Jesus’ Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem (Luke 19:28-40 and 12:12-19)

Jesus's triumphal entry into Jerusalem is one of the unique accounts that's found in all four gospels (Matthew 21:1-11, Mark 11:1-10, Luke 19:28-40, and John 12:12-19). The account fulfills the prophecy in Zachariah 9:9 and reveals Jesus's Messiahship and Kingship. Table of contentsThe Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem Fulfilled ProphecyA Surprising ProphecyA Full Understanding of the Triumphal EntryWhy Did Jesus Send the Disciples to Get the Donkey for Him?The Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem Reveals Jesus’s MessiahshipThe Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem Reveals Jesus’s KingshipWhy a Donkey "On Which No One Has Ever Sat"?We Should Be Willing to Give Up Whatever the Lord NeedsThe Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem Reveals Jesus’s OmniscienceJesus Came to Bring Peace Between God and ManFootnotes https://youtu.be/k5xubljPTVc Jesus's triumphal entry into Jerusalem is found in all four gospels: Matthew 21:1-11, Mark 11:1-10, Luke 19:28-40, and John 12:12-19. George IV’s coronation as king of the United Kingdom took place at Westminster Abbey in London on July 19, 1821. George’s extravagant tastes and lifestyle greatly influence the ceremony. It ended up costing 238,000 pounds, which would be 21,000,000 pounds today, or converted to dollars, almost $26,000,000. You heard that correctly: King George IV’s coronation would cost almost $26,000,000 today. The money went toward renovations and furnishings for Westminster Abbey, costumes and uniforms, jewels and plate armor, and a coronation feast for all 4,656 guests. It proved to be the most lavish and expensive of any British monarch. It was over twenty times more expensive than the previous coronation. Unlike King George’s coronation, the coronation of the King of Kings, Jesus Christ, involved no cost whatsoever. The coronation, like the rest of Jesus’s earthly life and ministry, was characterized by modesty: born in a manger in Bethlehem, parented by two poor people in Joseph and Mary, raised in Nazareth, and baptized in the Jordan. All of these speak of Jesus’s humility. There is nothing impressive about Bethlehem, Joseph, Mary, Nazareth, or the Jordan. The only reason we know about them is because they are associated with Jesus. But if I had to choose one earthly event that pictured Jesus’s humility better than others, second only to the cross, it would be the triumphal entry into Jerusalem. The traditional calendar for events has this taking place on the Sunday before resurrection Sunday. In other words, this is five days before the crucifixion. Typically, we call this Palm Sunday, which is the beginning of Holy week or Passion week, or the last week of Jesus’s earthly life leading up to the crucifixion. The Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem Fulfilled Prophecy Let's begin by looking at the prophecy of the triumphal entry: Zechariah 9:9a Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; Because Zion is another name for Jerusalem, saying daughter of Zion and daughter of Jerusalem are both ways of referring to Jerusalem’s inhabitants, the Jews. They are told to show great exuberance, and rejoice greatly and shout aloud, because their king is coming. A coronation is a time of celebration, but the Jews have even more reason to celebrate, because listen to the way their king is described: Zechariah 9:9b righteous and having salvation is he, They should celebrate because of who Jesus is (righteous or just), and what he brings (salvation). Many kings throughout history have been selfish. Instead of serving people, they used people for personal gain. When Israel rejected God as king, and asked for an earthly, human king, God could have justly given them what they wanted and let them suffer for it. But first, he graciously warned them what it would be like to have their earthly king. Listen to the repetition of the word take: 1 Samuel 8:11 [Samuel] said, “The king who will reign over you will take your sons…13 He will take your daughters…14 He will take the best of your fields…15 He will take the tenth of your grain…16 He will take…the best of your young men and your donkeys. 17 He will take the tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves.” If you would expect anyone to have a good king, it would be Israel. But God said their kings would be unjust takers. But when Zechariah prophesied about Jesus, he would be the ideal ruler. He would be just and give people the greatest gift: salvation or eternal life. A Surprising Prophecy Now the prophecy becomes completely shocking and contrary to anything anyone would have imagined for such a king: Zechariah 9:9c humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. These words don’t reconcile with the previous part of the verse. You would expect to read, “Behold, your king is coming to you, great, mighty, and powerful, riding on a magnificent horse.” Instead, we read this. Though the triumphal entry was a joyful celebration, anyone watching would wonder what was so triumphal about it. The king himself would not look like some great victor. He would look like a humble servant. A Full Understanding of the Triumphal Entry Many of the triumphal entry’s important details can’t be found using just one gospel. If we use just Luke’s gospel, it looks like this is the order of events leading up to the triumphal entry: Jesus heals blind Bartimaeus Jesus visits Zacchaeus Jesus preaches the parable of the Minas Then Jesus makes his triumphal entry But John’s gospel records an important event that took place before the triumphal entry, and that’s when he raised Lazarus. It’s important to know this happened. When Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead (John 11:38-44), it did two things related to the triumphal entry. First, it caused the religious leaders to start plotting Jesus’s death: John 11:53 So from that day on they made plans to put him to death. Imagine that: Jesus raised someone from the dead and the religious leaders wanted to murder him. It gets even worse: John 12:9 When the large crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus was there, they came, not only on account of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 10 So the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well, 11 because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus. This is the second thing raising Lazarus did: it drew a large crowd. This is why there were so many people at the triumphal entry. Imagine how much raising someone from the dead would excite the masses. Unbelievably, now they want to murder Lazarus too. This is one of the other details that’s not in Luke. Why Did Jesus Send the Disciples to Get the Donkey for Him? Understand the immense opposition against Jesus, because in Luke, Jesus obtains the donkey in a quiet, almost secretive way. Instead of getting the donkey himself, he sends disciples ahead to get it and bring it back to him. Why? The hostility toward Jesus.103 The religious wanted to murder him. More than likely Jesus had the disciples get the donkey – versus getting it himself – to protect the owners. If the religious leaders knew the owners helped Jesus, they would be in serious trouble. John 12:12 The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. 13 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!” We get to see some things that are not in Luke’s gospel. First, the people gathered palm branches. This is why the triumphal entry came to be known as Palm Sunday. Luke doesn’t mention the palm branches. Second, notice the people were saying, “Hosanna.” Luke is the only gospel that doesn’t record the people saying, “Hosanna.” The word hosanna only occurs six times in the Gospels and only at Jesus’s triumphal entry. Hosanna is often thought of as a declaration of praise, like hallelujah. But hosanna is actually a plea for salvation. It means, “Save us.” The Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem Reveals Jesus’s Messiahship Psalm 118 is a distinctly messianic Psalm, and it is probably most well-known because of verse 22: Psalm 118:22 The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. 23 This is the Lord's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. 24 This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. We recognize these verses because they are quoted numerous times in the New Testament regarding Jesus’s rejection: six times that I could find.104 That probably makes them some of the most quoted verses in the New Testament. Psalm 118:25 Save us, we pray, O Lord! O Lord, we pray, give us success! The word “hosanna” is drawn from the words “save us” in this verse. The Hebrew words yasha, meaning “deliver” or “save,” and anna, meaning “beg,” or “beseech,” combine to form the word “hosanna.” So, literally, hosanna means “I beg you to save!” or “Please deliver us!” Psalm 118:26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! We bless you from the house of the Lord. This is what the people were loosely quoting at the triumphal entry. In Matthew, Mark, and John the people said, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord,” as the verse says. But in Luke it says, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord.” Luke emphasizes Jesus’s kingship. The Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem Reveals Jesus’s Kingship John 12:14 And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written, 15 “Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey's colt!” John and Matthew quote Zechariah 9:9 to show the triumphal entry fulfills this verse. This is when Israel received their king. Verse 14 says Jesus “found a young donkey,