Alistair shares his thought for the week; hosanna in the highest.
As you know, this Sunday is Palm Sunday, and on Palm Sunday we remember Jesus’s triumphant entry into the city of Jerusalem.
As you remember, the Jews at the time were under Roman occupation, they were all suffering, and they were all praying for a messiah, someone to deliver them from all of their suffering. So when they heard about Jesus’ feats around the country, hearing about His miracles, hearing about Him raising the dead, healing the sick, allowing the blind to see, they were like, “This is the one, this is the messiah, he is the one.”
So I just wanted to capture the theme, and actually capture one of the words that were said, and the word that was said was “Hosanna.”
They said when He entered the city,
“Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.”
John 12:13
What does the word “Hosanna” even mean, and why is it that I want to reflect on it today?
Well, I’ve actually been reflecting on that word all week because of the meaning and the significance of that word is not something we use conversationally, it’s something that tends to come up more in our worship and in our singing, and for good reason, and that’s because of the meaning, which is “Lord, save us, we pray, or save us, we pray thee.”
The reason why Hosanna is so significant is because you’ve got two themes running right through it. You’ve got the theme of us, calling out to God and calling out to Jesus and letting him know that he is the only one with the authority to save us. And then on the other side of things, then you have us also begging and desperately asking to be saved.
And that’s what I wanted to reflect on, those who need saving must know that they need saving in the first place in order to be saved.
In this life, there are so many constructs built up within this world, which is also under a different kind of occupation, under different kind of forces. We’re given so many constructs that make us think we can do a lot in our own power, make us think that we can work our way or deliver ourselves from certain things. Pop psychology has us thinking that we can self help our way out of troubles, out of tribulation, out of pains, out of trauma. But, the only one who has the authority and power to truly save us, deliver us and transform our lives is Jesus Christ.
And that is what the Hosanna is all about, remembering the fact that Jesus has the authority to save and Jesus wants to save you. And it’s not just from tribulations or pains or sufferings or addictions or disease. He’s saving us from eternal separation from God in heaven.
And that’s what this Easter season is about.
That’s what we’re preparing ourselves for as we pray, as we fast, as we read the scripture, read through the Gospels and get into the heart of this season of Easter, getting ready to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ after we died on the cross, where we’re preparing ourselves for that.
And in our preparation, let us remember that we are in need of a saviour, every single one of us, and Jesus is mighty to save.
So shall we pray together in the name of Jesus?
We pray, Lord God of heaven, we thank you that all authority is in the hands of our Lord Jesus Christ and the authority to save is in his hands. May you meet everyone here in this message at their point of need. May you be their savior. May you be their deliverer. May they feel your presence in the name of Jesus. We pray. Amen.
Have a blessed week everyone!
Every week one of our members shares a short thought aiming to inspire you for the week. You can watch previous Thought For The Week videos by clicking here.