First Baptist Church of Herndon

What Did You Expect?

Linda Soller | Apr 05, 2021

On Palm Sunday our Bible Study group tried to look at a very familiar story from the Bible in a new way. We have all heard the Palm Sunday story many times. Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem. But it didn’t look totally triumphant. Yes, there were cheering crowds, palm branches and cloaks being placed beneath Him as He entered, but there were other parts that lacked the traditional grand entrance feel. What did the people gathering expect?  Jesus entered as a humble man of peace riding on a colt. No stallion or shiny armor like the military or princely arrivals. Jesus had tried to manage everyone’s expectations, but they did not understand. They expected an earthly type of savior and not one offering salvation.

People come to the Christian faith with different expectations. Some think all their problems and concerns of this world and life will melt away. Not so. But they can expect to have ways of dealing with those issues and the support of God who is by their side. Some Christians live differently. They expect their faith somehow makes them more perfect than those who are not Christians. Not so. We are all human and with that comes human failings. We will work hard to correct our failings and avoid them and replace them with love, but we will fail some of the time. Some of us will fail most of the time. It may not be what we expected.

Easter is a joyous time for Christians. We celebrate our risen Savior who died for us. We expect to feel renewed and invigorated by Easter. Sometimes we are disappointed to feel like we did before, nothing new, no transformation. There are few things I can say with certainty and one of those is that God’s plan for each of us will happen in His time not ours. We will be part of something bigger than we can imagine. This Easter - I expected to feel a renewal of faith, no big transformation, and I was not disappointed. This Easter – what did you expect?

He is Risen!   Have a great week! :o)