A Triumphal Entry

A Triumphal Entry

By

Bishop Melvin L. Maughmer, Jr.

OPENING: - Today we celebrate the day we call Palm Sunday. Palm Sunday is the day of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem prior to his crucifixion, death, burial, and resurrection. It’s called Palm Sunday because the people of Jerusalem came out to greet Jesus as He entered the city on a donkey fulfilling the prophecy of Zechariah (Zechariah9:9) that he prophesied some 450 - 500 years before carrying palm branches, which they either waved or laid out in his path. Palm Sunday marked the start of what is often called Passion Week, the final days of Jesus’ earthly ministry, the beginning of the end of Jesus’ work on earth.

PRAYER: -

SCRIPTURE: - Mark 11:1-11 says, “As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples, saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ tell him, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly. They went and found a colt outside in the street, tied at a doorway. As they untied it, some people standing there asked, “What are you doing, untying that colt?” They answered as Jesus had told them to, and the people let them go. When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it. Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields. Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted, Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest! Jesus entered Jerusalem and went to the temple. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve”.

On that first Palm Sunday, the people honored Jesus verbally: “The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David!’ ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ‘Hosanna in the highest heaven!”. “Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”. However, Jesus saw no need to rebuke those who told the truth. He replied, Luke 19:40 says, “I tell you . . . if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out” . Sadly, the celebration was short lived. The people looked for a Messiah who would rescue them politically and free them nationally, but Jesus had come to save them spiritually. Understand our primary need is spiritual, it is not political, it is not cultural, it is not economical, but it is spiritual deliverance we need.

The people thought that at last God’s anointed king had come, the teacher and miracle-worker from Nazareth, who would cast off the Roman oppressors of Israel and establish God’s true kingdom, centered not in Rome but in Jerusalem. Sadly, the people that lined the streets and waved or laid palm branches crying Hosanna missed the true reason for Jesus’ presence. They could neither see nor understand the cross. They didn’t realize that Jesus was offering them something better than freedom from the Roman oppression, he was coming to save their souls from an eternal Hells Damnation.

That’s why, as Jesus approached Jerusalem and saw the city, and wept over it and said, in Luke 19:42 “ Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes” .

It is a tragic thing to see the Savior but not recognize Him for who He is. The crowds who were crying out “Hosanna!” on Palm Sunday were crying out “Crucify Him” not even a week later.

In the accounts of Matthew and Luke, the story of Jesus’ cleansing the temple comes happens immediately after His triumphal entry into Jerusalem on the heels of the story of the triumphal entry. But in Mark 11:11 says, “And he entered Jerusalem and went into the Temple. And when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.” After all the shouting and singing, the people surrounding him on all sides, proclaiming to be the promised king of Israel who will re-establish the throne of David. The Messianic secret is now open news. The triumphal entry shows us Jesus’ messianic self-consciousness and who he took himself to be. He identified himself with the Shepherd-King predicted by Zechariah. Jesus rides in through the eastern gate of Jerusalem, into the Temple area and does nothing.