Jesus Isn't Who You Think He Is
Today’s Musings Monday is going to be a little different. Since Easter is this coming Sunday, this week is “Holy Week,” which for many Christians includes a whole week of activities and reflections on Jesus’s death and resurrection. It began yesterday with Palm Sunday.
Today, I’m still thinking about Palm Sunday. The truth I’m reflecting on is a truth that accidentally goes over many people’s heads, including many Christians. It’s something my father and pastor mentioned yesterday during the sermon at church as well as something I’ve heard recently alluded to in other sermons, and it’s something I chewed on yesterday after reading through the account of the Triumphal Entry.
If I boil it down to one main idea, I would simply say this: Jesus isn’t who you think He is.
Let me explain…
The Triumphal Entry
For those who haven’t read this story in the Bible, or maybe you haven’t read it in awhile, let me break it down for you.
Jesus is entering Jerusalem. He’s been on his way to Jerusalem for awhile, and has his entire entourage following his every move. Entering Jerusalem isn’t the unusual part. Indeed, with the Passover feast happening that very week, there were thousands of jews converging on the city.
The unusual part is how he enters, specifically how he’s welcome and ushered in.
As told in Luke 19:28-40 (NKJV):
When He had said this, He went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. And it came to pass, when He drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mountain called Olivet, that He sent two of His disciples, saying, “Go into the village opposite you, where as you enter you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat. Loose it and bring it here. And if anyone asks you, ‘Why are you loosing it?’ thus you shall say to him, ‘Because the Lord has need of it.’ ”
So those who were sent went their way and found it just as He had said to them. 33 But as they were loosing the colt, the owners of it said to them, “Why are you loosing the colt?”
And they said, “The Lord has need of him.” Then they brought him to Jesus. And they threw their own clothes on the colt, and they set Jesus on him. And as He went, many spread their clothes on the road.
Then, as He was now drawing near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen, saying:
“ ‘Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!’
Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”
And some of the Pharisees called to Him from the crowd, “Teacher, rebuke Your disciples.”
But He answered and said to them, “I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out.”
So, Jesus’s disciples take some random guy’s donkey and Jesus rides into town, and as he enters, the people worship him. Matthew, Mark, and John give some extra detail. Besides just throwing their clothes on the ground, the multitude cut palm branches off the trees, waved the branches in worship, and some laid the branches in the pathway with the spare clothing, free for the donkey to trample on.
Of course, the inclusion of palm branches is where we get the nickname “Palm Sunday.” We celebrate Jesus’s Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem for many reasons, I think chiefly because it’s awesome.
“The King’s entering the city! Whoop whoop! The messiah is here!”
Of course, when we celebrate, we see the whole story: The Triumphal Entry takes place mere days before Jesus, through his death and resurrection, accomplishes what he set out to do. For many Christians, imagining the Triumphal Entry isn’t much different than imagining the Second Coming—Jesus victorious, worthy to be praised. “Hosanna to the savior, the one who conquered sin and death!”
The problem: The people didn’t know the whole story. They didn’t have any understanding about what Jesus was about to do. Every single person who praised Jesus that day would be severely disappointed by the end of the week.
Why?
Because Jesus isn’t who they thought He was.
The Triumphal Entry and the following Passion story are the culmination of two main themes throughout the Gospels: The Breaking of Expectations, and the Exercising of Authority.
Breaking Expectations
Even while gaining notoriety, Jesus constantly subverted the public’s expectations of who he was supposed to be.
He was the prophesied messiah, and everyone has their own idea of what that messiah needed to do and how he needed to look. The messiah was the one in the line of David that would reestablish Israel. He was supposed to be a conquerer, one who could stand up to the cruelty of the Roman empire.
For most of His ministry, many of Jesus’s followers continually wanted to know when He was going to spring into action. The prophecies fit. He worked miracles. He did everything right. But when was he going to duel Caesar? When was Israel going to finally be free from their oppressors? When would Jesus rise up, reestablish the throne of David, and subdue the unclean Gentile nations under the authority of the kingdom of the One True God?
But Jesus baffled them. He talked of loving your enemies. He talked of turning the other cheek. Blessed are the who?? Jesus, how are the poor in spirit blessed, when the oppressive Roman regime maintains power and control?
He spoke of the Kingdom of God as something subversive. The Kingdom of God isn’t a cedar of Lebanon, but it is like a mustard seed. It’s also like yeast, a small amount permeating an entire batch of dough. The Kingdom of God is sneaky, something affecting individual hearts and actions, favoring the downtrodden and frowning at the abuse of power.
But even so, Jesus didn’t overthrow the Romans. Maybe the poor in spirit will inherit the Kingdom of God after Jesus springs into action… Maybe he’s still preparing to strike, gaining his followers first?
In the Triumphal Entry, the crowd welcomed a king and conquerer. But Jesus disappointed them.
He wasn’t who they thought he was.
Exercising Authority
But he did show his authority. Perhaps his power and authority are the main reasons his following grew to be as large as it was. The regular people saw his miracles as a blessing and a sign. The religious leaders saw it as a threat.
Indeed, he not only healed people, but he also proclaimed the forgiveness of sins. The pharisees shouted, “Who do you think you are,” and Jesus said, “I Am.”
Jesus claimed divinity. He claimed oneness with the Father. He proved his divine authority through the forgiveness of sins and the healing of diseases. He had authority over the spiritual realm and the physical realm.
The Triumphal Entry scared the religious leaders. They had seen Jesus heal people. They had seen the masses follow him. They’d heard rumors that many thought he was the messiah. But here he was, riding into the city, accepting WORSHIP from the common people.
Remember what Jesus told them when they tried calling Him out?
“I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out.”
Translation? “#Boss. #CantStopWontStop. Even if you stop everyone from worshipping me, nature would back me up! You don’t know who you’re dealing with. I am bigger than you. My authority supersedes yours.”
The religious leaders were scared. Not of being wrong, but they were scared of losing their power. See, when Jesus broke the people’s expectations of what the messiah looks like, of what power looks like, of what leadership looks like, of what God looks like, Jesus was breaking the facade the religious leaders had built to maintain their prestige.
Instead of humbly listening to Jesus’s words and submitting to his authority, they plotted to kill him. They needed to eliminate the threat, because Jesus wasn’t who they thought he should be.
What’s the first thing Jesus did after entering Jerusalem?
Luke 19:45-48
Then He went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in it, saying to them, “It is written, ‘My house is a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’”
And He was teaching daily in the temple. But the chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people sought to destroy Him, and were unable to do anything; for all the people were very attentive to hear Him.
Jesus exercised his authority. He also targeted the religious establishment in some parables. He told them the truth, but instead of backing down, they doubled down. They were threatened. They couldn’t stand to lose what they’d worked so hard to gain.
They were offended because Jesus isn’t who they thought he was.
He didn’t value their power or pomposity. He was less concerned with the world’s standard of prestige and more concerned with justice, compassion, humility, servanthood, and love.
The Ironic Revolutionary
Jesus is the messiah. He is a revolutionary. He is the prophesied one. He is the Seed of Abraham, through whom all nations are blessed. He’s the woman’s seed who crushed the serpent’s head. He is everything He needed to be, everything scripture predicted him to be, but he did so in a way to subvert every expectation of what a king should look like.
He said the way to be greatest was to be the servant of all. He, the King of the Universe, humbled himself to the form of a human, and humbled himself further still to serve those in need, to uplift the oppressed, to wash his disciples’ dirty feet. He could’ve killed Judas for his betrayal, but Jesus loved him.
Everything about the Triumphal Entry and the Passion narrative return to this truth: Jesus is who He is, and He isn’t how you want him to be. He isn’t what you want, but He is everything you need.
Which brings us to today.
Who’s in charge of your life?
Many people treat religion like a genie in a bottle. If I pray the right words, follow the right rules, do the right things, I can get God to do what I want him to!
Many Christians treat Jesus like a nice, super-powered butler ready to do our bidding. Like, “If God is all-powerful and all-good, then I can just ask for whatever I want and Jesus will be obligated to follow my instructions.”
But what happens when you don’t get what you want? What happens when the genie doesn’t listen?
…What happens when Jesus goes rogue?
First lesson: Jesus is never rogue or AWOL. If you think he is, you probably are.
Sometimes, the way we Christians talk about prayer, we act like we can manipulate God. We act like we can force his hand. But when our prayer times sound more like disappointment-laced temper tantrums than faith-filled declarations of trust, I think we may be missing the point.
If we demand things of God, are we really trusting Him? Are we really letting him be Lord over our lives?
Of course, persistent prayer and intercession is biblical. I’m talking about when our faith slips from self-less to selfish—from childlike to childish.
I’ve dealt with my share of disappointments. I think we all have, and it’s all part of living life in this imperfect world.
“God, you gave be this desire. You gave me this dream. When will you give me what you promised?”
Have you ever prayed that prayer? I have prayed that more times than I care to admit. But at some point, by God’s grace, I realized the error: I can’t demand something of God.
Just because I’m a child of God doesn’t mean I get to act like a spoiled brat. God doesn’t owe me anything! If I’m disappointed in God, who’s given me life and breath and rebirth and love, I’m the problem, not Jesus.
Entitlement is poison, blinding us from seeing Jesus was he truly is. Even if he doesn’t give me everything I want, by his grace I have everything I need.
The jews in 33 A.D. felt entitled to a conquering messiah to free them from physical oppression. The messiah they got wasn’t the one they wanted, but what he gave them was the very thing they needed—not only for them, but for every person in the rest of the world and for all eternity.
God’s vision for salvation and reconciliation outweighed the expected scope of what a messiah could do.
Abraham expected a son, but he had to wait until he and his wife were old. But God’s plan for Abraham extended beyond giving him a son. Yes, Abraham waited decades for his promise to be answered, but God’s plan for that promise generations later brought about the salvation of all peoples and nations.
The Application
As you reflect on Holy Week, think about how you see God. Do you see the glory of his awesome splendor? Do you see the wonder of the gospel, and your redemption and rebirth, your adoption as a co-heir with Christ? Or do you see your own frustration in light of “wrongly-answered” prayers?
Repentance is defined as a complete change, both in action and, more completely, in a way of thinking. As Romans 12 says, be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Sometimes, I don’t realize my mind needs another renewal until I stop and actually think about what I’m thinking about.
Realign your thoughts and your attitudes with the truth of Jesus: His grace is sufficient.
True faith equals trust, not just belief. Out faith is tested through seasons of struggle and disappointment, but you can hold on to the truth that God’s perspective is bigger than your own, and you can trust him, especially in when you don’t understand what He’s doing.
Jesus isn’t who you think He is. And that’s okay. That’s what makes Him God, and you not.
Proverbs 3:5-6:
Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths.
~~~~~~~~~
For more reading on Palm Sunday, see Luke 19, Mark 11, John 12, and Matthew 21.
This post was partially inspired by a couple other sources I didn’t quote from or mention in the body of this blog post, but I still want to shout them out and give them credit. One inspiration was Crowder’s song “Praise the Lord.” Another inspiration was Elevation Church Pastor Stephen Furtick’s recent message, “The Death of a Dream.” Listen to the entire sermon and be blessed.
Oh yeah, one more thing: Happy Easter Week!
