Kingdom confusion

I've been listening to Sinclair Ferguson's sermon from last Sunday at First Presbyterian Columbia. He vividly illustrated an aspect of the Palm Sunday narrative that I hadn't seen before, which is that the "Hosanna's" and waving of palm branches were gestures of political defiance. The crowds saw Jesus as a symbol of Jewish opposition to Rome, and the fulfillment of their nationalistic aspirations. Ferguson illustrated this by saying it wouldn't be much different from his South Carolina congregation leaving the service waving Confederate flags. And I would add...giving the rebel yell. What a great way to illustrate the enormous confusion that gripped almost everyone that day about the nature of the kingdom this King was ushering in. John's account points out that even the disciples were confused: "His disciples did not understand these things at first..." [John 12:16] He was worthy of the Hosanna's, but for reasons so much greater than what they thought.