When Jesus\nentered Jerusalem 2000 years ago, the Jews were expecting a messianic hero. The\nRomans, who had annexed Judea into the Roman empire in 6 AD, were a constant\nreminder to the Jews that the messianic age had not yet come. The Jews were\nstill waiting for God. It was bad enough being exiled in Babylon for 70 years;\nbut to be second-class citizens in their own country- this was too much! The\nJews, therefore, waited for deliverance; and as Jesus entered Jerusalem, the\nair was boiling with anticipation. Now was the moment! Now was the time to\nrestore the kingdom of David! Yet, instead of ending up with a messianic hero,\nthey received a crucified carpenter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We all know\nthe story. Jesus enters the city triumphantly. The crowds \u2013 waving palm\nbranches \u2013 lay their cloaks at his feet, all while shouting Hosanna! Blessed\nis the one who comes in the name of the Lord!<\/em> (Mk 11:9). The messiah, the\none who was going to restore the kingdom of David, had finally come. Not even a\nweek later, however, the tune of the crowd had changed. Instead of praising\nhim, they cursed him. Instead of shouting hosanna<\/em>, they chanted crucify\nhim! <\/em>Jesus was not the messiah they had hoped for. He didn\u2019t conform to\ntheir expectations, so they delivered him up to death on a cross.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How many\ntimes have our expectations been dashed? How many times have we thought that\nGod was planning something great for our lives, only to have Him let us down? If\nonly God<\/em>, would give me what I need<\/em>. If only he could understand\nmy desires and expectations!<\/em> These are the thoughts with which we feed our\nminds. It is these thoughts, however, that show us that we do not yet\nunderstand the Cross of Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jesus is\nnot what we expect. When he entered Jerusalem, the Jews wanted a king, but he\nbecame a prisoner. We, too, want a kingly Jesus, a victorious Jesus, but all\ntoo often he does not present himself under the auspice of a king; instead, he\ncomes to us on the Cross. What do we make of this? How should we respond? We\nhave two options. We can either abandon Him or we can embrace Him. Now, the\nembrace will be biting and bitter; but that embrace, no matter how bitter, is\nnever without hope. For though Christ dies on the Cross, he rises to\neverlasting life. So it will be with us. If we accept the crosses that God sends\nour way, if we embrace our pains and struggles, if we conform our expectations\n\u2013 not to our own desires \u2013 but to Him from whom all desire flows, then we too\nwill rise to everlasting life. Let us not grow disheartened by the Cross! Let\nus not despair and lose hope when Jesus is not what we expect. For in the end,\nJesus\u2019 resurrection is beyond all that we can hope for or imagine. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Ian Mahood \u2013 St. Joseph Seminary, Edmonton, Alberta<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fot. Pro Church Media\/Unsplash.com<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Palm Sunday<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":2420,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,17,18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2419","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-strona-glowna-najnowsze","category-strona-glowna-slider"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n