When I was a child, I was quick to celebrate. Simple moments like a team win on the playground, the beginning of summer vacation or a box full of valentines were worthy of full-on rejoicing, in my opinion, and so I did.
I’d talk excitedly about it to whoever would listen.
I’d bounce a little.
I might even sing from the joy of it.
But as adults, we often lose our quickness to rejoice in what is good. And I have to say: I miss it. I want to return to it—especially, when it comes to rejoicing in the goodness of God.
Matthew 21:14-16 really brought this home for me recently. Shortly after Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, it says,
And those who were blind and those who limped came to Him in the temple area, and He healed them. But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that He had done, and the children who were shouting in the temple area, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they became indignant,and they said to Him, “Do You hear what these children are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes. Have you never read, ‘From the mouths of infants and nursing babies You have prepared praise for Yourself’?” (NASB)
In this moment, the children rejoiced in the goodness of Jesus, while the adults in the room—the religious leaders—fumed in unbelief and bitterness. I don’t know about you, but I know which ones I’d rather have as my role models!
So, how can we become more like these children who were so willing to rejoice over Jesus?
Two thoughts:
Cultivate a childlike perception of the Lord.
These verses begin by telling us that Jesus healed many people that day. He did “wonderful” things at the temple. Yet, in response, the children and religious leaders had two vastly different perceptions of Him.
When the children looked at Jesus and His wonderful deeds, they recognized He was worthy of praise. Perhaps they didn’t fully understand everything about Jesus identity, but they understood enough to know He was worthy. And they acted on that understanding rightly—with loud, enthusiastic praise.
In contrast, verse 15 tells us, “when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that He had done, and the children who were shouting in the temple area, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they became indignant…”
If you look up the Latin etymology of the word “indignant,” you’ll find it has two main parts: “in-,” which means “not” and “dignus,” which means “worthy.”[1]
When the religious leaders looked at Jesus and His wonderful deeds, their perception of Him was “not worthy.” Not worthy of praise, not worthy of the messianic title children were crowning Him with, not worthy of the fuss people were making.
It makes me wonder: When we get glimpses of our Savior’s character or His wonderful deeds, today, how do our hearts perceive Him?
Do they respond, “worthy!” and lean in the direction of praise? Or do they gloss over His goodness with a cool and distant, “not worthy?”
This question convicts me. Because, while I do believe wholeheartedly that Jesus is worthy of my praise, sometimes I fail to praise Him when I have opportunity. No. I may not think thoughts as explicit as “not worthy,” but a simple “yes, that’s nice, but…” serves the same purpose. It prevents me from giving God the praise He is due.
Oh that, instead, I would have a childlike perception of the Lord—the kind that sees the “wonderful things” of Christ and names them as such.
This, I believe, is something we can all practice. It’s a way to cultivate a childlike perception of the Lord.
- When we see one of His wonderful attributes, we can take a moment to name it as “wonderful” in the busyness of our minds. Better yet, we can name Him as “wonderful.”
- And when we see one of His wonderful deeds—instead of over-analyzing, asking why He answered this and not that prayer—we can simply appreciate it with the uncomplicated enjoyment of a child. It’s wonderful. So, we can appreciate it as wonderful—no if, ands or buts about it.
Step into the freedom of childlike praise.
Another thing I love about the children in this passage is how free they are. There they are, praising Jesus with their outside voices in the temple courts and, seemingly, they are unworried about what others might think. Again, this stands in contrast to the religious leaders, whose every move was calculated for appearance’s sake.
I think we can learn an important lesson here: When we praise, the only audience that matters is the Lord—the One we are worshiping. This is challenging to me personally because, sometimes, my praise of God is hampered by the human audience listening in. Can you relate?
It’s so easy to cater to thoughts like, “What will my colleagues think if I say, in conversation, that this was an answer to prayer?” or “What will my friends at church think if I get emotional and tear up during worship?”
We don’t want to be seen as simple or needy. Yet this self-consciousness keeps us tethered to pride. And the childlike praise demonstrated here, stems from humility.
You see, when these children cried, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they weren’t just celebrating. They were crying out, “Messiah, save!” This kind of praise is, itself, an expression of neediness.
So, how can we step into the freedom of childlike praise? First, we must step into the humble position of a child before God. We must be okay with being small, simple and needy (and with being seen as such), because that is what we are.
When Jesus quoted Psalm 8:2 saying, “‘From the mouths of infants and nursing babies You have prepared praise for Yourself” he was speaking of the literal children in the temple. But in Christ, we are all children. So, when we embrace our smallness and start getting excited about how Christ’s greatness meets our needs, childlike praise will naturally follow.
We’ll talk excitedly about Him to whoever will listen. We’ll sing from the joy of His goodness. We might even bounce a little.
The smaller we allow ourselves to grow, the quicker we’ll be to celebrate the One who is oh-so-good to us.
Written by Paige K. Burhans
©2024 Paige K. Burhans
Scripture quotations taken from the NASB. Copyright by The Lockman Foundation. www.lockman.org
[1] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/indignant
This devotion is based on one of the Scriptures from my 2025 reading plan: “A Year in the Gospels” To receive a copy of the reading plan (and future reading plans), sign up for the email list below. Hope you’ll follow along! You can also learn more about my Scripture over Screentime experiment here.