Hosanna! Blessed Is He Who Comes in the Name of the LORD!

"... Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord." - John 12:13b

 

In Judaism, to shout "Hosanna," was a call for help. It was a cry for salvation. It was deep and guttural.

 

While Christians sing it in songs of praise, for the Jews, it was an utterance of both faith and desperation.

 

Yet, John paints a portrait of the shout as one of jubilant hope and praise. It is the sound of a people who believe that their cry for help has been heard by God and that God has sent his very own representative to deliver them.

 

So, on this day, as the multitudes of those who had come to Jerusalem for the feast heard that Jesus was arriving, they went out to meet him.

 

They waited for the one who would arrive on a donkey as foretold by the prophet. They took palm branches to welcome the conquering hero. They incorporated an age--old song of victory and sang with full voice, "Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name do the Lord."

 

It was a suitable welcome. It suits him. It is a recognition of who he is.

 

It was appropriate. Rocks and hills and trees and all nature would cry out if the people remained silent.

 

It was prophetic. It was the fulfillment of promises made centuries before,

 

This Palm Sunday, we know the whole story. We know the rest of Holy Week and beyond.

 

We know the story of the teachings of that week, the last supper, the prayer in the garden, the betrayal, the trial, the crucifixion, the resurrection, his appearances, his commission, and his ascension into Heaven.

 

We have the whole narrative and still, we can enter into the celebration of that moment as we wave our palm branches and sing our praises to the one who comes in the name of the Lord.

 

And we can cry, "Hosanna! God save us!"