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Yesterday was Palm Sunday, the one where we talk about Jesus’ Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem on a donkey, with people waving palm branches and shouting, “Hosanna!” When Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, it meant He came in peace. Kings rode on stallions in wartime and donkeys when at peace. The word Hosanna that the people shouted means, “Lord, save!” or, “Lord, rescue us!”

Jesus did in fact come to make peace and save us! While it wasn’t quite like the people at the time thought it would be, Jesus did what only He could do to rescue us from sin and death, making peace between us and God. Since sin requires a payment that no human can fully pay and a cleansing that no human can achieve themselves, Jesus became the payment and the cleansing for us! God loves us so much that He didn’t want to have to be at war with us. So now when we admit we’re sinners in need of a Rescuer, believe in what Jesus did, and confess that Jesus is Lord and Savior, our sin-debt is paid, our sin dirt is cleansed, and we are no longer God’s enemies! On top of that, we get to go to Heaven to be with God and Jesus when we die!

After I taught the little kids in Sunday School about Jesus’ entry, death, and resurrection, they had fun waving their paper palm branches, walking around saying, “Hosanna!” It reminded me of Matthew 21:15, where we see that even the children had been around for Jesus’ entry, and later repeated Hosannas in the temple. Maybe they were saying it to Jesus as they passed by. Maybe they were even re-enacting the scene as they talked and played.

I don’t know how much the Sunday School children understand for the moment, but one day it will make more sense to them. It makes me wonder, how many of those children in the Bible understood what was going on at the time? How many understood later? For that matter, how many adults understood? And for that matter again, how many of us today understand?

A little more reading:
Hosanna!
Palm Sunday
Hosanna, King Jesus!