Expectations! Imagine the expectations that folks must have had as they saw Jesus riding into Jerusalem. The city was pregnant with people. Crowds were swarming as they gathered to celebrate the holiday. Can you see the images? Jewish peasants making their way to the temple. Roman soldiers trying to keep the peace. Hundreds of folks gathering together in one small place. It must have been electrifying. A buzz could be felt in the air as folks anticipated this holy time. And all of that excitement was even before Jesus made his way into the crowd

And suddenly, here comes Jesus. He made sure that he would get notice as he came into town riding on a colt just as the prophets of old had promised. Here he was, their Lord and King! Son of David! Hosanna!

Well, you can imagine that many were taken aback by this sight. Some knew of Jesus and were believers already. Some had not heard about him and wanted to hear more. Some were enemies and plotted against him. This last ploy was enough to really get their ire up. How could he do such a stunt? To ride into Jerusalem in the midst of the Holy Days riding on a colt arousing all of this attention and speculation? This was the final straw for them.

What were the others thinking? What were their expectations as they saw this special man riding into town. “Is he the Messiah? Will he free us from our Roman captors? Will there be an end to all of the political oppression and a return to all that scripture promised? “

Expectations! We have all had expectations and high hopes about major life events in our day. Think of the day that you got married or the day that you had your first child. Think of that first job or first new home. We all have moments when we know that all that we had hoped for was coming true. I remember getting my driver’s license. Suddenly, I had more than piece of paper or the key to my parent’s car. I had the key to freedom! I knew that now, I was in charge. I go where I wanted to go and do what I wanted to do. I was suddenly the most popular kid around since I was the first of all of my friends to have a license. I was somebody! In one fell swoop, I gained freedom, popularity and fame. I was making it!

Well, you know what happened. The luster wore off. I got tired of schlepping kids around and found out just how popular I really was once they got their own license. I got tired of doing the errands for my parents and my siblings. I didn’t feel so free when I had responsibilities to go along with the license. I did not feel so on top of the world when I had to get a job to keep up my new found life style. I had great expectations until I found reality.

Those crazy crowds in Jerusalem were like that as well. Jesus rode into town and folks had lots of expectations but the reality set in suddenly as the celebration turned into a trial and a Cross. Good Friday loomed over the horizon of the Palm Sunday celebration. And it would be so easy to point our fingers at those folks who gave up on Jesus that week. It would be so easy to ask, Why couldn’t they see the truth? Why couldn’t they accept that Jesus was the promised Messiah; just a bit different than they expected. They looked for a political King. They got a spiritual King. They looked for a change in their daily situation. Jesus promised them a change for their lives. They looked for a hand out. Jesus came to be a hand hold.

It was their expectation that seemed to get in the way. Jesus the Christ was right there among them, offering eternal life and transformation. They turned him down because they expected a way around their political reality. Jesus was there full of love and peace. They wanted a warrior. Jesus was humble. They expected power and arrogance. They had great expectations and it caused them to miss the most wonderful reality they could have received.

I wonder if we are any different. There are so many times in life when God is expected to give us what we want, get us out of trouble, increase our wealth and our happiness, answer our prayers and basically stand by until we feel the need to ask for something. Now we know that we should be good in return and try to live up to the principles that God would want us to. We sometimes we will even admit, when we are asking for something, that we might have not done our part as well as we should have. But we expect that good, old God will take care of things any way. After all God is always there and ready to forgive us every time. So many times, we view our relationship as a one way street.
How often do we Christians talk about what a relationship with God really looks like? I turned on the tv the other day and saw a woman author talking about her relationship with Christ. She came from an evangelical background so she was used to talking about these types of things. She told a story about being led by God, one day to do something that she did not want to do. She was in an airport and felt God lead her to reach out to an elderly man who was a bit unkempt and a bit in need of care. She gladly would have spoken to the man and even shared her faith, but she felt that God wanted her to go to this stranger and offer to brush out his very tangled hair. Well, you can imagine the inner dialog that she and God had together. But she did what she felt God had told her to do and as it turned out this man had been in hospital for a long time and was just going home finally. He had not been able to care for his appearance as he would have wanted to and was a bit embarrassed to be going home to his elderly wife looking the way he did. He was grateful for the help and he and the woman had a nice talk. What came out of this encounter was not really between the woman and the elder ly gentleman at all. It was the people around them that God had in mind. One person in particular had watched this scene unfold and came crying to the woman asking why she had so lovingly treated this stranger and the woman told her about Jesus and her love for him.

Now here in the North, we might say, “no way would I ever do something like that“. We do not get in other folks business unless asked. We do not even talk much to folks unless we have a good reason. And this woman was equally surprised at what she thought God was asking her. It is a matter of expectations, isn’t it? The God who asked her to brush this man’s hair is the same God who washed his disciples feet hours before he was led to his death. The God who meets us in prayer, is the same God who asks us to listen to his voice; to act in his place. It is a matter of expectations.

Sometimes, we go to God expecting one thing only to find something totally different. We think we have a good understanding, only to have God throw in something totally unexpected. And it is what we do with this unexpected twist that makes all the difference. The crowds in Jerusalem, the Pharisees and Sadducees, were so unsettled that they said, “Crucify him”. They did not know what to do with their misplaced expectations. Some folks do that today as well. They pray for a cure. They live large and expect God to save them from some tragedy and if God answers in some other way, they forsake God. They say what kind of a God would allow this terrible circumstance. They want God to conform to their expectations instead of learning to explore God in all of God’s complexities.

We do not need to fall into that trap today. We can look beyond our great expectations and embrace the reality that God has in mind. For we know what those folks in Jerusalem did not, as they looked for a political king. God had a much greater plan in mind. Jesus’ kingship went much further than they had any imagination for. King Jesus not only saved them. He saved you and I and any who will go to Him.

Today we celebrate Jesus entry in Jerusalem and we know that we will all be traveling on a difficult road this week. We will review those events of Maundy Thursday and then that fateful Good Friday. But we also know that we do not need to get stuck there, for Easter morning awaits!

Can we do the same with some of the circumstances in our own lives? We all have Good Fridays when the world seems to desert us and all seems bleak. We all have those times in our lives when we face hardship and difficulties and we wonder if there is anything to live for. We all have those times when we cry out to God and wonder where God is. And if we know God, we know that we can look past our circumstances and look past our expectations and see the beauty that God has in mind. There are always Easter mornings. They will undoubtedly look different than our expectations and they will undoubtedly be much better than anything we could have imagined. This morning I pray that you will save your own great expectations and look to the One who will never disappoint. Hail Jesus, King of the Jews, Son of David! Hosanna in the highest! Amen