“They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, "Hosanna!" "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" "Blessed is the King of Israel!"
 
Not only are palms tradition for Palm Sunday, but also songs of Hosanna and “Hosanna in the Highest” are sung as part of the reflection of the day Jesus rode into Jerusalem to prepare for His sacrifice. It also has significance for the celebration to worship our Lord. The word, "Hosanna" means “save now”. Hallelujah what a Savior! Shouts are important in recognizing expressions of joy. Emotion is exhibited in both the non-verbal waving of the branches, as well as the verbal shouts of victory when the conqueror returns into town.
     
The Jews believed in God and so it was natural to associate Jesus with the will of God. In their thinking, God was using this one called Jesus as an instrument to re-establish the Kingdom of Israel.  Here there was also a quote from the Old Testament Psalm 118:25-26 "O Lord, Save us; O Lord grant us success. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord For from the house of the Lord we bless you." This was part of the psalm known to the Jews as the Hallel. This was part of the memory work that all serious Hebrew boys had to learn and that is still true today.  They sang this often at great acts of praise and thanksgiving in the Temple and regularly in the Synagogue now. This is a significant part of the Passover ritual.
  
According to Josephus, the Jewish historian, these very verses were sung and shouted by the crowd of Jerusalem when they welcomed back Simon Maccabaeus after he had conquered Acra, and wrestled it from Syrian dominion more than a hundred years before.  There is no doubt that when the people sang this Psalm they were looking on Jesus as God's anointed. To the crowd, He was like Simon Maccabaeus and, certainly to many, as the anticipated Messiah as they understood Him.
 
Jesus' very name means Savior. The Hebrew name Joshua means Savior.  The angels said to the shepherds that night when Jesus came into the world that, “this day in the city of David a Savior is born which is Christ the Lord”.  A savior brought the people to shout Hosanna. They were fulfilling the prophecies.  They were tools of God to not only bring praise to the only begotten Son of the Father, but also to fulfill the prophecies of old. That is why, in another Gospel, Jesus could say to the Pharisees who were objecting to the children shouting praises to Jesus, that if they stopped “the stones themselves would cry out”. The Savior is coming, the Savior Jesus son of God is coming!  

Application: Do you ever get so excited about Jesus Christ you feel like shouting? We are pretty reserved people for the most part. Even the rocks will cry out with the realization of the wondrous works of God as seen in the story of our redemption. It is something worthy of praise.

Prayer: Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Praise be to God!

Dale