The crowd went wild as Jesus rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. The streets were electric. People spread their cloaks on the road. Others cut palm branches, waved them high, and shouted, Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! (Matthew 21:9)
But here’s what we can’t miss. Most of that same crowd had a king in mind who didn’t match the King who had come. They wanted a conqueror on a warhorse. They got a Savior on a donkey. They wanted Rome overthrown. He came to overturn something far more dangerous, the sin in the human heart.
And when Jesus didn’t fit their expectations, the shouts of “Hosanna” would soon fade.
It’s easy to follow Jesus when He’s doing what we want. It’s a different thing entirely to follow Him when He calls us somewhere we didn’t plan to go.
Then Jesus did something that tells us everything about who He is and what He demands. He walked into the temple, the house of His Father, and He didn’t like what He found. Money changers and commerce where communion was meant to be. My house shall be called a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of robbers. (Matthew 21:13) And with righteous anger, He overturned those tables. He drove out what had corrupted the place of worship. He cleansed the temple.
Don’t miss this. Jesus didn’t look the other way. He didn’t shrug and say, “Well, it’s been this way a long time.” He confronted what was wrong – because He loved what was right.
And He still does.
The same Jesus who cleansed the temple wants to cleanse the temple of your heart. He’s not content to be welcomed on the outside while compromise takes root on the inside. He’s not interested in being the best option among many. He is Lord – and He comes to take His rightful place.
Ask yourself today:
Am I like those in the crowd, excited about Jesus on my terms, but resistant when He asks for all of me? Have I welcomed Him as a potential savior but kept Him at arm’s length as Lord?
And what about the temple of your own life? Has distraction, compromise, comfort, or commerce quietly pushed out true worship? What table needs to be overturned in my life?
Jesus is still riding in. He is still King. Will you follow Him on His terms?
HE IS WORTHY OF MORE THAN OUR “HOSANNAS.” HE IS WORTHY OF OUR WHOLE LIVES.
