The King

A reflection and spoken word poem for Palm Sunday

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Save Us!

On Palm Sunday, we remember the day Jesus made His triumphant journey into Jerusalem. It was a moment filled with awe and anticipation. This was the beginning of the end, at least the end of the story as people expected it to unfold. Soon, Jesus would walk through the events we now know as Holy Week, a week that changed everything.

But it all began in an unexpected way.

Jesus entered the city of Jerusalem not on a warhorse, not surrounded by wealth or military strength, but on the back of a donkey. A simple, humble animal. And of course, this is what Jesus would choose. He never followed the patterns of power and prestige. He always chose humility.

If you or I were announcing ourselves as a King, as the long-awaited Messiah, we might imagine an entrance filled with grandeur and royal display. But Jesus didn’t come to impress the world. He came to save it. His way was not through force but through peace, not through power but through love.

As He rode into Jerusalem, the people shouted with joy and hope. They cried out, "Hosanna," a word that means, "Save us." It was more than a cheer. It was a desperate plea. These were people longing to be rescued. They wanted to be saved from Roman rule, from oppression, from poverty and sickness, from the weight of fear and injustice. They wanted a new life, one filled with hope instead of hardship.

So they laid down palm branches and cloaks before Him, publicly declaring that Jesus was their King, their hope, the One they believed could make all things right. They had heard the stories. Jesus had healed the sick, restored the broken, raised the dead, and welcomed those the world had rejected. And now they wanted Him to do the same for them.

They were ready for change.

And Jesus was ready to bring it.

But not in the way they expected.

Palm Sunday reminds us of something deeply important. What we want and what we need are not always the same in the eyes of God. The people were asking for relief from their circumstances, but their deepest need was reconciliation with God. That is our deepest need as well.

“Jesus is not the king they expected. He is not the king they wanted. But he is the king they needed. They thought they needed to be rescued from the Romans, but Jesus had come to rescue them from sin, from death, from themselves.” - Tim Keller

Jesus does not come to be King on our terms. He offers us a Kingdom on His terms. His Kingdom is not built on control or dominance, but on love, grace, and forgiveness. He does not simply offer momentary relief; He brings deep, lasting healing. He does not always give us what we want, but He always gives us what is best. He does not save us for a fleeting moment, but for eternity.

Jesus came not as the King we imagined, but as the King we truly need. And so, just as the crowd once cried out, I will pray too, trusting that Jesus does things differently, but always for the better.

Hosanna.

Palm Sunday (A Poem)

You’ve always done things differently, and they’ve never failed.

Like the time you turned water into wine.
Or like when you rubbed mud on the blind man’s eyes so he could see.
Or when you healed the paralyzed man because his friends truly believed.
And like the time You entered Jerusalem riding on the back of a colt,

And they asked, “Who is this?”
And they, along with the rest of the world, would soon know.

They knew you as the one who healed the sick and fed the poor.
The one who turned lives inside out and upside down.
The one who had 12 close friends, raised a man named Lazarus from the dead, and told a cripple to get out of bed.

But soon,
Soon they would see you are more than anyone who had come before.

Just in time - Hope had arrived.

Some cheered and cried Hosanna.
Save us! Save us now!
Please, save us.

They waved palm branches and laid them down so you wouldn’t have to touch the ground.

Children sat on the shoulders of parents as they pointed to the one they’d been waiting for.

Echoes of Jesus is Lord filled the city as you moved toward the beginning of the end.

And we thought that The King was coming to take His crown!

But you knew the King was coming to be buried in the ground, to bring us from lost to found.

Good arrives only to die, only to rise, only for the world to realize,
You are who you say You are:
The King.

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