Saturday, April 19, 2014

Hosanna – Save Now!



As we saw last week, God used ordinary things to convey the extraordinary meaning of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, when He rode on a donkey and was hailed by His people. John tells us that the multitude cried Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord (John 12:13).

“Hosanna,” which appears six times in the Gospels referring to the triumphal entry, has similar forms in the Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic. It means "save now,” “rescue," or "savior," and in Hebrew, it is “Jehovah hoshiah-nna” which means “I beseech thee, O Lord, save now.”

Those shouting it on that day most likely did not realize the true significance of their greeting, as they were not looking for salvation from their sins or for eternal life, but for a warrior and king to deliver them from Roman oppression.

Luke’s Gospel says that as Christ approached the mount of Olives, the disciples rejoiced and praised God for the miracles He had done, shouting Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest (Luke 19:38).

This greeting is prophesied in Psalm 118: 25 Save now, I beseech thee, O Lord: O Lord, I beseech thee, send now prosperity. 26 Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the Lord: we have blessed you out of the house of the Lord.

But Psalm 118 goes on to emphasize what the crowd did not realize: 27 God is the Lord, which hath shewed us light: bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar.

As Jesus, Light of the world (John 1:9; 8:12) entered Jerusalem on this occasion, it was not to conquer Israel’s enemies and to rule over the city, as His followers had hoped (Matthew 20:21). Instead, it was to sacrifice Himself, the perfect, divine God the Son (Isaiah 53:5-12). He would “save now” by laying down His life (John 15:13) to pay for the sins of all mankind (John 1:29), so that all who would repent and trust in His death, burial and resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) as the only Way to Heaven (John 14:6) would have everlasting life (John 3:16). 

Despite their blindness to His true purpose, Jesus’ followers praised Him mightily and loudly on that first Palm Sunday, so much so that the Pharisees demanded that He stop their acclamations (Luke 19:39). The world will always throw a wet blanket on Christian praise, but it is ironic that the chief religious elders of that day were the ones to do it.

But God’s creation cannot be silent in worshipping Him, and Jesus answered “If these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out (v.40).” Genuine Christian praise ultimately can’t be suppressed because even the creation praises the Creator – bird songs, babbling brooks, flowers wafting their scent upward to Heaven all glorify Him.

Sadly, the crowd of about 2,700,000 Jews gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate Passover offered Him genuine praise, but for the wrong reasons. Matthew 21:10 tells us that they were “moved,” with the corresponding Greek word meaning “convulsed” or “stirred” as by an earthquake.

They cried “Hosanna,” recognizing that He was the son of David, as expected for the King Who would deliver them (Jeremiah 22:2; Revelation 22:16). They knew He was of the right lineage to rule over them, but not that He should be called Lord by David himself (Psalm 110:1; Matthew 22:44; Mark 12:36). They realized that Jesus came in the name of the Lord, but not that He Himself was Lord of all (Matthew 21:9-10; John 13:13; Revelation 17:14;19:16).

They asked the question that is the most significant question in all history: “Who is this?” (v. 10). And they answered their own question incorrectly, saying that Jesus was the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee.

“Who is this?” is the trillion-dollar question for all time, which every person must deal with to determine their eternal destiny. Not one of us can ignore the question of who Jesus is to us. We can be hostile and reject Him altogether as a blasphemer (Matthew 26:65, Mark 14:64) like the Pharisees who pridefully placed their trust in their own good works and religiosity to get to Heaven (Luke 18:10-14),. But our destiny will be eternal hell, for we are saved not by works but by His grace through our faith (Ephesians 2:8-9).

We can get our emotions stirred up over praising a popular hero, like many in the crowd who waved branches and shouted praises without knowing or accepting Him. Their feelings were shallow and short-lived (Matthew 13:20-21), as was evident when they cried out for His crucifixion five days later. But God knows the hearts (Luke 16:15; Acts 15:8), and mouthing empty praises will not change our destiny from eternal punishment in hell (Luke 13:23-28).

We can even honor Jesus as a good man, teacher, and prophet, or God’s messenger to tell us God’s will. But if we reject His claim to be God in the flesh (John 1:1-14), our destiny will still be eternal torment in hell (John 3:18).

Only if we call on His Name, accepting Jesus as Lord, God and Savior, will we have eternal life with Him in Heaven (Acts 2:21; Romans 10:13). Only if we ask Him “Save now!” – “Hosanna” – recognizing that we are sinners in need of a Savior, that our good works apart from His salvation are like filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6), and that faith in His death, burial and resurrection is the only way to Heaven, do we have the right answer to that crucial question.

Psalm 24 asks that fateful question and gives a paradigm-shifting answer, affirming that Jesus is LORD!

8 Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle.  9 Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.  10 Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory. Selah.

He is our risen Savior Who conquered sin and death forever more! (Isaiah 25:8; 1 Corinthians 15:54-55) Through Him alone we have eternal life! Trust Jesus today as God, King of glory and Lord of your life!


© 2014 Laurie Collett
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12 comments:

Denise said...

Enjoy your Easter.

Nadwrażliwiec said...

Today we had sermon about reactions to Resurrection. A lot of people tried to make Resurrection myth or false, but they couldn't. Without Resurrection our faith is without sense. In this point Christianity is different from so called "universal religions", like Hinduism, Buddhism or Islam, that it is based on fact.
I wish You blessed Easter!!
Greetings from flowering Cracow.

Laurie Collett said...

Thank you, Denise! Happy Resurrection Day to you!
Laurie

Laurie Collett said...

Praise God that there were more than 500 eyewitnesses to the risen Christ! The historical and scientific accuracy of the Bible cannot be denied. Praise God that we serve a risen Savior!
Wishing you a blessed Easter also!
Laurie

Frank E. Blasi said...

Dear Laurie,
What I find so ironic, was that the extreme ease it was to believe in my heart that Jesus is the Christ, which is to say God the Son Incarnate. Yet, as you say, there are multitudes who reject the true divinity of Jesus Christ.
In 1973, just shortly after conversion, a couple of Jehovah's Witnesses called at our door. Since they spoke about God, I thought, "Christian brothers!" So when I got to know them better by having a discussion in the home of one of them, it began to occur that they did not believe in the Trinity or that Jesus Christ was God himself.
I thought that was strange, as even as a new believer back then, I had an instinctive knowledge that the Trinity was Biblical. But since I was so unlearned back then, they won on arguement but failed to win my heart.
It was from this discussion that I began to visit a large Christian bookshop next to St. Pauls Cathedral in London, and accumilated books to help my understanding of the Bible grow and develop.
Yes, I agree that there are many religious people out there who are still lost, and that is a sad thing in itself, but that does not stop God from using them to spur a believer to grow and mature.
God bless.

Ceil said...

Hi Laurie! I learned so much from your post today. I had no idea that Hosanna had so many meanings! I thought it was sort of like yelling 'Yay!'. This makes me think so much about the meaning of this chant as Jesus came into Jerusalem.
And the number of those attending the high holy days? You cited almost three million. Yikes! I never knew that either. What a crowd there must have been...just overwhelming in number.
Thank you so much for giving me so much to ponder.
Blessings!
Ceil

Donald Fishgrab said...

Thanks for a great post.

It is troubling how many want to set Jesus as a great teacher or moral leader while denying his resurrection or atonement for sin, or even his deity. You are so right in stating that they cannot be saved without acknowledging the rest.

Laurie Collett said...

Dear Frank,
I agree than God can use the unsaved, and even lost religious zealots, to further His purposes by provoking thought and Scripture study in believers, and even to open the door for believers to witness in a public forum (that happens to me sometimes on Facebook).
A seasoned pair of Jehovah's Witnesses showed up at our business one morning, accompanied by a young convert. When I started quoting Bible verses to them to refute their positions, they quickly left before their new believer could change his mind once exposed to the truth.
The JWs, like all the cults, deny the divinity of Christ and the Trinity. I bought a hymnal once at a garage sale, thinking it was a Christian hymnal, but when I looked at the hymn "Holy, Holy, Holy," the words had been altered so that "God in Three Persons" was cut out. Evidently it was a Mormon song book!
Thank you as always for your well reasoned comments, and God bless,
Laurie

Amanda Conquers said...

Stopping by from #TellHisStory. Howdy neighbor :)
I loved reading this, goodness, packed full of wonderful nuggets of history and meaning and scripture. My favorite bit here was learning about where the word hosanna came from. I think you must have the gift of teaching! :) And what a gift you are.

Laurie Collett said...

Hi Ceil,
I'm so blessed to hear that you enjoyed the post! May all those who hear His Word or hear about Him call Hosanna -- Save now! So that they can have their sins forgiven and have eternal life! Thank you as always for being such an encourager and for all you do to spread His Word.
Many blessings to you,
Laurie

Laurie Collett said...

Amen, Donald! Even unsaved historians cannot deny that Jesus walked the earth and profoundly changed the course of history. But if He did not rise and is not the Son of God, the fulness of the Godhead bodily, all preaching is vain. May all repent and come to know Him as the risen Saviour before it is too late. Thank you as always for your thoughtful comment.
God bless,
Laurie

Laurie Collett said...

Thank you so much, Amanda, for your visit & lovely comment! I'm thrilled that you found the post helpful! I am blessed that God gives me opportunities to teach a weekly ladies' Bible study at my church, a weekly Bible study at an assisted living facility, and hopefully on this blog as well!
Love in Christ,
Laurie