March Madness has finally come to an end.  The Virginia Cavaliers have been crowned NCAA Men's Basketball National Champions.  They defeated the Texas Tech Red Raiders in a hard-fought overtime game which proved to be great basketball competition. What probably made this victory even greater for the Cavaliers was the fact that last year they were projected to go all the way to the National Championship but lost in the first round of the tournament and crushed their dreams.  Everyone was dumbfounded, analysts were puzzled, fans were upset, basketball heads were perplexed because Virginia lost in the first round last year. And here they are a year later and are crowned Champions.  That's because victory doesn't always come the way we think it should.

 

In our text, we find Jesus on the road to victory, heading to Jerusalem and on his way to being crucified. But yet, this is the road to victory.  It's an unusual path but yet it is a victorious pathway.  And so often we have a difficult time discerning whether we are on the right road or not.  However, in this experience of Jesus riding into Jerusalem, we find key indicators to help us understand the road to victory.  On the road to victory, we find that there are necessary actions, appearances, and appreciation expressed in victorious living.