TRIUMPHAL ENTRY

Ever wonder why the Lord's ride into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday was called the Triumphal Entry?  In just a few days, some in this crowd may have migrated over to the crowd clamoring for Barabbas.  Talk about turning on a dime!  I've often trembled to think which crowd I would have been a part of...had I been there.

King Jesus didn't ride into town like the other nation's kings.  A king would have been seated on a majestic horse in a processional.  My Burden-bearer sat humbly on a small beast of burden.  Kings would not likely have touched a leper or washed men's feet or (in honor of April 15th) eaten with a tax collector.  This king was unique.  The One who came to seek and save also came to serve.

Not everyone came out to see Jesus although His message is available to everyone.  I like this picture because Jesus is painted in the center as the focal point.  Just off to the right, you see evidence of people calling out to Him and praising Him.  They "get it".  Just as today, Jesus is calling out to those who know they need a way back to God.

The doves are in the picture to remind us that without a sacrifice, there is no entry into God's presence.  When Passover worshippers came to Jerusalem, they were required to bring a sacrifice.  Some of them came a long distance, so they found it easier to buy a lamb after they arrived at the temple.  That is how the worship tenor morphed into free enterprise.  Livestock and doves were marked up and sold; foreign money was exchanged into Judean currency for profit.  If the common man was too poor to buy a lamb, the dove was in their price range.

This picture speaks humility to me.  The illustrator gave Jesus eyes that are cast down amidst the adulation.  To the left, the worshipper is in a penitent position.

"The sacrifices God desires are a humble spirit – O God, a humble and repentant heart you will not reject."  Psalm 51.17
   
The precious older man on the right has probably been looking for the Messiah all his life.  Now when he sees Jesus, he raises his hands to heaven in thanks.  The Book says that good gifts are from above.

 I love the way the mother is introducing her child to Jesus.  From the youngest to the oldest, Jesus is the Way.

In this third picture, there is much enthusiasm for Jesus.  Look at the faces of the crowd as they revel in His presence.  The green lushness is prominent and suggests new life.  The people lay their clothes down before Him as though they are rolling out the red carpet for the Lord.  They wave their branches and shout "Hosanna!" (meaning "save us").  People who know they need salvation are blessed by the joy of weightlessness.

The Messiah was described in the Old Testament in two different ways.  Some verses pictured the powerful Lion of Judah, while other verses talked of Messiah being a suffering Servant.  This crowd did not have our advantage of looking back over the timeline to realize the Messiah would come twice.  They were just looking for relief from the heavy hand of Rome...and that made the Lion of Judah very appealing.  But when they realized they had gotten the Lamb, not everyone was pleased.  I have been known to argue with God's plan, too.

Yet through it all, God's plan would end in unshakeable triumph.  Reaching out to mankind in kindness, God sent both His Son and His Spirit.  It was the power of God the Holy Spirit that brought the Son into the world (Matthew 1.18).  It was the power of God the Holy Spirit who filled Jesus and led Him into the wilderness to stand against the devil (Luke 4.1).  Then it was power of God the Holy Spirit who gave the Son confidence to trust the Father and bear the steep hill ahead of Him.  Jesus believed the Holy Spirit would accomplish His resurrection...so as the Lamb of God, He could lay His life down as THE sin sacrifice.

Now with accessibility (access ability), I can boldly go directly into God's throne room.  No more doves.  No more lambs.  And His once-for-ever sacrifice also accomplished my adoption.  Listen to Max Lucado explain Ephesians 1.5...

"God adopted you simply because he wanted to. You were in his good will and pleasure. Knowing full well the trouble you would be and the price he would pay, he signed his name next to yours and changed your name to his and took you home. Your Abba adopted you and became your Father."


In the kingdom of this world, a legal adoption does not happen without a petition to the court.  Similarly, we spiritually petition the final Judge that He would cleanse us and assume our guardianship.  And the hinge on that petition?  He waits for us to admit, submit, and commit.


Triumphal entry.