Passage: Colossians 2:15
The Big Idea
When Paul says Jesus “triumphed” over the powers, he’s borrowing the picture of a Roman victory parade. The cross looked like defeat, but by faith we see Jesus leading a triumphant procession into heaven, with His redeemed people celebrating and His conquered enemy in chains. The only question is: will you be in that parade?
A Roman Triumph
Having disarmed the rulers and authorities, Jesus made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross (Colossians 2:15).
Paul wrote this while Rome ruled the world, and if there was one thing Rome knew how to do, it was celebrate a victory.
When a general won a great victory, the highest honor he could receive was for the Senate to award him a triumph: a public holiday and a massive victory parade.
- The city gates were thrown open.
- Houses were decorated.
- Crowds lined the streets and stood on rooftops.
- Banners waved and trumpets blared.
- The soldiers marched first.
- Then came the star: the general, crowned, riding in a chariot pulled by white horses.
- Chained behind his chariot were the kings and rulers he had conquered, stripped and humiliated.
- Then came all the captured riches, the enemy’s flags, and maps of the lands he had conquered.
- People threw flowers in his path.
Children never forgot those days. (Anyone who’s watched a championship parade in their hometown knows the feeling.)
That’s the picture Paul has in mind when he says Jesus made a public spectacle of His enemies, triumphing over them.
How Could That Be Jesus?
The image we usually have of Jesus at the cross is death. Dying helpless on a cross.
But God shows us what really happened. It takes faith to see it, because we walk by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). And it’s magnificent. His victory is so bright you might need sunglasses.
(Whenever my son asks if I’ve seen his sunglasses, I tell him, “No. Have you seen my dad glasses?”)
Setting the Scene
Our triumphal parade takes place in heaven, and it started two thousand years ago.
As Jesus dies on the cross, He breaks every weapon of Satan and sets free everyone who will ever call on Him. And not only them, but everyone who had trusted Him in the past.
I could never list them all: Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Joshua, Samuel, David, and thousands more who put their faith in the coming Messiah, the ultimate sacrifice.
Hebrews says they all died in faith without receiving what was promised. They saw it from far away, welcomed it, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth (Hebrews 11:13).
Many believe that before the cross, those who died in faith waited in a place of comfort, sometimes called “Abraham’s side,” separate from the place of torment. Jesus described it in His account of the rich man and Lazarus. The beggar Lazarus died and was carried by angels to Abraham’s side, where he was comforted. The rich man died and found himself in torment, separated from Lazarus by a great chasm that no one could cross (Luke 16:19-31).
Abraham is called the father of faith, because he trusted God and became the picture of what faith looks like (Romans 4:11-16).
Those who died in faith were waiting for the actual sacrifice. Satan’s weapons were still against them. Their sin kept them out of heaven, because a perfect heaven can’t contain anything imperfect.
So what happens to those Old Testament saints when Jesus finally pays for their sin and conquers death?
Sin can’t keep them out. Death can’t hold them down. They rise!
Matthew records that when Jesus died, the temple veil was torn from top to bottom, the earth shook, rocks split, tombs opened, and many holy people who had died were raised. After His resurrection they came out of the tombs, went into the holy city and appeared to many (Matthew 27:51-53).
The Parade Begins
That’s how the parade starts. Everyone who died in faith comes home to heaven.
The gates of heaven swing open. The angels crowd around. And the triumphal procession begins, every single person singing the praise of Jesus, who won the battle.
Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied that the Lord would come with tens of thousands of His holy ones (Jude 14).
John gives glory to Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, ruler of the kings of the earth, who loves us, washed us from our sins in His own blood, and made us kings and priests to His God and Father (Revelation 1:5-6).
Four thousand years’ worth of redeemed people, finally home. Finally free. Saved. The promise fulfilled.
They are His army. His people. His family. His creation. His beloved.
The King of Glory
But now the great General of victory takes center stage. John the Baptist, His cousin and His prophet, walks right before Him. And then here comes Jesus.
Psalm 24 pictures it: the ancient gates are told to lift up their heads so the King of glory can come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. The Lord of hosts, commander of all the armies of heaven. He is the King of glory (Psalm 24:7-10).
John saw Him too: clothed in a long robe with a golden sash, hair white as snow, eyes like blazing fire, feet like polished bronze, a voice like rushing waters, His face shining like the sun at full strength. John fell at His feet like a dead man. But Jesus laid His right hand on him and told him not to be afraid. He is the First and the Last, the Living One. He was dead, and now He is alive forever, and He holds the keys of death and Hades (Revelation 1:12-18).
I don’t have to convince you that Jesus is King. I don’t have to prove that every other idea or philosophy is wrong. Jesus is simply the most beautiful and glorious One, a light so lovely that we long with all our hearts to know its source. He is that light. He is that glory. He is the source.
He is praised and adored as He enters heaven.
Who’s in Chains?
But what follows our King? What slithering, defeated monster is chained behind Him?
When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive (Psalm 68:18; Ephesians 4:8).
Satan is led as a slave, just as he enslaved humanity. And God laughs at His enemies (Psalm 2:4). The righteous see it and laugh at him too (Psalm 52:6).
The promise of Genesis 3:15 has been fulfilled. The serpent’s head has been crushed.
Satan’s weapons of sin and death are held up for everyone to see, never to be used against God’s people again. And all His people celebrate His triumph with all their hearts.
The Parade Continues
As the years go by, every believer who passes through death’s door takes their place in the parade with the same celebration. Millions of saints.
All of them casting their crowns at the feet of Jesus, the King seated on His throne of grace (Revelation 4:10). Freely offering their all to the One who gave them His all. Responsive love. True worship.
Each one engraved on His palms (Isaiah 49:16). Each one known personally and perfectly by their Creator and Savior.
Jesus isn’t ashamed of a single one of them. Nothing we’ve ever done will count against us, because Jesus washed us in His blood. We are His portion and His treasure, His reward for all His work. Every one an adopted child of God, an heir of His kingdom, equal in value and in love.
The parade ends when the last saint gets their turn to walk the streets of gold. The last trumpet sounds (1 Corinthians 15:52). And we are safe with our God forever.
Will You Be in the Parade?
That’s the only question that matters.
- Will you hear the songs and see the glory?
- Will you feel the power and the victory?
- Will you sing with all your heart about how He saved you completely?
Do you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 16:31)? Not just in Him, as an idea, but on Him, resting your whole weight on Him? Is He your confidence and your trust? Have you committed your soul to His keeping?
Amazing grace! How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me!
Grace Takeaway
The cross was not the end of the story. It was the start of a victory parade. Jesus leads His people home, His enemy in chains, His weapons broken. Rest your whole weight on Him, and you’ll be in that procession, singing of the grace that saved you.
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