Many Jews thought that the Messiah would be like other kings. They thought that if the Messiah would rule all nations, He would do so by war. So they looked for One to lead them to fight against their nation’s enemy, Rome (Acts 5:36-37). Seeing the great powers of Jesus, they wanted to force Jesus to become their king (John 6:15). They expected earthly Jerusalem to be His capital city. Later, when Jesus came to Jerusalem, large crowds shouted their greetings.
Hosanna [Save us!] to the Son of David! (Matthew 21:9)
Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! (Mark 11:10)
Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! (Luke 19:38)
The crowds were soon disappointed. He rode in on a borrowed donkey. Instead of joining in their happiness, Jesus wept over the city (Luke 19:43-44). He warned that Jerusalem would soon be destroyed by the Romans (Luke 21:5-24). Instead of marching against the Roman rulers, Jesus came before them as an accused criminal on trial (Luke 23). Many who had welcomed Him began to call for His death. Nails were driven into His hands and feet to hold Him onto the raised wood of the cross. There He was left to die slowly, in great pain. Neither the followers of Jesus, nor His enemies, expected that the Messiah would suffer in such ways. Great kings are supposed to be accepted by their people; Jesus was rejected by His people. Great kings have honor and respect; Jesus died in shame. Great kings defeat their enemies; Jesus was crucified by His enemies. His friends were confused and sad. They said,
But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem [save, rescue] Israel (Luke 24:21).
If they had looked more closely at the Old Testament, they would have seen that it said that the Messiah would be rejected. Before He died, Jesus often said that soon He would be killed by the Jewish and Roman leaders (Luke 17:25; 18:31-33; 20:9-15). To prove this, He quoted Psalm 118:22, which spoke of Israel’s leaders rejecting God’s chosen One. The prophet Isaiah (53:3) had also shown that He was “despised and rejected” – people made fun of Him, and even his friends left Him.