Through The Bible in a Year - July 7, 2026
"And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, 'Hosanna to the Son of David!' they were indignant... Jesus said to them, '…Have you never read, "Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise"?'" - Matthew 21:14-16
Who praised Jesus on Palm Sunday?
Not the Roman soldiers watching from the garrison across the valley. Their report would have been: "Nothing to worry about. Just a pauper rabbi on a borrowed donkey surrounded by poor people and children."
Not the chief priests or scribes. They were indignant at the very idea that this man deserved such worship.
It was the poor, who needed his help. The blind and the lame who came to Him for healing. And it was the seemingly inconsequential children who cried out "Hosanna to the Son of David!" in the temple.
The religious establishment was offended. But Jesus quoted Psalm 8: "Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies You have prepared praise." As if to say: "The ones you have dismissed are seeing most clearly what you, with all your learning, have missed entirely."
The victory lap that Jesus took around Israel before riding into Jerusalem didn't begin a few days earlier when he passed through Jericho or even when he went to Caesarea Philippi, where Peter declared Him, “the Christ.” The victory of Christ’s earthly ministry began in an animal stall in Bethlehem, where He was laid in a manger—the King of the universe born in poverty. Then, as a refugee, King Jesus was taken down to Egypt to escape a jealous and murderous King Herod. Then growing up in an obscure carpenter's home in the looked-down-upon town of Nazareth. Then came years of itinerant ministry in which he was rejected by His own people, but welcomed by the poor and the broken.
He claimed territory not by military conquest or political maneuvering, but by entering into the pain, the shame, and the sin of humanity. And the people who recognized Him were the ones who needed Him most: the blind, the lame, the poor, the children.
I once considered the importance of this heavenly King coming to minister in such humility as I watched a worship leader lead the singing of a large conference. Her frame was small and shrunken from days that I had known her as a younger woman. She was now carrying the weight of a broken home, a betrayed marriage, a hurting life. Yet, she led hundreds of others in singing a hymn whose words are, "Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come, let this blessed assurance control—that Christ has regarded my helpless estate and has shed His own blood for my soul. It is well with my soul."
The trials that had buffeted the worship leader had not convinced her that her Savior had abandoned her. She believed that he knew her pain and never ran from those experiencing the same pain and desperation of life’s trials. His humility was her confidence and comfort.
Respond: Are you more like the chief priests—theologically informed but somehow missing the point of who Jesus is? Or more like the children—broken, dependent, crying out "Hosanna" because you genuinely need saving?
The chief priests had more knowledge. The children had more sight.
This week, come to Jesus the way the blind and the lame came—with nothing to offer but your need. No performance. No credentials. No pretense of having it all together. His humility should be your confidence. Just say to Jesus, "I need You. Hosanna—God, save me." I need you.
That humble prayer will move His heart because his humility brought Him to this earth to give himself sacrificially for you. The humility that he showed for his people is the humility he loves in his people.
Prayer: Lord, the religious establishment missed understanding Jesus, but the blind, the lame, and the children got it right. I want to be like them—not performing, not pretending, not trying to impress You with my knowledge or my righteousness. Just coming to You humbly with my need because Jesus came in humility for me. Help me to be so humble as to be willing to say, “Hosanna. God, save me” with the confession that I am the helpless apart from Jesus. Yet, he who regarded my helpless estate shed His own blood for my soul. Let this blessed assurance control my heart. He is humble enough to look past the trials and troubles that humble me and to love me. So, it is well with my soul. Thank you for sending Jesus to make it so. In Jesus’ name, Amen.