HOSANNA 2 BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD

    We do not know whether the expanding crowd sang some of the other six psalms.  A musical feast comforted the dear Son of God.   In another scene , ‘angels came and ministered to Him’, but now the common, devoted people, loving the lyrics of the great psalms, supported the altogether-lovely One.

    It was unanimous and spontaneous praise, for ‘the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God for all the mighty works that they had seen.’ ( v37).  The miracles of the Lord Jesus stirred them to songs of praise.  They had seen Him touch lives, and eyewitnesses cannot  easily be dissuaded.

    Pause and consider the mighty works our Lord has done in the lives of those around you.  The spiritually-blind have been healed; the naturally blind have been restored as cataracts or glaucoma or displaced retinae have been corrected.  The Lord heals after the surgeon has done his part.  My anaesthetist always reminded me of this. Only God can do the secret, on-going work of healing. 

    Consider the broken-hearted whom our Lord Jesus has comforted; the broken marriages that have been reconstituted and made beautiful, husbands and wives who have discovered that Christ purifies and preserves the chaste oneness.  Remember the lonely who have discovered the sweetness of Christian fellowship and the unbroken communion with our Lord Jesus, unaffected by any natural event. .   Recall the depressed, who regained their self-esteem, and a new sense of His pardon and power.  These are the ‘mighty works of our God. ‘

    If you listened keenly you would have caught the theme of their rapturous music, ‘ Blessed be the King, who comes in the Name of the Lord: peace in heaven , and glory in the highest.’ ( v38)  They accepted the Kingship of our beloved Lord, which contrasted with His humble approach to the city He loved.

    Isaiah knew that when he wrote, ‘ Of the increase of His government and peace, there shall be no end; upon the throne of David and His kingdom to order it and to establish it.’ ( 9:7)   Did some break into this song?   Daniel wrote, ’There was given Him dominion, and glory and a kingdom, that all nations, that all peoples, nations and languages should serve Him’ ( 7:14) 

    When Pilate said to Him, ‘Are you a king?’ Our Lord responded, ‘ You say I am a king.’  To this end was I born, and for this cause I came into the world.’ 

( John 18:27)   Paul joyfully stated that ’He must reign, till He has put all His enemies under His feet.’  ( 1 Corinth 15:25 ) .

    It was right that they should proclaim His kingship in the days preceding the crucifixion of our Lord. As believers we must remind ourselves often that He is King, and never relinquished His royal state, even though he suffered the drastic humiliation of death by the cross.  Recently at a camp, a young christian told me ‘I know Jesus as my Saviour but I have never crowned Him as King ( Or Lord ) of my life.’ I urged him to.  Is he your King in  life, home, and each relationship?

    Surely God’s Spirit guided the immense crowd in their claim,  ’Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord.  Peace in heaven and glory in the highest.’  Our Lord Jesus is moving steadily into the last week on earth as Son of man, facing death on a criminal cross, anticipating the descent into Hades, the glorious resurrection, and presentation of His credentials at the throne of God.  ‘The name of the Lord’ described all this activity, for the Father does all things well.  The great salvation is being worked out marvellously.  The eternal purposes of God were being fulfilled as the keyed-up crowd glorified their Lord.

    The Pharisee parasites in the crowd, irritated by the true worship and loving praise called to Him,’ Teacher, rebuke your disciples.’ ( v39)  This discordant cry showed the miserable bitter spirit of the religious leaders.  It contrasted with the sweet, fluent praise of the common people, who dearly loved our Lord Jesus.

    The dignified, searching response of the Lord Jesus showed His mountainous stature alongside their ant-hill littleness. ’ He answered and said to them, ‘ I tell you that if these be silent, the stones would immediately cry out.’ ( v40)

    Our Lord prophesied that the stones of Jerusalem would cry out protesting the death of the Son of God, when the Roman Titus destroyed Jerusalem  , not leaving one stone upon another.  Forty years later, 70 AD THESE STONES CRIED OUT. The archeologist confirmed the Word of the Lord.

    The memory bank of this computer has a silicon chip, modified from the crushed sand of these stones.  As I record this, I preserve it in its memory bank, activated by an electric current.  These ‘stones’ enable me to recall it.  Christ correctly prophesied, long before the computer was designed.

    Crush these stones, refine them and reduce them to the metals used in our sound recording. Our violin strings, pianos, harps, musical instruments, silver, brass or rarely gold, CD’s and our radios are metallic.  Thank God that a philharmonic orchestra uses every instrument harmoniously to present the ‘Hallelujah chorus ‘, St Matthew’s Passion, and the great hymns of faith.  Our Lord said that ‘if the people were silent in their praise, the stones would cry out.’ 

    We must seize every moment to cry out our praise of the beloved Saviour, else every stone will cry our His virtue and His praise.