More Than a Prophet

Sometimes referred to as "Jesus' Triumphal Entry" or as John MacArthur titled it, "The Humble Coronation of Christ," His entry into the city of the Kings, Jerusalem, began the last week of Jesus' pilgrimage to the Cross of Calvary.

From Caesarea Philippi, about 50 miles north of the Sea of Galilee, Jesus, with His disciples, began His final journey to Jerusalem.  After about three years of ministry, preceded by some thirty years of obscurity, Jesus was coming to the end about which He had taught the disciples "...that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised." (Matthew 16:21)  He was about the reach the goal set for Him by His Father in heaven.

The date was 9 Nisan, A.D. 30, when Jesus told two of His disciples to go to the nearby village\ where they would find a colt of a donkey and bring it to Him.  Exactly as He saw it, this event shows that Jesus is indeed the Christ, the very Son of the living God, who possesses "omniscience," one of the all-knowing characteristics of God, and it is in fulfillment of the prophecy from Zechariah 9:9.

From Jericho, where Jesus gave sight to two blind men and called Zaccheus to Himself, they went to Bethany to visit with His close friends, Lazarus, Martha and Mary.  Then on to Jerusalem where the crowds welcomed Him with open arms as their King.  They had no idea that He really was more than a Prophet, Priest or King, He was the "Passover Lamb" of God, to quote John the Baptist, "who takes away the sin of the world."  Rather, they only welcomed Him as their deliverer whom they thought, like David His father, would re-establish their glorious nation and rule over them from that promised throne.
 
What they did not know was that He was coming to pay the price for their sin on a cruel and excruciatingly painful cross, be resurrected from the grave victorious over death, add the Gentiles to the blessed of God ("for ALL who call  upon His NAME shall be saved"), and after great tribulation like has never been seen, He would defeat evil for the last time!  Then, He would reign over that Kingdom from a throne like David.  This Kingdom would last for 1,000 years upon which completion, the final judgment would take place for all who have rejected Him and "a new heaven and a new earth where all God's children would live "forever" with Him in complete fulfillment of God's creative plan from the very beginning.

"Triumphal Entry" - yes; but more than that, it is a "Triumphal Beginning!" This is a beginning that began in the compassionate heart of our great God who is worthy of all praise.  Knowing that we would sin, He provided the only sacrifice that would satisfy His holiness, so that, even Satan and his demonic forces and all those who have rejected Jesus...at His throne, "every knee will bow and confess that He is Lord."  Amen!  (re. Philippians 2:5-11)

... MacArthur, John, "The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Matthew 16-28", Moody Publishers, Chicago, IL, 1988.
...Wiersbe, Warren W, "Be Loyal", David C. Cook Publishers, Colorado Springs, CO, 1980.