Verse 9 says, “And the crowds who went before Him and those who followed cried out, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David; Blessed is He Who comes in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest!” The Hebrew word Hosanna means “save now” (Psa. 118:25). The title “the Son of David” was the royal title of the lowly King. In the warm welcome of the heavenly King, the people shouted out a quotation from Psalm 118: “Blessed is He Who comes in the name of the Lord” (v. 26). According to Psalm 118, only the One who came in the name of the Lord was qualified to be praised in such a way. Thus, the spontaneous praise of the people sovereignly indicated that this meek King came not in His own name, but in the name of Jehovah. Those who welcomed the King indicated through their praise that He was the One sent by the Lord, thus the One who came in the name of the Lord.
When the heavenly King entered into Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, but the crowd still said, “This is the prophet Jesus, who is from Nazareth of Galilee” (v. 11). On the one hand, the crowds praised Him as the Son of David, the One who comes in the name of the Lord; on the other hand, some still recognized Him in a natural way as a prophet from a despised city.
Verse 12 says, “And Jesus entered into the temple and cast out all those who were selling and buying in the temple, and He overturned the tables of the moneychangers and the seats of those who were selling the doves.” When the Lord entered the city of Jerusalem, the first thing He did was cleanse the temple. Any earthly king, upon entering the capital, would immediately have ascended to the throne. But the Lord did not do this because He was not for His own interests, but for God’s interests. His heart was not for His kingdom, but for God’s house.
It is the same in principle with us today. When we welcome the Lord into us as our King, He does not go immediately to the throne; rather, He goes to our spirit and cleanses it. Many of us have experienced this. When we received the Lord as life, we also received Him as the King. On the day He came into us to be our life and our King, He did not enthrone Himself, but cleansed God’s temple, which today is our spirit, the habitation of God (Eph. 2:22).
Our spirit should be a house of prayer, but because of the fall it has been made a den of robbers. But when Jesus comes into us He drives all the robbers away and cleanses the temple of our spirit. After the cleansing, the Lord healed the blind and the lame in the temple (v. 14). This indicates that His cleansing of the temple causes people to have the sight to see and the strength to move. It is the same with us today. Verse 15 says that the children were “crying out in the temple and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David.” At least a few times the Gospel of Matthew mentions children, for this book stresses that the kingdom people need to become as children. Only those who have become children will praise God. This was after the healing of the blind and the lame. When our blindness and lameness are healed, we also shall praise the Lord as little children.
The stubborn chief priests and scribes were indignant, even after they saw the wonders the lowly King performed. Their indignation was due to their pride and jealousy, which blinded them from seeing any vision concerning the heavenly King.