The Triumphal Entry

Passion Week

• Palm Sunday - Easter Sunday
• Helps us put Jesus back in the center

The Jesus Proposal

• John York & Rubel Shelly
• Focus first on the WHO (Jesus & relationship with him)
• Focus second on WHAT (doctrine/practices)

For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ
(1 Cor. 2:2 ESV)

Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.
(Phil. 3:8 ESV)

Ignatius

• Drawn to Christianity by the adventure of following Jesus.
• Believed church needed deeper focus on Jesus.
• Called Christians to 30 day/32 week "Spiritual Exercises" focused on Christ.

Alister McGrath

• Prof. @ Oxford U.
• CT Jan/Feb 2015

Alister McGrath
Faith crisis in 1973, 18 months after conversion to Christianity from atheism.
Rode bike into woods, sat and read Philippians.

Alister McGrath
Realized "faith had affected my mind but left the rest of me untouched."

Alister McGrath
"What spoke most powerfully to me that morning was Paul's distinction between knowing about Jesus Christ and knowing Jesus Christ."

We have to determine our focus

• Bible?
• Church?
• Doctrines?
• Morals?
• Jesus!

The Triumphal Entry

• One of the few events in Jesus’ ministry that is recorded in all four Gospels.
• Matt. 21:1–11/Mark 11:1–11/Luke 19:28–40/John 12:12–19

John 12:12-19

Jerusalem

• Population swelled at Passover.
• Josephus: 2.7 million.

Palm Leaves

• Used by pilgrims as part of worship.
• Palm branches were also used as symbols of victory and kingship.
• Palms appear both on the coins struck by the Jews during their revolutionary struggle against the Romans, and in the coinage struck by the Romans after the revolution was put down.

After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands.
Rev. 7:9 ESV

Save us, we pray, O Lord! O Lord, we pray, give us success! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! We bless you from the house of the Lord.
(Ps. 118:25-26 ESV)

Psalm 118

• Part of the Hallel, the section of Psalms (113–118 in our Psalter) sung daily during the feast of tabernacles.
• Addressed to pilgrims coming to the temple. The ‘you’ in these verses is plural, and the picture is of those already at the temple blessing God for the arrival of other pilgrims.

Psalm 118

• Eventually the words Blessed is he who comes … were understood as a reference to the Coming One, the Messiah.

Psalm 118

• This messianic meaning is explicit in the following words, Blessed is the King of Israel!, which were not part of the Psalm, but show how the crowd were understanding it.

King Jesus

• "the King of Israel!" which recalls John 1:49 and John 6:15
• Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” (John 1:49 ESV)

King Jesus

• 15 Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself. (John 6:15 ESV)

King Jesus

• Ironically, the leaders of these people will, in the end, claim no king but Caesar.
• Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.” (John 19:15 ESV)

King Jesus

• Jesus rides into the city as king.
• The question is: What kind of king is Jesus?

Untitled Slide

Entry of Alexander into Babylon

• Charles Le Brun 1664 (Louvre, Paris)
• Le Brun depicts the moment where Alexander, holding a scepter topped by Victory in his left hand, advances in a chariot drawn by two elephants captured from Darius' army.

Entry of Alexander into Babylon

• The hero, crowned with laurel leaves, is preceded by Persian trumpeters. Next to him three men directed by a mounted warrior (perhaps Hephaestion, Alexander's friend) carry a large golden vase.
• Next to him three men directed by a mounted warrior (perhaps Hephaestion, Alexander's friend) carry a large golden vase.

Entry of Alexander into Babylon

• In the background one can see the Hanging Gardens of Babylon; in the foreground to the left, a statue of Semiramis.
• In the background one can see the Hanging Gardens of Babylon; in the foreground to the left, a statue of Semiramis.

Untitled Slide

Alexander

• 2004 Oliver Stone
• Depicts the entry into Babylon
• Focus of entire city

King Jesus

• Jesus rides into the city as king.
• The question is: What kind of king is Jesus?
• Will he ride in like Alexander?

Untitled Slide

Untitled Slide

Untitled Slide

• Jesus chooses to enter the city using the image found in Zech. 9:9-10

9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. 10 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.
(Zech. 9:9-10 ESV)

Humble King

• "humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey."
• Jesus chose not a war horse but a donkey. It was associated with royal coronations and kings on parade in a city. But it was nonetheless associated with gentleness and humility.

Humble King

• Even the size of the gathering speaks to his humility.
• Though accompanied by a crowd, the crowd and noise were not sufficient to draw the attention of the Romans or other security forces.

A humility similar to the one we saw at his first triumphal entry.

Humble King

• “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” (Matt. 2:2 ES)

Humble King

• "And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn." (Luke 2:7 ESV)

"When Jesus does finally enter the city, he enjoys all the trappings of a great military procession for a triumphant national hero..."

"...The whole time, however, he is turning the world's notions of power and rule and authority on their heads."

"His theater is a wonderful piece of political satire. In his 'triumphal entry,' Jesus lampoons all the powers of the world and their pretensions to glory and dominion..."

"...and he enacts an alternative to the way of the Domination System. He comes not as one who lords his authority over others but as one who rejects domination and comes as a servant."

He comes not with pomp and wealth but as one identified with the poor. He comes not as a mighty warrior but as one who refuses to rely on violence. Jesus enacts the subversive, nonviolent reign of God in the midst of the city."
Charles Campbell "The Word Before the Powers," 60

Humble King

• Do we present a humble Jesus to the world?
• Do we live as humble followers of the humble king?

Peaceful King

• "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"
• The imagery in Zechariah is framed as a conscious alternative to militaristic rule.

Peaceful King

• Do we present Jesus in militaristic/non-militaristic ways?
• As followers of a peaceful king, do we practice a militaristic or non-militaristic approach to faith and the world?

Global King

• "his rule shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth."

Global King

• ...the King who rides into Jerusalem clothed in the mantle of Zechariah’s prophecy is possessed of a larger dream than Israelite nationalism. As Israel’s king he will not subscribe to their narrow nationalism

Global King

• Do we present Jesus as one concerned for all nations not just ours?
• As followers of a global king, do we practice concern for all nations?

Untitled Slide

• So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him.” (John 12:19 ESV)

Untitled Slide

• The Pharisee's complaint was meant as a criticism. But it, in fact, becomes prophetic. The world does indeed end up going after him, a king like this.
• Will we?