We had a beautiful weekend! Our church held a great service on Good Friday. And we spent Sunday afternoon at my sister’s house relaxing. (To see a small album of our weekend, click [1] here!)

What stands out to me most from remembering Christ’s resurrection this year is a sermon that Pastor Mike preached on Palm Sunday called “[2] The Real Jesus.”

Christianity is not just about trusting but who I’m trusting in.

In Matthew 21 we see that the crowds waved palm leaves as Jesus entered Jerusalem and they shouted “Hosanna” which means “Save us now!” Five chapters later this same crowd is before Pilate shouting “Crucify him!” (Matthew 27:22)

Pastor Mike pointed out that it isn’t that the crowd was fickle as many people say, but really the problem was that they didn’t want the salvation that Jesus offered. They wanted to put their trust in a savior who would deliver them from the Romans by rising up politically. This same problem is happening today. So many people would say Hosanna–Save us now! But what kind of savior are they talking about?

When Hosanna means “relieve my pain” or “better my life” the one asking for that salvation will not find that in Jesus Christ because true salvation is from sin, not the pains and ills of life. Many people evangelize by saying that God is going to make life wonderful, but when Christianity becomes something about you, it is not Biblical.

The only right way to say “Hosanna” is when that means “Be my King!” This means that for better or for worse we are devoted to following Him. It is easy to say that we trust Him as our King, but this is seen in how we live, always striving to obey Him.

We need to make sure that we trust in the real Jesus, not who we wish He was or what we want Him to do for us. He isn’t a pain reliever or a life improvement program. He is Lord and we desperately need the salvation that He alone offers.