Jesus came into Jerusalem on the first day of Passover week. We call it Palm Sunday because the crowd cut palm branches and brought them as they greeted Jesus. His donkey ride made the people cheer, as they anticipated a big showdown. All the players were in town now: the religious authorities (because they were always in Jerusalem), the Romans (because they always wanted crowd control for the big Jewish feasts), and Jesus (because he was going to, well, do something big).
The tension and excitement were building. The religious authorities wanted to get rid of the upstart, rogue rabbi. The Jesus followers wanted Jesus to humiliate the religious establishment and lead a revolt against Rome. The Romans just wanted to keep a lid on it all for the next few days.
And nobody could have predicted what really happened.
What's it like when God surprises you?
