Triumphal Entry For What?
John 11 & 12
Triumphal entry for what? On Palm Sunday, Jesus made his triumphal entry into Jerusalem for what? Meaning, for what triumph was this entry of Jesu into Jerusalem? And what about the crowd that was there? What triumph, what victory were they assuming that they were witnessing?
To understand what triumph this entry was for, we have to go back to the raising of Lazarus. In John Chapter 11, Jesus was on his way, slowly, to Jerusalem when his good friends Mary, Martha, and Lazarus had a life-or-death crisis. And Mary and Martha sent Jesus a message – his dear friend Lazarus (their brother) was deathly sick. And we read this in John 11, verse 4.
John 11:4 (NLT)
4 But when Jesus heard about it he said, “Lazarus’s sickness will not end in death. No, it happened for the glory of God so that the Son of God will receive glory from this.”
And so, the resurrection, the raising of Lazarus, is what kicked off the Triumphal Entry, which kicked off what we call the Passion Week, the Passover celebration that culminates in the resurrection after the Cross on Good Friday. This is actually the event that kicks it off.
Then Jesus does something seemingly very strange in the very next verses.
John 11:5–7 (NLT)
5 So although Jesus loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, (they are his friends)
6 he stayed where he was for the next two days.
7 Finally, he said to his disciples, “Let’s go back to Judea.”
So, Jesus delays for two days, seemingly on purpose. Then he tells his Disciples this, in verses 14-15.
John 11:14–15 (NLT)
14 . . . “Lazarus is dead. 15 And for your sakes, I’m glad I wasn’t there, for now you will really believe. Come, let’s go see him.”
But the Disciples had been with Jesus for three and a half years. They’d seen him raise others to life. But what he’s saying is, “Look. This one is going to be different. This one is going to be the capstone. This is going to be the launch into something really, really big.”
Lazarus lived in southern Bethany with his sisters Mary and Martha, which is just over the hill from Jerusalem, the south edge of the Mount of Olives. And so, the Passover is coming. And Passover is this massive festival in Jerusalem. The population swells ten times. They say it goes to 150,000 – 200,000 people. It’s a massive event. And as the Passover and the Triumphal entry were nearing, Jesus finally arrives at their home.
And when Jesus was close, Martha (the sister that is the “doer” – she is always active) ran out to meet him, and she struggled with why Jesus hadn’t come earlier. And in his exchange with Martha, Jesus speaks these famous words to her.
John 11:25–26 (NLT)
25 Jesus told her, “I am (I Exist As) the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying.
26 Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. Do you believe this, Martha?”
Guys, this is the setup for the Triumphal Entry and the beginning of Passover Week, where Jesus will deliver the final Triumphal Victory over death and the grave. He is setting up the Triumphal Entry by raising Lazarus from the dead just before the Triumphal Entry.
And when Martha’s sister Mary reaches Jesus, she has the same struggle with why Jesus delayed.
And John 11:33 says, Jesus was deeply troubled.
And in verse 35, it says, Jesus wept.
And in verse 37, some of the bystanders said, “Couldn’t he have kept Lazarus from dying?”
Jesus is deeply troubled, but I wonder if it’s because he was putting his friends (with that important relationship) through this difficulty for his glory. There is a bit of a sign that Jesus is hurt by this, knowing that he’s putting his friends who he loves through a critical situation that will bring him glory and that will be used for a much greater purpose than his friends can understand. This is the final culmination of proof to the people that he is the Messiah and the giver of life.
So, when Jesus finally got to the tomb of Lazarus, he told the people this in verse 39.
John 11:39 (NLT)
39 “Roll the stone aside,” Jesus told them. But Martha, the dead man’s sister, protested, “Lord, he has been dead for four days. The smell will be terrible.”
This really matters because it is what creates the size and the frenzy of the crowd that gathers when Jesus makes his Triumphal Entry on Palm Sunday. And though Jesus has raised people from the dead, this one is special because of the four days. You see, in the Jewish Rabbinical Writings, there was a belief that the soul hovered over the body for three days, and at the end of the third day, the soul left to its eternal destination. So, there was this belief that a person’s soul wasn’t permanently separated from their body until the end of the third day. So, they believed after the fourth day, there is no possibility of resurrection – it’s too late, it’s over. And so, Jesus waits purposefully for four days until everybody knows it’s beyond even what the Rabbis say is miraculously possible.
And so, Jesus waiting for the fourth day to raise Lazarus was even more indisputable proof that Jesus came AS Messiah to conquer death and the grave and give resurrection life. And so, those who witnessed the raising of Lazarus after four days spread the word to all who had come for the Passover celebration, which is what caused the crowd size and the fever pitch of the Triumphal Entry. Jesus’ fame had spread all over, especially in the North. It’s been three and a half years. This is it. The crowd is going to go crazy because Jesus raised Lazarus after four days – after even the Rabbis taught it was impossible as proof that Jesus came to bring triumph over death and the grave.
But as we often see both in scripture and today, the people missed the most eternally important point.
Because their eyes were fixed on the things of this world
Because their eyes were fixed on the here and now
Because their eyes were fixed on living their best life now
We are obsessed, like the people were then, with this temporal, fleeting vapor of a life and the things that are associated with it. These people were going to assume, because of what they’ve been taught, that Jesus is coming to triumph over what? Over this life.
This Palm Sunday crowd truly did believe Jesus was the promised Messiah, but they believed Jesus would be the Messiah THEY envisioned. They believed that Jesus would be the Messiah they were told he would be by the Jewish Rabbis. When this crowd is lining the road in the Triumphal Entry shouting Hosanna, and the palm branches, and the garments laid out, they actually believed Jesus is the Messiah. They believed he was the Messiah that they want him to be. This was an excited and passionate crowd, but they had completely wrong assumptions about what triumph Jesus was bringing.
Because the Rabbis taught there would be three things the Messiah would bring. These are the Triumphs the Rabbis taught the people to look forward to.
1). There would be peace both politically and militarily
2). There would be prosperity for the Jewish people
3). There would be social justice in the land
Doesn’t that sound familiar? These people expected the Messiah to bring
1). Political Peace
2). Prosperity for the Nation
3). Social Justice in the Land
Isn’t that what people in our culture expect from the Messiah that they want? The Jewish people in the day of Jesus wanted the exact same earthly benefits that people expect from Jesus today. All things focused on and consumed by the cares of a temporal, fleeting, soon-to-vaporize life where tomorrow is not guaranteed to any one of us – yet that’s what they wanted the Messiah to triumph over.
And I’ve talked to plenty of people who question if God is a “Loving God” or even if he is God at all because he has not provided the peace, prosperity, and social justice that they expect from him. The Jewish people in the day of Jesus expected these things from the Messiah, just like so many in our culture expect from God today.
But guys, please listen to me. This is what we have got to know looking forward to Passion Week and looking forward to Good Friday, and Resurrection Sunday. Jesus Christ did not come to give us these temporal and material things in this vapor of a life. It’s demeaning to think that the Creator of All Creation would condescend to become a man and take on the sin of the world and experience the wrath of God so that you could get a better car and a better spouse. Right? That’s not why he came. It’s not worth it because even if he were to give you something materially, your life could be gone tomorrow. The Triumph that Jesus came to bring on Palm Sunday is absolute victory over the ultimate enemy of all enemies – the enemy of sin and death.
But it was the political peace and prosperity and social justice that were on everybody’s mind when Jesus began his Triumphal Entry on Palm Sunday. So, the resurrection of Lazarus, the raising of Lazarus, was the sign. It was the wake-up call for the Triumphal Entry.
And so, skipping over to John 12, verse 12, we begin the Triumphal Entry text.
John 12:12–13 (NLT)
12 The next day, the news that Jesus was on the way to Jerusalem swept through the city. A large crowd of Passover visitors 13 took palm branches and went down the road to meet him. They shouted, “Praise God! Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hail to the King of Israel!”
So, the news of Jesus sweeps through Jerusalem, and a large crowd runs to meet him! This IS the crowd that was inspired by the resurrection of Lazarus.
And so, what’s going to happen to these people on Good Friday when Jesus is hanging on the Cross? They’re going to all abandon him, right? He’s alone, except for his mom and a few friends on Calvary. Because the people believed in him, but they believed in a Jesus and a Messiah that the Messiah was not. They believed in their own version of the Messiah that revolved around things of this world.
And I’m describing so many churches in our culture. It’s incredible. And the more I hear, the more saddened I am that the prosperity heresy is really sweeping the continent of Africa and has been for fifteen years or so. But we see it here in our culture where if churches will say that God will give you your best life now, that they will make hundreds of millions of dollars. And it’s really well documented because that’s what the people want to hear.
That’s what the people wanted this day when a large crowd of them took palm branches and ran down the road to meet Jesus, shouting, “Praise God! Blessings on the One who comes in the name of the Lord! Hail to the King of Israel!” Guys, they believed he was the Messiah, but they were not running out to meet him in order to meet Jesus for their own resurrection. They’re running to meet him to get what they assume he is offering for this life now, namely political and military peace, prosperity, and social justice.
And so, why the palm branches? Most people simply say these palm branches symbolize victory and goodness, and peace, etc. But, if you look closer and ask what kind of victory and peace, you’ll see what the people were really expecting. The palm branches were a symbol of the Nation of Israel. King Solomon had them carved into the walls and doors of the original temple. The Psalms use palm branches to symbolize the prosperity of God’s people. And the palm branch was on the coin of the last Jewish dynasty (monarchy) that ruled Israel – the Hasmonaean Dynasty, and so in a deeper way, these palm branches were actually a symbol of Jewish nationalism. They were an expression of welcoming a king who would provide them the political freedom and prosperity.
And the people were crying out two lines from Psalm 118 (which is an awesome Psalm). They were crying out HOSANNA, HOSANNA, which means save now, Lord.
Psalm 118:25–26 (NKJV)
25 Save now, I pray, O Lord; O Lord, I pray, send now prosperity.
26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! . . .
Listen, guys, for us to sing HOSANNA, HOSANNA, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! We’re referring to an eternal, spiritual salvation. We’re referring to save us now – spiritually. But I’m telling you, this crowd meant save us from Rome. The people misunderstood what triumph the Messiah was coming to bring. Again, when we say, “Hosanna, Hosanna to the King, save now,” we are referring to the salvation of our souls and eternal life. Jesus was coming to deliver eternal triumph over sin and death and the grave. But the people were coming for Jesus to give them their best life now.
What I’m telling you today is too much of our culture looks to God for the same things that the first-century Jews were looking to Jesus for. And guess what? Jesus did not meet their demand. And so, they turned on him. Instead of them embracing the deeper eternal triumph that Jesus Christ came to bring, as soon as they realized he was not going to give them their best life now, that he was not going to make everything better, they turned on him. Do you see why these people were going to struggle with the triumph Jesus was going to win on their behalf on the Cross?
The crowd at the Triumphal Entry on Palm Sunday wanted a King that was phenomenally less valuable than the King that Jesus Christ came to be.
Continuing in John 12, verse 14.
John 12:14–15 (NLT)
14 Jesus found a young donkey and rode on it, fulfilling the prophecy that said:
15 “Don’t be afraid, people of Jerusalem. Look, your King is coming, riding on a donkey’s colt.”
This is the fulfillment of the famous prophecy in Zechariah 9:9. But long before that, kings who were coming to bring peace rode donkeys, not horses. When King David had Solomon ride into Jerusalem to take the coronation and become king, he rode on a donkey because kings that come in the name of peace ride on donkeys.
And Jesus is coming to bring peace AS the Messiah
And Jesus is coming to bring victory and restore Israel as the palm branches symbolize
And Jesus is coming as the true King as the cloaks being laid down before him symbolize
But the triumph that Jesus was bringing was the true, ultimate, eternal victory. Death. Not Rome. Not political injustice. Not financial difficulty. DEATH. And the triumph that these people wanted was for Jesus to just give them their best life now. And so, they completely missed the eternally more important triumph that Jesus Christ was riding into Jerusalem to bring that day.
And maybe we have been not that different from the people in that crowd on that Palm Sunday. We kind of have a hard time balancing it out. “Yeah, sure. I want my ticket to Heaven. But really, I like the sound of that political peace and prosperity and social justice stuff.”
But listen, listen, listen. Tomorrow you could be face-to-face with Jesus Christ in eternity. Tomorrow. And so, you’re saying, “Oh, Lord. Give me this, and this, and this, and this, and this for my life.” And Jesus is saying, “Look. You’ve got three weeks, two days, and two hours. Why would I give you a BMW?” Like, what does it matter? You’re going to be in eternity before you know it. James says this life is vapor!
And so, people turn from Jesus because he’s not doing what they want him to do in this life. But he gave his life as Creator of all that’s been created to take on your sin and mine to pay the complete penalty for that sin. To offer us his righteousness so that we could spend eternity with him in glory! And we’re just like, “Yeah. I mean, that’s all right. But I’ve got some real problems.”
NO! You don’t. Eternity separated from God is our real problem because it’s not that eternity lasts longer than this life. Eternity is outside of time. So, you don’t say eternity is forever. Eternity is outside the time dimension, and that’s where you want the blessing of the triumph that Jesus brought on this Palm Sunday. Amen?!
Jesus Christ rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday to prepare to be the final Passover Lamb on that Good Friday, where he would take your sin and mine upon himself. And he would pay the full penalty for it making the only way for us to be resurrected to new life just as he demonstrated with the raising of Lazarus.
But this crowd missed it.
This crowd wanted to be saved from their present troubles because that’s all they were focused on. But Jesus Christ came for something of far more value than that.
When we get caught up in the struggles and the difficulties of this world – which are real – Jesus just walked through the death of maybe his best friend with his best friend’s sisters for his own glory. He understands that the struggles are real. But look what God says through Paul in 2 Corinthians Chapter 4.
2 Corinthians 4:17-18 (NLT)
17 For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! (If we learn to cling to Jesus through our trials and tribulations, then they will produce in us a glory that will last into eternity.)
18 So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; (we are not consumed by political injustice, and by financial difficulty, and social injustice. Those things are real, but that’s not why Jesus gave his life. Jesus came for something bigger. He came to give us eternal life.)
18 … rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. (And that’s what Jesus was trying to get the people to do at the raising of Lazarus. “Look, I’m here to conquer death!”) For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.
THAT is the triumph Jesus rode into Jerusalem to win on our behalf on Palm Sunday. It’s a much bigger triumph than the things of the vaporizing world.
However, there IS a triumph coming (it’s already won) that will involve palm branches again that is bigger and greater than the crowd on that day could ever imagine.
In Revelation Chapter 7, John is seeing a great multitude again with palm branches in their hands and again standing before this same Lamb of God who is now seated on the throne in Heaven.
Revelation 7:9–10 (NLT)
9 After this I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes and held palm branches in their hands.
10 And they were shouting with a great roar, “Salvation comes from our God who sits on the throne and from the Lamb!”
That is the victory Jesus rode into Jerusalem to win on our behalf on Palm Sunday. It is the final and greatest triumph over sin and death and the grave.
The problem with the crowd was that they had the wrong triumph in mind. They wanted a triumph in this world. The first triumph has to be over death, has to be over sin, has to be over the grave, or we cannot return with Jesus in the second triumph when he comes.
And that triumph that this crowd wanted in the first century will ultimately come to pass the next time Jesus returns to Jerusalem.
Speaking of the second coming of Jesus to this exact same place.
Zechariah 14:4 (NLT)
4 On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem. And the Mount of Olives will split apart, making a wide valley running from east to west. Half the mountain will move toward the north and half toward the south.
And verse 9 says:
Zechariah 14:9 (NLT)
9 And the Lord will be king over all the earth. On that day there will be one Lord—his name alone will be worshiped.
And verse 11 says:
Zechariah 14:11 (NLT)
11 And Jerusalem will be filled, safe at last, never again to be cursed and destroyed.
At the second coming, Jesus Christ will sit triumphantly on the throne of this world in Jerusalem. Jesus will bring the second triumph. He will bring the triumph of perfect peace, of true prosperity, and true justice to the earth – for a thousand years on this earth and then New Earth, New Heaven for eternity.
But that second Triumphal Entry cannot happen without the first Triumphal Entry happening first.
And Jesus came the first time for the first triumph, which is the triumph over your sin and your death and the grave for you so that you can be with him when he returns for the second triumphal entry.
This first Triumphal Entry was to give you and I the opportunity to receive the free gift of salvation and eternal life by putting our faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord.
John 1:12 (ESV)
12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,
And that will give us a front-row seat to the second Triumphal Entry when Jesus comes back again.
To understand what triumph this entry was for, we have to go back to the raising of Lazarus. In John Chapter 11, Jesus was on his way, slowly, to Jerusalem when his good friends Mary, Martha, and Lazarus had a life-or-death crisis. And Mary and Martha sent Jesus a message – his dear friend Lazarus (their brother) was deathly sick. And we read this in John 11, verse 4.
John 11:4 (NLT)
4 But when Jesus heard about it he said, “Lazarus’s sickness will not end in death. No, it happened for the glory of God so that the Son of God will receive glory from this.”
And so, the resurrection, the raising of Lazarus, is what kicked off the Triumphal Entry, which kicked off what we call the Passion Week, the Passover celebration that culminates in the resurrection after the Cross on Good Friday. This is actually the event that kicks it off.
Then Jesus does something seemingly very strange in the very next verses.
John 11:5–7 (NLT)
5 So although Jesus loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, (they are his friends)
6 he stayed where he was for the next two days.
7 Finally, he said to his disciples, “Let’s go back to Judea.”
So, Jesus delays for two days, seemingly on purpose. Then he tells his Disciples this, in verses 14-15.
John 11:14–15 (NLT)
14 . . . “Lazarus is dead. 15 And for your sakes, I’m glad I wasn’t there, for now you will really believe. Come, let’s go see him.”
But the Disciples had been with Jesus for three and a half years. They’d seen him raise others to life. But what he’s saying is, “Look. This one is going to be different. This one is going to be the capstone. This is going to be the launch into something really, really big.”
Lazarus lived in southern Bethany with his sisters Mary and Martha, which is just over the hill from Jerusalem, the south edge of the Mount of Olives. And so, the Passover is coming. And Passover is this massive festival in Jerusalem. The population swells ten times. They say it goes to 150,000 – 200,000 people. It’s a massive event. And as the Passover and the Triumphal entry were nearing, Jesus finally arrives at their home.
And when Jesus was close, Martha (the sister that is the “doer” – she is always active) ran out to meet him, and she struggled with why Jesus hadn’t come earlier. And in his exchange with Martha, Jesus speaks these famous words to her.
John 11:25–26 (NLT)
25 Jesus told her, “I am (I Exist As) the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying.
26 Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. Do you believe this, Martha?”
Guys, this is the setup for the Triumphal Entry and the beginning of Passover Week, where Jesus will deliver the final Triumphal Victory over death and the grave. He is setting up the Triumphal Entry by raising Lazarus from the dead just before the Triumphal Entry.
And when Martha’s sister Mary reaches Jesus, she has the same struggle with why Jesus delayed.
And John 11:33 says, Jesus was deeply troubled.
And in verse 35, it says, Jesus wept.
And in verse 37, some of the bystanders said, “Couldn’t he have kept Lazarus from dying?”
Jesus is deeply troubled, but I wonder if it’s because he was putting his friends (with that important relationship) through this difficulty for his glory. There is a bit of a sign that Jesus is hurt by this, knowing that he’s putting his friends who he loves through a critical situation that will bring him glory and that will be used for a much greater purpose than his friends can understand. This is the final culmination of proof to the people that he is the Messiah and the giver of life.
So, when Jesus finally got to the tomb of Lazarus, he told the people this in verse 39.
John 11:39 (NLT)
39 “Roll the stone aside,” Jesus told them. But Martha, the dead man’s sister, protested, “Lord, he has been dead for four days. The smell will be terrible.”
This really matters because it is what creates the size and the frenzy of the crowd that gathers when Jesus makes his Triumphal Entry on Palm Sunday. And though Jesus has raised people from the dead, this one is special because of the four days. You see, in the Jewish Rabbinical Writings, there was a belief that the soul hovered over the body for three days, and at the end of the third day, the soul left to its eternal destination. So, there was this belief that a person’s soul wasn’t permanently separated from their body until the end of the third day. So, they believed after the fourth day, there is no possibility of resurrection – it’s too late, it’s over. And so, Jesus waits purposefully for four days until everybody knows it’s beyond even what the Rabbis say is miraculously possible.
And so, Jesus waiting for the fourth day to raise Lazarus was even more indisputable proof that Jesus came AS Messiah to conquer death and the grave and give resurrection life. And so, those who witnessed the raising of Lazarus after four days spread the word to all who had come for the Passover celebration, which is what caused the crowd size and the fever pitch of the Triumphal Entry. Jesus’ fame had spread all over, especially in the North. It’s been three and a half years. This is it. The crowd is going to go crazy because Jesus raised Lazarus after four days – after even the Rabbis taught it was impossible as proof that Jesus came to bring triumph over death and the grave.
But as we often see both in scripture and today, the people missed the most eternally important point.
Because their eyes were fixed on the things of this world
Because their eyes were fixed on the here and now
Because their eyes were fixed on living their best life now
We are obsessed, like the people were then, with this temporal, fleeting vapor of a life and the things that are associated with it. These people were going to assume, because of what they’ve been taught, that Jesus is coming to triumph over what? Over this life.
This Palm Sunday crowd truly did believe Jesus was the promised Messiah, but they believed Jesus would be the Messiah THEY envisioned. They believed that Jesus would be the Messiah they were told he would be by the Jewish Rabbis. When this crowd is lining the road in the Triumphal Entry shouting Hosanna, and the palm branches, and the garments laid out, they actually believed Jesus is the Messiah. They believed he was the Messiah that they want him to be. This was an excited and passionate crowd, but they had completely wrong assumptions about what triumph Jesus was bringing.
Because the Rabbis taught there would be three things the Messiah would bring. These are the Triumphs the Rabbis taught the people to look forward to.
1). There would be peace both politically and militarily
2). There would be prosperity for the Jewish people
3). There would be social justice in the land
Doesn’t that sound familiar? These people expected the Messiah to bring
1). Political Peace
2). Prosperity for the Nation
3). Social Justice in the Land
Isn’t that what people in our culture expect from the Messiah that they want? The Jewish people in the day of Jesus wanted the exact same earthly benefits that people expect from Jesus today. All things focused on and consumed by the cares of a temporal, fleeting, soon-to-vaporize life where tomorrow is not guaranteed to any one of us – yet that’s what they wanted the Messiah to triumph over.
And I’ve talked to plenty of people who question if God is a “Loving God” or even if he is God at all because he has not provided the peace, prosperity, and social justice that they expect from him. The Jewish people in the day of Jesus expected these things from the Messiah, just like so many in our culture expect from God today.
But guys, please listen to me. This is what we have got to know looking forward to Passion Week and looking forward to Good Friday, and Resurrection Sunday. Jesus Christ did not come to give us these temporal and material things in this vapor of a life. It’s demeaning to think that the Creator of All Creation would condescend to become a man and take on the sin of the world and experience the wrath of God so that you could get a better car and a better spouse. Right? That’s not why he came. It’s not worth it because even if he were to give you something materially, your life could be gone tomorrow. The Triumph that Jesus came to bring on Palm Sunday is absolute victory over the ultimate enemy of all enemies – the enemy of sin and death.
But it was the political peace and prosperity and social justice that were on everybody’s mind when Jesus began his Triumphal Entry on Palm Sunday. So, the resurrection of Lazarus, the raising of Lazarus, was the sign. It was the wake-up call for the Triumphal Entry.
And so, skipping over to John 12, verse 12, we begin the Triumphal Entry text.
John 12:12–13 (NLT)
12 The next day, the news that Jesus was on the way to Jerusalem swept through the city. A large crowd of Passover visitors 13 took palm branches and went down the road to meet him. They shouted, “Praise God! Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hail to the King of Israel!”
So, the news of Jesus sweeps through Jerusalem, and a large crowd runs to meet him! This IS the crowd that was inspired by the resurrection of Lazarus.
And so, what’s going to happen to these people on Good Friday when Jesus is hanging on the Cross? They’re going to all abandon him, right? He’s alone, except for his mom and a few friends on Calvary. Because the people believed in him, but they believed in a Jesus and a Messiah that the Messiah was not. They believed in their own version of the Messiah that revolved around things of this world.
And I’m describing so many churches in our culture. It’s incredible. And the more I hear, the more saddened I am that the prosperity heresy is really sweeping the continent of Africa and has been for fifteen years or so. But we see it here in our culture where if churches will say that God will give you your best life now, that they will make hundreds of millions of dollars. And it’s really well documented because that’s what the people want to hear.
That’s what the people wanted this day when a large crowd of them took palm branches and ran down the road to meet Jesus, shouting, “Praise God! Blessings on the One who comes in the name of the Lord! Hail to the King of Israel!” Guys, they believed he was the Messiah, but they were not running out to meet him in order to meet Jesus for their own resurrection. They’re running to meet him to get what they assume he is offering for this life now, namely political and military peace, prosperity, and social justice.
And so, why the palm branches? Most people simply say these palm branches symbolize victory and goodness, and peace, etc. But, if you look closer and ask what kind of victory and peace, you’ll see what the people were really expecting. The palm branches were a symbol of the Nation of Israel. King Solomon had them carved into the walls and doors of the original temple. The Psalms use palm branches to symbolize the prosperity of God’s people. And the palm branch was on the coin of the last Jewish dynasty (monarchy) that ruled Israel – the Hasmonaean Dynasty, and so in a deeper way, these palm branches were actually a symbol of Jewish nationalism. They were an expression of welcoming a king who would provide them the political freedom and prosperity.
And the people were crying out two lines from Psalm 118 (which is an awesome Psalm). They were crying out HOSANNA, HOSANNA, which means save now, Lord.
Psalm 118:25–26 (NKJV)
25 Save now, I pray, O Lord; O Lord, I pray, send now prosperity.
26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! . . .
Listen, guys, for us to sing HOSANNA, HOSANNA, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! We’re referring to an eternal, spiritual salvation. We’re referring to save us now – spiritually. But I’m telling you, this crowd meant save us from Rome. The people misunderstood what triumph the Messiah was coming to bring. Again, when we say, “Hosanna, Hosanna to the King, save now,” we are referring to the salvation of our souls and eternal life. Jesus was coming to deliver eternal triumph over sin and death and the grave. But the people were coming for Jesus to give them their best life now.
What I’m telling you today is too much of our culture looks to God for the same things that the first-century Jews were looking to Jesus for. And guess what? Jesus did not meet their demand. And so, they turned on him. Instead of them embracing the deeper eternal triumph that Jesus Christ came to bring, as soon as they realized he was not going to give them their best life now, that he was not going to make everything better, they turned on him. Do you see why these people were going to struggle with the triumph Jesus was going to win on their behalf on the Cross?
The crowd at the Triumphal Entry on Palm Sunday wanted a King that was phenomenally less valuable than the King that Jesus Christ came to be.
Continuing in John 12, verse 14.
John 12:14–15 (NLT)
14 Jesus found a young donkey and rode on it, fulfilling the prophecy that said:
15 “Don’t be afraid, people of Jerusalem. Look, your King is coming, riding on a donkey’s colt.”
This is the fulfillment of the famous prophecy in Zechariah 9:9. But long before that, kings who were coming to bring peace rode donkeys, not horses. When King David had Solomon ride into Jerusalem to take the coronation and become king, he rode on a donkey because kings that come in the name of peace ride on donkeys.
And Jesus is coming to bring peace AS the Messiah
And Jesus is coming to bring victory and restore Israel as the palm branches symbolize
And Jesus is coming as the true King as the cloaks being laid down before him symbolize
But the triumph that Jesus was bringing was the true, ultimate, eternal victory. Death. Not Rome. Not political injustice. Not financial difficulty. DEATH. And the triumph that these people wanted was for Jesus to just give them their best life now. And so, they completely missed the eternally more important triumph that Jesus Christ was riding into Jerusalem to bring that day.
And maybe we have been not that different from the people in that crowd on that Palm Sunday. We kind of have a hard time balancing it out. “Yeah, sure. I want my ticket to Heaven. But really, I like the sound of that political peace and prosperity and social justice stuff.”
But listen, listen, listen. Tomorrow you could be face-to-face with Jesus Christ in eternity. Tomorrow. And so, you’re saying, “Oh, Lord. Give me this, and this, and this, and this, and this for my life.” And Jesus is saying, “Look. You’ve got three weeks, two days, and two hours. Why would I give you a BMW?” Like, what does it matter? You’re going to be in eternity before you know it. James says this life is vapor!
And so, people turn from Jesus because he’s not doing what they want him to do in this life. But he gave his life as Creator of all that’s been created to take on your sin and mine to pay the complete penalty for that sin. To offer us his righteousness so that we could spend eternity with him in glory! And we’re just like, “Yeah. I mean, that’s all right. But I’ve got some real problems.”
NO! You don’t. Eternity separated from God is our real problem because it’s not that eternity lasts longer than this life. Eternity is outside of time. So, you don’t say eternity is forever. Eternity is outside the time dimension, and that’s where you want the blessing of the triumph that Jesus brought on this Palm Sunday. Amen?!
Jesus Christ rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday to prepare to be the final Passover Lamb on that Good Friday, where he would take your sin and mine upon himself. And he would pay the full penalty for it making the only way for us to be resurrected to new life just as he demonstrated with the raising of Lazarus.
But this crowd missed it.
This crowd wanted to be saved from their present troubles because that’s all they were focused on. But Jesus Christ came for something of far more value than that.
When we get caught up in the struggles and the difficulties of this world – which are real – Jesus just walked through the death of maybe his best friend with his best friend’s sisters for his own glory. He understands that the struggles are real. But look what God says through Paul in 2 Corinthians Chapter 4.
2 Corinthians 4:17-18 (NLT)
17 For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! (If we learn to cling to Jesus through our trials and tribulations, then they will produce in us a glory that will last into eternity.)
18 So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; (we are not consumed by political injustice, and by financial difficulty, and social injustice. Those things are real, but that’s not why Jesus gave his life. Jesus came for something bigger. He came to give us eternal life.)
18 … rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. (And that’s what Jesus was trying to get the people to do at the raising of Lazarus. “Look, I’m here to conquer death!”) For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.
THAT is the triumph Jesus rode into Jerusalem to win on our behalf on Palm Sunday. It’s a much bigger triumph than the things of the vaporizing world.
However, there IS a triumph coming (it’s already won) that will involve palm branches again that is bigger and greater than the crowd on that day could ever imagine.
In Revelation Chapter 7, John is seeing a great multitude again with palm branches in their hands and again standing before this same Lamb of God who is now seated on the throne in Heaven.
Revelation 7:9–10 (NLT)
9 After this I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes and held palm branches in their hands.
10 And they were shouting with a great roar, “Salvation comes from our God who sits on the throne and from the Lamb!”
That is the victory Jesus rode into Jerusalem to win on our behalf on Palm Sunday. It is the final and greatest triumph over sin and death and the grave.
The problem with the crowd was that they had the wrong triumph in mind. They wanted a triumph in this world. The first triumph has to be over death, has to be over sin, has to be over the grave, or we cannot return with Jesus in the second triumph when he comes.
And that triumph that this crowd wanted in the first century will ultimately come to pass the next time Jesus returns to Jerusalem.
Speaking of the second coming of Jesus to this exact same place.
Zechariah 14:4 (NLT)
4 On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem. And the Mount of Olives will split apart, making a wide valley running from east to west. Half the mountain will move toward the north and half toward the south.
And verse 9 says:
Zechariah 14:9 (NLT)
9 And the Lord will be king over all the earth. On that day there will be one Lord—his name alone will be worshiped.
And verse 11 says:
Zechariah 14:11 (NLT)
11 And Jerusalem will be filled, safe at last, never again to be cursed and destroyed.
At the second coming, Jesus Christ will sit triumphantly on the throne of this world in Jerusalem. Jesus will bring the second triumph. He will bring the triumph of perfect peace, of true prosperity, and true justice to the earth – for a thousand years on this earth and then New Earth, New Heaven for eternity.
But that second Triumphal Entry cannot happen without the first Triumphal Entry happening first.
And Jesus came the first time for the first triumph, which is the triumph over your sin and your death and the grave for you so that you can be with him when he returns for the second triumphal entry.
This first Triumphal Entry was to give you and I the opportunity to receive the free gift of salvation and eternal life by putting our faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord.
John 1:12 (ESV)
12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,
And that will give us a front-row seat to the second Triumphal Entry when Jesus comes back again.