Which title do you most often use for Jesus, and what changes if it turns out not to be the most important one? This Palm Sunday sermon returns to the entry on a donkey and the shouts of “Hosanna” (Matthew 21), then shows how the same crowd cried something quite different a few days later, because Jesus did not meet their expectations. The New Testament writers call him Christ, the anointed one, nearly five hundred times, a king, not merely a ticket to heaven. Listen if you want to ask whether your own expectations have caused you to miss life in his kingdom here and now.
Discussion questions
For your small group or for personal reflection after the sermon.
- What did the cloaks and branches spread on the road and the shout of "Hosanna" mean for the crowd in Jerusalem (Matthew 21:1-15)?
- What kind of king were the people welcoming Jesus expecting, and why did the same crowd shout "Crucify him" a few days later?
- The sermon says "Christ" is not a surname but a title: the anointed one, the king. How does reading "Jesus the King" instead of "Jesus Christ" change the way you read the New Testament?
- How can reducing faith to a "ticket to heaven" make life here and now seem less important?
- Which of your own ideas and expectations about Jesus might cause you to miss who He really is?
- In which specific area of your life (work, home, marriage, relationships) do you want to surrender your decisions, desires or goals to Jesus as King this week?
