March 29th, 2026
by Rachel Mahoney
by Rachel Mahoney
Welcome the King (Day 1)
Have you ever been really excited about something…
only to lose that excitement a few days later?
In the moment, it felt real. You meant it.
But it didn’t last.
That’s kind of what Palm Sunday was like.
The Moment Everyone Was Waiting For
In Matthew 21:1–11, Jesus enters Jerusalem.
It’s loud. It’s crowded. It’s emotional.
People are laying down their cloaks in the road.
Others are cutting palm branches and waving them in the air.
They’re shouting:
“Hosanna to the Son of David!”
“Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
“Hosanna” means save us now.
And they mean it.
This is the moment they’ve been waiting for, the arrival of a king.
The whole city is stirred. People are asking, “Who is this?”
And the answer echoes through the crowd:
“This is Jesus.”
But here’s what we know on the other side of the story:
Most of these same voices won’t still be there by Friday.
The King They Didn’t Expect
There’s a detail in this story that’s easy to overlook.
Jesus rides in on a donkey.
Not a warhorse.
Not a symbol of power or conquest.
A donkey.
And that wasn’t random.
A warhorse would have sent a clear message: strength, dominance, control.
A donkey sends a completely different one: humility, peace, a kingdom that doesn’t operate the way we expect.
Jesus wasn’t just entering the city.
He was redefining what kind of King He is.
When Expectations Don’t Match Reality
The crowd wanted a king.
But they wanted one on their terms.
They were hoping for someone who would overthrow Rome, fix their problems, and do it quickly, on their timeline, in their way.
And when it became clear that Jesus wasn’t going to do that…
their celebration didn’t just quiet down.
It disappeared.
Because it’s one thing to welcome a Savior who does what you expect.
It’s another thing to trust a King who doesn’t.
The Question That Still Matters
If we’re honest, we’re not that different from the crowd.
We still come to Jesus with expectations.
Not the polished, church-sounding answers,
the real ones.
Where have you been hoping He would show up and fix something your way?
Where have you quietly thought, “If You’re really who You say You are, then why hasn’t this changed?”
It’s a hard question, but an important one:
What do you actually expect from Jesus?
Because sometimes the tension we feel in our faith isn’t because He’s absent…
it’s because He’s not operating within the limits we’ve set.
And what if, like the crowd,
our expectations are too small?
A Simple Prayer
Jesus, I’m still learning who You really are.
Help me see You clearly this week.
Not just who I want You to be… but who You actually are.
Shape my expectations by truth—
not just by what I need from You.
Amen.
Take a Step Today
Read Matthew 21 slowly.
Don’t rush it.
Pay attention to the moment Jesus chooses the donkey over the warhorse.
Then write one simple sentence:
What does that tell you about Him?
Have you ever been really excited about something…
only to lose that excitement a few days later?
In the moment, it felt real. You meant it.
But it didn’t last.
That’s kind of what Palm Sunday was like.
The Moment Everyone Was Waiting For
In Matthew 21:1–11, Jesus enters Jerusalem.
It’s loud. It’s crowded. It’s emotional.
People are laying down their cloaks in the road.
Others are cutting palm branches and waving them in the air.
They’re shouting:
“Hosanna to the Son of David!”
“Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
“Hosanna” means save us now.
And they mean it.
This is the moment they’ve been waiting for, the arrival of a king.
The whole city is stirred. People are asking, “Who is this?”
And the answer echoes through the crowd:
“This is Jesus.”
But here’s what we know on the other side of the story:
Most of these same voices won’t still be there by Friday.
The King They Didn’t Expect
There’s a detail in this story that’s easy to overlook.
Jesus rides in on a donkey.
Not a warhorse.
Not a symbol of power or conquest.
A donkey.
And that wasn’t random.
A warhorse would have sent a clear message: strength, dominance, control.
A donkey sends a completely different one: humility, peace, a kingdom that doesn’t operate the way we expect.
Jesus wasn’t just entering the city.
He was redefining what kind of King He is.
When Expectations Don’t Match Reality
The crowd wanted a king.
But they wanted one on their terms.
They were hoping for someone who would overthrow Rome, fix their problems, and do it quickly, on their timeline, in their way.
And when it became clear that Jesus wasn’t going to do that…
their celebration didn’t just quiet down.
It disappeared.
Because it’s one thing to welcome a Savior who does what you expect.
It’s another thing to trust a King who doesn’t.
The Question That Still Matters
If we’re honest, we’re not that different from the crowd.
We still come to Jesus with expectations.
Not the polished, church-sounding answers,
the real ones.
Where have you been hoping He would show up and fix something your way?
Where have you quietly thought, “If You’re really who You say You are, then why hasn’t this changed?”
It’s a hard question, but an important one:
What do you actually expect from Jesus?
Because sometimes the tension we feel in our faith isn’t because He’s absent…
it’s because He’s not operating within the limits we’ve set.
And what if, like the crowd,
our expectations are too small?
A Simple Prayer
Jesus, I’m still learning who You really are.
Help me see You clearly this week.
Not just who I want You to be… but who You actually are.
Shape my expectations by truth—
not just by what I need from You.
Amen.
Take a Step Today
Read Matthew 21 slowly.
Don’t rush it.
Pay attention to the moment Jesus chooses the donkey over the warhorse.
Then write one simple sentence:
What does that tell you about Him?
Rachel Mahoney
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2 Comments
Rachel
nThank you for doing this! We listened this evening before bed! Gives us lots to meditate on! Have a blessed week! Christina
Wow! Really good.