Save Us Now: Hosanna and the Fickle Crowd

In one paragraph

It was Palm Sunday, and the pastor brought a message that held two texts together: the triumphal entry in John 12 and Paul's description of the mystery of the gospel in Ephesians 3. He traced the distance between the crowd's "Hosanna" and their later cry of "Crucify him," and then pointed to what God was doing through all of it. The thread connecting both halves was the faithfulness of God set...

Read together

1. John 12 triumphal entry narrative, large crowd meeting Jesus with palm branches
2. Zechariah (specific verse not given) prophecy quoted: 'Rejoice greatly, oh daughter of Zion... your king is coming to you, humble and mounted on a donkey'
3. Amos (specific verse not given) 'the Lord God does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants, the prophets first'
4. Psalm 118:25-26 source of the hosanna shout and 'blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord'
5. Psalm 118 (latter portion) extended reading: 'the stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone' and surrounding verses
6. Daniel 9:25 seventy weeks prophecy applied to calculating the timing of the triumphal entry
7. John 19 scourging, crown of thorns, Pilate declaring Jesus innocent, crowd crying 'crucify him'
8. Ephesians 3 Paul as prisoner, mystery revealed that Gentiles are fellow heirs, multifaceted wisdom of God made known through the church

Talk about it

1. Pastor Nathan described the crowd waving palm branches as Jewish nationalists who wanted military deliverance, shouting 'Hosanna' meaning 'save us now.' What does it reveal about human nature that the same crowd who welcomed Jesus as a conquering king would, within a week, be crying 'crucify him'?
2. Pastor Nathan pointed out that the disciples did not understand what was happening at the triumphal entry until after Jesus was glorified, and he asked 'Can I get a witness?' When have you found yourself looking back at something God was doing and only understanding it later?
3. Pastor Nathan used the word 'fickle' to describe our tendency to wander from God, to applaud Jesus and then pull away when his truth makes us uncomfortable. Where do you see that fickleness most honestly in your own faith?
4. Paul describes his calling to preach the gospel to the Gentiles as a grace given to him, even though he considered himself the least of all the saints. How does recognizing something as unmerited gift rather than earned assignment change the way a person carries out that responsibility?
5. Pastor Nathan said that through the church, the multifaceted wisdom of God is being made known to the whole cosmos, and that the church is plan A with no plan B. What does it do to your sense of everyday life to think of yourself as someone through whom God is carrying out his eternal purpose?