The Triumphal Exit

The original Palm Sunday was not a calm Sunday. The day was filled with high drama.

By riding a young donkey into Jerusalem, Jesus accomplished at least three important goals. (1) He fulfilled a messianic prophecy that said, "See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey" (Zechariah 9:9, New International Version). (2) He signaled that his kingdom is not of this world. Unlike conquerors on warhorses, the King of kings rode a humble animal that symbolized service and peace. (3) By riding an unbroken colt that no one had ever ridden (Luke 19:30), he demonstrated his power over nature.

Cheers and Tears on the Road

During Jesus' triumphal entry, the crowd's happy cries contrasted sharply with the Master's tears. People waved palm branches, spread their cloaks on the road, and shouted praise to God, echoing the messianic joy of Psalm 118, which says, "Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!" (Luke 19:36-38). But Psalm 118 also contains a verse about the "stone the builders rejected." Jesus wept over Jerusalem's unbelief and tearfully predicted the city's coming destruction at the hands of the Romans (Luke 19:41-44).

The rest of the week was not calm, either. After arriving in the city, Jesus overturned the tables of the money changers and merchants who were turning God's house of prayer into a den of robbers. It was not calm when Jesus healed the blind and lame, when children shouted his praises, and when indignant religious leaders criticized him (Matthew 21:12-16). As the week went on, Jesus spoke pointed parables, responded to tricky questions, pronounced stern "woes" upon the Scribes and Pharisees, taught about the approaching fall of Jerusalem and his own Second Coming, and shared the Passover meal with his disciples.

Within days of the triumphal entry, Jesus was betrayed, arrested, and crucified. Soon his body that rode triumphantly into Jerusalem lay lifeless in a borrowed tomb. But his triumphal entry led to a triumphal exit.

Surprising Victories at the Cross

To first-century Romans, crucifixion meant defeat, not victory. The cross was a tool for capital punishment, miserable suffering, and public humiliation. Crucifixion reminded the Jews of Deuteronomy 21:23, which says "anyone who is hung on a pole is under God's curse." At the cross, Christ took upon himself the curse of our sin (Galatians 3:10-14).

God's plan of redemption turned the old rugged cross, an emblem of suffering and shame, into a place where crucial victories were won. At the cross, mercy triumphed over judgment. Good triumphed over evil. God's faithfulness triumphed over human sinfulness. Hope triumphed over despair.

Jesus spoke from the cross seven times. He graciously forgave those who crucified him. He promised Paradise to a repentant thief. He lovingly provided for the care of his mother. He identified with strugglers who feel forsaken by the Father, while at the same time he called attention to the messianic prophecies found in Psalm 22. He empathized with our physical limitations by saying, "I am thirsty." He declared his fulfillment of the Father's purpose by saying, "It is finished." And he voiced a comforting sentence all believers can say on the day we die: "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit" (Luke 23:46).

Best of all, Jesus' triumphal exit on the cross led to a triumphal re-entry three days later when he rose from the grave.

David Faust serves as contributing editor of Christian Standard and senior associate minister with East 91st Street Christian Church in Indianapolis, Indiana. He is the author of 1 & 2 Thessalonians: Unquenchable Faith.