Save now!

And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”

Matthew 21:9

The triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem for the last time before His crucifixion was a different event for all involved. Jesus predicted it, sending His disciples ahead to pick up a donkey with a young colt to carry Him into the city. Matthew, the gospel’s author, is quick to point our how this event fulfilled the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9.

For the disciples this is a moment they had not yet seen, but had all hoped for. It appears that Jesus is stepping into the role of the Davidic political messiah at last, acting quite kingly and accepting the acclaim of the people around Him. He is certainly entering the royal city of David like a king of old. And His direction of them to procure His ride into town feels very commanding. Perhaps they thought that now the kingdom would break Roman occupation and set the Jews free from gentile domination?!

The crowds certainly seem to accept Jesus with that kind of fervor. They are calling out for Jesus as the “Son of David” (the Messiah and the True King) to “save now” (the meaning of Hosanna)! They are hoping for a revolution. They see the King coming to them, humble and mounted on a donkey, and their hope is also very earthly. They want Israel to rise again as a world power.

Little did they realize that Jesus would defeat a greater tyranny than Rome. And this humble king riding a donkey into Jerusalem would a week later in humiliation be crucified outside her gates. He would be buried in a rock tomb, apparently defeated by the Sanhedrin and Pilate’s own Roman order of execution. But three days later He would rise up from that tomb having defeated the powers of sin, death, and hell so that not just Israel, but the world could be saved from the rule of sin and death! Save now? Indeed! Save completely, our King!