Hosanna: What Does the Word Mean?
We hear “Hosanna” in songs and around Palm Sunday, but the word means more than a familiar expression of celebration. It comes from a plea for the Lord to save. When the crowds cried it around Jesus on His way into Jerusalem, they joined that prayer to a public welcome for the promised King.
I understand their words as both a plea for salvation and praise of the King. The people spread garments and branches before Jesus, and those ahead of Him and behind Him called out words drawn from Scripture. Their welcome was fitting, but many had not understood how He would save. Jesus entered the city knowing that rejection and crucifixion lay ahead. Neither the crowd’s enthusiasm nor His enemies’ hostility would change His mission.
Hosanna Means “Save Now, I Pray”
The Textus Receptus, a printed Greek New Testament tradition, uses ὡσαννά, or hosanna. This is a transliteration: the sound of an expression from another language is carried into Greek letters. A translation, by comparison, gives its meaning. The Hebrew words behind this cry appear in Psalm 118:25, so the psalm helps us understand what the crowds were saying.
In the Masoretic Hebrew text, the line begins anna YHWH hoshiah na. Anna introduces an earnest appeal, and YHWH is God’s name, represented by LORD in the quotation below. Hoshiah calls on Him to save or deliver; na gives the appeal its pleading force, as in “please” or “I pray.” The familiar rendering “Save now, I pray” expresses the request, rather than giving the worshiper authority to impose a deadline on God. The translation notes on Psalm 118:25 trace Hosanna to these Hebrew words.
Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. Let Israel now say, "His mercy endures forever." Let the house of Aaron now say, "His mercy endures forever." Let those who fear the LORD now say, "His mercy endures forever." I called on the LORD in distress; The LORD answered me and set me in a broad place. The LORD is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me? The LORD is for me among those who help me; Therefore I shall see my desire on those who hate me. It is better to trust in the LORD Than to put confidence in man. It is better to trust in the LORD Than to put confidence in princes. All nations surrounded me, But in the name of the LORD I will destroy them. They surrounded me, Yes, they surrounded me; But in the name of the LORD I will destroy them. They surrounded me like bees; They were quenched like a fire of thorns; For in the name of the LORD I will destroy them. You pushed me violently, that I might fall, But the LORD helped me. The LORD is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation. The voice of rejoicing and salvation Is in the tents of the righteous; The right hand of the LORD does valiantly. The right hand of the LORD is exalted; The right hand of the LORD does valiantly. I shall not die, but live, And declare the works of the LORD. The LORD has chastened me severely, But He has not given me over to death. Open to me the gates of righteousness; I will go through them, And I will praise the LORD. This is the gate of the LORD, Through which the righteous shall enter. I will praise You, For You have answered me, And have become my salvation. The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone. This was the LORD's doing; It is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day the LORD has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it. Save now, I pray, O LORD; O LORD, I pray, send now prosperity. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD! We have blessed you from the house of the LORD. God is the LORD, And He has given us light; Bind the sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar. You are my God, and I will praise You; You are my God, I will exalt You. Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.
The psalm begins and ends by thanking the Lord for His goodness and enduring mercy. Between those declarations, the worshiper describes distress, surrounding enemies, severe discipline, and God’s help. Having been delivered, he asks to enter the gates of righteousness and give thanks. Rescue leads him into worship; he does not speak as though he has made himself secure without God.
As the psalm nears its close, the people rejoice over the Lord’s work: the rejected stone has become the chief cornerstone. They ask Him to save and grant success, then bless the one who comes in His name. Their plea for continued help belongs within thankful worship, which also includes sacrifice at the altar. They can thank Him for deliverance they have received while still asking Him to help them.
The request for prosperity does not turn the psalm into a guarantee of personal wealth. It asks God to grant success, within a passage that credits Him with deliverance and calls His people to righteous worship. I cannot take that line out of its setting and use it to promise that every person who says Hosanna will become financially comfortable.
When the crowds welcomed Jesus, the plea had become part of a joyful acclamation, an expression of public praise. Its origin still helps us hear what kind of praise this was: the people welcomed the One associated with God’s promised salvation. If I hear only celebration, I miss their dependence on the Lord; if I hear only desperation, I overlook the joy of welcoming the King.
The Son of David Is Zion’s Humble King
By calling Jesus the Son of David, the people were welcoming Him as the heir to God’s royal promise. That promise reached back to the covenant God had made with David.
Now therefore, thus shall you say to My servant David, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts: "I took you from the sheepfold, from following the sheep, to be ruler over My people, over Israel. And I have been with you wherever you have gone, and have cut off all your enemies from before you, and have made you a great name, like the name of the great men who are on the earth. Moreover I will appoint a place for My people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own and move no more; nor shall the sons of wickedness oppress them anymore, as previously, since the time that I commanded judges to be over My people Israel, and have caused you to rest from all your enemies. Also the LORD tells you that He will make you a house. "When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his Father, and he shall be My son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men. But My mercy shall not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from before you. And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever."'" According to all these words and according to all this vision, so Nathan spoke to David.
David had wanted to build a house for the Lord, but the Lord promised to establish David’s house, meaning his royal line. Solomon would succeed him and build the temple. The promise also extended beyond one mortal king: David’s throne would be established forever. The lasting fulfillment comes through the Messiah, the promised King, whose life and reign will not end.
The warning about chastening a son who commits iniquity concerns the failures of David’s descendants; Jesus Himself never sinned. He belongs to David’s line according to His true humanity and fulfills the promise of everlasting kingship. The church does not replace Israel in this covenant, and we should not reduce the throne to a private feeling of peace. The study on the Davidic Covenant explains the promise more fully.
Zechariah also described how Zion’s King would come. His prophecy joins a humble arrival to a rule extending far beyond Jerusalem.
The burden of the word of the LORD Against the land of Hadrach, And Damascus its resting place (For the eyes of men And all the tribes of Israel Are on the LORD); Also against Hamath, which borders on it, And against Tyre and Sidon, though they are very wise. For Tyre built herself a tower, Heaped up silver like the dust, And gold like the mire of the streets. Behold, the LORD will cast her out; He will destroy her power in the sea, And she will be devoured by fire. Ashkelon shall see it and fear; Gaza also shall be very sorrowful; And Ekron, for He dried up her expectation. The king shall perish from Gaza, And Ashkelon shall not be inhabited. "A mixed race shall settle in Ashdod, And I will cut off the pride of the Philistines. I will take away the blood from his mouth, And the abominations from between his teeth. But he who remains, even he shall be for our God, And shall be like a leader in Judah, And Ekron like a Jebusite. I will camp around My house Because of the army, Because of him who passes by and him who returns. No more shall an oppressor pass through them, For now I have seen with My eyes. "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, Lowly and riding on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey. I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim And the horse from Jerusalem; The battle bow shall be cut off. He shall speak peace to the nations; His dominion shall be 'from sea to sea, And from the River to the ends of the earth.' "As for you also, Because of the blood of your covenant, I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit. Return to the stronghold, You prisoners of hope. Even today I declare That I will restore double to you. For I have bent Judah, My bow, Fitted the bow with Ephraim, And raised up your sons, O Zion, Against your sons, O Greece, And made you like the sword of a mighty man." Then the LORD will be seen over them, And His arrow will go forth like lightning. The Lord GOD will blow the trumpet, And go with whirlwinds from the south. The LORD of hosts will defend them; They shall devour and subdue with slingstones. They shall drink and roar as if with wine; They shall be filled with blood like basins, Like the corners of the altar. The LORD their God will save them in that day, As the flock of His people. For they shall be like the jewels of a crown, Lifted like a banner over His land– For how great is its goodness And how great its beauty! Grain shall make the young men thrive, And new wine the young women.
The King is righteous, brings salvation, and comes lowly on a donkey. His humility does not mean that He lacks authority. The prophecy continues with the removal of weapons of war, peace for the nations, and dominion to the ends of the earth. Jesus’ entry fulfills the promised manner of His arrival, while the full public extent of that peace and dominion remains ahead.
Jesus deliberately arranged the entry by sending disciples for the animals and telling them what to say. The royal sign did not originate in the crowd’s imagination. Yet He was not leading an immediate revolt against Rome. He would first accomplish His saving work, rise bodily, and ascend to heaven. The King who entered humbly will return to exercise openly the authority He already possessed. Psalm 2 describes the nations’ opposition to that King and God’s answer to it:
Why do the nations rage, And the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, And the rulers take counsel together, Against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying, "Let us break Their bonds in pieces And cast away Their cords from us." He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; The LORD shall hold them in derision. Then He shall speak to them in His wrath, And distress them in His deep displeasure: "Yet I have set My King On My holy hill of Zion." "I will declare the decree: The LORD has said to Me, 'You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. Ask of Me, and I will give You The nations for Your inheritance, And the ends of the earth for Your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them to pieces like a potter's vessel.'" Now therefore, be wise, O kings; Be instructed, you judges of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, And rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, And you perish in the way, When His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him.
Psalm 2 describes rulers conspiring against the Lord and His Anointed, while God declares that He has established His King. Their rebellion cannot remove the Son or annul His inheritance of the nations. The psalm calls those rulers to submit and promises blessing to everyone who trusts the Son. A political movement cannot claim His authority for conduct He condemns or expect Him to serve its ambitions.
The Four Gospels Show the Entry From Different Angles
Passover was approaching, and pilgrims were gathering to remember the Lord’s deliverance of Israel from Egypt. Jesus approached Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives. Matthew connects His arrival directly with Zechariah’s prophecy and records the crowd’s words about David’s Son.
Now when they drew near Jerusalem, and came to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, "Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Loose them and bring them to Me. And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, 'The Lord has need of them,' and immediately he will send them." All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying: "Tell the daughter of Zion, 'Behold, your King is coming to you, Lowly, and sitting on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey.'" So the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them. They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, and set Him on them. And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road; others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road. Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying: "Hosanna to the Son of David! 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!' Hosanna in the highest!" And when He had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, "Who is this?" So the multitudes said, "This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee." Then Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. And He said to them, "It is written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer,' but you have made it a 'den of thieves.'" Then the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them. But when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that He did, and the children crying out in the temple and saying, "Hosanna to the Son of David!" they were indignant and said to Him, "Do You hear what these are saying?" And Jesus said to them, "Yes. Have you never read, 'Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have perfected praise'?" Then He left them and went out of the city to Bethany, and He lodged there.
Matthew mentions both the donkey and her colt. Zechariah’s two descriptions refer to the same mount: a donkey, specifically a colt. That poetic repetition does not require Jesus to ride two animals. Matthew records that both were brought, while Mark and Luke specify that Jesus sat on the colt.
The crowd’s arrival stirred Jerusalem to ask who Jesus was. The reply that He was the prophet from Nazareth was true, though incomplete. The Son of David was also the Lord who had the right to expose corruption in the temple and heal those who came to Him.
When the children continued crying Hosanna to the Son of David in the temple, the chief priests and scribes became indignant. Jesus answered their objection from Psalm 8 and defended the children’s praise. Their position as religious authorities did not make their objection right or the children’s praise mistaken.
Later in Matthew 21, Jesus quoted the rejected-stone passage when confronting the chief priests and Pharisees (verses 42–45). Their rejection would not have the final word about Him. The Lord would vindicate His Son, just as the psalm credits the Lord with exalting what the builders had rejected.
Mark records a blessing on the coming kingdom of David, making the crowd’s royal hope explicit. He also records Hosanna in the highest, lifting the prayer and praise toward heaven. I would leave the expression at that without naming heavenly speakers or listeners the text does not identify.
Now when they drew near Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, He sent two of His disciples; and He said to them, "Go into the village opposite you; and as soon as you have entered it you will find a colt tied, on which no one has sat. Loose it and bring it. And if anyone says to you, 'Why are you doing this?' say, 'The Lord has need of it,' and immediately he will send it here." So they went their way, and found the colt tied by the door outside on the street, and they loosed it. But some of those who stood there said to them, "What are you doing, loosing the colt?" And they spoke to them just as Jesus had commanded. So they let them go. Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their clothes on it, and He sat on it. And many spread their clothes on the road, and others cut down leafy branches from the trees and spread them on the road. Then those who went before and those who followed cried out, saying: "Hosanna! 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!' Blessed is the kingdom of our father David That comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!" And Jesus went into Jerusalem and into the temple. So when He had looked around at all things, as the hour was already late, He went out to Bethany with the twelve.
Mark’s sequence also clarifies the temple chronology. On the day of the entry, Jesus looked around the temple and returned to Bethany because it was late. Mark 11:12–17 places the expulsion of the buyers and sellers on the following day. Matthew groups these related events without that day-by-day explanation. We can attend to each writer’s emphasis without assuming that every event in Matthew 21 happened before sunset on the day of the procession.
Luke brings us back to the descent from the Mount of Olives, where praise was followed by Jesus’ tears over Jerusalem.
When He had said this, He went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. And it came to pass, when He drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mountain called Olivet, that He sent two of His disciples, saying, "Go into the village opposite you, where as you enter you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat. Loose it and bring it here. And if anyone asks you, 'Why are you loosing it?' thus you shall say to him, 'Because the Lord has need of it.'" So those who were sent went their way and found it just as He had said to them. But as they were loosing the colt, the owners of it said to them, "Why are you loosing the colt?" And they said, "The Lord has need of him." Then they brought him to Jesus. And they threw their own clothes on the colt, and they set Jesus on him. And as He went, many spread their clothes on the road. Then, as He was now drawing near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen, saying: "'Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the LORD!' Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!" And some of the Pharisees called to Him from the crowd, "Teacher, rebuke Your disciples." But He answered and said to them, "I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out." Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, "If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation." Then He went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in it, saying to them, "It is written, 'My house is a house of prayer,' but you have made it a 'den of thieves.'" And He was teaching daily in the temple. But the chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people sought to destroy Him, and were unable to do anything; for all the people were very attentive to hear Him.
Luke does not use the word Hosanna here. He records the blessing from Psalm 118 and explicitly names Jesus as the King. The disciples rejoice because of the mighty works they have seen, and some Pharisees demand that Jesus rebuke them. His answer about the stones crying out makes clear that their praise is appropriate. He will not deny His identity to satisfy those who object.
As He draws near, however, Jesus sees Jerusalem and weeps. He speaks of the peace the city has missed and of enemies who will surround it, hem it in, and tear it down. The city faces judgment because it has failed to recognize God’s visitation. Jesus sees that unbelief even while the procession welcomes Him.
Jesus’ tears keep me from treating this welcome as an uncomplicated celebration. He grieved over people who had failed to recognize the way of peace, knowing the destruction that lay ahead for them and their children. I cannot speak lightly of suffering He mourned, or make the coming judgment sound as though it gave Him pleasure.
John takes us first to a supper at Bethany, where Lazarus is at the table after Jesus had raised him from the dead. Mary anoints Jesus’ feet, and Judas objects under a pretense of concern for the poor. John explicitly tells us that Judas was stealing from the money box. Jesus connects Mary’s gift with His burial, so His death is already in view before the crowd gathers to welcome Him.
Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was who had been dead, whom He had raised from the dead. There they made Him a supper; and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with Him. Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil. But one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, who would betray Him, said, "Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?" This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it. But Jesus said, "Let her alone; she has kept this for the day of My burial. For the poor you have with you always, but Me you do not have always." Now a great many of the Jews knew that He was there; and they came, not for Jesus' sake only, but that they might also see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead. But the chief priests plotted to put Lazarus to death also, because on account of him many of the Jews went away and believed in Jesus. The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out: "Hosanna! 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!' The King of Israel!" Then Jesus, when He had found a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written: "Fear not, daughter of Zion; Behold, your King is coming, Sitting on a donkey's colt." His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written about Him and that they had done these things to Him. Therefore the people, who were with Him when He called Lazarus out of his tomb and raised him from the dead, bore witness. For this reason the people also met Him, because they heard that He had done this sign. The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, "You see that you are accomplishing nothing. Look, the world has gone after Him!"
Those who had seen Lazarus come out of the tomb kept telling others, and people went to meet Jesus because they had heard of that sign. John identifies their branches as palms and records their welcome for the King of Israel. The Pharisees’ complaint that the world had gone after Him exaggerates the crowd’s response; it does not mean everyone believed. Even the disciples did not yet understand the significance of their actions. After Jesus was glorified, they remembered the Scriptures concerning Him. The study on Jesus riding on a colt follows that prophetic connection.
The Crowd Was Mixed, but Jesus Accepted the Praise
The Gospels do not present the crowd as one person with one motive. Disciples, pilgrims, witnesses to Lazarus’s resurrection, curious residents, and hostile leaders appear in the accounts. Some likely hoped for national deliverance, given the language about David’s kingdom. Others came because they had heard of a miracle. We can recognize those possibilities without claiming to know what every person secretly expected.
For the same reason, I would not confidently identify the people crying Hosanna as the same individuals who later demanded Jesus’ crucifixion. The Gospels do not tell us which people, if any, belonged to both groups. People can be fickle, and religious enthusiasm can be shallow, but neither truth gives us permission to supply an identification the text does not make.
Jesus accepted the praise because it rightly honored Him. He had sometimes restricted publicity earlier in His ministry, but here He arranged the prophetic sign and defended the praise Himself. He is the eternal Son, fully God and fully man, so divine honor belongs to Him. Yet calling Him King does not establish that every speaker understood His deity or had saving faith. Their incomplete understanding did not change the truth of what they said about Him.
Nor did His acceptance endorse every political hope in the crowd. He went on to confront the temple’s corruption and teach with an authority the leaders resisted. If I praise Jesus while expecting Him to preserve a dishonest arrangement that benefits me, I have misunderstood the King I am naming. The study on the Messiah in the Bible considers His identity and mission beyond the expectations of one crowd.
That warning belongs in our churches too. Enthusiastic singing cannot make financial manipulation acceptable or excuse treating vulnerable people as a nuisance. Matthew records both Jesus’ expulsion of those corrupting the temple and His healing of the blind and lame who came there. Defending holy worship did not require contempt for people who needed mercy. If our institution protects its income and reputation while neglecting truth and mistreating people, singing Hosanna does not remove the need to repent.
The Cross and Resurrection Answer the Plea
The King came to provide a salvation deeper than temporary relief from foreign rule. Early in His ministry, before the procession into Jerusalem, John the Baptist had identified Him as the Lamb of God.
Now this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?" He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, "I am not the Christ." And they asked him, "What then? Are you Elijah?" He said, "I am not." "Are you the Prophet?" And he answered, "No." Then they said to him, "Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?" He said: "I am 'The voice of one crying in the wilderness: "Make straight the way of the LORD,"' as the prophet Isaiah said." Now those who were sent were from the Pharisees. And they asked him, saying, "Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?" John answered them, saying, "I baptize with water, but there stands One among you whom you do not know. It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose." These things were done in Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing. The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is He of whom I said, 'After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was before me.' I did not know Him; but that He should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water." And John bore witness, saying, "I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him. I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, 'Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.' And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God."
John made clear that he was not the Christ and directed attention to Jesus instead. He testified that Jesus is the Son of God and the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world. The titles belong together: the promised King would give Himself for sinners. His authority and His willing sacrifice are both part of the salvation He brings. Isaiah had already described the innocent Servant who would give His life for the sins of others.
Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, And as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him, There is no beauty that we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment, And who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; For the transgressions of My people He was stricken. And they made His grave with the wicked– But with the rich at His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was any deceit in His mouth. Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, And the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand. He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, For He shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, And He shall divide the spoil with the strong, Because He poured out His soul unto death, And He was numbered with the transgressors, And He bore the sin of many, And made intercession for the transgressors.
Isaiah describes the despised Servant suffering oppression and injustice, being cut off from the living, and receiving a grave with the rich. He is innocent, yet bears the sins of others. The prophecy also speaks beyond His death: He will see His seed, His days will be prolonged, and the Lord’s purpose will prosper through Him. Jesus’ entry was not a failed campaign that required Him to improvise another plan after the welcome faded.
The Servant’s innocence is essential to His sacrifice. Jesus lived without sin and, in His perfection, voluntarily gave Himself to be slain for us. Wicked men inflicted the bodily violence that He willingly endured, and He shed His innocent blood for the whole world. I understand Isaiah’s words about the Lord’s purpose in light of that willing offering, rather than making the Father the one who tortured His Son. The Father did not punish, curse, abandon, strike, bruise, or pour wrath on Jesus. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit acted in unity to redeem us. Jesus said that the Father was with Him even when His disciples would leave Him (John 16:32).
His saving work through His blood and death was complete before His burial and bodily resurrection. God then raised Him from the dead; the rejected King was not defeated by those who condemned Him. At Pentecost, Peter explained both the human guilt in the crucifixion and God’s fulfillment of His promises through the risen Christ.
"Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know– Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it. For David says concerning Him: 'I foresaw the LORD always before my face, For He is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken. Therefore my heart rejoiced, and my tongue was glad; Moreover my flesh also will rest in hope. For You will not leave my soul in Hades, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. You have made known to me the ways of life; You will make me full of joy in Your presence.' "Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption. This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear. "For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself: 'The LORD said to my Lord, "Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool."' "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ."
Peter calls the hands that crucified Jesus lawless, even while saying that He was delivered according to God’s determined purpose and foreknowledge. Those men were responsible for what they chose to do. God’s purpose did not turn false testimony, mockery, torture, and murder into righteous conduct. Their sin could not thwart His saving work, but neither did His use of their actions excuse it.
Peter then explains David’s words about the Holy One not seeing corruption. David himself had died and been buried, and his tomb remained known. As a prophet, he had spoken of the Messiah’s resurrection in connection with God’s promise concerning his throne. Jesus was raised bodily, His flesh did not decay, and He was exalted at God’s right hand. The Son of David whom the crowd welcomed is the living Lord and Christ, not a teacher whose mission ended in a grave.
Christ’s provision is for the whole world, though that does not mean everyone is automatically saved. People can resist God’s genuine offer. Everyone who repents and believes is forgiven and justified, meaning declared righteous before God. That person is born again, indwelt and permanently sealed by the Holy Spirit, and eternally secure. When I speak of new birth, I mean God’s work making someone new, rather than someone merely adopting the Christian name. Changed conduct is evidence of that life; it does not earn salvation or keep us saved, and eternal security is no excuse for lawlessness.
Palm-Bearing Worship Looks Toward the Returning King
Revelation gives us another gathering with palm branches, this time before the throne and the Lamb. The elder identifies these worshipers as people who have come out of the great tribulation.
After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, saying, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!" All the angels stood around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures, and fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying: "Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom, Thanksgiving and honor and power and might, Be to our God forever and ever. Amen." Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, "Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from?" And I said to him, "Sir, you know." So he said to me, "These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple. And He who sits on the throne will dwell among them. They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any heat; for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."
The multitude includes people from every nation, tribe, people, and language. They credit God and the Lamb with their salvation. The elder explains that their robes have been washed and made white in the Lamb’s blood. Neither their nationality nor their endurance has purchased their place before Him. The King acclaimed in Jerusalem saves people far beyond that city and nation.
These worshipers have come through terrible suffering, yet the Lamb now shepherds them. Hunger, thirst, scorching heat, and tears no longer afflict them. The vision does not promise that faithful people will avoid hardship on earth; it shows God’s care for those who have endured it.
I understand this vision to concern the future Tribulation. Christ will gather His church before that seven-year period and return bodily afterward to establish His literal thousand-year reign. The multitude coming out of the Tribulation includes people from many nations without erasing God’s promises to Israel. The Son of David will openly exercise the royal authority that was acknowledged in the procession.
While we wait, Hosanna can still express our dependence on Him. We can ask for rescue from danger, relief from suffering, and help for oppressed people because those needs are real. God sometimes provides through ordinary human help, and at other times His people endure trouble while waiting for deliverance. I think it is reckless to treat someone’s suffering as proof of weak faith when Scripture describes faithful people suffering and even being killed. We can plead earnestly without claiming the right to prescribe His answer or its timing.
I also need to let His Word examine what I am asking Him to save or preserve. I can ask Him to protect my family, but I cannot ask Him to protect dishonest income. Praying for a nation’s well-being does not entitle me to demand success for my political side at any cost. The King may confront the very ambition I hoped He would serve. We can praise Him for the salvation He has accomplished while bringing our present needs to Him and obeying what He has already told us to do.
We can also give practical help to people whose needs we are praying about and proclaim the gospel to those who have not heard it. Looking for His return should encourage that faithfulness through opposition.
My Final Thoughts
When I say Hosanna, I am asking the Lord to save and praising Jesus as the promised King. He accepted that welcome, willingly went to the cross, and rose bodily from the dead. He receives those who repent and believe, and He will return to fulfill His royal promises. I can bring Him my trouble honestly without making my praise depend on receiving the answer I prefer. The Son of David deserves my trust and obedience as well as my words.