The Savior of Our Hosannas

The Lord has made proclamation to the ends of the earth: “Say to Daughter Zion, ‘See, your Savior comes! See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him.’ ”

Zechariah 9:9 NIV

Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

Jesus rode in showing contempt for the usual triumphal entry on a warhorse, by riding on donkey which is traditional for the Jewish king's entrance. - J.W.

The prophecy speaks of a gentle king riding on a donkey, as Jesus is gentle and humble in heart.

Matthew 11:29 NIV

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

"the gentle king arrives in his capital with no sword in his hand, vulnerable to whatever his enemies will choose to do to him. He who taught 'Do not resist one who is evil' (Matt. 5:39) is prepared to live and die by his own word." - Interpreter

Vs. 8 Spreading of the cloaks on the ground was traditional for the Jewish king's entrance. - J.W.

2 Kings 9:13 NIV

They quickly took their cloaks and spread them under him on the bare steps. Then they blew the trumpet and shouted, “Jehu is king!”

Vs. 9 The people cried out Hosanna, and we don't have to guess at its meaning. Hosanna means, "Lord, Save Us!"

“Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord” is not explicitly messianic, was employed as a greeting by pilgrims attending temple festivals.

Only Jesus truly came “in the name of the Lord,” that is, fully empowered and authorized by God. - Interpreter

Vs. 10 Those who saw Jesus' entry couldn't help but ask who he was.

Jesus had previously refused any token of honor, it might have prevented his preaching, but time was getting short.

Matthew seems to suggest that the holy city is shaken to its foundations by the arrival of the Lord’s Anointed. - Interpreter

Vs. 11 The crowds answered that Jesus is a prophet from Nazareth, but if they would have answered that he was born in Bethlehem, where the prophecies said, then they would have had to acknowledge Jesus as the Messiah. Even such a little thing as that became a stumbling block to belief.

This event was a subtle enough event, so pregnant with Jewish cultic meaning that the Romans did not recognize it (not summoning the army & having no trial), while it was obvious to those who knew the Scriptures.

However, even the disciples did not acknowledge Jesus as the Messiah until after the Resurrection.

John 12:16 NIV

At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that these things had been done to him.

"he suffered their acclamations, that they might be a public testimony against their wickedness, who in four or five days after cried out, Crucify him, crucify him." - J.W.

Matthew highlights for us the irony implicit in Jesus’ last pilgrimage to the holy city. The Son of David enters David’s city, but the only throne he finds is a cross. The city that should have welcomed him with its fullest homage refused to accept its gentle king. Shaken as at the news of his birth (2:3), the city sides again with the Herods of this world who maintain the established order. How easy it is for us to think that by celebrating Palm Sunday we acknowledge Jesus as king in a way that Jerusalem failed to do! We need constantly to be humbled by those harsh words that remind us of the superficiality of our Hosannas:

Matthew 7:21 NIV

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

By the end of the week, Jesus will be called "the King of the Jews" as he hangs on the cross.

While in times of fear and anxiety, we often wonder: Will God save me from it? Will God make me whole after I have been take ill?Does God want to hear me complaining about my troubles?Should I offer God something, so that he might favor my request?

And when we do not get the answer we want, sometimes, we blame God or question whether he exists?

Be careful that the questions we have in doubt don’t become accusations.

The accuser says, it would be better if God did not exist than to believe God will not heal me or save me without my asking.

It would be easier to believe this narrative of the triumphal entry was made up to legitimate Jesus to future believers or that Jesus knew of a donkey owner in Jerusalem that would accommodate him.

It would be easier to believe, like many of the Jews, that Jesus was another pretender or a prophet that could produce miracles.

Even with all the evidence at hand, there are still many who would continue to deny the truth, that Jesus is the Messiah; the one come to restore humanity back to God, because of how he had come into the world, with the power experienced in gentleness, humility, and boundless grace.

The stumbling blocks to acknowledging the truth are abundant.

Faith is not easy and things of God cannot be fully discerned without the special revelation of God.

But, once God reveals the divine, one must decide whether one believes and trusts God.

The donkey were tied up, as he said, and the owner did allow them to borrow them, as he said, and Jesus did fulfill the prophecies spoken by Isaiah 62:11 & Zechariah 9:9.

Jesus rode the gentle donkey humbly into Jerusalem, not as in a political rally (shouting of his own greatness), or a militant show of force (display of an honor guard & weapons), recognizable by the Romans (the largest military in the world).

What kind of king declares his authority this way?

Those who went ahead of him declaring his authority, "in the name of the Lord!"

Those who followed behind him were left seeking for the answer to who Jesus was.

But, even those who knew him could yet only say with confidence that Jesus was a prophet.

Jesus comes gently & humbly into our lives, today, like he rode into Jerusalem that day.

He comes not with accusation or militant confrontation but with quiet and assertive prophetic symbolic action having ministered healing and release from demonic oppression.

The healed and released, the forgiven and empower, the comforted and equipped know the authority of Christ.

Jesus did not have to prompt anyone to go before him that day, those who followed were given an answer, maybe an imperfect answer, but an answer nonetheless.

It is ironic that the people of Jerusalem

would not accept her prophesied king

because he did not fit their mold for who a king was.

No king of Israel and Judah accepted by its people

ever fit God's mold for God's Messiah.

A innocent and righteous king

sent by, empowered by and of God's own essence

would be the only way for the people of God to be saved.

Even the evidences of him providing

healing, release, and empowerment

must be taken in faith.

That reminds us that: Jesus said, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven." (Matt. 7:21)

"For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day." (John 6:40)

Take some time this week to ask yourselves, what kind of Hosannas do I bring? Do I only ask God to save me? Or do I praise God for divine goodness however God answers? Do you answer the Lord by doing his will?

Be assured that he is Lord and will save and deliver all who call upon him in faith.

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