Slight Break from Matthew

Today is Palm Sunday

Each of the 4 Gospels records what the crowd says during Jesus’ Triumphant entry into Jerusalem. Each is slightly different from the other… which makes sense… no two people would see things the same.. 2 of the accounts were written by eye witnesses 2 by people who reported what they heard. It would be more suspicious if they all said exactly the same thing…

They do have one thing in common though… they contain one word they all report… Hosanna!

Today’s sermon we’re going to concentrate on One Word that appears in all of the accounts of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem
John 12:12-13(ESV)
12The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem.
13So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!”
Today I want to talk about Hosanna…
And ask 3 questions about this word
Why were they shouting it out?
And related to that… What were they calling for?
Who were they saying it to?
What was the result?
Hosanna
It comes fromPsalms 118:25-26(ESV)
25Save us, we pray, OLord!OLord, we pray, give us success!
26Blessed is he who comes in the name of theLord!We bless you from the house of theLord.
That Save us…
Is a contraction of two Hebrew Words
Yasha = Save or Deliver
Na = NOW
Those Hebrew words were then transliterated
Into the word Hosanna
By the translators
It’s emphatic… It’s Save NOW OH LORD
OH JEHOVAH Save us NOW!
BTW The Jews also called the palm branches twisted together
Hosannas
And these were used in their worship services
This was a hymn that the Israelites would sing in anticipation
Of the coming Messiah
Of the King They were waiting for
Someone to drive out the hated Romans
Someone who would be cut from the same cloth
As David and Solomon
Israel’s two greatest kings
In the eyes of the Israelites
So the first question is relatively easy to answer
Why were they calling Hosanna out to Jesus?
Because they thought Jesus was the Messiah
Why would they think this?
Because Jesus had performed many miracles when He was on the earth
In fact, John wrote at the end of his epistle
John 21:25(ESV)
25Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.
Jesus was a sensation
He performed all kinds of miracles
He even performed miracles on people who weren’t in His presence
And because He performed all these miracles
They welcomed Him as they would welcome a king
His fame spread everywhere!
This wasn’t the first time that a crowd thought to make Jesus King
Remember when He had fed the 5,000 men
When out of just 5 loaves and 2 fishes
Jesus had provided a Feast
And as you know men generally will follow their stomachs anywhere
But Jesus would not take part in their plans
John 6:15(ESV)
15Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesuswithdrew again to the mountain by himself.
Jesus knew they weren’t following Him because he was the son of God
But because He could provide them with free meals
So Jesus left them that time
He didn’t operate by man’s will
Or even His own… but on the will of the one who sent Him
He was to be king
But not just because he could provide for people physically
But for their spiritual lives as well
So why did the people get excited about Jesus’ arrival
The easy answer is partly His mode of transportation
He came on the back of a donkey
Which fulfilled one of the prophecies of the Messiah
He was spoken of in Zechariah 9:9(ESV)
9Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
But there were probably other people who rode on donkey’s right?
And they didn’t receive such a welcome
No… We need to go back a few days prior this entry
Back when His friend Lazarus died
Let’s turn tor John 11:1-8(ESV)
We won’t go there… but in the previous chapter
The attempted stoning incident that the disciples were talking about
Occurred during the Festival of Dedication
Or Hanukkah
When Jesus was surrounded by the Jewish leaders
Who wanted Jesus to tell them plainly
Was He the Messiah or NOT?
Jesus said in John 10:25-26(ESV)
25Jesus answered them,“I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name bear witness about me,
26but you do not believe because you are not part of my flock.
But it was this statement in John 10:30(ESV)
30I and the Father are one.”
That threw them over the edge
Which lead to them want to stone Him
But it wasn’t His time yet…
And as had occurred at other times
He eluded them and passed through them
Remember when Jesus was crucified
It was on His timing
It was because He allowed it
Now Jesus says he’s going back to the place where they wanted to kill Him
And He tells them why
John 11:11-16(ESV)
I love Thomas
He’s gotten a bad reputation over time
As Doubting Thomas
But look here… in the face of death
He says… let’s go
Just for the honor to die with Jesus
When they get there they are greeted by Martha first
Martha who is out of the kitchen
Martha who learned from Jesus’ previous visit
To value time with Him above all other
Martha who confesses saving truth in John 11:23-27(ESV)
23Jesus said to her,“Your brother will rise again.”
24Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.”
25Jesus said to her,“I am the resurrection and the life.Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,
26and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
27She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”
This is a confession every believer in Jesus must confess
This confession of who Christ is
Came in her darkest moment
Her brother was dead
But she was still able to confess Him as Lord
Not because she wanted something from Jesus
But because HE IS LORD
Then Mary when she is told about Jesus races to Him
And assumes the position we always see Mary in
At the foot of Jesus
John 11:32-33
32Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
33When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled.
That word for Deeply moved
Is a strong Greek word
It literally means to snort like a horse
It’s has a connotation to anger and indignation
He was angry or moved because of sin’s tyranny and death
That resulted from man’s sin
But I think he was also indignant over the Jews
Who were weeping with her
These were professional mourners
People paid to mourn
Now notice, Jesus saw Mary’s pain… her agony over her brother’s death
And He didn’t say… oh well… All things are going be okay
God is still in control
He’s got a plan Mary…
NO!
John 11:35(ESV)
35Jesus wept.
Jesus wept… not the same way the professional did
This is a different word entirely
This word is only used here in the whole NT
It means silently bursting into tears
You see while this is the shortest verse in the Bible
It is so full of meaning
We have to remember one of the prophecies of the Messiah
Isaiah 53:3(ESV)
3He was despised and rejected by men;a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief;and as one from whom men hide their faceshe was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Jesus saw her pain… knew what she was going through
And wept
The Jews who were with Mary… saw it as a sign John 11:36(ESV)
36So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”
The Jews saw Him weep and thought it was with the same sense of loss that Mary was feeling
The same sense that the world feels when someone dies
The type of loss that the world feels
the same tears they cry
the same pain they feel
But Jesus wasn’t without hope…
He knew where this was heading
He wept for the effect sin had on the world
Now some of the Jews… made a logical leap
John 11:37(ESV)
37But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?”
Knowing Jesus could open the eyes of the Blind
A miracle which was attributed only to the Messiah
Couldn’t this have all been averted… IF ONLY
Jesus had come sooner
Again think about what they’re saying…
This guy can heal the blind
Could’ve healed the Lazarus if only He’d been here
But Death is final…
Death is the end…
Well they were going to see what a true Son of God can do
That Death is NOT the end
John 11:38-44
And so Lazarus becomes one of the most disappointed people in the world
Think about leaving Heaven and God’s presence
To come back to here
This this world
Jesus was NOT surprised by His miracles
Notice Jesus involves the people around him
To unwrap Lazarus…
They got to put their hands on Him…
Got to see that He was really raised
Not a ghost
And as a result of this miracle
John 11:45-52
This was a powerful amazing miracle
That caused many to believe in Jesus
For who He was
But there were others… who saw the miracle… didn’t believe
Others went and told the Pharisees
Remember observing a miracle doesn’t guarantee salvation
A person has to be called by God
In order to receive Salvation
Later there was a feast… John 12:1-2(ESV)
1Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead.
2So they gave a dinner for him there. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at the table.
Six days before Passover… Martha and Mary throw a banquet
We read inJohn 12:9-11
Notice people heard that Jesus was going to be at the banquet
And wanted to see… but also the object of His Miracle
Lazarus… and because of their witnessing Lazarus
Many more followed Jesus
But it was this one miracle in particular that got the people believing
John 12:12-18
The people who had been there when Jesus raised Lazarus from the grave
These were going around telling others about the miracle
Telling others about this man
Who could raise the dead
And I bet there were still others
Telling of Jesus’ other miracles
And Jerusalem was packed with people
Many commentaries says like 2 MILLION PEOPLE
Were in Jerusalem at the time
And they were being told about this man Jesus
Who was going to free them
But they were thinking about freedom from the Romans
They were calling out to the Messiah
Save Now!
Their eyes were fixed on the world! And because of that they were saying
Save us now
And if that weren’t enough, and to reinforce His position as Messiah
After Jesus entered the city
He cleared out the temple of the vendors and money changers
Clearing the temple of everything that brought dishonor to God’s house
And then Matthew records in Matthew 21:14-16
Here is Jesus among the overturned tables….
And the blind and sick
Who would have been outside the temple gates
See or hear all the merchants running away
And come to investigate
And He heals them all
Do the leaders say… wow this MUST be the Messiah
Do they like Martha confess Jesus as Lord
NO they tell Him to stop them
They allowed their personal beliefs and position
To cloud their vision of who was standing in their midst
So these people… for the wrong reasons… were saying the right things
2nd Question: Who were they saying it to?
Each of the 4 gospels gives us a different snap shot of what the crowd said
In Matthew 21:9(ESV)
9And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”
They called Him the son of David
Who came in the name of the Lord
In Mark 11:9-10(ESV)
9And those who went before and those who followed were shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
10Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!”
He was coming in the name of the Lord,
But they were looking for the kingdom of David to come back
That earthly kingdom of old
Luke 19:38(ESV)
38saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”
Jesus further tells them this is appropriate to call Him this
Luke 19:39-40(ESV)
39And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.”
40He answered,“I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.”
The Pharisee’s knew exactly what the crowd was saying
Knew exactly what Jesus was allowing
And He told them if the people were silent
The stones would cry out
Because all of nature recognized what was happening
John 12:13(ESV)
13So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!”
John says he’s reported to be the king of Israel
And they were all right
The Messiah was of the line of David
Jeremiah 23:5(ESV)
5“Behold, the days are coming, declares theLord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.
As both His genealogies trace His line through to David
Jesus did come in the name of the Lord
And to do His Will
John 6:38(ESV)
38For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.
Jesus was in deed the king
Jesus said as much in John 18:37(ESV)
37Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered,“You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.”
It just wasn’t of this world
Jesus Christ was all of these
And He is the only way to receive eternal life
As Paul would write in Romans 10:9(ESV)
9because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
As I said the people greeting Jesus were saying the right things
But for the wrong reasons
What was the result of this?
To the Pharisees it only confirmed their worst fears about this man
John 12:19(ESV)
19So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him.”
They saw the world following after Him
They couldn’t tolerate anything that took the spot light off of them
And that included Lazarus
As we said before
The Jewish leaders also wanted to get rid of him too
And so this crowd met Jesus with these shouts of Hosanna because of the miracle of Lazarus
As John writes in John 12:18(ESV)
18The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign.
But if your faith is based on miracles alone
It’s not really faith
Many acted because the those people
Who were there when Jesus raised Lazarus
Stirred them up
After all would that be a great king
He could feed you
And raise you from the dead
And if you could be stirred one direction… you can be stirred in another
As happened a week later…
These people were stirred up by another group of people
The Pharisees who did it out of envy of Jesus’ popularity Mark 15:10-11(ESV)
10For he perceived that it was out of envy that the chief priests had delivered him up.