Hosanna

This week marks the Holy Week of our faith - commemorating the week leading up to the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ. It began on the day that Jesus and his disciples came back into Jerusalem for the last time. They had been staying away because the religious leaders were determined to kill Jesus - He had embarrased them one too many times and they had had enough. Up until this time, it had not been the right time, but now Jesus’ time had come. 


He led his disciples back into the big capital city, which was swelling with people because it was the week of the Passover feast. This was a huge celebration to commemorate the time many hundreds of years earlier when the people of Israel were still captive in Egypt, and Moses was pleading with Pharoah to let God’s people go. Of course, we know from reading the book of Exodus that Pharaoh continually refused and hardened his heart, so God sent ten terrible plagues to get the king’s attention. WIth the last and worst of the plagues, the angel of death swept through, killing all of the first born people and livestock - exept those whose homes were covered by the blood of a precious lamb that was slain. It was to remember that amazing night of deliverance that Jerusalem was filled with pilgrims and visitors. 


So it was that day when Jesus arrived, a great crowd gathered to herald His entrance into the city. The Bible tells us in Mark 11: 8-10, “Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields.Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted,“Hosanna!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!” “Hosanna in the highest heaven!”


They had seen and heard about this man, Jesus. He healed people, He set their neighbors free from evil torment, He had even raised a few people from the dead. He taught with such passion and truth - like no one they had ever seen. I am sure many people had heard, too, about the way the religious people hated Him and were out to get Him. That would still draw a crowd today, and people were curious and excited to see Him.


The account of this same day in the book of Luke gives more insight into what Jesus was feeling. It says in Luke 19: 41-44. “As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.”


This week is a time for us to reflect on what the suffering and death of Jesus means.


Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man. He has been since time without beginning, and was present for all of the events we now read as stories in the Bible. He knows intimately what occurred during all of creation, and also what happened on that terrible day of the fall of man, when fellowship between God and man was broken. Jesus watched on as Noah built the ark to specification and with plenty of room, and as everyone else just walked past and ridiculed, happy in their sin. He was the One who met with Moses in the burning bush in the desert, and told him, “I Am.” He certainly knew of the terrible night of the original Passover in Egypt, when warning and provision was made through the blood of the lamb, but as so many suffered for not heeding the warning. 


Jesus also knew exactly what He was marching towards as He entered Jerusalem that day - the cross and the ultimate price that had to be paid for the sin of mankind. He knew how many people were once again seeing and hearing, but not caring enough to try to understand, and how horrendous and final a choice they were making in their hearts.


The city that He loved, the people that He loved - if only they would hear and see and understand what all of the old stories and experiences had been about. If only they would understand that God loved them and wanted to be with them forever, if only they would listen and repent. Our religious systems and governments cannot save us from our sin, and judgement really is coming. It came with the flood, it came with the angel of death, it came with the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70, and it is coming again with finality, and soon. 


Now it is our generation’s turn, will we heed the warnings and repent, or will we just gather in curiosity to watch? The people in all of those old BIble stories were people just like us. They were living their lives - planning weddings, taking care of their kids, worrying about how to pay their taxes, going to work. It is not hard to imagine people getting ready for bed the night before the rain began, or the passover, or the cross thinking, “That was such an interesting preacher I saw today. I wonder what they were so worked up over?” 


This week is a reminder that our sin cost God everything, and that He lovingly and willingly paid the price with the precious blood and life of His own Son, Jesus. We know that the BIble teaches plainly in Hebrews 9:22, “In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” Have our hearts been cleansed by His blood, have we received God’s forgiveness?


This week is a reminder that judgement really is coming some day, even if it seems to be taking a very long time. God is patiently waiting for every man, woman and child all over the world to hear the good news of His Son, and then the end will come (Matthew 24:14.) We must not be the people who gather for a week to celebrate a great deliverance, but who refuse to try to understand what it all means and take action. The King is coming, and we must be ready. We must help others be ready. 


This week, as we contemplate all that Jesus did for us, let us follow the prompting of the early church father Methodius who said,

“Instead of our garments, let us spread our hearts before Him.”