From the sermon preached on March 29, 2026
Palm Sunday is about more than a parade. It’s about the gap between what people expected from Jesus and who he actually is — and how that same gap can exist in us today. Pastor Rich Romero of Generation Church in Coral Gables brought this tension into sharp focus this weekend, walking through Matthew 21 to ask a question that doesn’t have a comfortable answer: are you seeing Jesus rightly?
The crowd that welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem was doing everything right on the outside. They were shouting his name, waving branches, laying down their cloaks. But four days later, they were calling for his crucifixion. The sermon’s sobering point is that they weren’t rejecting Jesus — they were just seeing him wrong. And Palm Sunday is an invitation to ask whether we’re doing the same thing.
What Does Palm Sunday Really Mean? Right Words, Wrong Expectations
To understand Palm Sunday, you have to understand what was happening in Jerusalem that week. Passover — the annual celebration of God’s deliverance of the Jewish people from Egypt — had drawn millions into the city. The story goes back to the book of Exodus, when God instructed Moses to have the Israelites place the blood of a sacrificial lamb on their doorposts so that the death angel would pass over their homes. That act of obedience became the foundation of Passover — the “Super Bowl” of Jewish celebration, as Pastor Rich put it — a yearly reminder of how strong and faithful God is.
Into that moment, after three years of public ministry, Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a donkey and the crowd erupts. They shout “Hosanna!” — which literally means “save us now.” They are saying the right words. But their expectations are entirely about political deliverance. They want a king like David. They want Rome removed. They want their city back. And when Jesus makes clear that he came for something far deeper — spiritual transformation, not political reformation — the same crowd turns.
What’s interesting about this moment is what one of the gospel accounts records: as Jesus enters the city with crowds cheering on every rooftop, he is weeping. Isaiah 53 called him “the man of sorrows,” and here it shows. He isn’t weeping because of what is coming for him personally. He is weeping because he can see that although they are saying all the right things, their hearts are not truly seeing him. They are projecting onto him the king they wanted, not receiving him as the king he is.
This is a warning that cuts across centuries. Even John the Baptist — who had already laid down everything for his ministry and was sitting in jail awaiting execution — sent messengers to Jesus asking, “Are you the one, or should we look for another?” Because Jesus wasn’t bringing the fire and brimstone John expected. If John could wrestle with his expectations of Jesus, so can we. The actionable step today is this: open a Bible — a physical one if you have it — and start reading the gospels for yourself, not through someone else’s filter.
Why Does Jesus Confront Sin Instead of Just Fixing Our Problems?
The Monday after Palm Sunday, Jesus walks into the temple in Jerusalem and flips tables. The temple had become a marketplace — people buying, selling, making deals — and Jesus responds with what Pastor Rich called “holy indignation.” His declaration: “My father’s house shall not be a den of thieves but a house of prayer.” It’s a sharp, deliberate move, and it makes his mission unmistakable.
The crowd wanted external change. Jesus came for internal transformation. That distinction is everything. The prophet Jeremiah had preached this same message hundreds of years earlier, standing in the temple square telling the people that their daily attendance meant nothing if their hearts weren’t in it. God detests the practice of sin — not just the behavior, but the heart underneath the behavior. Religion says fix the outside and you’ll be good. Jesus says let God deal with your heart, and watch everything else follow.
This is the part of Jesus we tend to resist. We’re drawn to the Jesus who heals, who provides, who shows up when we need him. But when Jesus confronts pride, demands surrender, and calls us to repent? That feels like a loss. Pastor Rich flipped that instinct: confrontation from the Lord isn’t punishment. It’s freedom. The gospel isn’t an upgrade to the life you already have. It’s a new life entirely — old self put to death, new creation in Christ. That’s what the cross makes possible.
The question Pastor Rich posed about hell is worth sitting with: we often ask how a loving God could send someone to hell, but that’s the wrong frame. The better question is how a holy God — a God who cannot coexist with sin — could allow any of us into heaven at all. The answer is Jesus, paying a debt we could never afford. Full payment. Not compound interest. Finished.
The actionable step for this section: be honest with yourself about which version of Jesus you’ve been following. The one who fixes circumstances, or the one who confronts sin — and in doing so, sets you free.
How Do You Receive Jesus as He Actually Is, Not as You Want Him to Be?
Pastor Rich closed the message with a story that has stayed with him since high school. In the gospels, there is a woman who has been bleeding for twelve years. She has spent everything she has searching for healing and found nothing. She hears about Jesus and makes her way to where he is — but she is considered unclean by the law, and if she is caught breaking the social boundary, she could be put to death. So she hides herself in the crowd and crawls. She reaches out and touches the edge of his robe.
Jesus stops. He says someone touched him. His disciples think that’s an absurd statement given the size of the crowd, but Jesus says virtue has left his body. He turns around, and this woman — face to the ground, afraid — hears him say: “Your faith has made you whole. Look up at me.” That last line is the one that lands. Moses couldn’t see God’s face. Isaiah saw the train of his robe in Isaiah chapter 6 and immediately cried, “Woe is me — I am undone.” And yet Jesus, who is God made flesh, turns around in the middle of a crowd and shows this outcast woman his face. As Paul writes to the church in Corinth in 2 Corinthians 4:4–6, the glory of God is displayed in the face of Jesus Christ.
That is the invitation Palm Sunday extends to all of us. You can be in the crowd, saying all the right things, and still not truly see him. Charles Spurgeon put it plainly: there were many who spread their garments, but few who submitted their hearts. You can be close to the things of God and still be far from God himself. In Matthew 16:13–17, Jesus asks his disciples who people say he is — and then turns the question personal: “But what about you? Who do you say that I am?” The answer isn’t one you inherit from your grandparents or pick up from a preacher. It’s one the Holy Spirit reveals to the person who is willing to look up.
The actionable step: answer the question honestly. Who do you say Jesus is — and is that answer yours, or someone else’s?
Seeing Jesus vs. Seeing What We Want from Him
What the Crowd Wanted | What Jesus Actually Came to Do |
Political king to defeat Rome | Spiritual king to defeat sin |
External circumstances changed | Internal heart transformation |
A problem-solver | A Savior |
A king like David | The King of Kings — and Lord of all |
If You’re Searching in Miami, You’re Welcome Here
There is something about Holy Week in a city like Coral Gables that feels different. Miami is a place where people carry questions about faith alongside strong cultural and family ties to religion — and often feel like those two things are in tension. Generation Church began right here in this neighborhood, and its doors have always been open to people who are genuinely searching, not just performing. Whether you’ve grown up in church and drifted, or you’ve never quite found your footing with faith, the message of Palm Sunday is not abstract. It is an invitation from a Jesus who turns around and shows his face to the person who is crawling — not just the one who already has it together. If you feel that pull, it’s worth showing up and seeing for yourself.
See Him Rightly This Easter Season
Palm Sunday is not the end of the story — it’s the beginning of the week that changes everything. The crowd that day said the right words with the wrong expectations, and they missed him. Seeing Jesus rightly means receiving him as he is: not a problem-solver, not a political candidate, not a passive idea — but the holy, just, merciful, risen King who paid in full what none of us could afford. This is the most personal decision any person will ever make.
If you’re ready to take a next step toward knowing God personally — not secondhand, but for yourself — come connect with Generation Church at one of our services or explore Establish Track, our discipleship pathway built to help you do exactly that.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does the meaning of Palm Sunday actually refer to in Christianity?
Palm Sunday marks the day Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, fulfilling an ancient prophecy and publicly entering the city as the Messiah during Passover week. The crowds greeted him with palm branches and shouts of “Hosanna,” which means “save us now.” It begins Holy Week, the stretch of days that leads through Good Friday to Easter Sunday.
Why did the same crowd that praised Jesus on Palm Sunday call for his crucifixion days later?
The crowd’s praise was real, but it was built on a faulty expectation — they wanted a political king who would defeat Rome and restore Israel’s national power. When Jesus made clear that he came for spiritual transformation rather than political revolution, their disappointment turned. They weren’t rejecting him outright; they were projecting onto him the king they wanted rather than receiving the King he is.
What does it mean to see Jesus rightly?
Seeing Jesus rightly means encountering him as he actually is — holy, just, merciful, and the only one who can deal with the sin that separates us from God — rather than as we wish he were. It’s the difference between using Jesus to get what you want and surrendering to him as Lord. As the sermon draws from 2 Corinthians 4:4–6, the glory of God is displayed in the face of Jesus Christ, and it requires humility and the work of the Holy Spirit to truly see it.
How can I know God personally and not just through what others say?
Pastor Rich Romero addressed this directly: genuine faith is built on your own encounter with scripture and the Holy Spirit, not inherited secondhand from someone else. TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube creators cannot disciple you the way submitting to the authority of scripture in a healthy local church community can. The starting point is reading the Bible for yourself and finding people to process it with.
What does Jesus confront in our lives, and why is that actually good news?
Jesus confronts sin — not just our circumstances or behaviors, but the condition of our hearts that produces them. That can feel threatening, but the sermon’s core argument is that confrontation from the Lord is freedom, not punishment. If Jesus only came to improve your life externally, nothing would fundamentally change. He came to give you a new life — which begins with honest repentance and the finished work of the cross.
