Jesus' Triumphal Entry Into Our Lives -Palm Sunday Sermon

Good morning! It is so good to be with you this morning! My name is Paul Hudson, I am the worship and youth pastor at Rose Hill Church in Kirkland, Wa. I am so thankful to be here to bring the message to you and spend a little bit of time with you this beautiful Palm Sunday. I am here with my family this morning, my wife Yam, and our three children, Sam, John, and Emily. Thank you so much for welcoming us to your family in our Lord’s church this morning! ‌

Background Introduction

‌The title of the message for this Palm Sunday morning is “Jesus’ Triumphant Entry into Our Lives,” from Matt. 21:1-11. This passage records Jesus’ official entry into Jerusalem as King. For a little background first, this is coming to the end of Jesus’ earthly ministry, and He is in his third year of public ministry. By this time, He had a large following. Now, we don’t really know what percentage of the Hebrew population really believed Jesus was the Messiah, but we do know that multitudes of people followed Him and had at least a suspicion that He could be the Messiah, the one who would restore God’s people Israel. There were also multitudes of people who did not believe in Him, though most, if not all of the Israelites probably knew of Him or had heard about Him by now. So, this was the last of possibly five trips that Jesus took into Jerusalem during His three years of public ministry—we will take a quick a look at those previous trips this morning to see the differences from this trip.

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Now, this trip was just before the start of the Passover Feast and the Festival of Unleavened Bread. This festival is an annual religious feast that lasts seven days, celebrating the pass over of the angel of death way back in Exodus when God freed the Israelites from their Egyptian slavery. Now, just a sidenote, if you remember the story of the Passover in Exodus 12, the Israelite families were instructed by God to each slaughter a lamb, take its blood, and wipe it on the sides and tops of the outer doorframes of their houses. When the angel of death came to strike all the firstborn in Egypt, He would see the blood of the sacrificial lamb on the doorframes and would not be permitted to enter into those houses, this was the Passover. So, the Passover event became a yearly festival, and to this day it is one of the most sacred festivals celebrated by the Jews. Christians believe that the Passover event foreshadowed Jesus, and that the work of the cross is the fulfillment of the Passover.

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Now, when Jesus was making His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, it would have been at the same time thousands were travelling into Jerusalem for the Passover celebration. So, this would have been the busiest time of the year, with throngs of people, caravans, animals, and children, and a hustle and bustle of activity in and around city.

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The Word of the Lord

‌Now, with that bit of background, let’s turn to the passage this morning. This is Matt. 21:1-11, the Word of the Lord to you and me:

The New International Version Chapter 21:1-11

As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.”

4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:

5 “Say to Daughter Zion,

‘See, your king comes to you,

gentle and riding on a donkey,

and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’ ” v

6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on. 8 A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted,

“Hosanna to the Son of David!”

“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” y

“Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

10 When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?” 11 The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”

Let’s pray.

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Jesus approaches Jerusalem, and, at the Mount of Olives, he prepares to make a royal, triumphant entry into Jerusalem. Alright, let’s pause here for a minute. We know that Jesus went to Jerusalem on a number of previous occasions during his public ministry. The Gospel of John notes at least four other times over Jesus’ three years of ministry. So, what makes this time so special and why weren’t His other visits just as much of a triumphant, royal entry as this one? If Jesus was the true King of the Jews, then wouldn’t it make sense for Him to come into His royal city as its conquering King from the very first time? Let’s explore this a few minutes and take a journey back to each of Jesus’ visits to Jerusalem to see what we can learn.

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Jesus’ Previous Visits to Jerusalem

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The first time Jesus went to Jerusalem during His earthly ministry was actually right after He was baptized, during the devil’s temptation in the wilderness— this was not an official visit, and it may have only been a spiritual visit. Matt. 4:5 says the devil took Him to Jerusalem and had Him stand at the highest point of the temple, and he said, “if you are the Son of God, jump because you have angels at your command who will protect you.” Jesus replied, “it is written, do not put the Lord your God to the test.” Jesus knew He was going to lay down His life eventually, and the devil tempted Him to test God right away with His own divine nature. Well, Jesus knew He was the Son of God and that He could call out a legion of angels to surround and protect Him at a moment’s notice, but He chose the will of the Father, and this was not the time or the way that Jesus was going to lay down His life, though He knew that time would come. So, this spiritual or could-be-physical journey into Jerusalem shows a connection to Christ’s power to either lay down His life or preserve it, and His willingness to yield His power to the will of the Father.

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The next time Jesus went into Jerusalem is in John 2, early in Jesus’ ministry. At that time, He went during the Passover where He cleansed the temple for the first time, (He appears to have done this twice), and He taught, and performed miracles. During this time, Jesus gave a prophecy about His death while speaking to Nicodemus, the Pharisee, saying, “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up that everyone who believes may have eternal life in Him.” So, here we see a connection to Christ’s willing sacrifice and His visit to Jerusalem, but it’s not yet the right time.

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In John 5, Jesus went to Jerusalem again for a festival, and here we see the Jewish leaders becoming so agitated with Jesus that they sought to kill Him, but they could not. It was during this visit that Jesus claimed that He was the Messiah, the Son of God, who came to finish the work that the Father sent Him to do concerning judgment and eternal life. So, we are starting to see a little bit of a pattern in Christ’s journeys to Jerusalem— with each visit, He narrows His focus on the final goals of His mission.

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In John 6, Jesus was near Jerusalem again for the Passover festival, and after miraculously feeding the five thousand, vs. 15, the crowds pegged Him as the Messiah and sought to make Him their king by force— if they had succeeded it wouldn’t have been the triumphal entry, it would have been the forced entry. Since Christ had a specific way and a specific time that He was going to make His royal entry into Jerusalem, He withdrew. So now we’ve seen elements relating to Christ’s sacrifice, judgment, and eternal life, and the obedient laying down of His life according to the Father’s will.

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In John 10, Jesus is in Jerusalem one more time for a winter festival, and the Jews there said plainly, “tell us if you are the Messiah.” To this Jesus answered that He had already told them, but they refused to believe. Then He said, “I will give my sheep eternal life, and they shall never perish, for I and the Father are one.” At this, the Jews picked up stones to kill him, but He escaped their grasp and went out of the city. Once again, there is a clear connection between Jerusalem and Jesus’ mission to give eternal life through His sacrifice to all who believe, but His Messianic mission was going to happen at the exact time and in the exact way that the Father willed, and it was not by stoning, not by falling from the temple heights, and not by force, not by His own will, but through his sacrifice on the cross according to the Father’s will and only after He entered Jerusalem in the exact way that the Messiah was prophesied to enter in.

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So, there we see at least five visits to Jerusalem by Jesus, all pointing to the true reason for His final entry into Jerusalem, but the Jews did not truly understand what their Messiah actually came to do.

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Jesus’ Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem

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That bring us to our passage. From the Mount of Olives, according to Zechariah’s prophecy, Jesus mounted a donkey on a saddle made of cloaks and rode into Jerusalem in both royalty and total humility. He rode in as the victorious Son of God, and simultaneously as the gentle, lowly King--- keep that contrast in mind. This was the Son of God’s moment, surrounded by large crowds of people spreading their cloaks and palm branches along the road in a show of high reverence worthy of a king, and shouting out “Hosanna!” which means, “save we pray!”- Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, Hosanna in the highest heaven! This was the moment the Jews were waiting for, the Triumphal Entry of their Messiah. This royal moment was such that the rocks would have cried out Hosanna! had the people kept their silence. Jesus the Messiah had finally arrived, and His world-changing mission was soon to be finished. His followers were ecstatic, expectant, and ready to see a mighty move of God. Victory was imminent!

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Our Story?

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My friends, I believe all of us here are looking for a triumphal entry of Jesus into our lives. Maybe you have fallen to your knees in your dark night of the soul and cried out, Jesus, I need a victory from you! Maybe you’re staring at a crushing debt and you’re thinking, Jesus, I need a victory here! Or maybe you’re looking across at your spouse and you only see the broken pieces of a troubled marriage, and you’re crying out, Lord, I need a victory here! Or maybe the memory of your most cherished love is fading away, or maybe you wake up every morning wondering how you’re going to make it even one step away from your bed, let alone through a whole day, and you’re crying out, Lord, I need a victory here! Maybe you have come through such painful events that have weighed you down and defined who you are, and you’re wondering what a triumphant victory would even feel like— and you’re asking God to avenge you, to bring judgment upon that one who has stolen so much from you. Or maybe you’ve given up entirely and have resigned yourself to your depression, barely able to even move.

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Every one of us has some part of our lives where we are waiting and looking for a triumphal entry of Jesus. We are looking for Jesus to come in and conquer in a big way, to settle our trials and difficulties with a single wave of His hand. We want every hard issue to just disappear with a snap of our warrior King’s mighty fingers.

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The Jew’s Expectation of the Messiah

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You know, I have caught myself too many times with that expectation of an instant deliverance from God, and I’ve realized that is not much different than the Jew’s expectations when the Messiah rode into Jerusalem that day. The Jews were expecting a Messiah King who would swoop down and crush the Romans like a mighty conqueror. They were expecting a host of warriors and a militant campaign that showed the world the true might of their God.

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But what did they get? Instead Jesus came in gentle and lowly, riding on a donkey, alone and empty-handed, without a single warrior by his side, no army to command, no legion of angels ready for battle, only crowds of people once broken, following along: men who were blind but now see… one with a withered hand, made whole again… a lame man walking into Jerusalem for the first time… a leper with clear skin able to freely join the community of worshipers… a woman healed from chronic bleeding… a prostitute, accepted and made pure… all of them shouting “Hosanna! Save we pray!” “Save we pray!”— here, Jesus is riding on a donkey into Jerusalem as their King, with His “army” of broken and outcast people waving palms and crying out “Save!”— it must have been such an unrecognizable and bizarre scene that the whole city asked, “who is this?” This is not what we were expecting! This prophet is the Messiah!? This is not what we were looking for… where is his army? Where is his might? And who are these people with him? Do we not recognize the leper, the blind man, the lame?

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The problem is the Israelites really did not know what they needed. What they really needed was not a conquering king who would come in and crush their enemies and restore property to them. No, what they really needed was a humble Savior heading obediently toward His cross. They needed a Suffering Servant who could wash away their sins, and transform hard hearts into soft, malleable hearts responsive to the Lord, conformed to His will just as the Messiah was conformed to the Father’s will. What they really needed was the Messiah’s cross, and for His cross to become theirs.

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Jesus’ Triumphal Entry into Our Lives

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Think about this with me for a minute. Today, if we could talk to that army of broken and outcast people who followed Jesus into Jerusalem, if we could ask each of them, “what was the triumphal entry of Jesus into your life?” What would they say? If we could ask the blind man who received his sight that question, I bet he would say, “the triumphal entry of Jesus into my life was not my sight restored… it was all my sins forgiven at the cross of Christ.” The lame man would say, “it was not my legs restored… it was all my sins forgiven at the cross of Christ.” The leper would echo, “it was not my skin made whole.... it was the cross of Christ.” The woman, the prostitute, all of the broken and outcast who received a touch from Jesus would loudly proclaim in one voice, “the Messiah’s triumphal entry into my life was all my sins forgiven at the cross of Christ.” “It was the answer to our cry on that day and we didn’t even realize it! “Hosanna! Save, we pray!!” “Save, we pray!” and He saved us!”

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Friends, in all of the struggles, stresses, and troubles happening in your life right now… if you have said in your heart, “I need a triumphal entry of Christ right now, I need to celebrate a victory,” I want to encourage you to look beyond your present circumstances and attach yourself to the victory that is already yours through the work of the cross. In your search for a triumphant victory, start with the cross- celebrate the cross first, praise the Lord for the work of the cross. It is too easy to look past the cross. We want heaven right now, we want an immediate response from God in our troubles, that snap of His Fingers. Well, the triumphal entry of Jesus is a path that leads straight to the cross.

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The Work of the Suffering Servant in our Lives

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Each previous time Jesus went into Jerusalem, He spoke clearly about his coming work on the cross— sacrifice, suffering, and most importantly, forgiveness and the hope of eternal life that He would bring. Isaiah 53:2-5 helps us understand the victory Christ was heading toward in His triumphal entry into Jerusalem. This is a part of the Suffering Servant passages in Isaiah. listen to these words, speaking of Jesus:

He grew up before him like a tender shoot,

‌and like a root out of dry ground.

‌He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,

nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.

‌3 He was despised and rejected by mankind,

‌a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.

‌Like one from whom people hide their faces

‌he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.

‌4 Surely he took up our pain

and bore our suffering,

‌yet we considered him punished by God,

‌stricken by him, and afflicted.

‌5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,

‌he was crushed for our iniquities;

‌the punishment that brought us peace was on him,

‌and by his wounds we are healed. (Is. 53:2-5, NIV)

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If we look past the work of the cross in our circumstances, we might miss the gentle, humble Jesus and His cross working quietly, yet persistently within us. His cross brings forgiveness, peace, and healing. His cross takes up our pain and bears our suffering. His cross crushes the evil that has pierced our own lives. The triumphant entry of Jesus into our lives is the work of the cross set firmly inside us. And His cross is our example in this life.

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Gal. 2:20 the Apostle Paul said, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

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Invitation

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If you have put your faith in Christ this morning, you can be assured that standing in the middle of your trials and difficulties is the cross of Christ. Standing in the middle of your bruise is the cross of Christ. Standing in the middle of your pain, your uncertainty, your confusion, and all of your mistakes is the cross of Christ. I encourage you to respond by praising the Lord and focusing on the victory of the cross as you face your troubles— set your focus on the hope that has come through the cross, give thanks and praise to the Lord for His work. Come to the cross of Christ this morning, there you will find the victory that you need, the victory that is permanent, not temporary, and eternal, not temporal. Amen!

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If you have not put your faith in Christ, I invite you right now to come and experience the sure victory of Christ. Come to His cross right now, let His work become yours. All you have to do is say yes to Jesus. Bring all of your fears and troubles and lay them down at the feet of Jesus. He knows exactly what you need, and He knows exactly where to place His cross of peace and healing within you. Let Him place His cross of peace and healing within you right now.

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Jesus’ triumphant entry into our lives is the work of the cross.

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Let’s pray.