Palm Sunday | Who Is Jesus When He Doesn't Do What You Want?

Who Is Jesus When He Doesn't Do What You WantMatthew 21

There's a question buried at the end of the Palm Sunday story that Matthew never answers. Jesus rides into Jerusalem, the whole city is stirred, and the crowd asks: Who is this? Matthew leaves it open. Not because he forgot, but because he wants you to answer it yourself.

That question is the heart of this Palm Sunday message from Redemption Gilbert, and it's more personal than it might first appear.

The Crowd Got the King Right and the Kingdom Wrong

When Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, he wasn't just fulfilling a prophecy he was making an announcement. The donkey, the cloaks laid in the road, the palm branches waving, every detail was loaded with centuries of meaning. The crowd knew their Scriptures. They recognized the moment. They believed Jesus was the Messiah.

And they were right.

But they had built a picture in their minds of what that meant: a political king who would overthrow Rome, a military liberator who would give Israel back to Israel. They wanted freedom, the kind you can see and feel and celebrate in the streets.

What they got instead was a king riding toward a cross.

The nation of Israel wanted a revolution. Jesus came to bring redemption.

We Do the Same Thing

Here's the uncomfortable truth: the crowd's mistake isn't ancient history. It lives in us.

Every one of us is crying out hosana to something. That word, hosana, isn't just a religious cheer. It's a cry from the human heart that means save me. We cry it toward our careers when we're searching for purpose. Toward relationships when we're lonely. Toward money when we feel unstable. Toward politics when the world feels out of control. Toward anything that promises to make the pain stop.

And even for those who follow Jesus, it's easy to come to him the same way the crowd did with a list of things we need fixed and an unspoken expectation that if he's really who he says he is, he'll get to work on our agenda.

Two patterns show up in the Palm Sunday crowd that are worth sitting with:

We want the kingdom without the cross. Jesus told his disciples three times that he would suffer and die. They didn't want to hear it. They wanted the freedom without the path that led there. We do the same when we follow Jesus only as long as it doesn't cost us too much and quietly distance ourselves when it does.

We expect Jesus to serve our plan. The crowd would have made Jesus king on their terms. We do this too, in subtler ways, recruiting Jesus to bless the life we're building rather than submitting to the kingdom he's building. The difference between those two postures is everything.

An Honest Confession Worth Hearing

I have to be honest with you about something. Since October, I've been limping in my prayer life, not because my faith is gone, but because Jesus hasn't been doing what I wanted. I found myself avoiding the prayer room, showing up with no expectation, quietly frustrated. And when I finally named it, the realization was simple and humbling: I'm struggling to pray because Jesus isn't doing what I want.

Maybe you can relate to that. Real relationship with God doesn't begin in the transaction of getting and giving. It begins in the decision to keep walking with him even when the needle isn't moving the way you hoped.

A Personal Reflection

The question Matthew leaves unanswered is the one worth carrying into your week: Who is Jesus to you, not in doctrine, but in practice?

Who is he when he doesn't fix what you're asking him to fix? Who is he when the path forward looks like suffering instead of relief?

Sit with that honestly. You might also try this: write down one thing you've been asking God to change or fix, and then write a second line underneath. What might he be doing that I can't see yet? Not to minimize the pain, but to practice trusting a king whose ways are wider than our expectations.

Go Deeper

There's much more in the full sermon, including the Old Testament backstory behind the palm branches, what it meant for the crowd to lay down their cloaks, and what it looks like to follow Jesus as Lord of all creation rather than just a personal problem solver. Watch it in the Redemption Gilbert Sermon Library or on YouTube.

If Holy Week is stirring something in you, we'd love to have you join us for Good Friday or Easter. Wednesday night classes are also a great way to go deeper and connect with others doing the same.