Holy Week (Day 1)
The King We Didn't Expect
( A Palm Sunday Reflection)
Prophecy — Zechariah 9:9
“Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you,
righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”
Fulfillment — Matthew 21:8–9
“A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David!’ ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ‘Hosanna in the highest heaven!’”
Reflection
Palm Sunday is filled with celebration but underneath the celebration is misunderstanding.
The people were not wrong to worship Jesus, they were right to recognize Him as King. But their understanding of what kind of King He would be was shaped more by their circumstances than by God’s promises.
Israel was under Roman oppression. They longed for freedom, justice, and restoration. So when Jesus entered the city, they projected their expectations onto Him. They wanted a conquering King, one who would overthrow systems, defeat enemies, and restore national power.
But Jesus came to do something far deeper.
He didn’t come to overthrow Rome, He came to overthrow sin.
He didn’t come to take political control, He came to transform spiritual condition.
Riding on a donkey was not accidental, it was intentional. It was a declaration: This is the kind of King I am. A King of humility. A King of peace. A King who wins not through force, but through surrender.
This moment exposes a tension we still live in today. We often come to God with expectations shaped by our pain, our desires, and our timelines. We want Him to fix what we see externally, while He is focused on what is happening internally.
The same crowd that shouted “Hosanna” would later cry “Crucify Him.” Why? Because when Jesus didn’t meet their expectations, their praise turned into disappointment.
And if we’re honest, we can do the same.
When God doesn’t move how we expected, when prayers go unanswered the way we hoped, when life doesn’t unfold according to our plans, we can begin to question Him.
But what if the issue isn’t that Jesus isn’t King…
What if it’s that we’ve misunderstood His Kingdom?
Following Jesus means surrendering not just our sin but our expectations.
Application
Jesus, help me recognize You as the true King, not just of my situations, but of my entire life.
Prophecy — Zechariah 9:9
“Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you,
righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”
Fulfillment — Matthew 21:8–9
“A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David!’ ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ‘Hosanna in the highest heaven!’”
Reflection
Palm Sunday is filled with celebration but underneath the celebration is misunderstanding.
The people were not wrong to worship Jesus, they were right to recognize Him as King. But their understanding of what kind of King He would be was shaped more by their circumstances than by God’s promises.
Israel was under Roman oppression. They longed for freedom, justice, and restoration. So when Jesus entered the city, they projected their expectations onto Him. They wanted a conquering King, one who would overthrow systems, defeat enemies, and restore national power.
But Jesus came to do something far deeper.
He didn’t come to overthrow Rome, He came to overthrow sin.
He didn’t come to take political control, He came to transform spiritual condition.
Riding on a donkey was not accidental, it was intentional. It was a declaration: This is the kind of King I am. A King of humility. A King of peace. A King who wins not through force, but through surrender.
This moment exposes a tension we still live in today. We often come to God with expectations shaped by our pain, our desires, and our timelines. We want Him to fix what we see externally, while He is focused on what is happening internally.
The same crowd that shouted “Hosanna” would later cry “Crucify Him.” Why? Because when Jesus didn’t meet their expectations, their praise turned into disappointment.
And if we’re honest, we can do the same.
When God doesn’t move how we expected, when prayers go unanswered the way we hoped, when life doesn’t unfold according to our plans, we can begin to question Him.
But what if the issue isn’t that Jesus isn’t King…
What if it’s that we’ve misunderstood His Kingdom?
Following Jesus means surrendering not just our sin but our expectations.
Application
- Where might your expectations of God be limiting your understanding of who He really is?
- Are you following Jesus for what He can do, or for who He is?
Jesus, help me recognize You as the true King, not just of my situations, but of my entire life.
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