Unexpected King

Raise your hand if you’ve ever had the chance to experience being somewhere outside, away from the city lights, and have looked up and stared at the stars.

For those who have experienced this, it’s an amazing view, right? Many people who live in and around densely populated areas don’t get to see the stars as they really appear because of all of the nighttime light that these areas generate into the sky. The accurate view becomes obscured by all the light.

But when you get away from all the light and look up at night, it looks something like this:

It’s so cool to see this in real life! And if we’re used to the view being obscured by all the night light around us, we may even call it unexpected, as in, it’s not what we thought it would look like.

Many photographers have taken pictures like this. But others came up with the idea of finding out what a picture of the night sky might look like if they set up their cameras and left the lens open for 30 minutes or an hour to gain a long exposure of the sky. Well, buckle up because this is what the night sky looks like when you do this:

Wow! Talk about unexpected!

Have you ever noticed how when unexpected things happen, there are two parts to the experience: First, the unexpected event itself, and second, our reaction to that event.

Usually, when the unexpected event is positive, our reaction is positive… like when you get a better grade than you were expecting. You generally aren’t going to get upset about that.

But when the unexpected event is negative, our reaction tends to be negative… like when you get pulled over for speeding. You’d be pretty hard-pressed to find someone who likes being given a speeding ticket.

But occasionally, those wires can get crossed. For example, have you ever seen a younger kid get upset at their own birthday party? Everything’s going great, but then, out of nowhere, the unexpected just seems to become too much to handle, and there’s a meltdown.

And it can get even more complicated when you’re expecting something really good, but then reality doesn’t quite live up to your expectations. It might still be good, but it’s not as good as you were hoping…

· Like if you scored the most points you’ve ever scored in a basketball game… but your team still lost.

· Or if you asked for an iPhone… but your parents got you an Android phone instead.

· Or you finally get to see that movie you’ve been waiting to see… but it ends up being one of the worst movies you’ve ever seen.

Ultimately, how each person handles the unexpected is as unique as the person themselves.

Many of us have celebrated Easter enough that we generally already know what to expect, right? Jesus died, and three days later, He rose from the dead.

But have you ever stopped to think about what it must have been like for the people who were experiencing it as it actually happened? Talk about unexpected! And it didn’t just start with Jesus’ death. No, it started a week beforehand, as Jesus first entered the city of Jerusalem.

When Jesus entered Jerusalem, it was an absolute circus! It has been estimated that during Passover Week (a yearly festival when the Jewish people celebrated how God freed them from Egyptian slavery), the city’s population might have swelled to over a million people.

Many people in the crowd had heard about or seen some of the miracles Jesus had performed in other towns, so when He showed up, they absolutely lost it!

Matthew, in his Gospel, described the scene of Jesus’ arrival like this:

Matthew 21:10 ESV

And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?”

A few weeks ago I mentioned about my love of the Chicago Cubs. I remember in 2016 when they won the World Series. On Friday they had their championship parade, 108 years in the making. An estimated 5 MILLION people came out for this parade. It was the largest gathering ever in the western hemisphere. Try to picture in your mind the victory parade following the Super Bowl. You’ve probably seen them before where the crowds are ecstatic. People cheer and scream as the victorious team rides by them during the parade! This was likely a similar scene that Jesus walked into. Crowds of people were waving palm branches, shouting one specific word:

Hosanna!

…which means, “Save us, we pray!” However, not everyone in the crowd was a fan of Jesus. The religious leaders who stood by weren’t thrilled to hear the crowd directing their praise at Jesus. In fact, they were downright furious because they didn’t believe Jesus was the Messiah. They thought He was a false prophet. So, when people treated Him like the long awaited Messiah, they viewed this as blasphemous and sinful.

And they had even more reason to be angry with what was happening. You see, the religious leaders were also worried the people cheering for Jesus were going to cause a riot. Jerusalem, like all of Judea, was under Roman rule. If a riot began, the religious leaders feared that the Romans would respond with deadly force because, well, that’s what they always did.

For those of us who have been following Jesus for a while, it might make sense for the people to ask Jesus to save them, right? We always talk and sing about Jesus saving people, but the people in the crowd had different expectations. They thought something very different when they shouted, “Hosanna!”

To give you some additional context, the Gospel of John tells us that right before traveling to Jerusalem, Jesus had raised Lazarus from death back to life. When something like that happens, word about the miracle would spread. And that’s precisely what happened.

Plus, everyone who witnessed the miracle Jesus performed would have also been traveling to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover, causing word to spread even faster. Then, when you add that Jesus had performed dozens of miracles over the previous three years, it’s no wonder people started to believe He was the prophesied Messiah.

These people weren’t expecting a Messiah who would forgive their sins. No, they expected the Messiah to be the One whom God had sent to save people from their Roman oppressors. They desperately sought a Messiah who would take up arms and lead an army to overthrow the Roman Empire. If anyone could do this, they believed it was the person who could perform miracles like walking on water, feeding thousands with a few fish and loaves of bread, and raising someone from the dead. If the long-awaited Messiah were to appear finally, they believed it would be a person who spoke and acted with the type of power and authority Jesus had displayed.

Plain and simple, a Messiah who could raise people from the dead made the impossible idea of a Jewish revolution overthrowing the massive Roman army suddenly possible.

Unfortunately, their expectations were misguided. Jesus didn’t come to overthrow Rome; He wasn’t a military leader or politician. Instead, He came as the Savior and King whom few had anticipated. Let’s dive into our main text in the Gospel of Mark, starting with chapter 11:

Mark 11:1–3 ESV

Now when they drew near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately as you enter it you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it. If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord has need of it and will send it back here immediately.’ ”

It almost sounds like Jesus was telling His disciples to go to someone’s house and steal a donkey, right? It’s not obvious to us here in the 21st Century, but His request was pretty common in those days. When the disciples would say, “The Lord needs it…” it was like saying, “Someone of great importance is coming to town who needs a donkey, but don’t worry, we’ll bring it back.” If you were the donkey's owner, this would have been considered an honor. But all of this was done to fulfill a prophecy found in Zechariah.

Zechariah 9:9 ESV

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

Let’s continue:

Mark 11:4–7 ESV

And they went away and found a colt tied at a door outside in the street, and they untied it. And some of those standing there said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” And they told them what Jesus had said, and they let them go. And they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it, and he sat on it.

This may seem like an odd detail for Mark to include in the story, but these are important details for a few reasons: First, this is a way for Mark to say, “See? Jesus was such a big deal that a random stranger was fine with Him taking their donkey!”

Secondly, during that time in history, kings would never ride an animal ridden by anyone else because there was a belief that an animal dedicated to a sacred purpose must not have been put to ordinary use beforehand. So, it’s a big deal that this donkey had never been ridden before.

Finally, when Jesus chose to ride a donkey into Jerusalem, it was a scandalous decision. Jerusalem was a holy city, and there was a tradition that anyone visiting Jerusalem must enter the city on foot, no matter who you were. There’s even a written record of Alexander the Great visiting Jerusalem about 350 years before Jesus was born, and even he got off his horse to walk through the city gate. To be clear, by riding a donkey into Jerusalem, Jesus made a HUGE statement.

And let’s see how the people in the crowd responded:

Mark 11:8–10 ESV

And many spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut from the fields. And those who went before and those who followed were shouting, “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!”

Again, this wasn’t the type of reaction that people would have done for just anyone. This was something people would do to welcome home their conquering king. Can you see more clearly why the religious leaders were so worried? For the crowds, this was their victory parade as Jesus prepared to take power. They thought the long-awaited revolution they had been dreaming about and praying for was about to take place.

The Gospel of John records this scene with something I want to mention. John 12:13 says this

John 12:13 ESV

So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!”

Here we have the introduction of the palm branches, where we get the name of Palm Sunday. This is significant and I want to make sure you understand why. Palm branches were typically used at the feast of tabernacles (same word used in John 1:14 when it says “the Word became flesh and DWELT, or TABERNACLED among us…”, and this feast happens in the fall and not the spring. The people know that the arrival of Messiah is a fulfillment of the Feast of Tabernacles. In Matthew 21:9, the crowds cry out “Hosanna to the Son of David” “Hoshana Rabban.” These are the exact same titles of the prayers that they would pray at the Feast of Tabernacles. The same things they are shouting while Jesus enters Jerusalem is the same thing they pray on the feast of tabernacles. No doubt in my mind, but I believe that the crowd here is assuming that this is about to be fulfilled. But what I don’t think they understood is that Passover must be fulfilled before tabernacles could be fulfilled. Because this entry was not the fulfillment of the Feast of Tabernacles as they had thought and hoped, but the fulfillment of the presentation of the Passover Lamb. The Passover lamb would be presented on the 10th day of the month (which would have been Sunday of this year), and tested for 4 days and checked for blemishes (which is precisely what happened to Jesus for 4 days as he appeared and was tested for “blemishes” by the Pharisees, Sadducees, the scribes and the Herodians during this time. It is incredible when you realize all of these connections.

And what were the crowd crying out? “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” This is a fulfillment of Psalm 118:22-27. I am not going to read the full passage, but I will read Psalm 118:25-26

Psalm 118:25–26 ESV

Save us, we pray, O Lord! O Lord, we pray, give us success! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! We bless you from the house of the Lord.

Sound familiar? These words of Psalm 118 were taught by the Rabbis to be the official greeting to the Messiah when He would come. Again, the religious leaders were indignant. But Jesus takes no account of those complaints. Prophecy is being fulfilled, and nothing can stop that fulfillment.

Now, imagine yourself in that crowd. You’ve just seen Jesus enter the city as if He’s about to be crowned the new King of Israel. You’re thrilled, and the atmosphere is electric! The Greek word used was the word used to describe the stirring of an earthquake. I’d have to imagine everyone was thinking about Jesus’ next move. What was He going to do? Let’s find out:

Mark 11:11 ESV

And he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple. And when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.

Wait. What!? He went to the temple… and then left? Well, that’s somewhat anticlimactic, right? And if nothing else, it’s certainly confusing.

And over the following week, His actions were even more confusing and certainly not the actions of a revolutionary. Instead of fighting against the Romans, He went to the Temple and drove out the people who exchanged one kind of currency for another. Instead of confronting the Roman soldiers, He confronted and called out the Jewish religious leaders. And at one point, He even told everyone to pay their taxes to Caesar!

That hardly sounds like the actions of a revolutionary! And the people were NOT happy. They were so unhappy that they turned on Him almost immediately. After Jesus was arrested, the crowd was given a chance to set one prisoner free, and it wasn’t Jesus; they chose a convicted criminal by the name of Barabbas. Mark 15:7

Mark 15:7 ESV

And among the rebels in prison, who had committed murder in the insurrection, there was a man called Barabbas.

When the crowd screamed, “Give us Barabbas,” it was as though they were saying, “At least Barabbas tried to be revolutionary! He may have failed, but at least he took action!”

Can you imagine? These were men and women who had memorized the Scriptures since childhood. They knew all the prophecies because they were critical to their education and culture. They were so convinced of their interpretation of God’s Word, clouded by their desires, so confident they knew God’s plan that they didn’t even recognize the Messiah when He was standing right in front of them. It was the peoples’ misguided expectations that obscured their understanding of the type of King Jesus came to Earth to be.

So, what can we learn from this story of unmet expectations? There are a few significant ideas that I want you to grasp.

The first is that...

Pride blurs our ability to see God accurately

The crowd turned on Jesus and yelled, “Crucify Him!” because He didn’t live up to their expectations of who they believed Scripture said the Messiah would be. Sadly, they couldn’t recognize God moving right before them because they had let their pride get in the way.

Now, it’s easy to blame the crowd, right? How could they miss what was right in front of their faces? But we can’t point the finger, can we? You see, history is FULL of stories of people misinterpreting Scripture and then using it as a way to hurt and oppress others:

· Almost a thousand years ago, Christians launched Crusades in an attempt to spread Christianity around the world by force. However, it turned into a series of incredibly violent wars, and as a result, it’s estimated that 1.7 million people died. And the inquisition, what a show that was.

· Historically, there was a time in the United States when it was not uncommon for Christians and pastors to use Scripture to defend slavery as part of God’s will.

· Scripture was often used to explain why women were not allowed to vote or open bank accounts. In the United States, women secured the right to vote in 1920 but weren’t guaranteed the right to open their bank accounts until the Equal Credit Opportunity Act of 1974.

· Scripture was also used as a justification for sending Japanese Americans to internment camps during World War II and the establishment of Jim Crow laws.

Does anyone else get increasingly uncomfortable as the list approaches recent memory? If anything, these should remind us how easy it is to allow our pride, desires, and will to shape how we use and view God’s Word. The Book of Proverbs puts it this way: Proverbs 11:2

Proverbs 11:2 ESV

When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom.

I think the word ‘disgrace’ is a perfect word to describe the actions of the crowd that turned on Jesus. Their lack of humility, inability to acknowledge their own bias, rationalizations, and misuse of Scripture to serve their expectations led to utter disgrace. Again, before we become too quick to condemn, we must recognize this is such an easy trap to fall into. We must have faith characterized by humility, a willingness to accept God’s leading, even when it differs from our desires or preferred course.

The second significant idea we need to recognize from Jesus’ final week is that…

Jesus doesn’t need to live up to our expectations.

When the crowd thought that Jesus was who they expected Him to be, they celebrated Him as an actual king, but the moment He stopped living up to their expectations, they turned their backs on Him because He wasn’t the kind of king they wanted Him to be. It’s easy for us to cast judgment 2000 years later, but what about us today? What if Jesus isn’t the king we want Him to be?

Here’s what I want you to hear:

Jesus doesn’t need to live up to our expectations for Him to be God.

He doesn’t need to live up to our expectations for Him to be King.

He doesn’t need to live up to our expectations, period.

Here is what the crowd couldn’t understand: Jesus’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem wasn’t about them. It was about Him. It’s always been about Him. And it’s still about Him today.

Jesus may not be the King they were expecting, but make no mistake, He was, is, and always will be King, and He’s still in charge today.

What can we do to ensure we don’t end up like the crowd who loved Jesus one day and hated Him the next? I love you too much to stand by and watch you fall into the same trap. So, here are three things I’d love for you to do:

Work on keeping your pride in check: A few years after Jesus’ death and resurrection, the Apostle Paul wrote a letter in which he described the kind of people that Jesus followers should strive to be: Colossians 3:12

Colossians 3:12 ESV

Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience,

Can you imagine how differently the crowd might have reacted if they had embraced those qualities instead of their pride? Patience would have probably kept them from turning on Jesus so quickly. And there’s no way kindness or gentleness would have allowed them to shout, “Crucify Him!” at the top of their lungs. It’s impossible to exhibit mercy and condemn someone to death at the same time, right?

And humility? This is the biggie. Humility is admitting you’re wrong and doing the work necessary to fix your mistakes. When Jesus didn’t meet their expectation as the type of Messiah they had looked for, they turned on Him and demanded that the Romans crucify Him.

Now, I’m not saying that if we all begin to develop the qualities of mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, we’ll never make another mistake. Making mistakes is part of being human. But the difference can be in how we respond to our mistakes. As we saw with the crowd, pride convinces us that when things don’t go our way, we should just dig in and blame others.

I want to challenge you to be different. Don’t wait for pride to appear. Decide right now that you want to become the type of person who’s known for mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience instead. This will help to keep your pride in check.

Another step you can take is to…

Replace pride with gratitude: Pride has a nasty way of causing people to focus only on themselves. Gratitude, on the other hand, has a way of reminding us that everything is not always about us.

So, this week, I want to challenge you to track how often you express gratitude to others. In a journal or on your phone, keep a record. When you keep track, quickly you’ll see that you don’t express gratitude as often as you think. But, by keeping track, you’ll also see new opportunities to express gratitude.

And lastly, if you haven’t already, I want to offer you the opportunity to…

Recognize Jesus as King: For a very short time, the crowd worshiped Jesus as the King they imagined Him to be. I want to make sure you don’t make the same mistake.

In the same letter the Apostle Paul wrote to the Colossian church, he described Jesus so incredibly that I want to share it with you.

Colossians 1:15–20 ESV

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

If you’ve never recognized Jesus as the King of your life, but you’d like to (or have questions about what this means), I encourage you to come talk to me after the service. I’d love to tell you more about what it means for Jesus to be the King of your life. If you have questions about joining the family of Fannin, I would love to talk to you as well. Just a reminder that if you are a visitor, we’d love to give you a welcome gift, which includes a free meal for your first visit to our Wednesday night Bible study, so go back to that table and they will be more than glad to help you out.