Hosanna! Save Us, Lord; Psalm 118, Mark 11:1-11

Hosanna! This is the word we shout on Palm Sunday, but do we really think about what it means. “Save us, Lord”. Today’s Psalm 118 is a thanksgiving psalm which was normally used for processionals during the Feast of Tabernacles, and it was also often recited at the end of Passover. But this crowd was apparently singing or shouting or chanting parts of it here, just BEFORE Passover in honor of Jesus’s triumphal procession. As Jesus enters Jerusalem, his disciples and part of the crowd recite Psalm 118:25 and 26. “Save us, Lord! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.” These verses are emphatic. “We beseech thee, Lord, save us, we pray you.” It’s a begging for salvation, and yet there is joy in this psalm and with the crowds who welcomed Jesus. Hosanna is a cry for the Messiah, and joyful because at last He has come. But did they know what they were saying? “Save us, Lord, we beg you.” They wanted salvation from their enemies. Normally this was thought of as political enemies, invaders, social oppressors, and they even recognized the enemy of death. In the Psalm, the original author speaks of being surrounded by the nations, and that it was like being surrounded by bees. And then giving thanks for being delivered from that and being delivered from death. And although Jesus did come to bring deliverance and justice, He came to save us from death in a way that we could never imagine or expect, just like this crowd. Who or what is your enemy? Too often, we perceive people who are different from us as our enemies. But Scripture tells us that our enemy is not flesh and blood, but principalities, and powers, and spiritual wickedness in the heavenlies. Ideologies can be enemies. Bad ideas can be enemies. But we have to be very careful when it comes to demonizing people. Jesus came to deliver us from these spiritual enemies. Jesus also came to deliver us from death. And Jesus also came to save us from the enemy within, our own sinful nature. Sometimes the darkness resides in our hearts. There was a radio show out of Canada which I used to listen to quire frequently called the Drew Marshall Show. Drew interviewed all kinds of people, many who had gone through all kinds of pain or difficulties in their lives. Frequently Drew would ask toward the end of the interview, “Who has hurt you the most?” Frequently the answer is “Myself.” As much as we want to blame, after all this is our inherited nature from Adam and Eve, who very quickly learned the blame game, aren’t we our own worst enemies? Jesus knew this, for Jesus was there from the beginning. The crowds shouted, “Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord.” And Jesus certainly came in the name of the Lord. He carried the Name Yahweh and was killed for it, when He should have been blessed and recognized as the promised Messiah. The religious leaders used the very charge of blasphemy, that Jesus equated Himself with God, as their excuse to exercise the death penalty against Him. And over and over Jesus said, “I don’t come in my own name, but in the name of My Father. I do what My Father tells me.” Jesus never did anything on His own authority but only did the will of the Father. Jesus said the Messiah had to come in the name of the Lord, and that’s exactly what the Old Testament taught. He rebukes in fact the religious leaders for initially accepting a false Messiah who came in his own name. In John 5:39-44, after telling the Jews that He came only to do the will of the Father, Jesus said, "You search the Scriptures because in them, you think you have eternal life, but I tell you that these bear witness of Me." Jesus is on every page of Scripture. He is the fulfillment. He is the Messiah. It is Jesus that gives eternal life. It can be found nowhere else except in Him. He is the one who delivers us from death. He is the one who gives us abundant life. He is the Light given to us by God and He is the sacrifice that was bound to the altar for us. He is the one who gives us success. He is the One who Saves. The first part of Psalm 118 is a call and response, and the latter part of Psalm 118 is written in the plural, saying, “Let’s do this.” But the middle part is very personal. It’s first person. And individuals in the crowd could chant that part and imagine all the kinds of things for which they needed a Savior. For the NT crowd it could include oppression from Rome, for example. But like the crowds, I think we are often unaware of just how great our need really is for a Savior. We forget how sinful we really are. We forget how helpless and out of control we really are. And rightly, every individual needs to acknowledge that help comes from the Lord, that the Lord alone is MY salvation, MY strength, and MY song. And certainly verses 17-18 of Psalm 118 apply to us, but they apply to us because of Jesus. Though the crowds were shouting at least parts of this psalm, Jesus could have easily been praying this psalm in His own heart down and up that path because He knew what was coming. And He could already see the passion and the cross before Him. Jesus is the Savior who would be saved. He would be brought back from the dead. Jesus came to save us not as a conquering king but as a humble servant. He saved us through suffering and dying and rising. And like the Psalmist, He could say, “I will look upon those who hate me.” Jesus would see His enemies again because He would rise from the dead. But at the same time, Jesus died to save His enemies. So Jesus’s triumph is not a “Ha, Ha in your face” kind of triumph, but “look at what I’m offering you.” He offers life, grace, mercy, forgiveness, restoration, relationship. He too could say, “I will not die, but I will live and declare the works of the Lord.” St. Augustine pointed out that just as bees make honey in the hives, our Lord’s persecutors, unconscious though they were, rendered Him sweeter unto us by His very Passion, so that we might taste and see that the Lord is good. “The Lord has punished me severely, but He did not give me over to death.” Jesus understood the bittersweetness of His triumphal entry. He knew that He was opening the gates of righteousness for all who would follow Him, and yet He grieved the impending punishment that He was about to take upon Himself in order to open those gates. He was that sacrifice bound with cords. Jesus was and is that building block that was rejected and has now become the chief cornerstone. This is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes. Although this verse about Jesus being the chief cornerstone is not placed in any of the 4 gospel accounts of the Triumphal Entry, this passage is quoted on 4 separate occasions in the NT and more than that if you count each gospel story as a separate one. Jesus used it to refer to Himself after He told the parable of the man who owned a vineyard and hired it out…This parable is recorded in each of the synoptic gospels. In addition, Peter uses it in his defense to the Sadducees and the high priests in Acts 4 and in I Peter 2:7, and Paul references it in Eph. 2:20. It is marvelous in our eyes, because it is not what we expect, and yet it is glorious. Jesus is the exalted Messiah. Jesus is our Savior. Hosanna! Is it the cry of your heart? Do you acknowledge your need for a Savior? Do you shout it with desperation? Jesus hears! Do you shout it with joy because you know that Jesus is your Savior? From what have you been saved? Rejoice! This is the day that the Lord has made! The gate of righteousness is open for you! Give thanks to the Lord for He is good. His steadfast love endures forever. The Savior Messiah has come.