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I’ve read Matthew 21.1 – 11, the Triumphal Entry, twice this week, and I’m puzzling over the lessons to be learned. Obviously, it’s a fulfillment of Zechariah’s prophecy–Matthew says so:

This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying, “Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’” (Matthew 21.4, 5, ESV)

But on a more human and immediate level, something else is going on. Jesus had already told his disciples three times(!) that he was going to Jerusalem to die:

And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day.” (Matthew 20.17 – 19, ESV)

But now he rides into Jerusalem accompanied by a great crowd:

Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.” (Matthew 21.8 – 11, ESV)

There could have been a temptation to be distracted. If it were me, I’d feel pretty special at a parade in my honor. But Jesus, just as he ignored the crowds who wanted to make him king after he fed them (John 6), also ignores these crowds and goes straight to the temple and irritates the religious leaders by throwing out “all who bought and sold in the temple.” (Matthew 21.12). And it’s highly likely that these crowds were among those clamoring for his crucifixion just a few days later:

Pilate asked them, “Then what would you have me to do with Jesus who is called the Anointed One?” They all shouted back, “Crucify him!” “Why?” Pilate asked. “What has he done wrong?” But they kept shouting out, “Crucify him!” (Matthew 27.22, 23, Passion Translation)

One can be thrown off track as easily by success and acclamation as by failure and rejection. Jesus stayed on mission. Can we do the same?

Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God. For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have. (Philippians 1.27 – 30, ESV)