The Triumphal Entry

Lesson #192

With this lesson we will begin the next section, defined by John 12:12 – 19, which relates to Jesus’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem. This event is spoken of in Zechariah 9:9: “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey” (ESC). The description of this king is not what you would expect of a king that would bring national deliverance. This king is described as being righteous and having salvation. Being described as humble and mounted on a donkey is the not the image of a great king that was about to deliver this nation from the bondage of Roman. It is easy to pick from a verse what you want it to say and ignore the rest and come up with something that is not true.

“The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem” (John 12:12 ESV). This “next day” is probably Sunday of Passion Week, which we call Palm Sunday. The feast the large crowd came to was Passover and the large crowd was primarily made up of country people that came from remote parts to worship at the feast. It seems that the farther the people were from the temple in Jerusalem the closer they were to Jesus.

Word had gotten around that Jesus was coming, “So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!”” (John 12:13 ESV). I am sure excitement and expectations were high as the people got palm branches and went out to meet Jesus, crying out the words from Psalm 118:26a: “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”, hoping that Jesus was the promised Messiah. Unfortunately, there was a great misunderstanding on the part of the people, as there has been all along, thinking that Jesus was coming to use his amazing powers in a political and military sense to resist Roman rule and lead the nation of Israel to independence. In a few days they would figure this out and then they would turn against him and call for his crucifixion.

Prior to coming into Jerusalem, “. . . Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written, “Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey's colt!”” (John 12:14 – 15 ESV). Luke gives us the following details about obtaining that donkey or colt as Luke says. “When he drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount that is called Olivet, he sent two of the disciples, saying, “Go into the village in front of you, where on entering you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever yet sat. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ you shall say this: ‘The Lord has need of it.’” (Luke 19:29 – 31 ESV). Here we see Jesus portrayed as the humble shepherd-king of Zechariah 9:9, given above, who comes to the Holy City to take his rightful place. An early messianic prophecy speaks of this in Genesis 49:10 – 11: “The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs; the nations will obey him. Binding his foal to the vine, and his colt to the choicest vine, he will wash his garments in wine, his robes in the blood of grapes” (ESV).

What do you suppose Jesus’s disciples are thinking about all of this? We will find out in our next lesson.

Prayer

Father, it so strengthens my faith to see prophecies written so long before the events happen and then to see the event unfold just as foretold. For nearly 200 lessons, we have watched Jesus teach with authority and perform with extraordinary power as he steadily moved closer and closer to his death on the cross. Everything he says and does is in perfect sync with you and results in people who believe in him and those who hate him. Father, how much we can learn about how to live by following Jesus.