Matthew 21:6-9
The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and He sat on them. Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”
Imagine yourself in the crowd. You’re seeing this Jesus—you’ve heard that He has done miracles, rumors that He will deliver your nation from the Roman colonizers, and relieve you of your burdens. He is about to enter the city and you are swept up in the crowd’s shouts of praise. You shout, “Hosanna!” literally meaning, “Please save us!” He is riding a donkey, humble, with no pretenses. This is Who the prophets have been writing about. Praise the Lord, the same God that delivered your fathers from out of Egypt!
Imagine yourself as a disciple. Jesus has been telling you that He has to suffer and die and rise again. You love Him and believe in Him, but you’re not sure you understand. You’re comfortable being in the inner circle, simply following His instructions, marveling at His miracles. He’s not really going to die, right? Everything is going well, look—the people are praising him!
Jesus looks out at the crowd, accepting their praise as right. But He knows they are all going to turn against Him within the week, and He does not bring the salvation from the Romans that they seek. They don’t yet understand the salvation that He brings—true salvation, for both the Jew and the Gentile. The Father sees infinitely farther than the crowds, beyond their current pain and suffering.
Our perspective, like the crowd’s and the disciples’, is limited. We could not see the big picture, we don’t understand why circumstances turn south, or why our prayers are left unanswered. We might feel like He has failed us. But God’s perspective is not merely for our current comfort and happiness, but always for His glory and our sanctification.
The people were not wrong to praise Jesus. In Matthew 21:16, when the chief priest and scribes were indignant about the praise, Jesus replied “Yes; have you never read, ‘Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise’?” But we must give praise to God without conditions and expectations, knowing He is mighty to save, and in ways greater than we can ever imagine. The march of victory was merited. He did achieve victory that week—the greatest victory of all, a victory over sin and death, over eternal separation from God, for now and forevermore. In light of this do we shout our praise.
How do we keep faith when what we expect does not come to pass? What does it mean to truly praise God and shout Hosanna—beg for His deliverance? When you find yourself focusing on your own plans for the future, reorient yourself to always look toward God’s infinite wisdom and eternal perspective.