What is the lesson taught in the story of Christ’s Triumphal Entry (Matthew 21)?

Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey (Zechariah 9:9 NIV84).

It is that Jesus fulfills all the Old Testament prophecies and requirements of the Messiah. This is the design law of truth being fulfilled, accomplished, demonstrated. Truth can and must be spoken, but truth is reality—and truth is most powerful when revealed in action, in fact, by evidence. Jesus’ life lived out is a testimony and revelation of truth that is far surpassing in power and value than that of verbal description only. It is accomplishment, not mere claim.

This is a lesson that many people today do not understand, and Satan works hard to confuse people on this point. Satan works by deception, by getting people to replace fantasy for reality, lies for truth, falsehood for facts, and to accept words, claims, and proclamations over evidence. In other words, Satan relies on getting people to listen to what is said and not what is done.

We have all heard that actions speak louder than words, and this is one of the primary purposes of Scripture—a record of God’s actions! And those actions are most fully, completely, clearly, and powerfully revealed in the life of Jesus—God made manifest as a real human being (Colossians 2:9; Hebrews 2:14; 1 Timothy 3:16).

Look at the actions of Jesus and the outcomes of His actions; then compare His actions with the actions of the religious leaders in His day and the outcomes of those actions. And then look at the words of both.

In Jesus, His words and His actions aligned perfectly. But the words of the religious leaders did not align with reality, with truth. The religious leaders claimed to be representing God; they pretended to be advancing truth, but because they were operating upon lies (not just factual falsehood, but principles that are out of harmony with life as God designed it to operate), their actions eventually demonstrated by results the corruption of their methods and the falsity of their words. The results of their actions revealed that their methods are destructive—the proverbial proof is in the pudding. The outcomes of their policies, principles, procedures, and rules caused harm, whereas the outcomes of Jesus’ policies, principles, procedures, and methods caused healing.

But the words of the corrupt leaders were about saving the nation. Caiaphas, the high priest, said, “You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish” (John 11:50 NIV84). He argued, “We have responsibility for our society; we must save lives!” He claimed, “Even if we have to take liberties from one person, it is better to abuse and mistreat that one so we can save the many.”

But in reality, they destroyed themselves and left their nation desolate because they embraced and practiced the methods of Satan and rejected the methods of God—truth, love, and liberty.

This same problem has existed throughout all human history—the problem of differentiating reality from fantasy, truth from claims, facts from fiction, words from evidence.

Before Our Eyes

Just watch this current U.S. presidential election cycle. I am not going to tell you what to think or who to vote for, but I am suggesting that you open your eyes and watch, think, critically examine, and practice differentiating words from actions, words from accomplishments, words from outcomes—how things turn out when certain people are in charge and make decisions that impact others. Consider evidence from past accomplishments and outcomes versus accusations, claims, promises, and proclamations.

In my view, in the ultimate outcome of this world, it doesn’t really matter which political candidate gets elected because all the kingdoms of the earth are corrupt, all use Satan’s methods, and, eventually, they all join forces to war against the saints.

But these events do matter for individual hearts and minds, for you and I are being attacked. Our hearts and minds are under assault. We are being misled, misinformed, and manipulated by propaganda, and our emotions are being exploited—all designed to confuse minds and get people to ignore truth, ignore evidence, ignore reality, and align with fantasy, align with wishful thinking, align with the methods of God’s enemy. This is why, right now, we must fix our eyes on Jesus, learn from what He has revealed, embrace and practice His methods, and learn to discern, learn to differentiate words from actions and claims from results. It is right now that every person must exercise their God-given individuality, think for themselves, and learn to examine evidence and facts for themselves.

For those who want to practice discernment skills, God is allowing these events to unfold because the actions, the practices, the methods, the choices, the results of what people do are evidence for the wise to recognize and realize—claiming something to be one way does not change the reality of it.

• Claiming a dog is a cat doesn’t make it so—even if you dress the dog up like a cat.
• Claiming a daisy is a rose doesn’t make it so—even if you paint the daisy red.
• Claiming good is evil and evil is good doesn’t make it so—even if you reward the evil and punish the good.
• Claiming it is good to have no standards for graduation doesn’t make it so—even if you do act upon this claim.

As the Bible warns,

Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter (Isaiah 5:20 NIV84).

I challenge you to become a thinker, not a reflector of other people’s thoughts, and differentiate words from facts and practice following truth—reality—as God reveals it in all you do.