March 24 | The Triumphal Entry | Witness | Amy Christie

A week before his crucifixion, Jesus enters Jerusalem to great fanfare, riding on a donkey just as the prophet Zechariah had predicted (Zechariah 9:9). Was it possible that the coming of this Messiah was exactly what everyone had been waiting for? Was Jesus going to lead Israel to military victory over the Roman occupiers? These questions must have been ringing in the disciples’ ears as they wrestled with Jesus’ earlier predictions of his own imminent death at the hands of Rome. Which was it going to be? Victory or death? This moment of cognitive dissonance is a wonderful invitation for us to consider what kind of Messiah we are following. Is the Jesus we follow victorious by human standards, trampling down everyone we disagree with? Or is he the one whose victory lies in his self-sacrifice and surrender, and the grace he offers even to the despised?