Jesus Is Never Quite What We Expect

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
- Matthew 21:9

In movies, when a man rides into a city on a stallion with a parade it's usually because he's a warrior who's achieved a military victory. The assumption was the same for those lining the streets as Jesus entered Jerusalem. People shouted, "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!"

But Jesus wasn't riding a stallion; he was riding a donkey.

People expected a messiah to save them by overthrowing the oppressor. Even the word "Hosanna" means "save us." But Jesus doesn't come to cause death or destruction, he comes to enter into it.

Jesus is never quite what we expect.

He causes quite the stir, though, as he rides in. In the text it says, "the whole city was in turmoil."

We're in our own turmoil right now, hoping & praying that God will save us. What is stirring in our air is not so different than what stirred in Jerusalem: fear, anxiety, worry about what happens next. We too, are singing, "Hosanna," calling out for God to save us.

But remember: Jesus never comes in the way we expect. God is up to something.

With Jesus, people expect a king but got was a humble servant who washes feet and looks you square in the eye & sees your soul. We expect a triumphant warrior leading us to victory but what we get is a lowly man from Nazareth who teaches us how to love one another; who shows us not what it looks like to cause suffering, but what it looks like to suffer with. We expect a kingdom, but what we get is a KIN-dom: a reminder that we are all kin to one another.

In Jerusalem, Jesus rode towards his death. People laid down coats & palms, making the road a little softer.

We've been laying our palms down for one another, too: sewing masks, staying inside, filling food pantries, checking on neighbors. We are making this rocky ground a little softer.

My friends, God is up to something. God didn't cause this. COVID-19 is not a punishment. God is not trying to teach us a lesson. But God is here. God enters into our suffering, riding in humbly on a donkey to bring us the salvation we didn't know we needed.

We will get through this together. When we get to the other side - to our Easter, we will see God's glory more clearly than we ever have before.