“Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!” (Matthew 21:9). Idiomatically, this means: “Save [me], I pray, the Son of David. Blessed is the one who comes in the name of Yahweh! Save [me], I pray, by the highest!”

When the people shout these words about Jesus as He enters Jerusalem, they affirm His divinely appointed role and His ability to save them. And the original psalm that this phrase comes from is about their God, Yahweh. Perhaps the people understood Jesus as one with God (Psalm 118:25–26).

As He enters Jerusalem, Jesus’ actions align with Zechariah 9:9, which foretells of a savior-king who will enter on a donkey (Matthew 21:5).

For first-century Jews, everything lined up to affirm Jesus as God’s way of bringing salvation, and they responded to Him as such. This prompts several questions: how often do we see the alignment between what’s happening and God’s plan? How many parallels or opportunities do we miss? And how often do we forget to say “save me”?

Whenever possible, and just like the whole city of Jerusalem during Passover, we should be stirred to ask, “Who is this?” (Matthew 21:10).

JDB; Connect the Testaments
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the Lexham English Bible, LEB © 2012 by Logos Bible Software.
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