The Triumphal Entry

Order of Service

• Call to Worship — Psalm 118:1-9
• Hymn — Come, Christians, Join to Sing
• Prayer of Invocation
• Confession of Faith — Philippians 2:6-11
• Scripture Reading — Zechariah 9:9-13
• Hymn — Rejoice, the Lord Is King
• Pastoral Prayer
• Offering
• Prayer of Dedication
• Hymn — Come, Thou Almighty King
• Sermon
• Hymn — Crown Him with Many Crowns
• Benediction

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Sermon Title: The Triumphal Entry

Scripture: John 12:12-19

I. The Savior King

A. The crowd's cry of "Hosanna" comes from Psalm 118:25-26, part of the Hallel Psalms (Psalm 113–118), sung at major festivals including Passover

1. "Hosanna" means literally give salvation now — an urgent cry for deliverance
2. The Hallel Psalms oriented Israel toward past salvation (the Exodus) and future deliverance from enemies

B. The connection to Passover is theologically significant

1. At the Passover meal, families sang the Hallel Psalms between the cups of blessing; after the final cup, Psalm 115–118 was sung
2. In Matthew 26:30, Jesus and the disciples sang a hymn — almost certainly Psalm 118 — before going to Gethsemane
3. In Gethsemane, Jesus himself cried out a kind of hosanna — let this cup pass from me — yet submitted to the Father's will

C. Christ is the true Passover Lamb; the cup of wrath was not passed over him so that it might be passed over us

1. Colossians 1:13-14 — we have been delivered from the domain of darkness and transferred into the kingdom of his beloved Son through the forgiveness of sins
2. We belong to a new Exodus, a new deliverance — not from physical enemies but from sin

II. The Humble King

A. The second Old Testament reference in the passage is Zechariah 9:9, already read in the service — the king comes on a donkey, not a war horse, and comes to take the war horse away from Jerusalem

B. Palm branches carried nationalistic, militaristic symbolism in first-century Israel

1. Palm branches were imprinted on Jewish coins; Simon Maccabee was met with palm branches and music when he drove Syrian forces from Jerusalem
2. The crowd expected a conquering military king; Christ deliberately rejected that image by riding a donkey

C. The donkey is rooted in earlier Old Testament prophecy

1. Genesis 49:11 — Jacob's prophecy that the king from Judah would come with a donkey's colt
2. Deuteronomy 17 — the law of the king: he shall not multiply horses, wives, or wealth; no Israelite king ever kept this law
3. At Solomon's coronation (1 Kings 1:38), he rode David's mule — a foreshadow fulfilled perfectly by Christ, who had no wives and no place to lay his head

D. Even the disciples did not understand until Christ was glorified (John 12:16)

1. Christ's glorification — resurrection, ascension, Pentecost — brought clarity to how all Old Testament promises find their Yes in him
2. 2 Peter 3 — after witnessing the glorification, Peter awaits a new heavens and new earth in which righteousness dwells
3. John 18:36 — My kingdom is not of this world; the path of this king is humility, not worldly glory

III. The Rejected King

A. The massive crowd that welcomed Jesus was drawn largely by the raising of Lazarus — the seventh and climactic sign in John's Gospel

1. Jewish historian Josephus notes crowds swelled to nearly three million for Passover
2. The seven signs in John culminate in the raising of a man dead four days, making Christ's entry — and his crucifixion — a maximally public event before all Israel

B. The same crowd that shouted "Hosanna" would shout "Crucify him" five days later

1. John 19:15 — We have no king but Caesar; Pilate crucified him with the title King of the Jews posted above his head
2. The Greek word for king (basileus) appears only twice before John 12:13 in this Gospel: John 1:49 (Nathanael's confession) and John 6:15 (the crowd trying to make Jesus king by force, from which he escaped); now he does not escape — his hour has come

C. The rejection was always part of God's plan — not a tragedy but the cornerstone of salvation

1. Psalm 118:22-24 — The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this is the LORD's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes
2. The crowd sang the hosanna of verse 25 while forgetting the rejected stone of verses 22–24 — but God did not forget
3. John 12:32 — And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself — Christ on the cross is most attractive to sinners who know they are perishing

D. We cry hosanna today with full assurance that salvation has come

1. The rejected stone is now the chief cornerstone, exalted at the Father's right hand
2. We await the final epochal event — Christ's return to consummate the kingdom already inaugurated
3. God's steadfast love endures forever (Psalm 118:1); the cross is the supreme display of that other-worldly, steadfast love