Jesus Knew and He Came Anyway
“Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”
Hebrews 12:2
I want you to think about all that He went through in that last week of His life for you. It was a week where everything changed in the history of the world and in the trajectory of all of our lives.
It started with Palm Sunday. He rode into Jerusalem for you. He knew that when He got there the same people that were cheering for Him would be the same people—just days later—demanding that He be put to death. But He did it for you.
He came into Jerusalem and there were people that were so excited because this guy who was the Messiah they finally expected. They didn’t know whether or not He could redeem them from their sins. They didn’t know about all that stuff. But what they did think was that He was coming to restore political glory back to them. They had been so ravaged by the Romans that they were expecting this was the guy that was gonna restore Israel to her former glory.
So they laid down their palm branches and they shouted, “Hosanna! King of the Jews!” They had been conquered by everybody at that point—the Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, and the Romans. They were zero for five, and they were excited that somebody had finally come to give them political victory.
They didn’t realize that that’s not why Jesus came. He didn’t come to Jerusalem to kick out the Romans. He came to kick out sin. He came to make sure that none of us had to pay our own wages for our sin. Aren’t you glad about it?
That’s not what they expected. It’s not even what they wanted.
Palm Sunday represents all the times that we get really excited because of all the things we expect Jesus has come to do for us. We’re so excited because we have predetermined expectations of what He desires to do in our life. We think He has come to bring miracles with no requirements, no dying, no suffering, but this Jesus came to lay down His life.
He survived brutal whippings and beatings and mocking. He was dressed in purple, a robe just to mock Him. And there was a crown of thorns that was not lightly placed upon His head. It was driven into His skull for you and for me.
There was no bleaker moment in all of human history. The people who had just celebrated Him now they were demanding His death. He knew that going in, but He did it for you and He did it for me.
They hung Him high. They stretched Him wide. He hung His head, and for me and for you, He died. That’s love.
— Priscilla Shirer
