Life of Christ: Triumphal Entry
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Wednesday Bible Study The Life of Christ-Triumphal Journey
February 14, 2024
As we think about Jesus riding into Jerusalem we read in Luke 19:42 that [Jesus said,] “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace [shalom] —but now it is hidden from your eyes.”
1. Author Jason Porterfield says, “Shalom [peace- Greek: ay-RAY-nay] exists when all our relationships are flourishing: our relationship with God, with each other, with creation, and even with ourselves.” In what areas of your life are you longing for shalom?
CBL: When the term was adopted by the Septuagint translators, eirēnē was an inadequate equivalent to the Hebrew shālôm. Shālôm served more purposes and had more diversity of meaning than the limited term eirēnē. …
In the Old Testament shālôm was inherently an expression of the period of the eschatological salvation and of the conditions of the Messianic Age.
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Triumphal Journey to the Cross (Not just entry)
Jesus did not take the most direct route on His last Journey to Jerusalem. He seems He chose His route so that He would interact with certain people.
Perhaps this is more of a triumphant journey BECAUSE of the people with who Jesus interacted?
Let’s think about a few
1. ONLY In Luke 17:12-19 Jesus meets 10 men with leprosy. To you, what stands out most in this encounter?
12 And as He entered a village, ten leprous men who stood at a distance met Him. 13 And they raised their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” 14 When He saw them, He said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And it happened that as they were going, they were cleansed. 15 Now one of them, when he saw that he had been healed, turned back, glorifying God with a loud voice, 16 and he fell on his face at His feet, giving thanks to Him. And he was a Samaritan. 17 Then Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But the nine—where are they? 18 “Was there no one found who turned back to give glory to God, except this foreigner?” 19 And He said to him, “Stand up and go; your faith has saved you.”
Fire Bible: Having received God’s love, grace, salvation and all his spiritual benefits, we must never forget to thank him. What he has done for us should cause us continually to approach him with grateful hearts.
2. In Luke 18:18-27 Jesus meets with a man we call the rich young ruler.
18 And a ruler questioned Him, saying, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 19 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone. 20 “You know the commandments, ‘DO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, DO NOT MURDER, DO NOT STEAL, DO NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS, HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER.’” 21 And he said, “All these things I have kept from my youth.” 22 And when Jesus heard this, He said to him, “One thing you still lack: sell all that you possess and distribute it to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven. And come, follow Me.” 23 But when he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich. 24 And Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God! 25 “For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” 26 And those who heard it said, “Then who can be saved?” 27 But He said, “The things that are impossible with people are possible with God.”
Fire Bible Chapter 18
Riches. (1) The most common view among Jews even into the NT times was that wealth was a sign of God’s special favor and that poverty was likely a sign of faithlessness and God’s disapproval (see Pr 10:15, note). The Pharisees (see Mt 3:7, note; see chart on Jewish sects), for example, believed this and in their pride looked down on Jesus because of his contrasting view of money and wealth (Lk 16:14). Although this misguided idea about riches becomes the dominant view at various times throughout the history of the Christian church, it was totally rejected by Christ (see Lk 6:20; 16:13; 18:24–25).
2. Then in Luke 18:35-43 Jesus meets with blind men (Matthew 20:29-34) [one named Bartimaeus-Mark)
35 Now it happened that as Jesus was approaching Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the road begging. 36 Now hearing a crowd going by, he began to inquire what this was. 37 They reported to him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.” 38 And he called out, saying, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 39 And those who went ahead were rebuking him so that he would be quiet, but he kept crying out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” 40 And Jesus stopped and commanded that he be brought to Him, and when he came near, He questioned him, 41 “What do you want Me to do for you?” And he said, “Lord, I want to regain my sight!” 42 And Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight; your faith has saved you.” 43 Immediately he regained his sight and began following Him, glorifying God. And when all the people saw it, they gave praise to God.
4. ONLY In Luke 19:2-10 Jesus meets with Zaccheus.
1 And He entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 And behold, there was a man called by the name of Zaccheus; he was a chief tax collector and he was rich. 3 And Zaccheus was trying to see who Jesus was, and was unable because of the crowd, for he was small in stature. 4 So he ran on before and climbed up into a sycamore tree in order to see Him, for He was about to pass through that way. 5 And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and said to him, “Zaccheus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house.” 6 And he hurried and came down and received Him gladly. 7 And when they saw it, they all began to grumble, saying, “He has gone to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” 8 But Zaccheus stopped and said to the Lord, “Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor, and if I have extorted anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much.” 9 And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham. 10 “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost.”
Fire Bible Chapter 19
Jesus’ concern for Zacchaeus is a challenge to us to take Christ’s message to those whom many people might consider to be the “undesirables” of our society. Zacchaeus actually serves as a good example of how we all should respond when Jesus comes our way. Zacchaeus had a strong desire to encounter Jesus, he was quick to respond to Jesus’ call and he proved his change of heart with actions
5. What pattern or significance do you see concerning Jesus meeting these particular people?
People were His purpose — and if we follow Him they will be ours as well.
Read Luke 19:28–40
28 And after He had said these things, He was going on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. 29 And it happened that when He approached Bethphage and Bethany, near the mount called “of Olives,” He sent two of the disciples, 30 saying, “Go into the village ahead of you; in which, as you enter, you will find a colt tied, on which no one yet has ever sat; untie it and bring it here. 31 “And if anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ you shall say this: ‘Because the Lord has need of it.’” 32 So when those who were sent departed, they found it just as He had told them. 33 And as they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying the colt?” 34 And they said, “The Lord has need of it.” 35 And they brought it to Jesus, and after they threw their garments on the colt, they put Jesus on it. 36 And as He was going, they were spreading their garments on the road. 37 Now as soon as He was approaching, near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God, rejoicing with a loud voice for all the miracles which they had seen, 38 saying, “BLESSED IS THE KING WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD. Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” 39 And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, rebuke Your disciples.” 40 But Jesus answered and said, “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones will cry out!”
6. What stands out to you about this passage?
7. What phrases and images in this passage point to Jesus’ kingship?
Jesus sends 2 of His disciples.
They secure a colt (sign of a king during peace)
The crowd like a coronation crowd
They are calling out “Hosanna”
ON THE FIRST DAY OF PASSOVER, Jesus entered Jerusalem with a price upon His head—and He did so in a manner that publicly announced His kingship. Previously, He had avoided attracting the attention of the religious rulers, but now Jesus would make a final public appeal of love to the people to receive Him as their king.
As Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey that had never been ridden, fulfilling an Old Testament prophecy (Zechariah 9:9), the crowd praised God: “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” (Luke 19:38). But the people celebrating that day missed seeing who Jesus really is and what He came to do. Kings rode horses in wartime processions but donkeys in times of peace. The crowd expected Jesus to come as a conquering hero, freeing the Jews from the oppression of Rome, but Jesus was demonstrating that He came to His people in love and peace—to suffer and die for them.
The crowd enthusiastically threw their cloaks on the road, which was the customary way to coronate a new king (Luke 19:35–37; see also 2 Kings 9:13).
They waved palm-tree branches and shouted “Hosanna!” (Matthew 21:9; Mark 11:9; John 12:13), which not only carried a sense of adoration but also reflected their belief that Jesus was coming to their rescue. Palm branches were a symbol of Israel’s quest for independence from the time of the Maccabean revolt, an attempt to recapture Jerusalem from the Seleucid Empire (around 167 BC).
New Testament scholar and pastor Michael Chung writes, “Jesus’s coming offered the nation great hope that a king as great as David would lead the military of Israel over Roman rule. … He will fulfill the covenant God made with David in 2 Sam 7:11–16 where someone from the house of David will sit on the throne of Israel forever. … When the Jews see Jesus on the colt, they will associate Jesus as the Davidic king they have been expecting for over six hundred years.”
8. What phrases and images in this passage point to Jesus’ humble circumstances? How is Jesus different from the kind of king the people may have expected?
He borrowed the animals
The disciples put their coats on the animal rather than a royal saddle
He has no royal robes or crown
9. Does viewing Jesus as the King who came to usher in the Kingdom of God, and not only as your personal Savior who came to forgive your sins, change how you understand the gospel? If so, how?
I should stir greater awe (fear) at who He is.
I still think of an old Rusty Goodman Southern Gospel song’s lyrics: Who am I?
Who am I that a King would bleed and die for
who am I that He would pray not my will thine for
the answer I may never know
why He ever loved me so
that to an old rugged cross he'd go
For who who am I
Theologian and scholar N. T. Wright writes how we have misunderstood the Gospels:
“Most Christians, certainly in the Western churches, still assume that the whole purpose of the Christian faith is so that we might ‘go to heaven when we die.’”
But Wright asserts that through Jesus, God launched a “new world, God’s ‘kingdom’ of powerful creative and restorative love, arriving ‘on earth as it is in heaven.’”[11] It is within this kingdom that a “new way of life was not only possible, but mandatory for Jesus’s followers … Jesus’s followers now have a mission.”
10. Jesus was not excited by the crowd’s applause or shouts of praise. He was looking for true disciples whose hearts were turned toward Him and who would be committed to following Him. What is the difference between praising God with our lips and making Jesus King and Lord of our lives? What does that shift require?
The term hosanna, translated “Praise God,” is a Hebrew word of worship, also related to the verb “to save.”
The crowd’s use of this word implies they had some level of understanding that Jesus was the Messiah.
Their proclamation identifying Jesus as the “Son of David” speaks even more strongly.
Although we might think the crowd’s use of the word son indicates a loose ancestral connection (as it does elsewhere in the Bible), it’s far more likely the people saw a direct connection between Jesus and the promises God had made regarding King Solomon centuries earlier.
God’s promise of an eternal ancestral throne had been given to David by the prophet Nathan, but it was directly aimed at the king’s son, Solomon.
“When you die and are buried with your ancestors, I will raise up one of your descendants, your own offspring, and I will make his kingdom strong. He is the one who will build a house—a temple—for my name. And I will secure his royal throne forever” (2 Samuel 7:12–13).
Addressing David, the Lord then said, “Your house and your kingdom will continue before me for all time, and your throne will be secure forever” (verse 16). It was Solomon who went on to build the temple where God’s people would gather to worship Him; David was denied that privilege due to the violent life he had led.
Years later, when Solomon became king of Israel, he rode to his coronation ceremony on his father’s mule (1 Kings 1:33–40), foreshadowing Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem as King of kings more than nine hundred years later.
When the crowds declared Jesus to be the “Son of David,” they were connecting Him to David’s biological son, Solomon.
By recounting the promises God had fulfilled for their ancestors, the Jews were reminding themselves that God’s promises would continue to be fulfilled. He would send Messiah to crush the power of sin and death and fix what had been broken in the Garden. He would send the Redeemer and eternal King. Hosanna!
More than a temporary time of praise, but a lifetime of obedience
Read: Luke 19:41–44 “ And as He approached Jerusalem and saw the city, He cried over it, 42 saying, “If you knew in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes. 43 “For the days will come upon you when your enemies will throw up a barricade against you, and surround you and hem you in on every side, 44 and they will level you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.””
11. At the same hour that Jesus was being hailed as king, He was overcome by sorrow. The Greek verb used in verse 41 (klaiō) suggests that rather than shedding a few tears, Jesus audibly sobbed. Why do you think Jesus wept?
It broke His heart to see the stubbornness and the rebellion and to know it would end in painful disaster.
As He approached Jerusalem, Jesus saw the city across the Kidron Valley and wept (Luke 19:41). While the crowd shouted, “Hosanna!” Jesus sobbed—not for the suffering He was going to face that week but for His people and the destruction their rebellion would bring.
“If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace,” He said, “but now it is hidden from your eyes” (Luke 19:42).
How He yearned for them to know Him as the long-awaited Messiah whose Kingdom would have no end and who could bring them true shalom (the Hebrew word for peace, health, and wholeness). Jesus’ reign would extend not only to Israel but to the ends of the earth, bringing peace to all the nations (Zechariah 9:10). As one commentary notes, “‘This day’ … of peace has arrived; and the city …, whose very name means ‘peace,’ has failed to recognize it.” At the very hour of His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, Jesus’ heart overflowed with sorrowful longing for His people.
12. We first see Jesus express His sorrow and longing for Jerusalem earlier in the book of Luke. In that instance, He also prophetically predicted its desolation (Luke 13:34–35). What metaphor did Jesus use to express His longing for Jerusalem (also in Matthew 23:37–38)? What does this communicate about the kind of relationship God desires to have with us?
Luke 13:34–35 (LSB) “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, just as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you did not want it! 35 “Behold, your house is left to you desolate, and I say to you, you will not see Me until the time comes when you say, ‘BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!’”
A loving and protective relationship.
Anglican priest and author Tish Harrison Warren observes,
“Here he weeps not in rage at death, but in the sorrow of unrequited love. It’s a deeply maternal image: Jesus longs to gather up children, wrap them up in the safety and intimacy of his embrace. But they refuse. … Any mother who has had to sit and watch her child destroy himself … knows something about how Jesus wept over Jerusalem.”
13. Living in the brokenness of this world, we may long for things that are not yet fulfilled. Jesus’ lament gives us permission to express our grief more openly to God. What everyday sufferings or particular hardships in your own life do you need to grieve? Are there any spiritual practices that can help you express your lament to God?
We relate to God in our pain through lament.
Over one-third of the Psalms contain prayers of lament.
Pastor Mark Vroegop writes, “Lament is the honest cry of a hurting heart wrestling with the paradox of pain and the promise of God’s goodness.”
14. How do you think Jesus feels today when He looks at the earth? Ask Jesus to make our hearts like His, that we may notice and deeply care about the things He cares about. Share one thing that God has given you a passion for or drawn your attention to that reflects His heart. How can you use your gifts in that area?
DIG DEEPER
When God established the Davidic Covenant (2 Samuel 7:1–16), David had other sons who were in line for the throne before Solomon. In fact, David had not yet had his adulterous affair with Solomon’s mother, Bathsheba. But in His omniscience, God knew the events that would unfold. He had chosen Solomon as the king whose lineage would eventually lead to Jesus through both of His earthly parents.
• Besides David and Solomon, name some other surprisingly flawed characters in Jesus’ ancestry. How does God’s sovereignty at work in Jesus’ family line affect your view of His sovereignty at work in your own life?
• What are some ways God has used your mistakes to bring about His will?
Dalrymple, J. K. (2024). Jesus’ Passion Week: A Bible Study on Our Savior’s Last Days and Ultimate Sacrifice (pp. 2–7). NavPress.
