Jn.12:12-15 – On the next day, when the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, they took the branches of the palm trees and went out to meet Him, and began shouting, “Hosanna! BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD, indeed, the King of Israel!” Jesus, finding a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written: “DO NOT FEAR, DAUGHTER OF ZION; BEHOLD, YOUR KING IS COMING, SEATED ON A DONKEY’S COLT.”
As Jesus and the growing crowd came into the city it was as if Christ was placing His miracles on display. The time had finally come, the cross was imminent and Jesus was showing why He came. Christ came to save sinners. He came to heal broken lives. It seemed like the loudest commotion was coming from one of His newest followers. It had been just a week since Bartimaeus had received his sight. He still hadn’t stop crying out. “This is the Son of David. I was blind and last week He healed my eyes.”
Nearby was another one of the Lord’s miracles. This one may have been the most shocking of all. It was the tax collector from Jericho, Zachaeus. He was paying back all of the people he had cheated. He was crying out almost as loud as Bartimaeus, “Surely this is the Son of God”. Zachaeus was saying last week I was totally lost, Jesus has changed my life.
Then there was Nicodemus, the Pharisee. He probably made the other Pharisees madder than all the others. Nicodemus was a respected teacher, if he believed that Jesus was the Son of God that could cause many others to believe as well.
All Nicodemus could say was, “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him might have eternal life”.
As the crowd approached the temple the children all began to sing, “Hosanna, hosanna, blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord”.
So here they were for all to see, Lazarus who had been dead, Bartimaeus who had been blind, Zachaeus who had been a thief, and Nicodemus the teacher. What was the one thing they all had in common? One moment in the presence of Jesus had changed their lives. Surely this is the Son of God.