Did you hear about the mostly peaceful demonstration that happened just outside a large eastern city? A controversial teacher came into town, and a spontaneous demonstration occurred. People were shouting various political slogans, tearing down branches, and throwing their clothing onto the street. Enthusiastic masses of people were ready to install their leader as the new king. It looked like insurrection against the government was inevitable.

I’m not talking about the riots in Portland or Kenosha. I’m talking about the Triumphal Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem some 2000 years ago. It was not a “fiery but most peaceful protest,” but it did cause quite a stir in the city.

Today we get back into our study of the book of Luke. And we now begin the third main section of this book, in which the author records the final days of Jesus’ life—the passion week—from Palm Sunday through Resurrection Day. Over 1/3 of the contents of the Gospels deals with the events of this final week in Jesus’ life.

And it all starts with the Triumphal Entry. On this occasion, Jesus formally and officially offered Himself to the nation as their promised King.^[1] Because he’s presenting himself as the Messiah, all the details of this day’s events have Messianic implications.

Background:  The TE occurred at the time of the Passover celebration in Jerusalem, which means many thousands of people would have been in the city to observe the feast. John 12:12 “much people” were in the city for this occasion.

According to the Jewish calendar, the day of the TE would have been the same day the Jews selected the lamb they would sacrifice for the Passover. Thus, the TE was the day when Christ presented Himself as “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”^[2]

Everything in this story shows evidence of planning and coordination. God is working out his plan in splendid detail, and every part of the story demonstrates God’s control.

All these details point to the fact that Jesus is the Messiah. This whole event is designed to make that statement very loudly and clearly. That was important for the people of that place and time to understand, and it’s still important for us to understand today. Salvation depends on believing Jesus’ claims about himself. We must believe that he is indeed the Messiah, the Son of God, the savior of the world. If you don’t accept Jesus’ claims about himself, you cannot be saved.

Notice the details we find in Luke 19 and the other Gospel accounts and how they show that Jesus is the Messiah.

^[1]Dallas Theological Seminary, Bibliotheca Sacra Volume 124 ( (Dallas Theological Seminary, 1967; 2002)), 124:226.

^[2]Dallas Theological Seminary, Bibliotheca Sacra Volume 131 ( (Dallas Theological Seminary, 1974; 2002)), 131:262-263.