Hosanna in the Highest (Matthew 21:9)

2022-03-04

And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest. (Matthew 21:9)

The triumphal entry is the fulfillment of Zechariah 9:9: “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass” (Zechariah 9:9).

If you keep reading that passage, it speaks of peace to the Jew and the non-Jew and deliverance. Jesus fulfilled this prophecy; He came in peace that day. He comes as a warrior on a horse in the future.

The people only recognized the prophecy in part. They responded to this fulfillment of the Zechariah passage with a quote from the psalms (where “Hosanna” is translated, “save now”):

Save now, I beseech thee, O LORD: O LORD, I beseech thee, send now prosperity. Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the LORD: we have blessed you out of the house of the LORD. (Psalms 118:25-26)

There is irony here. In this same psalm, we find things like, “The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner” (Psalms 118:22). The onlookers that day had more in mind this part: “All nations compassed me about: but in the name of the LORD will I destroy them” (Psalms 118:10). They wanted deliverance from foreign rule. When they did not get it, their countenance changed toward Jesus just a few days later. What they did not understand is that spiritual deliverance was to precede physical deliverance.

A few days later, Jesus said, “For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord” (Matthew 23:39). Didn’t they already say this? Not from the right heart. There will be a day when the Jewish nation will welcome the King as their Savior from more than just earthly tyrants, but from the power of Satan.

We all need to recognize Him as the Savior on His terms, not ours.