"Hosanna To Blessed Jesus!"
Sermon on Mark 11:1-10
Weekend of March 28, 1999
Saint Mark's, Watertown, WI
Pastor Karl Walther
The Lord is my strength and my song! He has become my salvation! Amen.
God's Word for our special consideration this morning is Saint Mark's record of the events of Palm Sunday-- Mark chapter eleven, verses one through ten:
As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples, saying to them, "Go to the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, 'Why are you doing this?' tell him, 'The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly.'"
They went and found a colt outside in the street, tied at a doorway. As they untied it, some people standing there asked, "What are you doing, untying that colt?" They answered as Jesus had told them to, and the people let them go.
When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it. Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields. Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted, "Hosanna!" "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" "Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!" "Hosanna in the highest!"
This is God's Spirit-inspired Word of Jesus Christ.
Introduction: If I Asked You To Serve the Lord Specially, Would You Do It?
Dear fellow Christians-- who today sing, "Hosanna to blessed Jesus!":
• Suppose that today, Palm Sunday, Nineteen Ninety-Nine-- suppose that today, right here, right now, I asked you to serve as a missionary. Would you do it...?
• Suppose that today, Palm Sunday, Nineteen Ninety-Nine-- suppose that today, right here, right now, I asked you to serve as a church worker of some sort. Would you do that...?
• Or suppose that today, right here, right now, I asked you to be an every-day prayer-warrior for God. Would you do that...?
• Finally, suppose that today I asked you to stand up and to lead sing our next hymn. How about that? Would you do it...?
Okay, I know what you're thinking! "What's with all the crazy questions, Pastor?!?" Well, in God's Word to us today -- the account of Palm Sunday -- we see all sorts of Jesus' followers doing all sorts of amazing things like these for Jesus. And really, really we want to do the same....
Theme: Hosanna To Blessed Jesus!
That's what we're going to consider today as we join the Palm Sunday crowds in shouting * HOSANNA TO BLESSED JESUS! "Hosanna To Blessed Jesus!"-- first of all, because (1) WE ENJOY HIS TOTAL PROTECTION. And "Hosanna To Blessed Jesus!"-- secondly, because (2) HE ENJOYS OUR TOTAL DEDICATION.
Part One: His People Enjoyed Jesus' Total Protection
To begin with, let's consider together the setting....
It was Sunday, probably Sunday afternoon, five days before the grand Passover celebration. Crowds of thousands of people had already flooded the area of Jerusalem in preparation for the festival. Thousands of those people had spent much of the past three and a half years witnessing Jesus' miracles and listening to Jesus' teaching up north in Galilee. Hundreds of others from the immediate area had witnessed Jesus raising Lazarus and teaching the resurrection of the dead only months earlier.
Now we read: Jesus and his disciples approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives.
The Mount of Olives was a limestone ridge that lay across the valley a scant half a mile from the eastern wall of Jerusalem and the temple courts. The Mount of Olives towered a hundred feet over already tall Jerusalem, and it was home (as we might expect) to hundreds and hundreds of olive trees. Bethany was a little village on its eastern slope-- the home of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. Bethphage was a littler town yet, even closer to Jerusalem, on the south side of the slope.
It was then and it was there that loud crowds of probably hundreds went ahead of Jesus to proclaim his arrival. And loud crowds of probably thousands followed behind Jesus to learn more of him. And we read: Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted, "Hosanna!" "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" "Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!" "Hosanna in the highest!" And it's worth it to take a look at each of those four shouted sayings more closely....
First: "Hosanna!" shouted the crowds. It meant literally, "Save us, please!" And it had become simply a shout of praise. Through those words the crowds were identifying for us Jesus as our Savior.
Second: "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" Those words are straight out of Psalm one eighteen-- one of the psalms the Israelites traditionally sang during the Passover feast. Those words praise Jesus for revealing God's saving reputation to the world. Through those words, the crowds were identifying Jesus as God himself.
Third: "Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!" Those words draw upon God's repeated promises to send a great king of kings from the line of David. Through those words, the crowds were identifying for us that eternal King of Kings.
Finally: "Hosanna in the highest!" Those words have the crowds calling upon the angels in the most high places to join them in praising the Most High God. So through those words, the crowds were identifying Jesus for us as the very proprietor of paradise.
Application One: We Enjoy Jesus' Total Protection
What conclusion, then, shall we draw from the shouting of the crowd? -- Jesus brings us salvation now! And Jesus brings us protection eternally!
° "Hosanna-- save us, please!" we call with the crowds. "Hosanna to blessed Jesus!" Hosanna in the highest!" And why? -- because Jesus is our Savior!
In the original Aramaic or Hebrew, that word "hosanna" suggests that we had gotten ourselves into a very tight spot. And that's true, isn't it? Already we were born enemies of God and rebels against him. We inherited from our parents the sins of our souls. And it only got worse after that. Rather than approaching God, humbly seeking his forgiveness, we ran away from him. We took our own little paths and hid out in our own little caves-- supposing we could get away from God's threatening anger over our sins.
But Jesus sought us out. With the thunder of his mighty anger against our transgressions, he scared us out of our little caves. With the gentle breeze of his good news of sins forgiven, he coaxed us out into the wide plain of God's grace and mercy. He says to you and to me, "Don't be afraid! My death, my hell for your sins, has covered you! My life, my resurrection, is now your sunshine! Join me in open and great jubilation!"
That's the way Jesus brings us salvation now. Jesus also brings us protection eternally.
° "Blessed is Jesus, who comes in the name of the Lord!" we call with the crowds. "Blessed is the coming kingdom of Jesus!" we agree. And why? -- because Jesus is our eternal protector!
Think of it.... There's coming a kingdom when there'll be no need for locks on doors or walls around houses. There's coming a kingdom when we'll have no anxiety over nuclear technology hijacked by our citizens or taken by our enemies. There's coming a kingdom whose nights will be filled with restful sleep, whose mornings will be filled with enjoyable work, whose afternoons will be filled with banquet food, and whose evenings will be filled with awesome celebration.
Over that kingdom Jesus is King. He has conquered our sin! He has blasted away our enemies! Over that kingdom Jesus is King. He has filled us with his holiness! He will wine and dine us forever!
Part Two & Application Two: Jesus Enjoyed His People's
Total Dedication & Jesus Enjoys Our Total Dedication
That's why we sing today: Hosanna To Blessed Jesus! It's because: We Enjoy His Total Protection! Now, being that we sing: Hosanna To Blessed Jesus!-- let's realize that: He Enjoys Our Total Dedication, too.
Consider the kind of dedication on display on Palm Sunday....
• We read: As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus took two of his disciples away from whatever else they were doing, and he sent them saying to them, "Go to the village ahead of you, not your hometown or anything like that, but just as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. It'll look like you're stealing it...! If anyone asks you-- and they will, because there are thousands of people here, 'Why are you doing this?' tell him, 'The Lord, whom this fellow might not even know-- The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly.'"
Would you have done what Jesus said...?
Well, we read that the two disciples did-- step by step, just as Jesus told them: They went and found a colt outside in the street, tied at a doorway. As they untied it, some people standing there asked, "What are you doing, untying that colt?" They answered as Jesus had told them to, and the people let them go.
Now, if two of Jesus' disciples (who knew him as their Savior and Protector) did that, can't we? Can't we serve as missionaries, too? Can't we invite to Jesus not a colt, but how about a soul to services here on this most holy week?
• More dedication on display on Palm Sunday: When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it. And then we read: Many people spread their cloaks on the road.
Would you have done that...?
I mean: consider that for a moment.... You're an Israelite. It's an early springtime day, and you're far away from home. You probably only have two or three of these cloaks, these heavier sort of robes that serve as coats for when you go outside. But you lay one of your precious cloaks, probably your best one, down in Christ's path and in the path of thousands of others. You might never recover that cloak. You certainly may not recover it in good condition.
So, if hundreds of Jesus' followers (who knew him as their Savior and Protector) did that, can't we? Can't we serve Christ and others, too? Can't we lay down not a coat, but an offering to our Lord-- every week, even if we're not here?
• More dedication on display on Palm Sunday: Others spread branches they had cut in the fields.
Would you have done that...?
At first glance, that seems like less of a sacrifice than were all those hundreds and thousands of cloaks. But taking the time to run off to the bushes, cut off leafy branches, and to do so again and again (because that's what the original Greek says here)-- this was no small effort.
So, if thousands of Jesus' followers (who knew him as their Savior and Protector) did that, can't we? Can't we, repeatedly, serve Christ and others, too? Can't we raise not branches, but rather prayers to Jesus day by day?
• And finally, we read: Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted!-- and again, the Greek says they "shouted and shouted." "Hosanna!" "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" "Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!" "Hosanna in the highest!"
Would you have done that shouting...?
First of all, these followers of Christ had become enough acquainted with the Scriptures that they could render Jesus intelligent praise. Secondly, these followers of Christ shouted and shouted it, again and again-- although the people of Jerusalem were probably thinking, "Oh, those crazy hicks from out of town and up north...!"
But if thousands of Jesus' followers (who knew him as their Savior and Protector) did that, can't we? Can't we vocalize our faith? Can't we render not shouts outside, but resounding singing inside to our dear Savior?
Conclusion: If I Asked You To Serve the Lord Specially, You Would Do It!
So I wonder, as I did at the beginning of the sermon.... If Jesus asked you to invite a friend to one of our dozen or so services this week, could you? If Jesus asked you to give generously to church, even if you couldn't be here, would you? If Jesus asked you to spend, say, your first ten minutes every day in prayer, could you do that? And if I asked you to shout and to sing "Hosanna To Blessed Jesus" in the words of hymn number one hundred thirty -- loud and strong, smiling and full of joy -- would you do that right now?
Amen!