The Road To Easter | Week 1 | Full Service · Rewind

The Road To Easter | Week 1 | Full Service · Rewind

Pastor Hunter Jones · Mar 23, 2026

Big Idea

Quoting the message: Jesus may not be the king we want, but He's the king we need, end quote..

Jesus enters Jerusalem offering peace and salvation, not the conquest and comfort people expected of their Messiah. When He doesn't meet our expectations, we're tempted to throw Him away — but the King who brings victory through humility, joy through sorrow, and salvation through sacrifice is exactly the King we actually need.

Key points

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1Jesus is a king who brings victory through humility
Pastor Hunter contrasts a king riding a war horse (power, conquest) with Jesus riding an unbroken donkey's colt (peace, humility), noting that Pontius Pilate was likely making a rival procession into the city at the same time on a war horse. He illustrates the trap of fighting for power with a childhood Monopoly story with his sister and the escalating 'crazy cycle' in marriages and friend groups, arguing that humility, not winning, brings real victory.
2
2Jesus is the king who brings joy through sorrow
The crowd waved palm branches expecting Jesus to change their circumstances, but Jesus knew joy only comes on the other side of the cross. Pastor Hunter tells the story of a coworker's buffalo tattoo — buffalo run through a storm to reach the sun rather than fleeing it like cows — and points to Psalm 23's 'through the valley' language to show that Jesus leads us through pain toward healing rather than around it.
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3Jesus is the king who brings salvation through sacrifice
The crowd cried 'Hosanna,' meaning 'save us now,' wanting salvation through strength, but Jesus offers salvation through sacrifice as the true Passover Lamb. Pastor Hunter walks through the Exodus Passover lamb requirement (perfect, unblemished, sacrificed, blood on the doorpost) and shows Jesus fulfilling that picture, contrasting earning God's love through works with living from a love already given.

Application

Jesus may not be the king we want, but He's the king we need — so the question is where we need to come back to that King.

Bring humility into a strained relationship
Whether it's with God, a spouse, or a friend, stop trying to win and instead humble yourself — ask for help, admit fault, or love unconditionally even when hurt.
Stop numbing the pain and walk through it
Instead of avoiding conviction or hurt with distractions, deal with it with Jesus; consider Christ-centered counseling or Rock Point's Monday night Care and Recovery Night.
Sacrifice your Easter Sunday plans
If Rock Point is home for you, move your own attendance to a Friday or Saturday service so newcomers can have room on Easter Sunday, and sign up to serve — parking, greeting, kids — so others can meet Jesus.
Say yes to Jesus as Lord and Savior
If it's your first time, pray the prayer of surrender given, then go to the prayer room and tell someone about it before the day ends.
Invite someone to Easter at Rock Point
Follow through on a personal invite this week, not just a social media post, the way Pastor Hunter texted an old friend himself.

Take it into your week

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7-day devotional

A personal reading plan from this message — scripture, reflection, and prayer for each day.

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Day 1

There is something quietly stunning about the way Jesus entered Jerusalem. The crowd was ready for a general — someone who would ride in with force, drive out the Romans, and restore Israel's national glory. What they got was a king on a borrowed donkey, moving through the noise at a pace that left no room for military theater. Pastor Hunter pointed out that the crowd's expectations were not wicked so much as they were self-constructed. They had built a version of Jesus that fit what they needed Him to be, and when the real Jesus showed up, the gap between their expectation and reality would eventually cost Him a crown of thorns. It is worth sitting with that honestly. Most of us have done some version of the same thing. We come to Jesus carrying a mental picture of what He should do — fix the relationship, turn the situation around, vindicate us in front of the people who doubted us. None of those desires are necessarily wrong. But when we hand Jesus a script, we stop following Him and start directing Him. The crowd on Palm Sunday teaches us that a Jesus we invented cannot save us. Only the real one can. And the real one, Pastor Hunter reminded us, is better than anything we would have thought to ask for — even if His path looks nothing like what we imagined.

For reflection

Where in your life have you been following a version of Jesus shaped more by your own hopes than by who He has actually shown Himself to be?

Pray

Pray for honesty about the expectations you have placed on Jesus, and for openness to who He truly is.

Small-group discussion guide

For leading a group conversation about this message.

Open

This message centers on a question worth sitting with together: what kind of king were the crowds expecting on Palm Sunday — and what kind of king did Jesus turn out to be?

Discussion questions

1
In Matthew 21, the crowds welcome Jesus with 'Hosanna' and palm branches, then just days later call for His crucifixion. What do you think shifted so quickly — what might the crowds have been expecting that Jesus didn't deliver?
2
Pastor Hunter pointed out that Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey rather than a war horse. What does that choice communicate about the kind of king Jesus understood Himself to be?
3
Pastor Hunter described a 'counterfeit Jesus' — a version of Jesus shaped around our own expectations, whether that's fixing circumstances, defeating enemies, or confirming our comfort. How do people tend to construct that kind of Jesus, and what does it cost them when He doesn't act the way they imagined?
4
Psalm 23:4 says the shepherd leads us *through* the valley — not around it. Pastor Hunter connected this to Jesus not routing us around pain but walking us through it toward healing and joy. What does it look like, practically, for a community of people to walk *through* hard things together rather than avoiding them?
5
Pastor Hunter described Jesus entering Jerusalem as the perfect Passover Lamb — coming to win through sacrifice rather than strength. How does that reframe what it means to follow a king like this, compared to the kind of leader the crowds were hoping for?
6
Romans 12:1 calls us to offer our lives as living sacrifices in response to what Jesus has done. Pastor Hunter ended with the question: where is Jesus asking you to sacrifice? Take a moment this week, just between you and God, to sit with that question — and if it feels right, share with the group what it stirred up for you.

Pray together

Gratitude for the King Jesus actually is — humble, present in our pain, and saving us through His sacrifice rather than our striving

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Topics

Humility and Sacrifice Living From God's Love Misplaced Expectations Palm Sunday Who Jesus Really Is

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