On Palm Sunday, Jesus was welcomed by the Jews as their Messiah, the Anointed One foretold in Scripture to be the one who would usher in a new kingdom that would liberate them from the clutches of the Roman Empire which has ruled the Jewish nation for many decades. That’s what the Jews had in mind. But Jesus did not come as a political Messiah. After just a few days on Good Friday, the Jews crucified him because he was not what they wanted him to be — a political Messiah. So they chose Barabbas instead, the fake Messiah.

Jesus is the real Messiah, the Anointed One, the Savior of all mankind. Here’s an interesting quote from theologian Thomas F. Torrance which I find helpful in understanding this issue:

Jesus Refused to be a Political Messiah

“Jesus’ calling conflicted sharply with the role that contemporary Judaism wished to push upon him. Jesus was crucified by the political theology of his day. And Jesus continues to be crucified when we politicize his role because that is not the way he came, by the power structures of this world, to reconcile man to God, but through the weakness of the cross, to incarnational penetration into the depths of our guilty being, to lay hold upon us from below, where we are at enmity to God, the source of all violence, to conquer and destroy it by atoning sacrifice.”

We are loved, included and reconciled. Thanks be to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, our Messiah, the Anointed One. Praise be unto him!