“Hosanna!”
©March 20, 2005 Rev. Bruce Goettsche
The story of the Triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem is a well known and fascinating story. Part of the fascination comes from the fact that it is out of character with the rest of the ministry of Jesus. Throughout His ministry Jesus he healed people, cast out demons from others, and then he told those people whose lives had been changed, not to tell others about the things He had done.
Jesus didn’t want to make His work into some big production. He didn’t want people flocking to Him because He was a miracle worker. He didn’t want them to be primarily concerned about what they could get from Him. He wanted them to hear what He had to say. He was not just a miracle-worker sent to make lives better, He was the Savior who would set people free from their sin.
Now we see Jesus setting up a celebration. He told his disciples go and secure a donkey that had never been ridden upon. An animal that had never been ridden was considered suitable for a holy purpose. Jesus didn’t send the disciples for the animal because he was too tired to walk into Jerusalem; He knew his act would be seen as a fulfillment of the prophecy in Zechariah 9,
9 Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem!
See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
The people were well aware of this messianic prophecy. There would be no mistaking what the implications of this act were. Jesus was claiming to be the promised Messiah in a bold and dramatic way.
So, why did Jesus do this at this time? There are many theories but it seems likely that Jesus was making this public claim to be the Messiah in order to force the hand of the Pharisees. Jesus knew it was the Father’s intention for Him to die in Jerusalem at the time of the Passover. Passover was designed by God to point people to the Lamb of God who would be slain. There was nothing more fitting than the Lamb of God dying when all the other lambs of Passover were dying as well.
The Pharisees and Teachers of the Law obviously didn’t want to arrest Jesus with so many people around. They didn’t want to risk a public outcry. However, once He entered Jerusalem to the cheering crowds, the leaders were troubled. When the first thing Jesus did was go into the temple and turn over the tables of the money-changers and merchants, the leaders felt they could no longer wait to respond. Jesus knew exactly what He was doing.
With all the drama of this event, I want to focus on the words of the people. What did they mean when they said, “Hosanna, Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, Hosanna in the highest”?
The word “Hosanna” is actually the English (transliterated) form of two Hebrew terms that mean “Save Now”. This exclamation of the people comes from Psalm 118:25,26. This Psalm is part of what is called the Hallel. This is a selection of Psalms (Psalms 113-118) that is recited at worship and feast times.
Since the word “Hosanna” means, “save now”, we tend to think of Biblical salvation or the process of redemption from sin. Not everyone thinks of it the same way. If you told someone, “I have been saved!” they would most likely ask, “saved from what?”
It is important that we recognize that these people might not all have meant the same thing when they said “Hosanna”. There are those who could be saying,
These
people would all have been saying the same thing, but they could mean something
entirely different by what they were saying.
People don’t always mean what we think they mean.
Let
me give you another example. People may
say, “Jesus is the Son of God” and mean,
·
He is a human being (we
are all sons of God)
·
He is a person who has
attained the highest level of personhood (which we may all attain if we work
hard enough)
·
He is the one who is a
great student of God who is able to teach us the way to Heaven
·
He is uniquely God in
human form who became Man to give His life as a sacrifice for our sin.
With
this in mind we want to ask the important question: “Why were these people
saying, “Hosanna, Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord”?
SOME
MAY HAVE BEEN SWEPT UP IN THE MOMENT
We
all know that people love a parade. If
you get a crowd together people are going to come over and see what is going
on. A group of students walking around town during PE class will bring people
to look out their doors and windows. If
fire trucks show up at a home there will be onlookers who may not even know the
residents of the home or business on fire. In Chicago, whenever there was an
accident on the expressway one side of the expressway would be slowed by the
accident and the “gapers block” would slow the other. When a crowd gathers everyone wants to know what it going on. People don’t want to miss something big that
is happening.
The
time of the Passover was a time of heightened activity in Jerusalem. The population of the city grew enormously
for Passover. It was the time when
many families took their pilgrimage to the holy city. There was a great deal of activity as the streets were filled
with visitors and tourists. Can’t you
imagine people getting their picture taken in front of the temple? Others would be scrambling to find a spot to
celebrate the Passover meal. Still
others may have stood in long lines to get an approved lamb for the sacrifice.
All the Hotels were booked solid.
Passover was a major event. It was easily the equivalent of Christmas to
us. Any commotion in the city would
quickly and naturally draw a crowd of people.
I wonder how many people were drawn to the entourage of Jesus simply
because they wanted to see what was going on.
If
you go to a Christian concert there will be people at that concert who have no
real relationship with Jesus. They will
clap, dance, and tap their toes because they are caught up in the music. They may not even hear the words. They love the beat, the energy of those
around them. It is an event and they
enjoy being part of that event. I think there were some in Jerusalem just like
this. They cheered and waved the Palm branches, not because they knew Jesus,
but because that is what everyone else was doing.
I
am not suggesting that this was simply a “mob action”. There was more to this than simply a bunch
of people caught up in the moment. We
know this because it concerned the Chief priests and teachers of the law (v.
15). However, I think it is unwise not
to acknowledge that some in the crowd were there simply because they wanted to
be where the action was taking place. These may have been some of the same
people who said, “Who is this?”
SOME
MAY HAVE BEEN ENGAGING IN RELIGIOUS RITUAL
Alfred
Edersheim writes,
according to Jewish
tradition, Ps. 118:25–28, was chanted antiphonally (one group would shout one
line, the other group would shout the next) by the people of Jerusalem, as they
went to welcome the festive pilgrims on their arrival, the latter always
responding in the second clause of each verse, till the last verse of the Psalm
was reached, which was sung by both parties in unison, Psalm 103:17 being added
by way of conclusion. [Edersheim, The Temple Its Ministries and Services]
In
other words, the cry of “Hosanna, Blessed is He who comes in the name of the
Lord” was a common cry, especially at Passover. Every Jew knew the words to these Psalms. It was not uncommon to welcome pilgrims with
these words. So, for some people, they
may have simply been reciting a familiar litany.
It’s
like what happens in many churches with the recitation of the Lord’s
Prayer. It doesn’t matter whether a
person is paying attention or not, as soon as someone starts, “Our Father, who
art in Heaven . . . “ others join in.
Some do so without ever pondering the words they speak (I know this is
true because I’ve done it myself).
Consider some other examples,
·
People call Jesus
“Lord” as if it were part of His name rather than His position or title. They call Him Lord without ever recognizing
Him as God in human form, come to save His people from their sins.
·
Some go through the
communion celebration without ever thinking about the sacrifice of Jesus . . .
it is just part of worship.
·
Some shout “Amen” in a
sermon, not because they agree with something the speaker said, but because it
is what spiritual people do.
·
Others stumble through
a responsive reading like they are reading a cue card while thinking about
something else.
It
happens all the time. There are people who go to church on Palm Sunday and
Easter because it’s the thing to do.
Because large groups of people go to church on these days, they go
also. They may not trust Jesus as their
Savior and likely have never even considered the truthfulness of His
resurrection. They are attending a
church at Easter and Christmas because that’s what “good people” do. It seems likely that there were some in the
crowd yelling, “Hosanna” because they believed that is what they were supposed
to do.
SOME
WERE FILLED WITH POLITICAL ANTICIPATION
Many
(most) Jews believed Psalm 118 point to the day when the Messiah would come as
a military liberator for Israel. Some
certainly cheered for Jesus because they believed the Messiah would set them
free from Roman domination.
These
people may have been excited because they believed the glory days of Israel
were going to return. They may have had
visions of Jesus ushering in a time of prosperity as in the days of David and
Solomon. At that time, Israel was a
significant power and they were greatly blessed by God.
Have
you ever been to a political rally? They
are generally rather wild events. I went
to one this last year. You couldn’t bring
any homemade signs into the convention hall. Then, when you got inside you were given signs that you could wave
(that of course had the message the promoters wanted on television). At appropriate times it was obvious that you were
supposed to cheer and wave your signs. The
people, all enthused about their candidate waved their signs and applauded on cue.
I wonder
if there were those in the crowd who were participating in what they believed was
a political rally. They saw Jesus as the
one who would deliver them from the hand of the Romans. He was their political “savior”.
Of
course, Jesus was indeed the deliverer.
He just didn’t deliver them in the way they expected. He didn’t come to set
them free from Rome’s domination; He came to set them free from the rule of sin
and the Devil. He didn’t come to rescue them from Rome’s power; He came to
rescue them from the wrath of the Holy God of the Universe.
SOME MAY HAVE RECOGNIZED THE TRUE NATURE OF JESUS
Though
not everyone celebrated Jesus for the right reasons, I think there were some
who knew that this Jesus was special and sent from God. These people knew that
there was something different about Jesus.
They saw the power in His works, the love in His eyes, and felt the
transforming nature of His touch. Some
of these people had been in Bethany when Jesus called for Lazarus out of the
tomb. They would never forget the way
their grief was turned to fear when they saw Lazarus coming out of the tomb and
how that fear was turned to celebration and worship when they realized it was
not a ghost . . . Lazarus was alive again!
These
people may not have fully realized who Jesus was and what He had come to do,
but they loved Him and trusted Him.
They adored Him as the one sent from God. Their praise was pleasing in God’s ears.
CONCLUSIONS
The
real point of the sermon is to get to one question? Why do you celebrate Jesus today? Why are you here? Jesus warned us,
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter
the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in
heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord,
Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and
perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them
plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ [Matthew 7:21-23]
Jesus
warns us that many will join the parade who are not true followers. They will go through motions, know the right
words, and look just like the true believers, but they will be rejected as
those who do not truly believe. I don’t
want that to happen to you. So please ask
yourself: Why am I here today?
Are
you here to fulfill your religious duty? Do you believe that if you go to
church every week, stand up, sit down, and say that right words that you will
earn enough credits for Heaven? Do you
believe that if you give some money to the church it can buy you a place in the
Kingdom of God? If so, please understand that there is nothing that we can do
that will earn Heaven. No amount of
religious ritual can earn a place in God’s kingdom. We cannot save ourselves even by being very religious.
Are
you here because you are looking for a place to belong? Are you here today just because this is
where your friends and family go on Palm Sunday? Are you here because you want to fit in with those who are around
you? Don’t get me wrong; I pray you do
find acceptance and love here at the Union Church. However, if this is the only thing you are seeking, you are
aiming too low. You have missed the
point. Eternal life, forgiveness, a new
beginning, a certain future is before you, don’t miss it.
Are
you here because you hope Jesus will deliver you from life’s difficulties? Do you think showing affection to Jesus will
cure you of sickness, loneliness, financial problems or the guilt that haunts
your soul? Do you seek Him because of
what you hope He can do for you?
Friend,
Jesus can turn your life around.
He can set you free from the past and help you in the troubling times of
life. If you do what He tells you to
do, your life will certainly be better because the Biblical principles are true
for anyone who will practice them.
However, if this is all you want from Jesus, you misunderstand His
mission. He has not come just to make
this life better; He has come so that you might be made right with God.
It’s my hope that you are here today because you recognize that Jesus was no ordinary man. He is God who became man to set us free from the power and penalty of sin. He went to the cross and shed His blood so that we might be forgiven. He can be your Savior this day if you will trust Him with your past, present and future. He will be your Savior if you will but ask Him to cleanse you and make you new.
Cheering for Jesus is appropriate. We need to cheer Him, not because it is the thing to do, or because it is a litany good people participate in. We should praise and celebrate Jesus because He is our Savior, Redeemer and King. It is right, appropriate, and fitting to praise Him. “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.”
©March 20, 2005 Rev. Bruce Goettsche