Children Shouting "Hosanna!"

Christ's Entry into Jerusalem by Bernard Plockhorst CC BY 2.0

People who were blind and lame came to Jesus in the temple, and he healed them. But when the chief priests and legal experts saw the amazing things he was doing and the children shouting in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David!”, they were angry.
-Matthew 21:14-15

We used to sing a song, when I was a teenager, that went,

"Sing hosanna, sing hosanna, sing hosanna to the king of kings".  

I learned that hosanna means, "Lord save!"

In this scene, Jesus is healing people, in the temple.  The religious rulers and scholars are watching Jesus healing and children shouting, "Hosanna to the Son of David".  They are angry.

The most popular title for Messiah was Son of David (1).  We say, "Jesus Christ".  Christ means Messiah.  Christ and Messiah both mean the Anointed One or God's Anointed King, who has come to save his people.  Everyone believed, based on the scriptures, that God's Anointed One (Messiah & Christ) would be the Son of David; that is, come from David's line (2).

Why are these guys angry?  I always thought they were ticked off because Jesus obviously, to them, was not Messiah; and not God's anointed one.  So, they reasoned, he should shush the children.

We have a picture of blind and lame people flocking to Jesus and he heals them.  The children's worship gives us commentary on what is seen.  God is saving by healing.  God's Messiah is here!

Salvation is not just a future place in heaven, but a changed life now.  The gospel is so powerful that it not only gains your place in heaven, but heals your life now.  It is actually easier to heal the lame than to forgive sin!. Some people have it backwards!

He forgives your sin and heals your diseases (Ps. 103:3).  Just because we have trouble getting healed does not mean God does not heal.  Whatever the ages of the blind and lame people that came to Jesus on that day, they had probably suffered a long time.  When they heard that Jesus was in town, they made their way to him, and he healed them.

The anger at seeing people healed and hearing children praise God is beyond the pale.  It shows a religious pride that is not true religion, but human control, out of touch with God.  They had more faith in themselves than in God.  They had a problem with the healing, the praise of Jesus as Messiah, and/or the proclamation coming from children.

Those who think that children can't be saved, can't know God, and can't know truth have got it backwards.  Actually God does the saving and God does the revealing.  We don't work up to it, but we kneel down into it.  Salvation and saving faith is easier for children than adults.  We get saved in our hearts and children have more open, soft hearts.

Listen to Jesus' words in Matthew 11:

At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you’ve hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have shown them to babies.  Indeed, Father, this brings you happiness.

“My Father has handed all things over to me. No one knows the Son except the Father. And nobody knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wants to reveal him.

It was very natural for the children to be spiritually aware that Jesus was the one.  Even though our children are immature psychologically and developmentally, do you imagine that their spirits are dumbed down?  Children can have spiritual interaction with God, just like adults, only it is easier for them, because they don't have all the junk in the way that adults do.

__________________________
1. Barclay, Mark; p. 297
2. Isaiah 9:2-7, 11:1-9, Jeremiah 23:5 ff, 33:14-18, Ezekiel 34:23 ff, 37:24, Psalm 89:20 ff.