being killed, their blood being shed – the 1st time blood was shed as a covering for their sin – a foreshadowing of the sacrifice that would come through Jesus, the Lamb of God who shed His blood for the sins of all mankind. In fact, Revelation 13:8 says, that the Lamb was “slain before the foundation of the world.”

- God knew that this would happen. He had already planned for it to happen. Before the creation of the universe, before time began, God had predetermined that His only-begotten Son would become the once-for-all sacrifice for sin so that those of us who receive His gift of salvation will be saved for all eternity.

- On the day of Pentecost, Peter would preach these words in Acts 2:22-24 – “People of Israel, listen! God publicly endorsed Jesus the Nazarene by doing powerful miracles, wonders, and signs through him, as you well know. But God knew what would happen, and his prearranged plan [according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God - ESV] was carried out when Jesus was betrayed. With the help of lawless Gentiles, you nailed him to a cross and killed him. But God released him from the horrors of death and raised him back to life, for death could not keep him in its grip.” (NLT)

So you see, Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem; His journey to the Upper Room for the last supper w/ His disciples; His journey to the agonizing prayer to His Father in the Garden of Gethsemane; His journey to the Old Rugged Cross where His flesh was ripped open & the blood flowed out to wash away our sins; & His journey into the tomb which would burst open 3 days later – this journey began before the beginning of time. It began in the mind, the heart, the plan, & the perfect will of God. One writer put it this way:

- “It is as if to say, God had taken out an insurance policy before creating mankind. It is a fully comprehensive insurance that pays for all damages no matter what, & even promises to restore back as new. That insurance is the blood of Jesus. The main strength of the insurance (just like any normal insurance policy) is that it was taken out before the incident. That is why it covers everything. Jesus' death on the cross was not an afterthought by God, rushed through after the event (of mankind falling into sin). No. It had been settled before.” (https://wordlibrary.co.uk/article.php?id=200)