Saturday – Open Topic

Reading – John 12:12-19

Highlight Verses:

“The next day, the news that Jesus was on the way to Jerusalem swept through the city. A large crowd of Passover visitors took palm branches and went down the road to meet him. They shouted, “Praise God! Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hail to the King of Israel!””
‭‭John‬ ‭12‬:‭12‬-‭13‬ ‭NLT‬‬

They cried out Hosanna!

What a scene it must have been.

People laying down their coats and palm branches before Him as Jesus triumphantly rode a donkey into Jerusalem for the Passover festival.

Joy and expectation were in the air!

The Messiah had arrived!

In one scene from that day, when the religious leaders asked Jesus to quiet his followers, he said that if they didn’t shout out, even the rocks would cry out in praise.

Maybe it would have been better if they had.

At least the rocks wouldn’t turn on him in the space of a few days.

But then most of the people were not truly believers in Jesus. They believed in a Messiah who would come and drive the Romans and other unbelieving foreigners out of Judah and re-establish David’s throne. They cried out “hosanna” which means “save us.” It was a chant with which you would greet a military hero.

Jesus came not for a military coup but for a spiritual coup.

He came to set people free from spiritual captivity into true freedom, not just in Jerusalem but throughout the world and for all time.

Have you cried out “hosanna” to the Messiah?
Do you know Jesus’ true purpose in Jerusalem that day?