The King’s Arrival

The King’s Arrival

The crowd was listening to everything Jesus said. And because he was nearing Jerusalem, he told them a story to correct the impression that the Kingdom of God would begin right away.

Luke 19:11

A large crowd of Passover visitors took palm branches and went down the road to meet him. They shouted, “Praise God! Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the LORD! Hail to the King of Israel!”

Jesus found a young donkey and rode on it, fulfilling the prophecy that said: “Don’t be afraid, people of Jerusalem. Look, your King is coming, riding on a donkey’s colt.”

John 12:12-15

Sometimes when we’re waiting for something special, we begin to picture in our minds what it will be like. But sometimes when we finally get what we’ve been waiting for, it’s different from what we’d expected.

The Jewish people had been waiting a long, long time for the Messiah. They knew from the prophets that the Messiah would be the king of Israel and that Jerusalem would be his capital city, where he’d rule the world in peace and righteousness. And they were right. What they didn’t understand was that the victory Jesus would win over sin and Satan and death would be won by his own suffering and death. And the Kingdom they thought would be established immediately would, in fact, take thousands of years before being fulfilled completely.

Many of the people in Jesus’ day were disappointed that Jesus was not the kind of king they were looking for. But he is the King. And in time his Kingdom will bring peace to all nations. In fact, another “Palm Sunday” is coming when “a vast crowd” will be “clothed in white robes” with “palm branches in their hands” before the throne of God (Revelation 7:9). And we will be part of it—welcoming and worshiping King Jesus.

DISCUSSION STARTERS

How would you expect a king to enter a city? How did Jesus enter Jerusalem?

In what ways are we like the people of Jesus’ day who expected Jesus to fulfill all his promises immediately?

Just a few days after hailing Jesus as King, many of the people cried out for his crucifixion. How do you think this could have happened?