Triumphal Entry | Holy Week | Monday

As Holy Week begins, we step into one of the most powerful and paradoxical moments in all of Scripture - the Triumphant Entry. 

Jesus rides into Jerusalem not on a warhorse, but on a humble donkey. The crowds gather, laying down cloaks and palm branches, shouting “Hosanna!” - praise, celebration, expectation. It feels like a coronation… but it’s leading to a cross. 

In this episode, we slow down and enter into that moment. We reflect on the beauty of praise, the tension of expectation, and what it looks like for us to prepare our hearts for the week ahead. Though Palm Sunday has passed, we intentionally begin here - fixing our eyes on Jesus and joining the crowd in worship as we journey toward the cross and the empty tomb. 

Our hope is that this episode helps posture your heart - whether you’re driving to work, sitting in stillness, or preparing to gather with your local church later this week. 

Let’s begin Holy Week together!

Song Credit:
This episode includes a brief acoustic portion of “Hosanna”  written by Brooke Ligertwood and published by Hillsong Music Publishing. Used here for devotional and illustrative purposes.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_04 0:05

Welcome to Holy Week with Sermons on the Side.

SPEAKER_01 0:09

This week, we're doing something a little bit different.

SPEAKER_04 0:12

Each day, Monday through Friday, we're walking through Holy Week together, slowing down to follow the final days of Jesus' life, leading up to the cross and ultimately the resurrection.

SPEAKER_01 0:25

From the celebration of Palm Sunday to the quiet weight of the upper room to the sorrow of Good Friday.

SPEAKER_04 0:34

We want to sit in each moment and see what it reveals about who Jesus is and what it means for us right here, right now.

SPEAKER_01 0:44

So whether you're listening in the car, on a walk, or in a quiet moment alone, our hope is simple.

SPEAKER_04 0:50

That this week wouldn't just be something you remember, but something you experience.

SPEAKER_01 0:57

So let's step into today's part of the story. Another Monday with Sermons on the Side. I told you, we loved birthday week, so of course we had to bring it back for Holy Week, dude. Here we go. I know, man. Happy Monday to you, sir.

SPEAKER_04 1:24

Yeah, same to you, and uh, and welcome to Monday with Sermons on the Side to all our listeners.

SPEAKER_01 1:30

And dude, how about that new intro music? It's almost like it's a brand new podcast. What is going on?

SPEAKER_04 1:36

Did I click the play on the right podcast?

SPEAKER_01 1:40

Rest assured you are here. Uh my name is Brad. I'm across the table from my dear friend and co-host Richard Moore. Yes, indeed. How are you, sir? Doing well.

SPEAKER_04 1:49

And I'm I'm just so pumped about the week leading up to Easter. It's always a big deal in my mind and in my heart. Yeah. I always, you know, and it's just sort of as a tradition in my life and and with some of my family members, we usually spend Monday through Friday looking at some of the stories in the New Testament about what it was like on Jesus' last week leading up to the crucifixion. And you and I got to talking, and we're just like, why don't we do that together with our sermons on the side of listeners?

SPEAKER_01 2:22

Oh man. So you heard it in the intro, Monday through Friday of this week. We're so excited to just drop some shorter episodes, but we are going to journey together through the life, those last few days, final hours of Jesus' ministry. Yes. And uh, but we don't have episodes on Saturday and Sunday, and there's a reason for that.

SPEAKER_04 2:42

Right, right. Because the point of this is really to prepare our hearts and our minds to experience the worship and the celebration that we hope all our listeners will be a part of on Easter Sunday when you go to your local church and when you and your family observe Easter, that what we do here in these days, Monday through Friday, will just get us ready in a different kind of way. And I think it's gonna make Easter pop even more.

SPEAKER_01 3:15

Absolutely. I'm telling you what, our Palm Sunday service yesterday was unbelievable. I'm so excited, not only for this week, but ultimately to celebrate next Sunday. And hey, let me just disclaimer if we have any people, any listeners that are in this area, I just want to invite you to our Easter service at Mountain Shadows Community Church in Hamilton, Georgia. We have an Easter sunrise service. Stop this pretty early in the morning.

SPEAKER_04 3:40

And is it out outdoor weather boring?

SPEAKER_01 3:43

Yes. No, it'll be outdoors kind of rain, sleeter, shine, brother. I'm telling you, we braved the elements, but it's a it we've done it for several years. My wife and I have led worship for this service for a number of years now. And I can't tell you how beautiful of a moment it is to start that morning in darkness, but as you are singing together as a local body of believers and that sun rising on your backs to experience the freedom sitting in nature of our savior risen. I mean, I'm getting chill bums even thinking about it this Sunday. So, anyways, if if you if you have a church and and maybe you can still get out there at 7 a.m., come join us. It'd be awesome. I don't normally do a little uh commercial for our church, but just felt led to right there. Absolutely. So come join us.

SPEAKER_04 4:30

That fits big time, brother.

SPEAKER_01 4:31

Well, hey, let's just dive right in. I'm so excited. What is the theme of our Monday together, Richard?

SPEAKER_04 4:38

Well, for today, we're actually gonna talk about the Palm Sunday thing. I know it's Monday, but there was just such a great story found in the gospels that really kicked off the week for Jesus and his followers. That that week that eventually led to the crucifixion and ultimately the resurrection. So we call it Palm Sunday because that particular story in scripture is called what I guess in Bible language, the triumphal entry. It's basically when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the back of a young donkey. And by the way, that actually is the fulfillment of these prophecies from hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of years before. But the buzz that existed around who Jesus was, all the things he had been doing, the miracles, the teaching, boy, there was there was quite a following. Not just the 12 disciples that we're might be familiar with from the Bible stories, but boy, the people were like, ooh, this prophet, there's something about him. He had not long before that actually raised his friend Lazarus from the dead. So you want to talk about some.

SPEAKER_01 5:57

Yeah. If there was Twitter back then, your boy was trending.

SPEAKER_04 6:00

Oh brother, no doubt. That is well said. And uh so on this particular day, Jesus, again, to fulfill those prophecies, rode into Jerusalem and word spread that he was coming, and people, not again, not just the 12, but the throngs of people that were in Jerusalem preparing to celebrate the Passover. It was just busting at the seams. Thousands and thousands of people, and all those people, many of them, were excited about the prospects of what this new prophet might mean for them as a nation. They kind of thought maybe he was going to like do a do like a revolution, lead a revolution, and maybe overthrow the Roman Empire. We'll talk more about that in the coming days. But for all those reasons, there was excitement when Jesus rode into town. It ended up having a parade vibe, and people were real excited. We call it Palm Sunday, the Sunday we remember that story, because many people took branches and they presumed they were palm branches and either waved them or laid them in the street, almost pretending to make a red carpet kind of deal where that donkey that Jesus was riding on would walk over. So, I mean, it was it was wild, and people were very excited about this new prophet. Some who were really close to what he had done, others who had just kind of picked up the momentum and the excitement. But people were just welcoming him in that parade-like atmosphere. We find an account of that in Mark chapter 11, and it says, Many in the crowd spread their garments on the road ahead of him, like letting this donkey walk over your coat. But again, this was just them saying, We think this guy is all that.

SPEAKER_01 8:00

It was an act of honor, respect.

SPEAKER_04 8:02

Big time. Yes, absolutely. Big time. And others spread leafy branches that they had cut out in the fields. That's the whole poem thing. And Jesus was at the center of the procession, and all the people around him were shouting, Hosanna, blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord. So they're saying this word Hosanna, which is that's not a word that we say in our language. No, no. How many times has anybody just on a given day said, You ever overheard somebody saying, Hosanna? I mean, it's just, it's not a thing. It's like a gazentite, right?

SPEAKER_01 8:38

A chew. Hosanna.

SPEAKER_04 8:39

Bless you. Right. Um, but anyway, uh, the word Hosanna, actually, it's a Bible word, and the translation of the meaning of that word is Lord save us. Lord save us. So the people, as they were shouting Hosanna, you know, they probably could have shouted anything. They probably could have shouted, you're the man, or you know, vote for Jesus, you know, or whatever. Right. Rabbi, I'm not sure. I support him. And I want him to rise up to a powerful position of some sort. But instead they said Hosanna because they were actually saying, We think God sent you and we want you to save us. God save us. Lord, please save us. In fact, the the word almost has the vibe of begging of God. Please, please save us, and please save us now. So there's a lot of cool stuff about the story of the triumphal entry, and we encourage everybody to take a look at it. But I wanted to just concentrate on the meaning of the word Hosanna. And I want that to be our thought for today as we start this journey through Holy Week. Lord, save us. Lord, save us. It reminds me of something that you and I talk about a lot because we have in common this uh addiction recovery journey, and we're in a community of men that we we walk that that path together. And in the 12 steps, you know, the famous addiction recovery program. The 12, the first step is to we we came to realize that we were powerless over our addiction and our lives had become unmanageable. You know, the first step of saying, I need help. But you know, the second step, it says, No, I we came to realize that only a power greater than ourself could restore us to sanity. That is Hosanna. Yes, that is saying, Lord, save me. And addiction or not addiction, that statement applies to all of us. There is nothing in ourselves that we can do that will save us from whatever it is we might be going through. Ultimately, the greatest salvation is the salvation from the power of sin, which is what Jesus came to do. And none of us can do that on our own. So we say this week as we start this journey, as a sermons on the side community, we say, Lord, save us. You're the only one who can. Lord, save us. So I'd like to guide us through a prayer moment. And I'm asking all our listeners, wherever you are, now if you're driving, don't close your eyes, because you know. But wherever you might be, let's pray this prayer of Hosanna together. Now, as we spend some time praying together, I'm gonna ask you to consider a question. What do you need a breakthrough? What part of your life do you need a breakthrough? What might you need healing from? Salvation from I would ask you to name that and speak it out to the Lord.

SPEAKER_03 12:20

In this part of my life, in this situation I'm going through. Today is a good day for us to say Hosanna to the Lord.

SPEAKER_04 12:34

So I'm asking you now that those areas of your life in mind, those areas of burden or need in your mind, ask the Lord to save you.

SPEAKER_03 12:48

Lord, please save me. Lord, please save us.

SPEAKER_04 12:57

And just tell the Lord that you're done trying to fix it yourself. That you're not gonna try to solve things in your own strength.

SPEAKER_03 13:11

But you're gonna call to him to save you. Lord, I trust you to save me. Hosanna, please, Lord, save us.

SPEAKER_00 14:58

As I walk from earth into eternity, in the highness, in the