1. What We Wanted vs. What Jesus Was: Luke 19:35-38

Picture the moment: shouts echoing, palm branches waving, children running, cloaks spread like a royal carpet. The crowd thought this was it the Messiah had come. But what were they hoping for? They expected power, not poverty, a warhorse, not a weeping Savior.

2. How We Thought vs. How Jesus Came: Luke 19:41-42

We see a shift from the crowd’s cheers to Christ’s tears. Jesus wasn’t caught up in the moment of celebration. He wasn’t basking in applause. While they finished their celebration, He wept. Why? Because they didn’t get it. They were missing everything. He saw what they couldn’t, and he knew what was coming.

3. Where We Look vs. Where Jesus Leads: Luke 19:43-44

Jesus doesn’t just cry over the present moment; He sees the future. They were looking for a king to sit on a throne. But Jesus was walking toward a cross. They were focused on the present while Jesus was preparing for eternity. What about us? What are we so fixated on that we’re missing where He’s trying to lead us?

4. Who We Expected vs. Who He Is: John 1:10-11

They had all the pieces: The signs, prophecies, stories, and scriptures. All the truth was waiting for them, and they still missed Jesus. They were waiting for a lion, but He came as a lamb. They wanted a deliverer from Rome. He came to deliver them from hell.

Here is the truth: The Crown the people had prepared didn’t fit his head. They tried to give Him a crown forged in the fire of human expectation. But He came to wear a crown of thorns, His crown, that should have been your crown.

Palm Sunday is the beginning of the most crucial week in human history. It begins with triumph but is soaked in tears because while the people praised Him, they missed Him. Will you miss Him, too? Will you stand in the crowd and shout “Hosanna” but walk away unchanged?