Redefining Triumph and Success – March 24, 2024

Raleigh Mennonite Church

Mark 11: 1-11

Note: The English voice you hear in this podcast is that of the translator. You can hear Miguel in the background, preaching in Spanish

In this sermon, RMC's Miguel Cruz preaches on the triumphal entry of Christ into Jerusalem as related in the Gospel of Mark. While we often focus on the exhilaration of the scene with Christ surrounded by followers and having performed miraculous healings and casting out of demons in the previous verses, Miguel asks us to focus on the transition that is taking place at this moment in Jesus' life, ministry, and future which should act as a guide to order our own lives. Jesus arrives on a humble donkey, argues with the priests and vendors, curses a fig tree, and talks intimately with his followers about prayer, taxes, wealth, power, and betrayal. Miguel helps us to see in these passages that Jesus is leading us to a new understanding of triumph and success that rejects the accumulation of wealth, material possessions, and positions of power that the world teaches us to expect and respect.