Why did Israel miss their king when Jesus came?
Nationally, Israel was blinded by God and remained ignorant of who Jesus really was. They expected a king arriving with pomp, power, and circumstance, perhaps on a great white Arabian steed, but He came riding a lowly donkey. Thus they missed Him, and Israel did not obtain what they were looking for.
Les explains that Paul is admonishing the believers at Rome not to be ignorant of the fact that God has dropped a spiritual blindness on the nation of Israel—not on every individual, since an individual Jew can still have his eyes opened and believe, but nationally they are blinded. In Romans 11:7, Paul says Israel did not obtain what they were looking for; the election, those few Jews who believed, obtained it, and the rest were blinded. Israel expected a king who would come with pomp, power, and circumstance, perhaps symbolically riding a great white Arabian steed, but their king came riding on a lowly donkey. They asked, “This our king? No way!” They were ignorant of who He really was, and that blindness remains on the nation of Israel to this very day.