Saturday, March 19, 2016
Matthew 21:15-16 But when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that He did, and the children crying out in the temple and saying, "Hosanna to the Son of David!" they were indignant and said to Him, "Do You hear what these are saying?" Jesus said to them, "Yes. Have you never read, 'Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have perfected praise'?"
LISTEN TO THE CHILDREN
I once asked a student in one of my classes, "Who is buried in Grant's tomb?" only to be given the hesitant answer, "Jesus?" Sometimes children will say the most incredible things.
We don't always accept or believe all the things that our children say, and for good reason. We may dismiss some of the things they say because they betray a lack of understanding and knowledge--they don't know what they are talking about. We may ignore what they say because we are preoccupied, too busy, or simply because they are children.
When the religious leaders heard children singing Jesus' praise, they dismissed it as words without knowledge. They made a mistake and we would be too if we were to dismiss their words as nothing more than the foolish talk of children. Those children had something incredible to say.
Hosanna means "Save us we pray!" They were calling on Jesus to save them. When they called Jesus the Son of David, they were naming Him as the Promised One, the Savior. For God had promised to send the Messiah out of the family of King David. Listen to the beautiful sound of children praising their Savior!
Now be like the children when you bring your praises. In fact, the Lord Christ wants us to be like children in some respects, for example, in the way we gladly receive, hear and learn HIS WORD.
When Jesus speaks to us in His word, we should set everything else down, set it aside and listen carefully, whether we hear that word when our children are singing sacred music, or when we read in devotion, or hear a sermon preached.
God grant us His Spirit so that we hear the praise of the children of Palm Sunday, join them, and also carefully listen to the Christ when He speaks to us from His word.
