In the Gospels you may have heard about the entry into Jerusalem where the crowds sing praises to Jesus "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD" ([Matthew 21:9](https://www.bible.com/bible/59/MAT.21.9), [Mark 11:9](https://www.bible.com/bible/59/MRK.11.9), [Luke 13:35](https://www.bible.com/bible/59/LUK.13.35), [19:38](https://www.bible.com/bible/59/LUK.19.38) , [John 12:13](https://www.bible.com/bible/59/JHN.12.13)). This is a quotation of [Psalm 118:26](https://www.bible.com/bible/59/PSA.118.26) about the coming Messiah. The reason that the crowds are shouting "“Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" is that the they are quoting a messianic Psalm:
> [!bible]+ [Psalm 118:1-29 - ESV](https://bolls.life/ESV/19/118/)
>1. Oh give thanks to the **LORD**, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever! 2. Let Israel say, “His steadfast love endures forever.” 3. Let the house of Aaron say, “His steadfast love endures forever.” 4. Let those who fear the **LORD** say, “His steadfast love endures forever.” 5. Out of my distress I called on the **LORD**; the **LORD** answered me and set me free. 6. The **LORD** is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me? 7. The **LORD** **is** on my side as my helper; I shall look in triumph on those who hate me. 8. It is better to take refuge in the **LORD** than to trust in man. 9. It is better to take refuge in the **LORD** than to trust in princes. 10. All nations surrounded me; in the name of the **LORD** I cut them off! 11. They surrounded me, surrounded me on every side; in the name of the **LORD** I cut them off! 12. They surrounded me like bees; they went out like a fire among thorns; in the name of the **LORD** I cut them off! 13. I was pushed hard, so that I was falling, but the **LORD** helped me. 14. The **LORD** is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. 15. Glad songs of salvation are in the tents of the righteous: “The right hand of the **LORD** does valiantly, 16. the right hand of the **LORD** exalts, the right hand of the **LORD** does valiantly!” 17. I shall not die, but I shall live, and recount the deeds of the **LORD**. 18. The **LORD** has disciplined me severely, but he has not given me over to death. 19. Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the **LORD**. 20. This is the gate of the **LORD**; the righteous shall enter through it. 21. I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation. 22. ==The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone==. 23. This is the **LORD**'s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. 24. This is the day that the **LORD** has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. 25. Save us, we pray, O **LORD**! O **LORD**, we pray, give us success! 26. ==Blessed is he who comes in the name of the **LORD**!== We bless you from the house of the **LORD**. 27. The **LORD** is God, and he has made his light to shine upon us. Bind the festal sacrifice with cords, up to the horns of the altar! 28. You are my God, and I will give thanks to you; you are my God; I will extol you. 29. Oh give thanks to the **LORD**, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!
%% #Psalm %%
In the Gospel of Matthew and Luke, we get more insight into how Jesus felt about this.
> [!bible]+ [Matthew 21:9-16 - ESV](https://bolls.life/ESV/40/21/)
> 9. And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” 10. And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” 11. And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.” ... 15. But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant, 16. and they said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes; have you never read, “==‘Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise’?==”
%% #Matthew %%
> [!bible]+ [Luke 19:37-40 - ESV](https://bolls.life/ESV/42/19/)
> 37. As he was drawing near — already on the way down the Mount of Olives — the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, 38. saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” 39. And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” 40. He answered, “==I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.==”
%% #Luke %%
To understand why the Pharisees are upset we need to know the context of the Psalm. In Psalm 118:21, it says that God has become the salvation of the people and that God is the cornerstone of Salvation.
>[!info] See [[Jesus Is The Cornerstone]] To Learn More About This
### The Very Stones Will Cry Out
The Pharisees knew the context of these Psalms and the praise they give is due to God alone. This is why they told Jesus "Teacher, Rebuke Your disciples". Jesus doesn't agree and defends them saying that if they fail then the very stones would cry out to praise him! In the Old Testament, the theme of creation praising God is not new. In Isaiah 55:12, we read how the mountains and hills will burst into song. Psalm 19:1 proclaims, “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.” This establishes a precedent; creation itself recognizes and expresses the majesty of the Creator, suggesting that if humans fail to do so, other elements of creation—like stones—can take their place.
Jesus is also be using the same imagery that He does elsewhere about the cornerstone ([[Jesus Is The Cornerstone]]). In the context of the story in Luke, Jesus makes the prophesy about the stones of the temple being destroyed (See [[Jesus Foretold The Fall Of Jerusalem]]). Jesus’ statement about the ‘very stones will cry out’ in verse 40 is connected to the ‘stones that will not be left upon another’ of verse 44. Jesus is saying that the Jerusalem’s destruction—most notably the imagery of its rubble—will be an image that “will cry out” to their judgment for rejecting Him. Throughout the Old Testament of Israel’s history, whenever Jerusalem and the Temple were destroyed, it was a clear pronouncement of God’s judgment for their rejection of Him. Significantly enough, in the statement—“the very stones will cry out”—Jesus is connecting Israel’s history and their own judgment to himself; if they have rejected Him, then they have rejected God himself. To the Jews, their judgment gave them further clarity about what was true ([[Unknown2021-sr]]).
The Apostle Peter actually echoes this entire idea in 1 Peter 2 that believers would be the "Living Stones" of the temple that will praise Jesus.
> [!bible]+ [1 Peter 2:4-8 - ESV](https://bolls.life/ESV/60/2/)
> 4. As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, 5. you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6. For it stands in Scripture: “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.” 7. So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” 8. and “A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.
%% #1Peter %%
### Out Of The Mouth Of Babies And Infants
Jesus doesn't just refer to the Temple, but He also says the the people were good to praise him, saying of God that: "Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise" This is being quoted from Psalms that are praises to God:
> [!bible]+ [Psalm 8:1-9 - ESV](https://bolls.life/ESV/19/8/)
> 1. O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. 2. Out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger. 3. When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, 4. what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? 5. Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. 6. You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet, 7. all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, 8. the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas. 9. O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
%% #Psalm %%
Following the Greek Septuagint, Matthew 21:16 uses “praise” instead of “strength.” The idea is that God silences His enemies and puts them to shame by the words coming out of the mouths of babies and infants who tell of the Lord’s strength. When reading in full context here, Jesus is saying that Psalm 8 is being applied to Psalm 118:20-26. The worshippers had understood what the leaders had not—that Jesus was their promised Savior. The Jewish leaders were the same as God’s Old Testament enemies who would be silenced and put to shame by children’s praise. ([[Unknown2020-gi]]).