Matthew 21:8-9—8 Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”
What a sight that must have been to see Jesus at the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem. No one connected the dots to the prophecies of the Messiah entering on a donkey’s colt. No one figured the Messiah to be a humble, servant-leader who was mocked and scorned by the religious establishment. And certainly no one watching would have predicted that He was coming to give His life for the ransom of the souls of His people. The Messiah was coming to reign and rescue. Just not in the way they were expecting.
Jesus often isn’t who people expect Him to be. They expect that He can get them out of difficult situations in life. They expect that He is accepting of who they are and the life they’ve chosen. They expect that if they believe it enough, He is the mealticket to lead them to health, wealthy, and prosperity. Basically, they make Jesus to be who they want Him to be instead of searching Scripture to find out who He really is. They have created God in their image instead of realizing that they were created in His.
The reality is that Jesus is better than we can imagine. Even the glimpse of Him that we have now and the description that we have of Him through His Word is nothing compared to what He’s truly like. Now we see dimly, then we shall see face to face. Our Lord is the glorious creator God. He is love. He is the firstborn of all those who are growing into His image. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. He is our Savior and our Lord. He is the bread of life and the living water. He is our eternal treasure and our king. He is Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God.
As we celebrate His last week on earth and all that He taught and accomplished then. Let us remember that He rose from the grave and will eternally be with us in a greater capacity than we can possibly imagine. Something to think about…
Who is Jesus? Is He who I make Him out to be or who He really is?