(Reprinted from "Eyes on Jesus: Through Mark's Gospel")
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MARK 11:1-11
Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields. Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted, “Hosanna!”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!”
“Hosanna in the highest!” (verses 8-10)
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As I started into this passage this morning, the simple heading in my Bible, “The Triumphal Entry,” shot through me with a thrill of excited anticipation. Yes! The King is coming!
Which must have been exactly what the crowd felt that day. Certainly they expressed it with hearts and hands and voices. They spread cloaks and laid branches in the roadway, a royal carpet for the king’s procession. They commandeered phrases from the Psalms, shouting them in acclamation and welcome. And they got it right – exactly. This was indeed the One who would save, completely. Hosanna (Save!) nailed it! He comes in the name of the Lord, with his full authority and anointing – truly! In him David’s kingdom finds its fulfilment, from that time on and forever – yes!. What anticipation. What truth.
And yet, they missed it. Presumably many of these were the same who, just days later, would shout, “Crucify him!”
The irony, of course, is that the voices mix. The cry, “Save!”, overlaps with the cry, “Crucify!” The One who comes is the One who dies. The establishment of the kingdom comes on the back of the cross. And the pathway of the king is the pathway of suffering and humiliation.
Hosanna, yes. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he who comes.
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Lord Jesus, you knew. As you approached Jerusalem, you knew. You set your face for that place. You received the acclamation, rightly, yet you pressed on to your goal.
The glory of triumph comes through the cross. It is there that “Hosanna” rings the loudest.
Praise you, my King.
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Reflect: Take time to voice your own praise. Give thanks to the One who has come. We see the full story. Rehearse the signs of the King’s glory. Let Hosannas ring.
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Photo by Daian Gan: https://www.pexels.com/photo/close-up-palm-leaf-1581363/
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