The Power of the Hosanna...
I believe that everything that Jesus did here on earth, while obviously making a gigantic impact also has huge spiritual implications for the end times. What Jesus said and what He did was the prophetic forerunner of the end times – He was laying the foundation for the last days.
With that said, it is important that we read our Bibles – especially the New Testament – with the end times in mind and apply it to our lives while we’re living in these last days. Every verse in the Bible has several different facets – like a diamond. We can’t just look at one facet of a Bible verse otherwise we would miss the true beauty of it. We have to look at the whole picture in order to see the sparkle. The following passage gives us a two-fold revelation of what is happening for believers and for the Jewish people in the end times.
John 12:12-15
The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. 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!”
Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written:
“Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion;
see, your king is coming,
seated on a donkey’s colt.
What will bring Jesus running quicker than anything? Of course, He will answer if we call to Him. He will run to us if we call His name. However, the thing that will bring His complete presence and power is the thankful praise of His people.
Just before the Feast of Passover, there were great crowds of people in Jerusalem. Passover is one of three feasts in which the people were to come to Jerusalem to celebrate. So when the crowds heard that Jesus might be coming too, they did something somewhat odd in the context of that festival. They grabbed palm branches and called out, “Hosanna!”
Hosanna means to save. The people were calling to Jesus to save them. They were calling for grace. Jesus and grace are the same. Jesus saves. Grace saves. Jesus sacrificed. Grace sacrificed. The word Hosanna is also used to praise. When the one cry comes out of the same heart and mind it becomes all the more powerful. Everyone sings the same thing and has the same cry coming from deep within. We become one with each other and one with the Father. So when we are calling for Jesus, we are calling for grace. So if we are doing it in the form of praise, it is even more powerful. That is what the people were doing there on that Palm Sunday: Calling out for grace. Pretty amazing, isn't it?
Want to know the even greater thing? When the people called out “Hosanna to the King”, this was the customary acclamation for the Feast of Tabernacles, not the Passover. The waving of the palm branches is also something that is done in the Feast of the Tabernacles. The people were there for the Passover, not for the Feast of the Tabernacles. The Feast of the Tabernacles is a joyful festival where Jews celebrate the fall harvest and God’s provision – something similar to the American Thanksgiving. On the last day of the Feast of the Tabernacles, the people call for the promised Messiah. On this day though, they were prophetically calling for grace to come during the Passover.
The Hosanna for Believers
Now that we are believers we no longer need a Savior. We have already been saved but that doesn’t mean we need the Hosanna any less. It is more powerful when we know the full meaning and price that was paid. When we combine the praise for the Savior with the power that the savior brings, we are unstoppable. That has huge implications for the end times. When we combine understanding with knowledge we have great power. Once we understand our true standing in the Kingdom, we can go anywhere and overcome anything.
Matthew 21:10-11
When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?”
The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”
Right away, the name of Jesus is established by believers. Unbelievers asked who it was and believers unequivocally declared the name of Jesus. It is to be that way now in the end times.
Jesus riding on a donkey had to happen before He died on the cross. The exultation had to come before the cross. Praise brings in the promise – or in this case, the Promised One. When praise to Jesus is shouted by a believing people, grace is ushered in. Grace comes in exalted and lifted up because it is greater. It is what always comes first. Sin sought to destroy grace at the cross but that is impossible. Just like Jesus couldn’t be destroyed, grace cannot be destroyed because it is greater.
Hebrews 13:15
Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name.
Praise is what brings Jesus and Jesus is grace. In the final days, there will be no external Grace. The only grace will come from the inside of believers because that is where Jesus will be. The way to keep Grace and live in Grace in the final days is to continue to meditate and speak God's word and the way to bring grace out into the open is to praise Jesus.
When truth leaves in the end times, grace leaves too. As much as we lament the loss of truth and grace right now, during the Great Tribulation, once the Holy Spirit leaves, it will be so much worse. But to prove that grace and truth are from Jesus, they will leave with the believers when Jesus comes to get us. What will be left is the law. Law will stay with the world because it's what they understand. There is no place for the law in heaven.
The Hosanna for the Jewish People
Isaiah 46:13
I am bringing my righteousness near,
it is not far away;
and my salvation will not be delayed.
I will grant salvation to Zion,
my splendor to Israel.
For the Jews in the end times, God has the perfect plan and it involves the Hosanna. Jesus will once again come riding into Jerusalem to save the Jewish people and bring His glory to Israel when the days are the darkest and they need Him the most..
The Passover celebrates the time when death passed over the Jews. The blood on the doorposts served as the atonement for them. They were spared death because of the blood. Just a few days later, Jesus died on the cross and became the true Passover Lamb - the perfect and permanent sacrifice and atonement for all. The cross was the fulfillment of the Passover.
Each year the Jews celebrate the Feast of the Tabernacles, where they pray a prayer known as Hoshanos. It is a prayer for blessing that ends each phrase with the word: hoshana - “Please save” or “save now!” So every year, the Jewish people are literally calling Hosanna – for Jesus to come, just like they did during the Passover before He died on the cross. As we know, He will come again to the Jewish people and this time they will see Him clearly as their Messiah and they will celebrate Him. To date, there is no end-times fulfillment of the Feast of the Tabernacles. That is because He is waiting for the Jewish people to acknowledge Him. Once they do, there will be great rejoicing and celebration in Jerusalem by believers and Jewish believers as well!
This has implications for both believers and Jews. When we call Hosanna, we are calling out praise for Jesus but we are also calling for the final Feast of the Tabernacles where the Jews can finally, joyfully partake of the spiritual bounty that God has in store for them: Hoshana! Praise Jesus! Many Blessings to you and your family, ~Anne Schickowski
© Copyright Anne Schickowski, 2011
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