Hosanna
Matthew 21:9
A Sermon by Dr. Neil Chadwick
In recent days, on our TV screens we have been seeing pictures of hundreds, if not thousands of people in the streets of Iraqi cities. They're shouting, jumping up and down, waving with great excitement, and destroying statues and images of their former tormenting tyrant. Some are taking advantage of the apparent lawlessness of the moment and are looting and fighting with each other. The revelry may seem to be out of control, but can anyone blame them for being overjoyed with their liberation after over 30 years of evil oppression at the hands of one of the world's most notable mega-madmen? On a much smaller scale, the day Jesus arrived in the ancient city of Jerusalem presented a similar scene. There' was singing, shouting, dancing, even laying down branches and garments in the street in front of the donkey Jesus rode on - in a way, one could say they were celebrating what they hoped would be a "regime change." Fortunately, there were people on hand who listened to and recorded what was being said, "Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest." (Matthew 21:9) Of special interest is this foreign word, "Hosanna." What does the word mean? We use it as a praise expression, much like we would say "Hallelujah," or "Praise the Lord," but doing so may cause us to miss the underlying meaning. The word is of Hebrew origin, formed from two words, "yashaw" and "naw". The first of these two words is familiar to us because it stands behind the name of Jesus. The angel who instructed Joseph, explained that Mary's baby should have the name "Yeshua," ". . . because he will save his people from their sins." (Matthew 1:21) The word has a variety of possible translations: "help, liberate, preserve," literally, "make open, wide or free." The last syllable of our word "hosanna", "naw", is a primitive particle of incitement and entreaty, which may be rendered: "I pray now." Together these two words form a prayer, "Help, or save now, I (we) pray." In the New Testament, "hosanna" is only found in relation to this story - the Triumphal Entry celebrated on Palm Sunday. However, even though this Hebrew word may sound strange to our ears, it was well known to Jewish worshipers, having been taken right out of their worship book:
"Save now, we pray!" they chanted loudly, "Hosanna!" The ideas of "save" and "salvation" are found in the Old Testament prophets. Take for example what Ezekiel preached,
"And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. You will live in the land I gave your forefathers; you will be my people, and I will be your God. I will save you from all your uncleanness. I will call for the grain and make it plentiful and will not bring famine upon you. I will increase the fruit of the trees and the crops of the field, so that you will no longer suffer disgrace among the nations because of famine." (Ezekiel 36:27-30) (By the way, if we back up a few verses, we see the word "sprinkle" in verse 25. Is this where some churches get the idea that sprinkling is an acceptable form of Baptism?)
Joab, who held a position equivalent to Secretary of Defense in David's administration, noticed that the King missed his son Absalom who was in hiding after having killed his half brother, Amnon, in revenge for the rape of Absalom's sister Tamar. So Joab concocted this scheme to get David to allow his son to return safely to Jerusalem. Finding a woman who would be good at acting the part of a grieving widow and mother, Joab dressed her in mourning clothes and sent her on a mission to King David. When she approached the King, she cried out, "Hosanna" - "Help me, O king!" (II Samuel 14:4) Then she spun her tale of woe, telling the King that her husband was dead, and in a fight, one of her sons killed the other son and now the town was demanding that the surviving son, her only remaining hope for support, be handed over to be executed. King David was moved by this story and prepared an order to be sent back to the town to spare the life of this widow's son, when the woman gave up her play acting and appealed to the King to bring back his own son, Absalom, who had been banished. David then realized that it was Joab who was behind this scheme and sent him to bring Absalom back to Jerusalem, although the glad reunion would wait another two years until Absalom was able to convince Joab to get the King to invite him back into his presence. Obviously, the reason we're looking at this story is because of the plea of the woman seeking help from the King, words similar to those shouted by the crowds entering the city with Jesus. Some may be bothered by Joab's use of deception, even though he believed he was only bringing about what the King really wanted, reconciliation with his son. However, this methodology was common in that era, as seen in the story of God's Prophet, Nathan, using the story of the rich man taking the poor man's lamb when David needed to be confronted with his sin with Bathsheba. What we want to see is that the use of this expression, "Hosanna" comes from one who is desperate, having a need or problem which absolutely requires the intervention of the King. The woman in the story can only be "saved" by the King. The faithful pilgrims who lined Jerusalem's streets one week prior to Passover called out with the same urgency. While perhaps they could only long for a political kind of salvation, deliverance from the oppressive regime of the Roman Emperor, we now can make an even more accurate application, and cry out for deliverance from the most oppressive regime of all, that of Satan. Do notice that when this woman approached the King she fell on her face, even as we do when we call out for salvation from sin and worship the Savior. David, the King, represents God who is also deeply concerned with the distressing situations of His subjects, and He is also pleased when the story concludes with a reconciliation of the King with His sons and daughters. There's another story from a later time in Israel's history, recorded in II Kings 6, an event which took place during the time of famine when Samaria was surrounded by an enemy army. The people in Samaria had become desperate with starvation, and as the King of Israel, Joram son of Ahab ". . . was passing by on the wall, a woman cried to him, 'Help me, my lord the king!'" (v.26) Once again we have an example of this expression, "Hosanna." Notice that the King's first response was, "If God can't help, how can I?" But then, thinking better of it, he asked, "What's the matter?" Then we hear a horrible account of two women who agreed to cannibalize their young sons; one had been killed, cooked and eaten, now the mother whose child was still alive refused to keep her part of the bargain. Hearing that, the King tore his garment, showing sackcloth underneath. Looking for someone to blame, he sent for the prophet Elisha who foretold the breaking of the siege. The story concludes with four lepers leaving the city to throw themselves on the mercy of the enemy only to find that because God had confused the enemy army, they had fled, leaving all their belongings behind. But again, the message we're hearing is the same, in a time of desperation, it is appropriate to cry out to the King, "Hosanna" - "Save now, we pray!" In the first story, the King's son needed to be delivered from the judgment of death and the incarceration of his exile. In this second story, a whole city needed to be liberated. In both cases, the cry was the same, picked up again on the streets of Jerusalem hundreds of years later, "Hosanna" - "Save now, we pray!" To illustrate this from a more contemporary story, we have only to recite the now familiar account of a rescued Prisoner of War. It's one of the biggest and best stories of the recent war in Iraq, the remarkable rescue of 19-year-old Jessica Lynch, a US Army Private from the small town of Palestine, West Virginia. Jessica was part of the 507th Ordnance Maintenance Company, a rear-echelon supply unit, which was ambushed in Nasiriyah on March 23. With two broken legs, a fractured foot, a broken right arm, and two small caliber gunshot wounds, Jessica found herself in a room on the first floor of Saddam Hospital, ten miles behind enemy lines. An Iraqi lawyer named Mohamed who must be given some of the credit for this “miracle rescue” kicked off the rescue attempt. The husband of a nurse who worked in this hospital, was so moved by her plight that he risked his own life to tell the Americans where to find her - he was moved to action by the sight of a black-clad captor slapping her across the face, with his palm and then the back of his hand. Remarkably, considering all the guards around the place, Mohammed managed to sneak inside Jessica’s room and whisper to her not to worry, he was going for help. Walking for six miles in the desert, Mohammed finally encountered a Marine patrol. After giving his account to officers, he was sent back to the hospital twice for more information, returning with five hand-drawn maps and a count of the Fedayeen guards - there were 41. The rescue attempt was launched ten days after the ambush of Jessica's company - while one detachment of Marines made a diversionary attack on another part of the city, the main force of Special Ops, carried by helicopters, landed at the hospital just after midnight and began searching for Lynch. They found her hiding in her bed in a room on the first floor. A soldier called her name, and without answering she peeked out from under the sheets. “Jessica Lynch,” he called, “we’re United States soldiers and we’re here to protect you and take you home.” The American approached the bed and took his helmet off and she looked up at him and replied, “I’m an American soldier, too.” Lynch was then strapped to a stretcher to be carried down a flight of steps and outside to a helicopter. As her chopper took off, she grabbed the hand of the Army doctor and pleaded, “Don’t let anybody leave me.” As soon as the helicopter was in the air, Air Force Captain Joe Della Vedova phoned Jim Wilkinson, an aide to General Tommy Franks. “She is safe and in our hands,” he reported. The whole operation, expected to take 45 minutes, was over in just 25. Jessica was the first U.S. prisoner to be rescued from behind enemy lines since World War II. President Bush was described by a senior official as “full of joy because of her rescue, and full of pride because of the rescuers.” In the tiny hamlet of Palestine, West Virginia, church bells rang and the roadside signs left no doubt about who deserved the credit: THANK YOU GOD FOR SAVING JESSIE! PRAYER BRINGS MIRACLES HOME. (Compile from reports by MSNBC) There are many people today who, like Jessica Lynch can be classified as a POW - far behind enemy lines, and wounded, waiting for rescue. The One who has been sent to save you is passing by, and He's calling out your name. Perhaps you hardly have strength to call it out loud, but you are being invited to join the throngs who respond with the cry, "Hosanna" - "Save now, we pray!" In your case, the rescuer is not a Special Ops Marine landing in a chopper on the lawn outside your prison; rather, it's the Son of God, Jesus, our Lord and Savior, who gave His very life to deliver you from the prison hospital of your sin. This brings to mind the old Hymn by Fanny Cosby, "Pass Me Not." While on others Thou art calling, Do not pass me by. Savior, Savior, Hear my humble cry,
Trusting only in Thy merit, Would I seek Thy face;
“Hosanna”
2. What were they chanting? 3. What do you think the people on the road to Jerusalem had in mind when they called out, "Hosanna"? 4. Who are the people today who should be calling out in this same way? 5. The word they used was "Hosanna," coming from the Hebrew words "yashaw" and "naw." What do these words mean? 6. Psalms 113-118 are traditionally read during Passover. Can you find the passage where "Hosanna" is seen, and what does this have to do with Passover? 7. Which two prominent O.T. Prophets spoke specifically of salvation? 8. Retell the two Old Testament stories which illustrate the meaning of "Hosanna"? 9. What parallels may be drawn between these two stories and our salvation? 10. What parallels may be drawn between the rescue of Jessica Lynch and our salvation?  - - Return to Top of this Page  - Email a Link to this Page
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