HOSANNA SUNDAY (John 12:12-22)
Today we are celebrating the Hosanna Sunday- which is called in Lebanese “Ahad achaaneen.” Hosanna or chaaneen is a Hebrew word that means “save us now,” and the word precisely means: “God save the King.” These words are in the psalms of David from the part called the Hallel psalm (113-118) which means; “Praise be to God.” On the sound of Hosanna, the Jews used to welcome their victorious kings who had overcome their enemies. It was the way that they welcomed Simon Maccabaeus after he had conquered Acra and freed it from Syrian domination more than a hundred years before. What kind of victory had Jesus done to be welcomed as a king while he never had any war? - He spoke about the kingdom of God with authority. - He healed the sick, opened the eyes of the blind, cleansed the lepers, and made the cripple walk. - He expelled demons. - He raised the dead - especially Lazarus. - He healed men from their sins and spiritual hurts.
Brothers and sisters, when it comes to dealing with sin in our lives, prevention is the smarter strategy. Keeping the seeds of sin from being planted in our hearts is a far better use of our resources than having to call on Jesus to always get us out of our messes. Please don’t get me wrong. We all need Jesus to rescue us and get us out of our sin messes. But, once He has pulled us out of the mess of sin, He sets us on the rock of His word and commands us to surrender to Him as Lord. Jesus enters Jerusalem 5 days before Passover so that He can be our Savior and our Lord, rescuer, and preventer. I stand before you today to urge you to place yourself under His Lordship, be obedient to His leadership, and let Him chart your path. The cost may seem too high to obey His commands, but I assure you that it will be far less than the cost that foolishness and sin will exact from your life. There is no doubt that when the people sang this psalm, they were looking at Jesus as God’s anointed one, the Messiah, the deliverer, the savior, the one who was to come. And there was no doubt that they were looking at him as a conqueror, as their eternal king. Jesus accepted their chants and praise, accepted that he is a king, a Messianic king.
That’s why he rode on the back of a donkey, an ass, to fulfill the prophesy Zechariah: “Rejoice greatly, o daughter of Zion, shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem, see your king shall come to you; triumphant and victorious, savior is he, humble and riding on an ass, on a colt the foal of an ass.” By riding on an ass Jesus was telling us that he is our Messianic King, full of humility and gentleness, because the victorious Jewish kings used to ride upon a horse when they went to war; Jesus came riding upon an ass because He was coming in peace. This action of Jesus is a sign that He was not the warrior figure, but the Prince of Peace. Jesus also chose this animal as the fulfilment of the prophesy that, He, the long-awaited Messiah, would make His entrance riding on a young donkey. Further, by riding a donkey and not a white horse, Jesus was visibly declaring Himself as a different kind of leader. Jesus was a new kind of king who led with humble authority. His kingdom would be established in the lives of those who would place their trust in Him. His throne would be the hearts of all men and women who truly believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. As we watch Jesus make His entrance into Jerusalem, we see both the powerful divine Son of God and the humble Messenger of God. John crafts his version of Christ’s entrance into Jerusalem by letting us see the reactions to His entrance by five distinct groups of people. Those groups are the great crowd, Christ’s disciples, the Bethany crowd, the Pharisees, and some Greeks.
1. The Great Crowd: The Misguided. They took palm branches and went out to meet Him, shouting. We see the great crowd as the foremost group that had caused the Pharisees and the Sanhedrin so much concern. These people had witnessed the miraculous powers of Jesus and concluded that He was invincible. Surely, He will fulfil all our expectations of what we are looking for in a leader, particularly regarding our political goals. But we must conclude that this great crowd was misguided by their ambitions. They saw Jesus as a savior, not from their sins but from an oppressive government.
2. His Disciples: The Committed but Confused. Who At first did not understand all this. John helps us see that there is hope for the disciples. They will soon understand. Their confusion will end when they meet the resurrected Jesus.
3. The Bethany Crowd: The Committed. Those who had witnessed the resurrection of Lazarus went out to meet Him. Though they may not have been able to explain all that was going on, there was no doubt in their minds and hearts that Jesus was for real, that He was telling the truth, and that He really was the Son of God. He was not only worthy of being followed, but His story also needed to be spread around.
4. The Pharisees: The Opposition. The jealous people who said to one another, “See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after Him!” These religious leaders had lost sight of their calling. Leadership was now all about them. So, when Jesus came on the scene, all they could see was competition. As more people went over to Jesus, their jealousy and frustration and anger increased. But that’s how jealousy, envy, and self-centeredness work. They turn us into toys for the evil one to use in his wicked games. If only they could see that their sin was making them partners with the destroyer of life, goodness, and joy they might repent.
5. Some Greeks: The Curious. They went up to worship at the Feast. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. “Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Jesus.” All of this to say that Jesus had caught the attention of these Greeks, these curious outsiders, and they wanted to connect with Jesus. We’re not told of their motives. These Greeks share something in common with the people that the Bethany crowd had been witnessing to. As a result of the testimonies of the Bethany crowd, many people wanted to meet Jesus. So, here we have five groups of people who were impacted by Christ’s life and entrance into Jerusalem.
Just as Jesus’ life was coming to a decisive moment, His presence in these people’s lives was also calling for a decision: Are you going to move closer to Jesus or are you going to resist Him? Are we among those who want Jesus to fit around our agenda? Are we among those who are now unnecessarily in the fog about what Christ wants to do through our lives? Are we among the committed who have found great joy in following Jesus? Are we among the opposition, or are we among the seeking curious? Wherever you are, Jesus gave His life for you, and He rose again that you might have eternal life. As Jesus went through the crowd, He saw each face, He knew each story. Jesus knows your story. Will you welcome Him as your Savior and Lord today? Amen.