Jesus is a very different kind of king

We can all think of political leaders who have promised a lot but failed to deliver. We see in this passage, however, that Jesus never compromised or turned to expediency. Mary saw the outcome of Jesus’ ministry as the true king and savior who would bring forgiveness of sins to his people. She saw, from Lazarus, Jesus’ death as a substitute and rising again. She worshiped him.

The crowd who came out to celebrate his arrival in Jerusalem, as their king, mostly misunderstood what this would mean. Jesus did not come as the messianic liberator they were expecting. He came in lowliness fulfilling the word of God given to the prophet Zechariah. The victory was the purchase of forgiveness for sin. The price was his death on the cross.