The next day the great crowd that had come for the Feast 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!” [john 12:12-13]
On the Sunday morning before the crucifixion, Jesus rode in to Jerusalem on a donkey, fulfilling prophecy [genesis 49:10, isaiah 62:11, zechariah 9:9] and inspiring the crowd to celebration. There were two significant parts of their cheering for Jesus.
First, they cry out the Old Testament scripture Psalm 118:25-26…
O LORD, save us; O LORD, grant us success. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD. From the house of the LORD we bless you.
The Hebrew word in Psalm 118 is “yasha-anna” = “rescue, implore”. It was a prayer for salvation ["please save us"] in Psalms and Jeremiah 31:7. Interestingly, this was a hallel psalm often sung at the Passover time. But in John 12 it is a cheer of praise - “HOSANNA!” And then the crowd quotes the rest of the verse… “blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
Second, we see them with palm branches in their hands.
According to the Archeological Study Bible there were many symbolisms associated with palm branches. They were:
- a symbol of victory in the Roman and Greek worlds
- used at the Feast of Tabernacles [leviticus 23:40]
- shaken along with other branches by the rabbis when reciting Psalm 118:25!
- used in the Maccabean rededication ceremony of the temple
- used as a symbol by the Jewish Bar Kokhba rebellion against the Romans
So we see the picture of “victory” tied to these branches. But the picture comes full circle later in redemptive history.
- Psalms 118 the cry begins, “Save us!”, and the palm branches wave.
- John 12 the cheer continues, expectantly, “Hosanna! Save us, Jesus!” And the palm branches wave.
- Revelation 7 shows a future, toward the end of time, where a multicultural army of martyrs in heaven don’t have to request salvation, or cheer it on. They simply celebrate its completion:
9After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. 10And they cried out in a loud voice:
“Salvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb.”
Hosanna.
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