Jesus came at a critical moment in history. Israel was chaffing under Roman occupation and longed to be free, living under the former glory that was theirs in the days of king David. People lived in Messianic expectation. Biblical prophecy foretold of the coming of a king who would come and restore Israel to greatness.
So what happened when Jesus did come proclaiming the kingdom of God by the things He taught and the way He lived?
For approximately three years Jesus proclaimed the way of love. He taught that we are to love our enemies, to "turn the other cheek" when wronged, that loving our neighbors includes anyone who needs help that we are capable of helping. He associated with those who were cast as undesirable by society out of a genuine compassion for their eternal souls. He warned that one day we would be judged by the love and compassion the we show to "least of these", you know the hungry, the naked, the prisoner, the stranger, basically those who are marginalized by the people around them. He came calling people to enter a heavenly kingdom that stands in opposition to the kingdoms of this world. It is a kingdom where humility is true greatness as opposed to the arrogance of the powerful people of this world.
The religious leaders of the day clashed with Him repeatedly. What they were expecting from a Messiah figure was not what they were witnessing in Jesus. He violated their ideas of godliness. They held power over the people, but the multitudes were clamoring over this man who was kind and compassionate, who healed their diseases, who showed them what it was like to love God and their fellow man.
It all came to a head when Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey. This fulfilled a Messianic prophecy concerning the coming king who would restore the kingdom to greatness once again. The people welcomed Him with shouts of "Hosanna to the son of David, blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!" Like I stated above, Messianic expectation was running high. The people longed for someone to come and "make Israel great again."
Jesus didn't live up to their expectations. By the end of that week the religious leaders turned a mob of people against Jesus and had Him put to death by crucifixion.
Would we expect it to be any different here, today? If Jesus suddenly appeared and began to teach and do the very same things that He did then, I fear the outcome would be just the same. We have a government, religious leaders, and a multitude of professing followers of Jesus who want to "make America great again." Would Jesus live up to their expectations? Where does humility and sacrificial love fit into this kingdom? It is not the kingdom that Christ has charged His followers to seek.
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