The crowd that welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem on His Triumphal Entry was in many ways no different from the crowds that acknowledge Jesus in our own time. Many of those present had likely heard about Jesus' teaching and miracles. The bulk of the crowd, in fact, was probably fellow travelers from Galilee with whom Jesus moved on His way to the Passover. These people knew about Jesus' reputation, and perhaps they believed the time was right for this wonder-working prophet from Nazareth to take charge of the situation in Jerusalem.
In the account of the Triumphal Entry in Matthew 21, we read that the people were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!” Their cry of "Save now!" (Hosanna!) was eerily prescient, but in their mouths was more likely to be asking that Jesus do something about their temporal and political state right at that moment. Calling Him the "Son of David" indicated that they were prepared for Him to take His place on David's throne. They wanted Jesus to kick out the Romans and re-establish Israel as a powerful and independent kingdom.
The people in the crowd that day were ready to accept Jesus as their king- provided He came on their terms. They wanted to set the conditions under which they would accept Him as their Lord. As long as He conformed to what they thought the Messiah should be, they would let Him be the Messiah. Their main concern was for themselves and their own earthly future.
This is really not much different than the reaction of people in our world to Jesus. As long as He comes in to fix their problems, bring them health and happiness, provide them with nice moral teaching, but then not be too demanding, they will accept Him. Many, including Christians, want a Jesus who doesn't threaten to overturn their lives, and who meets their needs on their terms.
The problem with this interpretation, of course, is that Jesus comes as King on His terms. Jesus is King and Lord whether or not we accept Him as that. We can choose to rebel, but we cannot topple Him from His throne. As Jesus comes to our world, He offers us not the choice of whether or not we will make Him King, but whether or not we will live like citizens and subjects of His kingdom. We can choose to follow another king, but only as rebels who follow a usurper.
This means that Jesus is not only King over those who believe in Him, but over all. Satan may be the "prince of this world" temporarily, but only because he is the leader of the rebellion against God. The Bible may call him a prince as a pretender, but it never acknowledges Satan as a king, even for now. We are no different; we may think we are "king" and try to rule our own lives, but we are still in reality the subjects of the Almighty King of Kings.
The question before us today is, will we live our lives in a right relationship with King Jesus, accepting His Lordship on His terms, or will we rebel and live for ourselves? Jesus is King. Our lives find their fulfillment in living as part of His kingdom.
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