Great Expectations

By Traci Hubbard

John 12: 12-19

Zechariah 9:9-12

On the West side of Jerusalem, Herod is sitting on a white stallion…his saddle trimmed with jewels. He is wearing armour proclaiming he is the son of God, and his eyes are fixed on himself, and he covets throne. He is swinging a golden sword above his helmet, and he is certain he is immortal. Herod is flanked by security on all sides, a majestic, trained army. No one is getting through to the Roman’s Lord. People are shouting, “In the name of Caesar, Lord of the world, Hail Herod.”

On the East side of Jerusalem, a Jew from Nazareth is sitting on a homemade blanket on top of a donkey’s colt. He is wearing a tunic and a pair of sandals, bearing the sword of the Spirit of humility in his heart and one hundred percent certain he is entering the last week of his physical life. His eyes filled with compassion for others, his ego dethroned. He is flanked by his clueless ministry team, made up of fishermen, an accountant, an ex-sex-worker, a butcher, baker, and candlestick maker and unlikely female Jews turned basket weavers - businesswomen. They were a motely crew. Anyone can get through the crowd and touch Jesus.

The children have made posters they are waving as they hang from trees, the women are waving palm branches, and the men are looking around, making sure a Roman soldier doesn’t rain on their parade. “Hosana…Blessed is he…Son of God” is being shouted while balloons are set free. Someone screams, “Our King is here.”

Two men. Two intentions. Two parades. On the West side, power is locked up. On the East side, love is freely given.

In the temple, tariffs are doing their thing…stock prices are covered in incense and shooting through the roof. The rich are getting richer, while the poor sink further into debt.

Life and death hang in the air, and in the hearts of everyone, especially in the hearts of the two men.

Regarding the outcome, each side, each person, held great expectations. The East side had Jesus in a box, expecting his presence and power to check off all the boxes on their lists. The West side held freedom in a box under lock and key.

In seven days, all the hoopla, all the celebration, all the surety assumed by both sides will pass over and become a memory for the ages. Jerusalem and the world will never be the same. And only one person knew the truth of what was really happening and why.

Jesus begins his journey surrounded by quiet…the colt’s hoofs was the only sound one could hear, except for a few people clearing their throats. It’s an eerie turn into Jerusalem, where coats line the dusty road and people are cheering, “Jesus is King.” A few distinguished church leaders jump from an alley into the road and tell Jesus, “You have no idea what you are allowing. Any second Roman soldiers are going to gallop in with their weapons and kill everyone in their way. You are allowing these fanatics to disrupt the law and order, and you need to tell them to shut up.”

Jesus says, “If they become quiet, the rocks will talk for them.”

The disciples – the people of The Way, they share glances with one another that say, “It has been a crazy long three and half years. Finally, FINALLY, we are getting the recognition we deserve. I mean, he couldn’t have accomplished all that he did without our support, right? We are Jesus’ Ride or Die people, with him all the way to wherever he’s going.”

Peter is silently singing, “People let me tell ya bout my best friend…” Everyone has great expectations. All of these thoughts – all of this energy surrounds Jesus as tears well up in his eyes because he knows they cannot fathom that all hell is going to break loose, they will be crushed beneath their expectations and one day look back with 20/20 vision seeing they missed the meaning in the moment. Jesus had spent 1277 intentional days with his disciples, and they still didn’t have a clue. Even Peter had missed his message. Just look at them – listen to them quoting Zechariah, “Your king is coming riding on an ass.”

Sadly, the asses were the ones expecting Jesus to knock Caesar off his horse and take his throne.

Luke, Mark, Matthew, and John huddle up for a moment asking one another if they can remember the rest of the message Zechariah prophesied – you know, it was something about cutting off a chariot from Ephriam and a Jerusalem warhorse…and someone’s bow will be smashed while he shouts peace to the world…you remember, this guy will rule from sea to shining sea and write the song, God Bless America, right? Do any of you remember the rest of what Zach said and understand what he meant? Each of them shrugs their shoulders as if to say, “I dunno.”

The kingdom of Rome rules by threats, violence, and demands of submission. The kingdom of Heaven is ruled by LOVE and speaks of peace, joy, gentleness, and kindness. Rome cans all it can get, puts it in an interest bearing can, locks the can, and sits on it. Jesus teaches one becomes rich when they give their life away …that they will receive priceless riches no moth can destroy. Rome rules with dehumanizing insults and greed. The love of Mystery rules the heart and ways of Jesus with life changing power no sword can diminish.

Jesus smiles through his tears. His heart is caught in his throat when he sees the temple turned into a dishonest shopping mall. And he waits 24 hours – thinking about, praying about, what he has witnessed before he re-enters the temple, throws over the tables, and drives the cheaters out with his homemade whip. His actions are challenging the expectations and assumptions of everyone. Everyone on both sides, in both parades, carries a sense of entitlement. Each side believes they’ve got their expectations of victory wrapped in a bag. On this day, Palm Sunday, the day of parades and charades, no one is expecting Jesus to end up in a body bag. No one in the entire world could ever imagine what was coming.

Why? Because no one expected LOVE to die for love for everyone, even a Roman, even a friend who would betray you. Especially a friend, no way could any love be that true. No way!

Except the truth is, the ways of Jesus are the way. And it’s only because of grace that we know this…

Power on one side of town, grace on the other. 2025 years later, I wonder, if we didn’t know what was really happening, if our great expectations blinded us to what matters the most, I wonder which parade we would have joined? How do you expect love to show up? This week, may we consider how our expectations blind us to what we really need, what matters the most. May we be filled with compassion for others. May our egos be dethroned. May we pray to see, amen.