Christ's Triumphal Entry

Posted 7/14/15 by Donald Barnhouse
Theme: The Mirror of Prophecy
 
SCRIPTURE
Mark 11:1-11
 
Now when they drew near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples and said to them,“Go into the village in front of you, and immediately as you enter it you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it. If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord has need of it and will send it back here immediately.’” And they went away and found a colt tied at a door outside in the street, and they untied it. And some of those standing there said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” And they told them what Jesus had said, and they let them go. And they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it, and he sat on it. And many spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut from the fields. And those who went before and those who followed were shouting, “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!”
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.

LESSON

Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem (Mark 11:1-11) is a  familiar story even to non–Christians. What we have come to call Palm Sunday seems to be the culmination of His earthly ministry. As believers, we rejoice to see our Lord acknowledged as the Messiah of His people. But His one moment of recognition is so painfully brief? Jesus’ identity as Saviour was veiled from the crowd at every other point of His ministry and rejected decisively by them at His death.
 
Yet if we see only this aspect of the Triumphal Entry, we will miss seeing it from the most important perspective of all— the Lord’s own. When Jesus set His face to go to Jerusalem, He was striding purposefully toward confrontation and death. The “hour” that He had often told His disciples had “not yet come” had now arrived. It would be a moment of conflict and crisis, of death and deliverance. Soon in death He would be both the Lamb of God and His people’s Great High Priest. To Jesus, every event that led up to that moment, including this moment of earthly acclaim, was just a stepping–stone to the true climax of His ministry, His substitutionary death.

STUDY QUESTIONS

  • What is the significance of Palm Sunday?
  • What has Jesus entire ministry been leading to?
  • How did everything lead up to Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem?
FURTHER STUDY
  • Read the Lord's Prayer and see what Christ's prayer can teach us about His triumphal entry.
PRAYER
  • Thank the Lord that Christ’s entire ministry was to fulfill the will of the Father, and completing the work of salvation. Also praise God that we are part of that plan now, if we are in Christ!

Making God’s Word Plain is a devotional of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. It is supported only by its readers and gracious Christians like you. Please prayerfully consider supporting Making God’s Word Plain and the mission of the Alliance.