M-G: 9.9.15 // Matthew 21:15, Wonderful Things

On the way to church last Sunday, our seven-year-old granddaughter, who was spending the weekend with us, asked, “Mam-maw, can I read your Bible.” Beverly responded, “Yes, you can, but you must be very careful not to tear the pages.” A couple of minutes later, Mam-maw asked, “Jessica, what are you reading?” She paused in her reply, “Technically, it has 46 in it?” We looked at each other and smiled. Beverly probed a little further, “What book of the Bible are you reading, Jessica?”

“Well, it has the letter ‘G’ in it, Mam-maw.”  “Are you reading from the book of Genesis, Jessica?” Beverly asked. “Yes, Mam-maw,” Jessica confidently answered! “It’s the book of Genesis!”  Silence filled the car for a lengthy minute; then Jessica blurted out, “The Bible is so amazing!” We chuckled! “Yes, it is Jessica!” Beverly said. I thought to myself that this sounds like something Jessica’s mother would say.

While I was driving along, a verse of Scripture came to mind when Jessica mentioned that the Bible was “amazing.” I thought about the children in the temple singing “Hosanna” to Jesus in Mt 21:15. The chief priests and scribes were not happy campers with this chorus being sung in the temple!

During Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem riding on a donkey in fulfillment of Zechariah’s prophecy (Zec 9:9; Mt 21:5), the crowd was throwing clothes and branches in the road in homage to Jesus (cf. 2 Kgs 9:13), acknowledging His Messianic claim, and proclaiming, “Hosanna to the Son of David! ‘BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!’ Hosanna in the highest!” (Mt 21:9). Hosanna is a Hebraic expression of “save now” (cf. Psa 118:25)!

Jesus’ righteous indignation in overturning the tables of the money changers in the temple (Mt 21:12, 13) or His healing of the blind and the lame that were there (Mt 21:14) was one thing! But people singing that Jesus of Nazareth is God was blasphemous to the chief priests and scribes. They were “indignant” not because the children were singing, “Hosanna to the Son of David” (Mt 21:15), but because they were directing their voices at Jesus of Nazareth as if He was the Messiah!

The chief priests and scribes were beside themselves and spoke to Jesus about this,

“Do you hear what these children are saying” (Mt 21:16a)?

Jesus said to them, “Yes,” and quoted Scripture to them from David in Psa 8:2,

“Have you never read, ‘From the lips of children and infants you, Lord, have called forth your praise’” (Mt 21:16b, NIV)?

Were the people singing “Hosanna” all over the place validating Jesus as the Messiah? Though Zechariah prophesied this event; it offered no substantial proof. The crowd was considered fickle by the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Scribes. They were the experts of the Law of Moses and the traditions of the Elders, not the crowd. According to them, they were the only ones qualified to identify the long-awaited Messiah that would break the yoke of the Gentiles and free Israel from under the thumb of the Romans! Indeed, they were right and wrong! There was to be another quicksilver crowd that would with one voice cry out, “Crucify Him… We have no king but Caesar” (Jn 19:15)! But on this triumphant day, the crowd was right. The Messiah was in their midst, and it was a time of rejoicing!

The undeniable evidence that Jesus was indeed the only true Messiah to ever step foot in Jerusalem was those healed wholly from being blind or lame. Isn’t this what the prophet Isaiah prophesied would happen when the Messiah appeared 700 years later (Isa 35:4-6)? Ironically, the very One to whom this House of Prayer was dedicated was in their very midst and was no more than a stranger to the spiritual leadership of Israel (Jn 1:11). The Word of God took a back seat to the tradition of men long ago (Mk 7:9). Jesus was not the Tradition of God but God Himself, the Word of God; He was God incarnate (Jn 1:1, 14), and He was among them!

Did Jessica understand what she was saying from the backseat of the car, not really? I would ask, “Did the children in the temple understand that day what they were singing in the temple (Mt 21:15)? God will get His due even if He has to use rocks (Lk 19:40)! Jesus did some “wonderful things” there in the temple, and John records a significant action on the part of the chief priests and scribes, “they saw (emphasis mine) the wonderful things that He did” (Mt 21:15). Rather than singing, “Hosanna,” the chief priests and scribes feared Jesus because of the people and strongly desired to rid themselves of Him (Mk 11:18). 

Is the Bible amazing to you as a believer? Does it make you want to sing out, “Hosanna, save now?” Or do you rarely read it or disregard it altogether? The God of the Bible has the power to heal or destroy. You can come to him as the blind and lame did that day, or you can reject all of that as nonsense like the chief priests and scribes did. If the truth is known, I bet those guys in hell would give anything to have another opportunity to hear the spirit of those children, like Jessica, singing in the temple, the words of David flowing from the mouth of Jesus, and connecting the dots of Isaiah's prophecy! It's too late for them, but not you!

The God of the Bible has the ability, the know-how, and the wisdom to do wonderful things that can heal the blindness of unbelief and that which cripples from walking in the truth! Open the eyes of the blind and heal the bones, Lord, before the day of accounting! Incite a passion for Your Word of those who claim to know You. May they learn the Word, love the Word, and live according to the Word. You are an amazing God and so are all Your Words from Genesis to Revelation! I praise you for the wonderful things that You do. Hosanna! <><