Triumphal Entries

Happy Easter Week!  This is the closest that Easter has ever (and unless I'm mistaken, can ever) been to my birthday!  This was a great week.  I went over to SMU on Friday and looked through an account book for Brigham Young's family.  For the most part a list of individual purchases by various people wasn't tremendously interesting (they bought a lot of fabric and sewing supplies), but there were a few things that I think will be of value to the historian I work for.  After that I went to this fantastic French restaurant in Dallas and enjoyed a delicious chocolate souffle which I had been wanting to try for some time.  It was fun even being their on my own.

For the Christian world, today is known as Palm Sunday, the day commemorating the Savior's triumphal entry into Jerusalem and the beginning of the week that would culminate in His suffering in Gethsemane, His trials, scouring, and crucifixion, and finally with His triumphal resurrection.  It was the week of weeks!  Eight days that defined eternity and made the Gospel efficacious for all mankind!

Speaking of the Triumphal Entry, Luke tells us, "And when he was come nigh, even now at the descent of the mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen; Saying, Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest" (Luke 19:37-38)  The scene was so striking that "some of the Pharisees from among the multitude said unto him, Master, rebuke thy disciples" (Luke 19:39), but the Savior responded, "I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out" (Luke 19:40).  There was a time and a place for subdued witnesses, but this was not one of them.  In this moment, all Jerusalem was to know Him and know that He was the King and the Son of David.

I love the image of this event.  In understanding it, it is helpful to consider the geography.  It began near the top of the Mount of Olives, a Mount where the Savior will one day save and finally be recognized by His people (see Zechariah 12:10; D&C 45:51-53).  From there, on the back of a donkey, the Savior descended down the mountain, passing by Gethsemane and through the Kidron Valley, and then he finally ascended up into Jerusalem, culminating His journey at the Temple.

That short journey prefigured the plan of Salvation and His Atoning mission.  Called by His Father, the Savior had descended from His exalted sphere to the earth.  In the short space of 34 years, this King came to earth, spending time amongst men, and experiencing all of the struggles of mortality.  He descended below all things, a descent that took Him through Gethsemane.  In addition to Gethsemane, the Kidron Valley contained places where people were buried and also places where waste and garbage was disposed of.  Although the path into Jerusalem did not go through these waste places, travelers were hardly unaware of their presence.  While this route bypassed such refuse, the Savior's journey through mortality and particularly his time in Gethsemane and upon the Cross took Him directly through this world's most troubling places of waste and refuse.  Of necessity, He had to descend below all things in order to ascend above all things.  And ascend He did.  Just as his path took him back up out of the Kidron Valley into Jerusalem, the holy city and a mountain of its own, capped with a Temple at its pinnacle, so the Savior's path through this life's deepest valleys took Him back up into the presence of His Father and His Father's Kingdom.  Christ in essence prefigured His own triumphal entry into heaven.

But because Christ made this journey, including both His descent and His ascent, so can each of us.  Each of us has left the same high and holy station and the presence of our Father.  In one way or another, we descend and pass through the trials and struggles and waste places of life.  But because of the Savior, we need not remain there.  Each of us, through His power, has the capacity to ascend up into the Holy City, unto the presence of our Eternal Father and His Divine Son.  Because of Christ's triumphal entry, each of us can likewise enjoy our own triumphal entry into Heaven.  And surely this is a message worthy of rejoicing and praise!

Brett