It is difficult to read the gospels on this side of the resurrection and understand how badly the Jews missed the Messiah. How did so many people not see what was so obvious? I forget who said it, but someone really smart said that when you read the Old Testament, and they are prophesying about the Christ, it is like they are describing a room with the lights off; there’s a couch over here, a coffee table, two or three chairs and so on. Then, with the illumination of the Holy Spirit, it is as though someone turns the lights on. At which point all the prophecies make sense and in your mind you say, “Of course!”.
Palm Sunday was the one time the masses actually recognized Jesus as who he truly was: The King of the Jews.
In 2 Kings 9, when Jehu was anointed king, the people put forth their cloaks and spread them under his steps. R.C Sproul, referencing this passage, says of the palm branches , “That same principle at the anointing of the king is being used in Mark 11 when the people take off their garments and put them in front of Jesus.”
They finally saw the truth! Jesus is the king!
unfortunately, less than a week later, they then rejected the true king and pledged allegiance to Caesar.
So what happened?
Jesus was not what they expected
Jesus was the lamb of God and not a conquering king. Not this time anyway. It is clear that the crowds were expecting a conquering king to kick out the Romans and establish a new kingdom of Israel, but that was not what Jesus was to do this time. He was after far more. Ligon Duncan writes, “I’m not the Messiah you’re expecting. I’m the Messiah you need. I’m not the King you’re expecting. I’m the King you need. Because you need, far more than you need deliverance from the Romans, you need deliverance from yourselves; you need deliverance from your sins.”
The expectation of the people was far too low, focused only on earthly things. Jesus’ kingship is far greater than simply a kingdom on this earth.
People love power
Jesus Challenged the power structure of the time. After arriving in Jerusalem, Jesus cleaned out the temple and drove out the money changers. He challenged the religious authorities of the day.
John 12:19 reveals the heart of the Pharisees at the time, immediately following the triumphal entry ““…Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him.””
The very one whom they were looking for, supposedly, was righty getting the praise he deserved and they were distraught.
It’s almost as though the religious leaders at the time said better the devil you know than the savior you don’t want. This is not surprising, considering what happened in the previous chapter, John 11:48, “ If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.”.
They loved power more than they loved the true God.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
The culmination of history is here. Jesus was in complete control of the situation. He said in Mark 11 to go to a certain place and find a donkey, and exactly he said would happen happened. In fact, it was prophesied previously, Zechariah 9:9, that, “Rejoice Jerusalem, your King comes unto you lowly and riding on a donkey.”
Jesus said he would go to Jerusalem to die and it happened, just as he said.
He said he would rise again and it happened, just as he said.
He truly is the king eternal. The one who came to save. May we all worship him and say:
“Hosanna![”
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
“Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!”
“Hosanna in the highest heaven!”