Triumphal Entry

Palm Sunday: March 24 | by Dr. Brent Thomason

A Note About the Video

Video Transcript:

We're on location here at the city of David. Behind me are the Southern Steps of the Temple Mount. Off to my left is the Mount of Olives, and we've come to this location because we're reflecting on the first day of the Passion Week. The day that we historically call “Palm Sunday. It's the day that Jesus entered into Jerusalem triumphantly as a king, riding on a donkey. 

Now, the story actually begins all the way east of the Mount of Olives to the city of Jericho. You'll recall in Jericho, He heals blind Bartimaeus, and then He also has a conversation with Zacchaeus in a sycamore tree. 

From there, a crowd begins to form around Jesus as he walks westward up to Jerusalem, ascending the mountains of Judea. On Saturday, he comes to the city of Bethany, and this is the home of Mary, Martha, and of course, Lazarus, whom he raised from the dead. There, that evening, Mary anoints Jesus with oil—with a vial of expensive perfume, preparing Him for His burial. 

Well, the word gets out that Jesus is in Bethany and so the next morning on Sunday, Jesus commissions His disciples to retrieve a donkey—a donkey on which no one has ever ridden. 

And as Jesus mounts that donkey, the crowd around Him will begin laying their coats down on the pavement. They'll cut palm branches and lay it down on the road. 

This would be equivalent to our modern-day “rolling out the red carpet,” and actually, the book of 2 Kings in the Old Testament tells us that this is what they would have done for a victorious king, welcoming him into the city. 

But this is certainly not the custom used for a rabbi and much less for the son of a carpenter. 

And yet, the crowds are hailing Him as king. Well, Jesus leaves the Mount of Olives. He rides the donkey down into Kidron Valley, and as He ascends towards the Temple Mount, of course, there is opposition. In fact, anytime there's a great movement of God, there's going to be opposition from the adversary. 

Now, this would have been a spectacle to behold because the people that are gathered around Jesus—Matthew's Gospel says—are shouting: “Hosanna to the Son of David; Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, Hosanna in the highest!” 

Now, this is a Psalm that would've historically been sung around the feast of Unleavened Bread—around Passover. 

But the Pharisees observe that the crowds are singing this about Jesus the Messiah, and so they step forward and command Jesus to rebuke His disciples, to tell them to hush and be silent. 

And Jesus' response is definitely a word that we need to ponder. He turns to the Pharisees and says, “I tell you, if these are silent, even the stones will cry out.” I mean, think about that just for a minute.

The creator of the universe, the one who spoke the cosmos into existence, God made flesh, is saying, “I can make these stones rejoice. I can have these stones proclaim My name if the people are silenced.”

Dr. Brent Thomason serves as Dean for the Graduate School of Ministry at Dallas Baptist University.