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A King on a colt, a city trembling, and a crowd torn between conquest and peace—this Palm Sunday moment still confronts our assumptions about power, freedom, and worship. We walk through Matthew 21 to ask a simple but seismic question: are we seeing Jesus as he really is?

We start with the untied donkey and the weight of Passover, where deliverance always leads to purpose. Freedom in the kingdom is not a vague feeling; it is a calling. From the disciples’ quiet obedience to Old Testament patterns of consecration, we trace how Jesus sets us free for service and claims our gifts for holy work. Then we linger with the cloaks and palm branches. Psalm 118 rises from the crowd, not as nostalgia but as a bold coronation. Yet the Messiah rejects the warhorse and rides in peace. That tension—true power arriving gentle and lowly—reshapes how we praise, how we lead, and how we love our enemies.

Along the way, we bring the text to life with stories that prove the gospel’s reach. Jacob DeShazer returns to postwar Japan with forgiveness that shocks skeptics. John Bunyan’s chains cannot contain a ministry that becomes Pilgrim’s Progress. And in one of the episode’s most moving turns, former enemies Jacob DeShazer and Mitsuo Fuchida pray as brothers after meeting the risen Christ. When a city asks, Who is this?, Scripture and history answer in chorus: Messiah, Son of God, and King who still shakes hearts awake.

If you’re hungry for a faith that is courageous, compassionate, and grounded in Scripture, this conversation is for you. Listen, share it with a friend who needs hope, and if it speaks to you, subscribe and leave a review so more people can find it. What part stirred you most today?

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Catch On Fire Podcasts aims to lead us all into a closer walk with God as we strive to become more like Jesus.