The Triumphal Entry
Open Your Bible
Luke 19:1-48, 2 Chronicles 16:9, James 4:13-17
BY Guest Writer
One of the great riddles of being human is what to do with all the waiting.
We wait for the seasons to change.
We wait for our hurts to heal.
We wait for our children to grow up… then wait for them to return home.
We’re all waiting for something, and as my favorite rocker, the late Tom Petty, liked to remind us, “The waiting is the hardest part.”
Pay close attention to what’s happening in Luke 19, and you’ll see that while Christ’s followers were celebrating His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, they were waiting too. Verse 11 reveals, “As they were listening to this, he went on to tell a parable because he was near Jerusalem, and they thought the kingdom of God was going to appear right away” (emphasis mine).
The crowds were following Jesus, expecting Him to bring an end to their waiting. They thought He would enter Jerusalem, exile the government that had been oppressing them, and establish the glorious kingdom He’d been telling them about. This is the moment, they must have thought, when all the waiting—for freedom, for peace, for victory—will surely pay off.
But Jesus wasn’t about to stage a coup. He was marching toward the cross. The crowd’s hopes and dreams for the establishment of Christ’s kingdom on earth would have to wait. (At least for the kingdom the way they had expected it).
Fast-forward to today. You’re still waiting too. So am I. We want to see God move in our lives. We want to watch Him come in power and abolish everything that causes us pain. Instead of wringing our hands and pacing the floor, what can we do while we wait?
“The whole crowd of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the miracles they had seen” (v.37). Though at this point the crowds still assumed Jesus was going to lead a military victory, they were right to rejoice over what they had already seen in anticipation of what was still to come.
The greatest indicator of what Christ will do is what He has already done. In every season of waiting we can join with the “multitude” of saints in declaring the victories He’s already given. The disciples had no way of knowing they were watching a preview of a future celebration of Christ’s triumph, when He will one day return in glory:
“Then I saw heaven opened, and there was a white horse. Its rider is called Faithful and True, and he judges and makes war with justice… The armies that were in heaven followed him on white horses, wearing pure white linen… And he has a name written on his robe and on his thigh: King of Kings and Lord of Lords (Revelation 19:11,14,16).
Celebrate every promise you’ve seen Him fulfill, every victory He’s ever secured, every blessing He’s every poured out. They are the down payment for the moment when all of our longings will be fulfilled. May we worship while we wait.
Erin Davis is an author, blogger, and speaker who loves to see women of all ages run to the deep well of God’s Word. When she’s not writing, you can find Erin chasing chickens and children on her small farm in the Midwest.
31 thoughts on "The Triumphal Entry"
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I can’t wait for Jesus to return and to bring relief and refreshment. I also pray that I will be a faithful servant in the waiting.. I long to please God so much and sometimes I get weary and feel overwhelmed or lazy. I get stuck in a rut. Only praise and thankfulness can lift me out of that place and help me keep walking the narrow path. I pray I remain faithful for my whole life.
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Waiting is extremely hard but I love how we can focus on the things that God in our life along the way :) today I pray that I take note of those things throughout the day.
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Waiting on God
Luke 19 is so sharp in its messages and revealing in its truth, but we can admit that we sometimes experiences seasons/cycles like the third servant- holding onto the gifts that God has blessed us with afraid to use them to bring glory to His kingdom, stifled by the anxieties of life. This chapter reminds us that if we won’t the very stones will. If our we fail to be faithful with the little responsibility of winning souls, how can we be trust with more? And if we can’t be trusted our gifts will be taken and given to someone that has proved that they can.
So in waiting let us not forget our purpose, His promises and the miracles that we have seen take place in our own lives.
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May we worship while we wait. – that is something I need to tell myself. But today I choose to see and appreciate what I do have instead of what I long for. I am greatly blessed with healing (not entirely there but so much better) from a disease, I have a job that provides for me financially and gives my day a meaning. And I am blessed with great parents, an amazing brother and a church I call my second family – thank you father – Glory be to you!
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This hits home for me ❤️ love this.
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I had a rough upbringing. We were so poor. My biological father couldn’t keep a job, and had a terrible temper, which he took out on my siblings and myself. I was the oldest, so I got the brunt of the physical and verbal abuse. When I was 15, I fought back, and my parents finally got a divorce. (My mother worked 70+ hours a week) I had grown up in the Catholic Church, and after the incident when I was 15, I began to denounce the existence of God. Why didn’t he protect me from that man? Why didn’t he change our situation? Why, why, why? I continued my life of unbelief in to college. I made all the wrong choices. And then one day, when I was asleep in the library (quite hungover from the night before), I met my now husband. He was a very Godly man. We talked for hours that first afternoon. I didn’t get any studying done. A few months later, I moved 700 miles away from my home to start a life with him. It certainly hasn’t been easy, but he introduced me to a pastor that managed to bring me back to God. He told me I was disappointed in God, which was so true. I had to wait a very long time for things in my life to change. I know it was all His plan all along. That’s why He never stopped pursuing me even when I had given up on Him. Don’t lose faith sisters!
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