Matthew 21:8-11
And the great crowd spread their cloaks in the road. And others cut of branches from trees and
were spreading them in the road. And the
crowd that went ahead of Him and the one that followed cried out while saying, “Hosanna
to the Son of David. The one who comes
in the name of the Lord is having been blessed.
Hosanna in the highest.” And
after He entered into Jerusalem, all of the city was being thrown into an
uproar while saying, “Who is this?” And
the crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus, the one from Nazareth of
Galilee.”
Thoughts for Today
First Thought:
Let’s look at the crowd.
Yesterday we talked about the prophetic message from the Old Testament
and how Zechariah reminds us that the king enters humbly. Now put this in contrast to the behavior of
the crowds. So much for a humble entry
into Jerusalem! Jesus enters humbly,
focused on God. But the crowds turn it
into a commission! They stir up the
whole city. Now, don’t get me
wrong. I can understand their
reaction. Jesus – the great prophet and
healer – has come to Jerusalem. I’m sure
many of them are thinking that this is where Jesus takes over as Messiah and
kicks out the Romans. But the point is,
the crowds just don’t get Jesus. They
think that He is a prophet. Jesus tries
to enter into Jerusalem humbly and they miss the boat on that one, too. The crowds don’t get Jesus. They seldom ever took the time to listen to
Him during His ministry, and when Jesus’ ministry is coming to a close they
still aren’t listening to God.
Have you ever considered that the actions of the crowd might
actually display their ignorance of Jesus?
How does this story actually show us how the world truly doesn’t understand
a person’s desire to be humbly submitted to God?
Second Thought:
The result of the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem is that the
whole city is stirred up. I believe this
electric atmosphere is the final element necessary for the crucifixion of Jesus
to happen. The city is in an
uproar. All the people are talking. Jesus becomes the focal point, and this will
naturally polarize Him in the eyes of the city.
Some will love Him. Obviously His
disciples and those who followed Him will fall into this category. But human nature is such that just as many
who love Jesus will hate Him. There’ll
be some who are envious of His popularity.
There’ll be some who are jealous of His status among the people. There’ll be some who are convinced His
teachings are wrong. Either way, we know
the end of the story. This same city
whose throng declares Jesus blessed at the beginning of the week will demand
for His death at the end of the week.
Why does the reaction of the crowd as Jesus approaches
Jerusalem make the events of the following week more likely to happen? Have you ever been in Jesus’ place – trying
to follow God and do what you were told – and the people around you didn’t
understand? How does that feel?
Third Thought:
I briefly mentioned this in the first
thought, but I want to flesh out an idea more as we conclude the study on this
passage. Notice that when the throng
stirred up the city, the main question people in the city asked was, “Who is
this?” The reality is that they didn’t
know. Oh, the crowd that had been
following Jesus knew. And I’m sure the
religious elite knew. But the general
population of the town was clueless about Jesus. I think this is a very prudent point. It is so easy to go through life focused on
whatever is before you that you miss the greater picture. It is so easy to get wrapped up in our own
little box of life that we miss the greater thing that God is trying to
do. It is so easy to focus on our daily
to-do list that we don’t see a greater calling around us. The city of Jerusalem is a perfect example of
this in the life of Jesus. Had Jesus not
come to them, they would have completely missed the coming of their Messiah.
Have you ever been so busy that you
missed God’s work around you? Why are
human beings subject to this error? What
can you do about it in life?
Passage for Tomorrow: Matthew 21:12-17
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