HOSANNA:

HOSANNA:
A CRY OF ANGUISH AND FAITH OR A CRY OF AN ANGUISHED FAITH?
(Our Series on the Philippines Elections will resume after the Holy Week)
Except when otherwise indicated “Scripture is taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.”

"Hosanna to the Son of David; Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord;
Hosanna in the highest!" Matthew 21:9

THE CROWDS CAME IN MARCHING AND SHOUTING:
It was a day unlike most days. Two separate crowds- both fairly large enough to warrant attention on the part of the citizens and the political leadership- were marching towards the city. Look, listen carefully; they were not only marching. They were doing something else. Many of them were spreading their garments on the road unmindful of the fact that garments were of great value to anyone that bandits often prey on people for these. Others were cutting branches from whatever trees were there within reach and arranging these on the road like decorations fitting for a big event. It must have been a symbolic act; in fact, a highly symbolic act.

The crowds were made up of Jews and Jews were deeply knowledgeable about their history. Spreading cloaks in front of a person as he arrives was their way of welcoming a newly proclaimed king. This was how the ancient Jews greeted Jehu after he was proclaimed king ( 2 Kings 9:13). It would seem that the crowds were welcoming Jesus as the King; their king.

Matthew and Mark tell us that the people cut branches from trees. John tells us that the people cut palm branches (date palm). It appears that both branches of trees and palms were used. This also had a very clear historical reference. When Simon Maccabeus became a hero in Jerusalem (he died in 135 BC), the Jews celebrated with, among others, palm branches. This account is recorded in the book of the Maccabees. “And they entered into it the three and twentieth day of the second month, in the year one hundred and seventy-one, with thanksgiving, and branches of palm trees, and harps, and cymbals, and psalteries, and hymns, and canticles, because the great enemy was destroyed out of Israel. (1 Maccabees 13:51). Although recorded in the book of the Maccabees –which is considered by Evangelicals as Apocryphal and therefore not included in the Protestant Bible- the story of Simon Maccabees is an undisputed historical fact. On the day that Jesus entered Jerusalem in what we now remember as the Triumphal Entry Sunday- or Palm Sunday to some- it would seem that the Jews were celebrating not only the entrance of the King but also of the impending defeat of the enemy.

WHO WAS THE ENEMY?
Israel was no longer the nation that it once was when David was king. It had been reduced into a province. In fact, it had been reduced into a small and probably a third class province. We know this because the Roman governor Pilate was a called a Procurator, a title reserved for lower class and smaller Roman provinces. The presence of the Roman governor and his soldiers reminded the Jews that they were a captive people. The desire to be free through whatever means was burning in the hearts of many Jews. The Romans were the enemies but they were not the only ones.

The Jews were under a local king who was under the authority of the Roman Emperor. At the time of the Triumphal Entry, the local king was Herod Antipas, the son of Herod the Great- the king when Jesus was born. Herod Antipas was not strictly a Jew. The Herodian family belonged to the Edomite race which traces it roots not to Jacob but to Esau. Thus, the Herods were never really accepted as kings. They were, for the moment, tolerated by reason of a lack of ability on the part of the Jews to unseat them. Herod Antipas was the same Herod who ordered the cutting off of the head of John the Baptist. The Herods were the enemy.

The Herods stayed in power for quite sometime. Herod Agrippa I is the Herod in the book of Acts. He was the nephew of Herod Antipas being the grandson of Herod the Great. Herod Agrippa II is no longer mentioned in the Bible and is the last of the Herods. The Herodian dynasty ended with his death in 100 AD.

HOSANNA IN THE HIGHEST:
What does the word HOSANNA mean? We know it now as a praise word and it is perfectly alright to view it this way as words do change in their meanings in the passage of time. On that Sunday of the Triumphal Entry, what was in the mind of the people when they shouted hosanna? Scholars agree that the Jews used it in relation to Psalm 118:25 where the word hosanna appears. Ps 118:25: “O LORD, do save, we beseech Thee; O LORD, we beseech Thee, do send prosperity!” The words “do save, we beseech Thee” is HOSHI ANNA from where we got the English rendition of Hosanna. In its original usage therefore, Hosanna means SAVE NOW WE BESEECH THEE.

Biblical authorities view hosanna in the same way. The Nelson’s Illustrated Bible Dictionary puts it this way: “HOSANNA- save us now” (Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1986). The New Unger’s bible Dictionary says: HOSANNA -Grk. hosannah, from Heb. hoshi`ana', "save now". (Originally published by Moody Press of Chicago, Illinois. Copyright © 1988.)

There is no doubt that hosanna meant SAVE US NOW. That has not been debated in terms of its original linguistic meaning. Were the people shouting out the word with the same meaning when they accompanied Jesus Christ as He made His Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem on the week of the crucifixion?

HOSANNA, THE CLOAKS AND THE BRANCHES:
Yes, hosanna means SAVE US NOW. Yes, they were welcoming someone as king as indicated by the cloaks spread on the road. And yes, they were celebrating a victory – in this case an expected victory- over their enemy. This is indicated by their use of the branches. What is the picture and the message for us?

Hosanna was a cry of an anguished faith. The Jews had longed for the day of David when Israel was a small nation but considered a military giant. They thought of Jesus as the one who will bring their expected deliverance and they were celebrating that victory even before it happened. Let’s make it a bit clearer.

They asked God for help and for deliverance over their enemies (hosanna). They believed it would happen through a king (they spread their cloaks). They believed the victory is already theirs (the branches.) It seems all too simple and wonderful but there is a sad note somewhere. Look at these verses: “10 And when He had entered Jerusalem, all the city was stirred, saying, "Who is this?" 11 And the multitudes were saying, "This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth in Galilee." (Matthew 21).

They shouted for help. They welcomed a king. They celebrated a sure victory. But, when the rubber hits the road as the Americans would say, THEY IDENTIFIED JESUS AS THE PROPHET FROM NAZARETH, NOT THE LONG-AWAITED MESSIAH. Before the week is over, the crowds (including some from this welcoming crowd?) were screaming for the crucifixion of the Jesus Christ. No, they were not fickle-minded. They simply did not really know who Jesus was. He was not the Christ to them but a prophet. To this day, the Jews are still waiting for the arrival of the Messiah. It was a Triumphal Entry indeed for the Lord but not for the people. It was a Triumphal Entry because it would lead to the crucifixion where Jesus Christ would take our place. The sinless one went to the cross in place of the sinner. He who was without a crime of any kind went to the cross in place of the spiritual criminal (you and I and everyone else). This is called PENAL SUBSTITUTION, a painful truth with glorious implications for us.