The True Picture of Triumph
It is referred to as "The Triumphal Entry" in most Bibles, though not actual scripture, but in subheadings. And most Christians call it by the same name.
Yet it was truly anything BUT triumphant.
Jesus was not the conquering General of thousands returning from war to the city that would praise Him as hero. There was no ticker-tape parade. There was no glorious stirring of the influential and notable.
It was a Jewish 'Rabbi'-carpenter from Galilee riding a donkey followed by masses of messy people, the sinners, the cast aways, the drop outs, and the have-nots. From Luke's account of this moment, the Lord is weeping over the city knowing the soon destruction that will come upon her for putting to death the Lord of Glory.
Where's the triumph in that?
If it seems now like nothing you may have imagined you're on the right track. Perhaps this is why the disciples were mystified by this event:
John 12:16 (ESV) 16 His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him.
If this was the Messiah, surely he deserved a chariot and more than the questionable rabble who followed. If this was the One to save them, then certainly he would not weep while entering the city He came to save. If this was the Lord, where is His majesty.
But they learned afterward through what "had been written about him" in the Old Testament. The pattern of Christ prefigured is one of suffering THEN glory.
He suffers for us - undoing what Adam did. He is glorified in resurrection power and inaugurates His final and true Kingdom. But not in the way the world works. This is not the method of Rome or America. It is the method of God who for the sake of those He loved came down, knelt down and took our pain, shame and thorns brought forth from Adam's sin.
Yet it was this suffering servant of God who would ultimately conquer the stubbornness of our hearts across the Earth. How incredible that today in movies and fiction true heroes are those who follow the Christ-pattern of suffering, not killing, for the sake of others (see Man of Steel, Thor, et al). The power of Christ's example reverberates through the world to this day across land and see.
Interestingly enough, the verse just after John's quotation from Zechariah in John 12:15 (above) is this:
Zechariah 9:10 (ESV) I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall speak peace to the nations; his rule shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.
The River Zechariah speaks of is the Jordan. And it's name means, "the descender". That's what Jesus did on the day of the Triumphal entry. The one who deserved all praise descended and came to seek and save. And from Him, hearts are changed every day in almost every country 2000 years and going strong.
PRAYER:
Father, thank you for Jesus who came to our rescue with compassion and mercy when we deserved judgment and death. Thank you for the price you paid and the victory you gained. May Your Name be praised forever. Amen.
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