No 4

(Hosanna)

The name “hosanna” given to Jesus in the New Testament means “save now”. It appears 5 times in the New Testament and describes Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem. The Jews cried out this name when their Messiah arrived on the back of a donkey “ And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest” (Matt 21:9). The people were jubilant because they finally saw in Jesus a conqueror who would deliver them out of the clutches of the Roman oppression. He was their redeemer!! However, these same Jews later on cried “crucify Him” at His trial with Pontius Pilate as judge “And Pilate answered and said again unto them, What will ye then that I shall do unto him whom ye call the King of the Jews? And they cried out again, Crucify him!!” (Mark 15:12, 13). Even Pontius Pilate himself asked the Jews why He should be crucified “Why, what evil hath he done? And they cried out the more exceedingly, Crucify him!!” (Mark 15:14). Perhaps if the Jews would’ve seen the deeper meaning of His arrival, they would have been delivered from a far greater enemy that the Romans – their sinful nature. The word “hosanna”, without knowing the actual meaning of it, has always symbolized an expression of joy and exuberance in the Lord.