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What is the Importance of the Triumphal Entry?
And many spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut from the fields. And those who went before and those who followed were shouting, “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 11:8-10, ESV
When God sent His Son into the world as the King and Savior of His people, He made sure it was announced. He sent the birth announcement by angels to a group of shepherds, keeping watch over their flocks by night. God's choice of shepherds was significant on a number of levels, including the fact that they were keepers of sheep and God was sending His Son as the Lamb of God, to take away the sin of the world.
Now, approximately 33 years later, God's Son is entering into Jerusalem to accomplish the final and most vital stage of His mission. In just a few days, He would be betrayed and beaten and crucified. He would become our Savior as he took our sins upon Himself. This day was an important entry, one foretold in Scripture in Isaiah 52 & Zechariah 9:9.
Just as God the Father made sure Jesus' entry into the world was announced by angels, so now He made sure that His Son's entry into Jerusalem was announced. This time, the announcing was done by the shouting of the crowd, who laid down their coats and spread out palm branches to proclaim the coming of their king.
Jesus was riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey, in exact fulfillment of Zechariah 9:9. The crowds shouted "Hosanna!" which means, "Save now!" They were asking for salvation from the Romans, but Jesus came to save them from their sins. They praised Jesus for bringing the kingdom of David, but He was actually coming to bring the kingdom of God.
So, what about us? Do we shout the right Hosanna? Are we expecting the right kingdom? In other words, do we praise and welcome Jesus for the right reasons? It's very easy to shout Hosanna in praise to Jesus for saving us from the things we want to have taken out of our lives - suffering, sorrow, poverty, sickness, struggle - and not what we most need to have removed - sin. It is easy too ask Jesus to come and set up our own self-serving kingdom, but He comes only to set up the kingdom of God.
Thankfully, what Jesus brings is what we most need. We need to be saved from ourselves and only Jesus could do that!
Prayer Based on Psalm 87:
Psalm 87 is a celebration of God's church, His holy city. Here are two great hymns based on the themes of Psalm 87:
Here's the prayer for Psalm 87 from Pray All the Psalms:
O Lord Jesus, you have set your foundation on the
holy mountain;
for you love the gates of Zion
more than all the dwellings of Jacob.
You have brought us to Mount Zion,
to the heavenly Jerusalem,
the city of the living God.
You have brought us to thousands upon thousands
of angels
in joyful assembly,
to the Church of the firstborn,
whose names are written in heaven.
You have brought us to God,
the judge of all men,
to the spirits of righteous men made perfect,
For you, O Jesus, are the mediator of a new covenant.
Glorious things are said of you,
O city of God,
“I will record Europe and Australasia
among those who acknowledge me—
Africa too, and North and South America,
along with Asia—
and all will say, ‘This one was born in Zion.’”
For nations on every shore will worship Jesus,
every one on in its own land:
So may every nation on every continent say:
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord Jesus,
to the house of the God of Jacob.
He will teach us his ways,
so that we may walk in his paths.”
Let the Scriptures go out from the Church of the firstborn,
the word of the Lord from the heavenly Jerusalem.
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