Hosanna!

“Then the crowds who went ahead of Him and those who followed Him shouted: ‘Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!’” Matthew 21:9

The triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem…it began the final leg of His earthly journey to the cross. The crowds cheered, waving palm branches and laying their coats down on the ground before the young donkey that carried Him. It was a procession fit for a king. But only Jesus truly understood the reality of what the crowd was begging for when they shouted, “Hosanna!” on that day.

“Hosanna!” was a shout of adoration; but it was also a plea. You see, “Hosanna” literally means, “Come save us now!” Little did the people know that was exactly what Jesus was about to do. In every way that truly matters, He was about to save them. But first, there was a last bit of unfinished business He needed to tend to at the Temple.

The Hosanna-shouters must have been shocked to see the man on the donkey flipping money tables over and driving the sellers out of the Temple in righteous anger. Jesus would not allow the lies and greed to continue in His Father’s house. He went there that day to make it perfectly clear that forgiveness could not be bought with coins, but only with His blood. Redemption was not reserved for those who could pay, but was available to all – even the lowliest, the neediest, and the most broken. “My house will be called a house of prayer, but you are making it a den of thieves!” Jesus shouted. It was what He did next, however, that likely shocked everyone even more than His sharp words. He invited them inside. The blind, the lame, the diseased…those who had spent their lives on the outside…He welcomed them into the Temple and healed them. Out with the haughty, in with the humble. It was a picture of the Kingdom He would soon establish with His blood.

To which group do you belong? Is it those inside doing religion like a business, or those on the outskirts bringing a humble offering of brokenness in faith? Jesus has come. Salvation has come. You need only shout, in faith and repentance, “Hosanna! Come save me now!” and He will deliver you from your sin.

Dear Lord, thank you for sending Jesus to set me free from my sin. Help me to always extend the invitation of Your grace to everyone. In Jesus' name, amen.