Articles
The Triumphal Entry
The so-called “triumphal entry” appears in some form in all four gospel accounts (Matthew 21:1-11, Mark 11:1-11, Luke 19:29-44, John 12:12-19). Getting a sense of the setting is important in understanding the implications of this story. It is Sunday, the first day of Jesus’s last week. By Friday evening He will be dead and buried. At the moment, though, the villages around Jerusalem are abuzz. Not only is there the excitement of the coming Passover festival, but the very fact that Jesus might make an appearance has the multitudes brimming with anticipation (Matthew 21:10-11).
These people dropped their clothes in the road as a sign of honor to the King. They then spread out great palm branches before Him, all the while singing praises to God for the triumphal entry of Jesus. “And those who went before, and those who followed after, were crying out, ‘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!’” (Mark 11:9-10). Hosanna means “Save now!” It is a cry to God for deliverance.
Jesus knows that they are expecting the Messiah (they say in their praise song, “Blessed is the coming kingdom…”). Allowing the multitudes to indulge in this parade, of sorts, is not a concession to any false ideas they may have held about Him. According to Edersheim, it was fitting that, as King, Jesus would enter the City of David with all the pomp that was appropriate for a king (The Life And Times Of Jesus The Messiah, Edersheim, p. 725). He accepted, without criticism, their praise, worship, and honor – even though some of these same people might have been the ones yelling “Crucify! Crucify!” only a few days later.
“Some of the Pharisees in the multitude said to Him, ‘Teacher, rebuke Your disciples.’ And He answered and said, ‘I tell you, if these become silent, the stones will cry out!’” (Luke 19:39-40) Perhaps the Pharisees were saying this to test Jesus, to see if He would deny the multitude’s assertion that He was the promised Messiah. Perhaps they were just jealous, or afraid that the crowd would become violent. In any case, the mood of the hour seems to have been so spirited that even if the multitudes stopped praising Christ, the stones on the ground would roar with singing! “The sense is, that His coming was an event of so much importance that it ought to be celebrated in some way, and would be celebrated. It would be impossible to restrain the people, and improper to attempt it. It was proper that they should express it in this manner, and that it was not fit that He should attempt to repress it” (Barnes On The NT – Luke, Barnes, p. 137). The week before the cross begins with a glorious march into Jerusalem. The week after the cross begins with the resurrection and the glorious coming of the New Jerusalem.
