Blessed is He who comes

“The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, “Hosanna!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Blessed is the king of Israel!”John‬ ‭12‬:‭12‬-‭13‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Hosanna means ‘save’ in Hebrew. The crowd recognised Jesus as saviour and deliverer from an oppressive regime. Even the disciples did not recognise Him as saviour from sin until after His resurrection. When Jesus rode on the donkey’s colt He fulfilled a prophesy from Zechariah 9:9.

A lot of the people who were now shouting Hosanna had been at Lazarus’ tomb in Bethany where Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, not far from Jerusalem. There was also a large amount of people from outside Jerusalem who had come to celebrate the Passover. 

Jesus the talked about the fact that He will be crucified. The crowd did not understand because they claimed that scripture said the Messiah would live forever. Yet, Jesus knew.

This chapter in John mentions that many of the leaders believed but did not make it known openly for fear of the Jews. The passage says they preferred the praise of men instead of God (v 43).

Next Sunday many Christians will march in a parade here in Kathmandu to acknowledge Jesus as saviour and Lord. They will publically display what they believe. Today there is a Hindu festival called Holi. This festival is to celebrate a Hindu goddess Holika and the celebration of good over evil. People smear paint over one another and throw water. In recent years this water was also filled with paint. However, this practice has been discouraged. Today we celebrate Palm Sunday.