Journal Entry ~ 03/28/18

9 And those who went before and those who followed were shouting, "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
10 Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!" - Mark 11:9-10

These verses appear in the passage about the Triumphal Entry of Jesus to Jerusalem.  A short week before Jesus took our sins to the cross, a week before He was beaten and mocked, then convicted as a criminal by the crowds in Jerusalem, He was welcomed as a king. The dichotomy has always fascinated me - how quickly people turn and abandoned their King. 

When people saw him coming down the road, they couldn’t contain their worship.  They stopped what they were doing and ran out to greet Him with praises, laying down their cloaks and waving palm branches to honor Him - both of these were significant actions at the time. Laying down their cloaks in the road for Him to walk over was a sign of honor and submission. People didn’t have multiple coats as we do - they only had one cloak, and they chose their one and only cloak to lay down in the dirty, muddy road because they wanted to protect the King from the filth. It was a sacrifice. They believed at the time the King would save them, so they withheld nothing in worship. 

In those days, people used palm branches to celebrate victory, so it was significant that they chose to wave branches at Jesus as He rode in. They believed He was the King who came to save Him, so their hearts cried out in victory. Waving palm branches symbolized Their belief that Jesus would reign victorious in their lives. 

These people are seeing their King, most for the first time, and they couldn’t contain their worship. They held nothing back in their actions or their words. We can hear what they were saying in these verses. Hosanna means “save now”. They believed Jesus was a Savior, and they were crying out for Him to save them. Mistakenly, they thought He came to save them from the cruel and oppressive Roman Empire, but their recognition as Jesus as a Savior is nonetheless important. 

He is our Savior and our worship should at least mirror the humility and the praise of our coming King this week. We should stop what we’re doing, and make room to welcome our King this week. Our hearts should bow in humble submission and our hands should be raised in victorious praise. Our Savior is coming!


Press on ~ you are loved 💗

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