What Was Triumphal About the Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem? The Answer Comes Three Days Later

What was triumphal about the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem? This is a serious question. When the event is examined closely, nothing about it appears triumphant in the usual sense. There was no army, no display of power, no political victory.

Jesus entered the city riding on a donkey, not on a war horse. Within days, everything would collapse. One of His own disciples would betray Him. Another would deny Him. The rest would abandon Him. He would be arrested, falsely accused, beaten, mocked, crowned with thorns, and crucified in public humiliation. If this is triumph, it does not look like it.

From a human point of view, this appears to be failure. The entry into Jerusalem seems like the beginning of the end. The crowd that welcomed Him would not stand with Him. The authority He appeared to have would not prevent His suffering. Everything that followed seems to contradict the idea of victory. This raises an important question. Why do Christians call it the Triumphal Entry?

The answer would come three days later.

That is the whole point. Not on that day. Not in the cheering crowd. Not on the road into Jerusalem. The answer would come three days later.

Jesus was humiliated in every possible way. Betrayed, denied, abandoned, mocked, beaten, and crucified. If the story ended there, nothing about the entry was triumphal.

But it did not end there.

Three days later, death itself was defeated. No one had ever done that. The cross did not win. The tomb did not win. Death did not win.

That is the triumph.

What looked like failure became the greatest victory ever seen. If death had the final word, then there was nothing triumphal about the entry. But death did not have the final word.

That is why Christians call it the Triumphal Entry.