THE KING’S BUSINESS
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and praise God. They sang one of the Messianic psalms (v. 13; cf. Ps. 118:25,' 26), and uttered loud shouts. The word “Hosanna,” as we have it here, corresponds to the “Save, I beseech” of Ps. 118:25. It is a transference to English of two Hebrew words found in the Psalm. v .. 19. "The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, Perceive ye how ye pre vail nothing? Behold (Behold how ye pre vail nothing: lo), the world is gone after Him." To the Pharisees who were bitterly opposed to Jesus, it seemed out of place for the populace to forget their dignity and get so excited in Christ’s service (Luke 19:37-40). They were deeply angered to see the world going after Him, and how all their- opposition amounted to nothing. Unfortunately, the enthusiasm of the peo ple for Jesus was short-lived, and many of the same company that were now crying, “Hosanna, Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord,” will soon be crying, “Crucify Him” (ch. 19:14, 15). Popular favor is of very little worth, as has been demonstrated over and over again in history. But as short-lived as the enthusiasm of the crowd was, it wa& more thorough-going and hearty and less calculating while it lasted than that of many modern professed Christians. It is a beautiful sight to see people throwing the best they have at Jesus’ feet to pave the way for the King a,nd the kingdom. But Jesus Himself did not join in the general joy", He wept while others shouted (Luke 19:41-44). While the populace saw in the method of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem the coming of the King and jumped at the conclusion that He was to establish the kingdom at once, Jesus on His part was occupied with the sorrows that He knew awaited the city before His kingdom should be established. He knew that He would be rejected, and that as a result of His rejection Jerusalem would be visited with the most awful siege in the world’s history. And He knew further that there would be centuries during which Jerusa
lem would be trodden under foot of the Gentiles, all because Jerusalem did not * know the things which belonged to her peace (Luke 19:42), viz., the acceptance of Him as King, and surrender to Him as Lord. John in his account does not take us further .than Jesus’ approach to the | city. Matthew and Luke tell us of His actual entrance into the city, though the account of what He did is very brief (Matt. 21:10-16; Luke 19:45, 46). All the city was stirred as Jesus entered (Matt. 21:10). No one causes such a commotion as Jesus does in any city which He enters. Wherever He goes there is a shaking up and a questioning, and a divis ion. All through the Acts of the Apostles we find this is what occurred wherever He came; The enthusiasm of the popu lace for Jesus made the hatred of the Pharisees all "the more intense. They saw the crowd forsaking them and following the One they envied and hated. They murmured one to another, “Behold how ye prevail nothing.” Their unwillingness to admit it was a personal defeat is seen in what they said, “Behold how ye prevail nothing,” instead of, “Behold how we pre vail nothing.” In this is .a real touch of human nature as it is in every age. They were forced to admit that for the time the world had gone- after Jesus. But alas! it was for a very short time that the world went after Him. The world as a whole has rejected Him down to the present-day, but there is a time coming, of which this day was only a foreglimpse, when all the nations of the earth will acknowledge His Lordship and go after Him (Rtev. 11:15). If you had been there would you have sided with the enthusiastic crowd, or with ~these envious Pharisees? It sometimes seems to me as if I would have liked to have been there and to have had some little part in this one day’s triumph, but there is a greater day of triumph for Jesus coming and we may have part in it if we will, and until that glad day comes, we can herald Him as King in our faithful testimony to a Christ-rejecting world, and
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