Thoughts from daily Bible reading for today – March 28, 2015
Guest Writer: Meet my son-in-law Tripp Prince. We are blessed to have him write our Lenten devotionals for seven consecutive Saturdays. Today’s is the 6th. Thank the Lord for you, Tripp!
The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” John 12:12-13
When we read the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation we encounter the story of God’s unceasing faithfulness to his people. Time and time again God’s people find themselves in need of saving, and each time God comes to their rescue: slavery in Egypt, David vs. Goliath, exiled in Babylon. The list goes on and on.
This weekend, Christians around the world celebrate Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, and in this celebration we encounter another key moment where God’s people are crying out for salvation. Hosanna literally means “save us,” so when we hear God’s people in John 12 crying out, they aren’t simply singing songs of praise or thanksgiving but are joining their voices with the psalmist who in Psalm 118 cries “save us, we pray, O LORD!”
In Jesus’ day, God’s people lived under the rule and oppression of the Roman Empire. When they thought of their need for salvation, what first came to mind was their need to be saved from the Romans. For this reason, when the crowds welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem, they thought they were welcoming the revolutionary King who would overthrow Rome and set them free.
Jesus is without question a revolutionary King who comes to save us, but his revolution is not against a nation or state but is against our true oppressor: death.
To truly set us free, God’s rescue mission must go to the very root of our bondage. He knew in the ancient world that there was a bondage far deeper than Roman oppression, and He knows in our world today that there is a bondage far deeper than financial struggle, relational brokenness, or substance abuse. These challenges are symptoms of a much deeper ailment.
Jesus’ triumphal entry is ultimately his triumph over sin and death. He is the King who comes to die and rise again, defeating death once and for all as he does.
When we see Jesus as he truly is, and when we see our own brokenness and need, we should rush to join our voices with the crowd and say afresh, “Hosanna, God save us!”
Prayer: Father, thank you for sending Jesus to save us from the curse of sin and death. Help us to trust in his saving mercy, goodness, and love.
Related Readings: 1 Chronicles 16:35; Psalm 106:47; Isaiah 25:9; Matthew 8:25
Additional Resource: 4 minute music video- Paul Baloche: Hosanna
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