Imagine living Palm Sunday as it happened. You’ve made the pilgrimage to Jerusalem with your family. It is Passover, the sacred remembrance of when God led the Israelites out of Egypt. The city is full, buzzing with anticipation. You are busy preparing for the meal, carefully selecting your sacrificial lamb. It must be pure, without blemish. You’ve chosen well, spotless, the right size, set apart. There’s talk in the streets about a man named Jesus. Some say He heals the sick. Others say He casts out demons. Whispers grow louder: Could this be the Messiah?
Then suddenly, commotion. “Hosanna!” “Save us now!” You rush outside, pressing through the crowd, palm branches waving, cloaks thrown onto the road. And then, you see Him. Riding on a colt. Your heart catches. You remember the words of the prophet Zechariah. You learned them as a child. This is how the King would come. Could it really be? “Hosanna! Hosanna!” you cry out with the others. At last, the One who will rescue us. The One who will overthrow Rome. The One who will restore our people. But… He doesn’t look like a warrior. No armor. No army. No force. Just a humble man on a donkey.
They were waiting with expectation, full of hope for a Savior. But they had already decided what that Savior should look like. A conqueror. A king of power. A deliverer on their terms. Instead, Jesus came in humility. Not to conquer Rome, but to conquer sin.
Not to overthrow governments, but to overthrow death itself. He is King—just not the kind they expected.
And how often do we do the same? We celebrate when God moves the way we hoped. We praise when His plans align with ours. We shout “Hosanna” when the outcome feels like victory to us. But when He doesn’t… When He’s quieter than we expected, slower than we wanted, or working in ways we don’t understand. Do we still trust Him? Do we still follow?
Jesus didn’t come to meet expectations. He came to fulfill promises. He turned the world’s idea of power upside down, choosing humility, sacrifice, and grace. And in doing so, He secured the only victory that truly matters.
So the question Palm Sunday leaves us with is this: Do you praise Jesus for who He truly is or only for who you hoped He would be?