GOSPELANALYTIX is dedicated to examining “the good news”, or gospel, that derives from the death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. The gospel is recorded in the Bible, and therefore our examination of the gospel relies heavily upon the texts of Holy Scripture.
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For a little more detail regarding the gospel, continue reading:
The gospel, a message deriving solely from the Bible, means “good news”.
Paul, author of much of the New Testament, gives us a dictionary-esque definition of “the gospel”.
In case the testimony of the Apostle Paul is not enough, there are red-letter words from Jesus Himself, which corroborate the gospel definition offered by Paul.
From these two passages we learn that the gospel message is that Jesus died for our sins. Our sins can be forgiven by God and we do not have to suffer under His eternal wrath. As a guide to gospel study, we find it helpful to visually depict the gospel definitions that Jesus and Paul gave us:
gospelanalytix 
I have read most of what you have written and find it interesting. I have been a believer for a very long time. One of the things God has impressed on me is the dire significance of the spoken word. For this reason we should be careful of every word spoken from our mouths, but that is not the significance I am specifically concerned with right now. Jesus had His triumphal entry into Jerusalem on the donkey’s back the people proclaimed him King. I am convinced that this has major significance even though at the time He never ascended a throne or received an earthly crown. The fact that the words were spoken openly, and freely proclaimed with all the acclamation due a true king, in my mind, has incredible spiritual significance. I am convinced that most if not all earthly events from great to small have great spiritual significance, more than we can possibly imagine. We only see a tiny bit of the whole. Just as sure as our bodies, minds, and spirits are inescapably intertwined for the duration of this life so it is with every event in our lives and world being intertwined with the spiritual. When we begin to understand this is when we can begin to take steps to see beyond what we know and understand as part of this life. So He was, in fact, proclaimed King of Israel at that time. He has to return to officially claim His earthly throne. In my thinking the fact that the leaders assassinated Him within the week confirms that. My question then is since He was proclaimed King and the crown belonged to Him then there very well may have been great significance to do with Him maintaining His crown by rising again before the end of three days. I tried to Google the question every way I could think of but I couldn’t find any basis historically. I was thinking that the kingdom would be turned over to another person or government on the third day so He had to rise to maintain His crown. I also thought that spiritually the crown may have gone to the one considered the victor who was in this case, Satan. That gives me a chill just thinking of it. What would our world look like if Jesus had not risen from the dead? The Jews’ theory of the three days of the soul hanging around the body is interesting, although obviously not true. It wouldn’t be the first time spiritual aspects were affected by man’s tradition. The theory of the war Jesus fought in hell takes on new significance with all of this in mind. I won’t speculate but it is hard to keep my imagination from imagining the possibilities. I would appreciate your feedback. You have more resources than I have so please give this serious consideration and prayer, and reply. Thank you. Happy Easter! He is risen indeed!
Thanks for your question. Just wanted to let you know I am working on a response – hope to have it to you within the week. He is risen indeed!
Greetings in Christ!
If I understand your inquiry correctly, you are asking if there is a direct connection between the triumphal entry of Christ into Jerusalem and the third day resurrection. I will do my best to respond to your question helpfully and thoughtfully.
I think it is good to start with a reminder of the Davidic Covenant, which is the basis for the Messiah reigning on an eternal throne. In 2 Samuel 7: 1 – 17, God promises David a throne that will last forever. Isaiah 9: 6 – 7 makes it clear that God will fulfill His promise to David by sending one king, rather than an endless succession of kings.
After the promise to David, God had the prophets speak about this coming king. One of the great things of Messianic prophecy is it allows one to validate the claim of someone who says they are the Messiah. If the person who claims to be Messiah doesn’t do what the prophets said the Messiah would do, then he can’t be the Messiah. For example, Micah said the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem, therefore the Messiah had to be born in Bethlehem. God said the Messiah would come from David, therefore the Messiah had to be in the lineage of David.
With that in mind, we now have a context for understanding, in a prophetic sense, the triumphal entry. Zechariah 9: 9 foretold that the Messiah would be seen humbly, riding on a donkey. This is what happened during the triumphal entry, and the gospel of Matthew quotes Zechariah (Matt 21: 5) and indicates the prophecy was fulfilled. In the parallel passage from John’s gospel, Chapter 12, it indicates that the disciples did not understand what was happening during the time of the triumphal entry, but after Jesus rose from the grave they remembered Zechariah’s prophecy and that Jesus had fulfilled it. Therefore the primary purpose of the triumphal entry is to serve as a proof of Jesus’ Messiahship.
Moving from the triumphal entry to the third day resurrection, we will see from Jesus that the Third Day functions in a similar manner – proof of Jesus’ Messiahship. In two key spots, Jesus references the Old Testament as the basis for His third day resurrection. He references Jonah (Matthew 12: 38 – 40) and he references the whole of the Old Testament (Luke 24: 44 – 47). Paul also references the Old Testament in connection with the third day (1 Cor 15: 4).
Unlike the triumphal entry prophecy from Zechariah, which is very direct, the third day prophecies are indirect and typological. I attempt to explain some of that in my third day blog on Jonah
, as well as the entire third day blog series.
In summary, the common link between the triumphal entry and third day resurrection is prophecy. They are both stand-alone accounts that fulfill Old Testament prophecy, and which serve as proof that Jesus is the Messiah foretold by the prophets. I see no other reason Biblically to connect the passages in some other spiritual sense. I hope this answer helps – and I’m happy to clarify anything that might not make sense.