Save now!

And those who went before and those who followed were shouting, “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!”

Mark 11:9-10

Messianic fervor is in the shouts of this crowd as Jesus enters Jerusalem at the start of Passion Week. The entire episode is direct fulfillment of Zechariah 9:9, as Jesus rides into Jerusalem on the foal of a donkey. The cries of “Hosanna” (literally “save now!”) are more in hopes of ending Roman occupation than they are hopes for eternal salvation. Ultimately Jesus would die to end a tyranny more cruel and more globally repressive: He would, by His death and resurrection, save His people from Satan’s global empire and would destroy the domination of sin and death over human experience.

But in this scene we see the gentle majesty of our Savior. He has the authority and power of the King of kings over all that rules this earth. He has the calm and controlled majesty of the Prince of Peace. He brings the hope of deliverance with him every yard further into the city as the donkey carries Him. He is worthy of praise because He is indeed humanity’s only hope.

Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a borrowed donkey just a week from His death and resurrection. There, He would show His authority at every teaching moment: in the temple, to His challengers, and ultimately display it vividly in His crucifixion. There He would die to “save now”. And His resurrection from the dead on the third day would save us “in the highest”! Hosanna!