Hosanna: Submit to Jesus as King and Savior

Devotional

Day 1: Recognizing the King in Our Midst

In the midst of life's anxieties and conflicts, a gentle word is spoken: do not be afraid. This is not a dismissal of real concerns but an invitation to lift our eyes. There is a call to see, to truly apprehend what is happening around and within us. A personal and endearing king is approaching, even now. This moment is significant and deserves our full attention. [02:40]

“Do not be afraid, O daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!” (John 12:15, ESV)

Reflection: In the current circumstances that are stirring anxiety or anger within you, what would it look like to intentionally pause and ‘see’—to reflect on the presence of your King coming to you?

Day 2: The Nature of True Salvation

Salvation is often sought as an escape from painful consequences. We desire relief from the trouble our choices have created. Yet, the salvation Jesus offers is far more comprehensive; it is healing from the rebellious ways that lead to those consequences. This salvation requires a surrender that many find disappointing, for it calls us to a changed life, not just a changed situation. [06:21]

“For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” (Matthew 16:25, ESV)

Reflection: Where are you currently seeking relief from the consequences of a situation, and how might God be inviting you into the deeper healing of surrendering the underlying attitude or behavior that contributed to it?

Day 3: Examining Our Cry of "Save Us"

The cry of “Hosanna” can easily become a request for God to serve our needs and alleviate our discomfort. We ask to be saved from our circumstances, for our marriages to be fixed, our pains to be removed, and our fears to be quieted. While God cares for our needs, our prayers can often focus on our desired outcomes rather than His sovereign purposes. Our “save me” can subtly mean “serve me.” [10:33]

“You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.” (James 4:3, ESV)

Reflection: When you recently prayed for God to “save” you or a loved one from a difficult situation, what specific outcome were you hoping for? How might your prayer change if you focused first on God’s purposes within that situation?

Day 4: The Prayer of Surrendered Will

The model for all prayer is found in the garden of Gethsemane. It is right and good to bring our deepest desires and most urgent requests to our Father. The transformative moment comes when we couple our petitions with a heart of surrender. “Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done” is the prayer that aligns our hearts with God’s kingdom and His loving rule. [11:27]

“And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, ‘My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.’” (Matthew 26:39, ESV)

Reflection: What is one specific personal desire you are holding onto tightly today? How could you express that desire to God while also sincerely praying, “not my will, but yours be done”?

Day 5: Embracing Lordship for Soul Healing

Full salvation is found not in the removal of our thorns but in the surrender to Christ’s lordship within them. Our circumstances may not immediately change, but everything changes when He takes the wheel. Submission to His leadership brings a profound healing to the soul, even if the external environment remains challenging. We experience His strength most fully when we surrender our own. [16:01]

“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” (2 Corinthians 12:9, ESV)

Reflection: Where in your life have you been praying for God to change your circumstances, and how might He be inviting you instead to experience His sufficient grace and power right where you are?

Sermon Summary

Jerusalem seethes with fear, anger, and rivalry as Jesus moves toward the cross while crowds cry, “Hosanna”—literally, “Save us.” Those shouts echo Zechariah’s prophecy but with a sharper edge: don’t be afraid; see—your King comes. The arrival on a donkey exposes a paradox: the promised king comes humbly and toward death, not as an earthly liberator. That paradox explains popular disappointment when the same crowd later demands crucifixion—people wanted service, not sovereignty.

Salvation requires more than rescue from consequences; it demands surrender to a reigning Christ. Many plead for relief from pain, anxiety, or consequence while resisting the radical change that true lordship requires. A candid example surfaces in a resident who begged, “Will you save me?” and later abandoned the program when the cost of dying to old patterns became real. Relief without repentance preserves the self; redemption replaces the self under Christ’s rulership.

Prayer must aim higher than crisis management. Petitioning God for safety or provision remains legitimate, yet the model prayer places God’s name and kingdom first: not my will, but yours. That prayer reframes suffering and loss under divine sovereignty. Paul’s thorn illustrates how permitted hardship can expose personal weakness so grace can work; pain can function to draw dependence rather than produce escape. Surrender does not always rewrite circumstances, but it reshapes the soul.

True welcome for the coming King requires embracing both salvation and lordship—receiving forgiveness while yielding daily authority. Taking up a cross becomes the sign of authentic discipleship, a posture that transforms internal ruling desires and reorders responses to trials. When Christ rules, people may remain in hard places, but their souls find healing, perspective, and a different hope. The final summons invites the congregation to welcome the crucified King: to hail him as Savior and to submit to him as Lord, bearing a shared pattern of self-denial and faithful endurance.

Key Takeaways

1. Hosanna means “Save us.” The shout of “Hosanna” is not mere praise but a raw plea for deliverance. It reveals deepest human desperation for rescue from fear, loss, and powerlessness. Yet the cry proves incomplete unless coupled with recognition that the rescuer demands reign. Authentic salvation reorients the plea into submission, not just relief. [00:38]
2. Christ saves only as King. Salvation comes through one who rules; receiving rescue without accepting lordship makes the gift impotent. Embracing Jesus as King forces a reckoning with personal autonomy, priorities, and the habits that shaped a former self. True conversion shifts allegiance from self-rule to Christ’s reign, altering desires, decisions, and the use of power. [03:42]
3. Save me often means “Serve me.” Many prayers for deliverance request service—comfort, convenience, escape—rather than radical transformation. When rescue becomes consumer demand, God becomes a problem-solver instead of Sovereign. Reorienting prayer toward God’s kingdom resists domesticated faith and opens the door to deeper moral formation. [10:33]
4. Pray for God’s reign, not rescue. “Not my will but yours” reframes suffering as a context for grace rather than only an obstacle to be removed. Yielding to God’s rule invites sanctifying work that may leave circumstances intact while changing inner rulers. Persistent submission cultivates dependence, humility, and sustained spiritual growth amid trials. [11:27]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[00:18] - Jerusalem’s Anxiety and Hosanna
[00:52] - Zechariah’s Promise Reframed
[02:13] - See Your King: Don’t Fear
[03:26] - Hosanna’s Meaning: “Save Us”
[05:17] - A Direct Question: “Will You Save Me?”
[08:39] - Relief Versus Redemption
[11:27] - The Lord’s Prayer: God’s Reign First
[14:15] - Paul’s Thorn: Weakness and Grace
[16:17] - Invitation: Take Up the Cross

Bible Study Guide

Bible reading
John 12:12–16 (ESV)
The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written, “Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!” His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him.

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Observation questions

What does the word “Hosanna” literally mean, and what emotion was behind the crowd’s shouting? [00:38]
How does the Gospel of John reinterpret Zechariah’s prophecy, and what specific word does he change? [01:11]
What personal example was shared about someone who asked, “Will you save me?” and what was the outcome? [05:17]
According to the sermon, what is the difference between praying for relief and praying for redemption? [08:16]

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Interpretation questions

Why might the same crowd that shouted “Hosanna” later demand Jesus’ crucifixion? What does this reveal about their expectations of salvation?
How does Jesus’ response in the Garden of Gethsemane (“not my will, but yours”) redefine the purpose of prayer in difficult circumstances? [11:27]
In what way did Paul’s “thorn in the flesh” serve a greater purpose than merely being a source of suffering? [14:15]
Why can’t Jesus save us if we don’t also accept Him as King? What is the relationship between surrender and salvation? [03:42]

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Application questions

When you pray “save me” in moments of fear or pain, are you more often asking for relief from consequences or true transformation under Christ’s rule? [07:36]
What’s one area of your life where you’ve been resisting God’s lordship because you wanted comfort more than conformity to Christ? [08:03]
How might praying “Your kingdom come” first change the way you face a current struggle or anxiety?
Is there a “thorn” in your life—a persistent difficulty—that you’ve been praying for God to remove? How might this hardship be shaping your dependence on Him? [14:49]
What would it look like today to take up your cross in a situation where you’d rather avoid surrender?
When have you been tempted to abandon faith because Jesus didn’t meet your expectations? What would it mean to trust His kingship in that area now?

Sermon Clips

Let me say this very carefully. There is something Jesus can't do. He can't save us if we don't embrace him as king. This is what makes Jesus so disappointing. This is why many abandon the faith and call it quits to Christianity. Why they say it's not working? Hosanna. Hosanna. Hosanna. Save us. Save us. Save us. See, your king is coming. [00:03:28] (45 seconds) #EmbraceTheKing

So we cry, Hosanna, but just remember, Jesus can only save us if we what? We submit to his leadership. We want Jesus as savior, but many of us, man, we we we're not quite so sure about the lordship thing. But can I tell you, when you and I surrender more and more to his leadership, his lordship, we experience the healing of our soul? We may find ourselves stuck in that situation, but everything is different when he takes over the wheel. [00:15:21] (46 seconds) #SubmitToLordship

Oh, god. Just help me to make it through this day at life challenge or this day. Oh, god wants to do more than help you make it through the day. Help me not to have this fear, this anxiety. Alleviate my pain. Mitigate my circumstances. You know, if you bundle all those prayers up, and I'm guilty of praying them, it all boils down to this. When we say save me, we're actually saying serve me. [00:09:58] (32 seconds) #SaveMeansServe

Deliver us wonder bread. We like that kind of a king. Save us. What do we mean by that? Take care of us. Fix my marriage, Jesus. Undo the mess I've made. Get me out of this trouble. Make my son want me again. Help me. Help me sleep better. Me through this day. By the way, sometimes that's as high as our prayers get. Just help me to make it through the day. [00:09:09] (34 seconds) #RescuePrayersOnly

Christ comes as king. And by the way, as a very strange king, one who dies by way of a cross and one who calls those who would follow him to take up their own cross. Salvation by death. Can I say it? That's disappointment. No wonder the same crowd that cried hosanna a few days later screamed, crucify him. [00:04:14] (35 seconds) #KingWhoDies

Your kingdom. Your rule. Your reign. That's the kind of salvation that God wants to bring to us. A salvation from our rule, our reign, our tyrannical reign, and may your will be done. In other words, rule over me, Jesus. Help me submit to your leadership in my life, in my present context, in my present situation. Help me to submit to you, to surrender to you, to not buck you, to not resist you. Help me. [00:11:58] (45 seconds) #RuleOverMe

Save me is really code for serve me. It's not wrong, by the way, to pray those kinds of prayers. Abba father wants to meet our every need. He really does. Jesus himself prayed. How many remember? They're in the garden just before he's betrayed into the hands of sinners. Father, if it's all possible, please take this cup from me. [00:10:38] (41 seconds) #PrayLikeJesus

I wanna be saved, but not completely. Comfort. Comfort from my conditions, but not conformity to Christ. Relief but not redemption. Any of you relate? I'll take relief, but in terms of full redemption, I don't know that I'm there yet. So, we cry. Save me. Save But what do we really want saving from? [00:07:56] (38 seconds) #ReliefNotRedemption

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Hosanna: Submit to Jesus as King and Savior

Devotional

Day 1: Recognizing the King in Our Midst

Day 2: The Nature of True Salvation

Day 3: Examining Our Cry of "Save Us"

Day 4: The Prayer of Surrendered Will

Day 5: Embracing Lordship for Soul Healing

Sermon Summary

Key Takeaways

Youtube Chapters

Bible Study Guide

Sermon Clips

Chatbot

Hosanna: Submit to Jesus as King and Savior

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