(Transcribed from the Words of Life Radio Program)

Thank you for listening to these Words of Life radio broadcasts as we endeavor to proclaim the Word of
God both to the believer and the unbeliever, the skeptic, the seeker of the truth from God.
The title for the lesson is “Hosanna.” And our text is taken, our study text, is taken from the New Testament the
Gospel of Mark chapter 11 verses 1 through 10. “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!””
A wonderful passage in scripture on some levels and yet a sad passage on other levels.
Our study passage introduces the final week of our Lord Jesus’ life at His first coming. According to biblical
scholars it was a Passover Week; His so-called triumphal entry into Jerusalem, was on the tenth day of the first
month in the Jewish calendar, the month of Nisan, in the year A.D. 30.
A study bible has the added title above our passage “Jesus comes to Jerusalem as King.” Yet this was not in
any sense – earthly, heavenly, nor even Jewish the King’s coronation of Jesus Christ. There were no royal
formalities as associated with a coronation.
Coronations of kings are not humble, not spontaneous, and unofficial. There were no dignitaries, no opulent
flourish. The crowd’s delirious reaction was actually superficial, not genuine. The King being praised was,
within the same week, to be utterly rejected and executed! Instead of being crowned with gold, He was to be
crowned with thorns, instead of a throne, He was nailed to a cross.
Always before, so far as the manuscripts reveal Jesus of Nazareth walked wherever He went. Except, of
course, when He traveled by boat across the Sea of Galilee. Yet, He even walked on water on that occasion, on
one occasion at least, probably more than one! But on this day, He must ride! On a mount that was borrowed,
from an unknown friend, from a tiny village, to enter the former great city of Judean Kings.
He must ride because it was prophesied over 500 years earlier in Zechariah chapter 9 and verse 9 “Rejoice
greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious,
lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” A “foal” means a young, small colt.
Let’s look closer at our study text).
Verse 1 of Mark chapter 11 “As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount
of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples,”
We should understand that they approached Jerusalem by ascending the steep path leading up the hill (the
Mount of Olives) from the town of Jericho 27 miles below up to the small villages of Bethphage meaning
possibly, Bethphage meaning possibly (house of Figs) and also Bethany (meaning possibly house of dates;)
which were both located on the southeastern slope of the Mount of Olives at a height of about 2700 feet.
Verse 2 “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.” The “village ahead” with the colt was probably

Bethpage. as Jesus was likely staying with Mary, Martha, and Lazarus in Bethany. A colt here refers to a colt of
a donkey (as according to Matthew chapter 21 and verse 2.) “No one has ever ridden;” unused animals were
regarded by Jews as especially suitable for religious purposes. You can compare (First Samuel chapter 6 verses
7 and 8) to find this truth.
Verse 3 “If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here
shortly.’” The entire set of specific instructions in advance from Christ indicate His deity as omniscient
(meaning all-knowing) as to what was exactly going to transpire as God’s plan unfolded.
Verses 4 through 6 “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.” Some may believe that Jesus simply pre-arranged the borrowing of the
colt. Yes and of course that’s true, yet the exact fulfillment of each detail including a colt “no one has ever
ridden” rather points to the Lord’s supernatural foreknowledge by predicting precisely, exactly what was to
unfold.
Verse 7 “When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it.” Therefore, the two
disciples (probably Peter and John, compare Luke chapter 22 and verse 8) brought the colt to Jesus (most likely
back to Bethany) and “threw their cloaks over it” forming a makeshift saddle. That Jesus meekly, humbly rode
on a donkey’s colt signified that at His first coming He came not to reign as King but instead to redeem as
Savior.
Some may wonder how a grown man could ride a colt of a donkey, so young that it had never been ridden
before. That’s because we’ve been conditioned by Hollywood movies depicting Jesus Christ’s appearance, and
especially His stature, His size wrongly. Archaeologists in Israel have unearthed skeletal remains dating to
about Christ’s time which indicate that the believed average male, Jewish male was about 5’ 1” in height and
weighing about 110 pounds! This is primarily due to the common people’s usual meager diet. He may have
been up to average wise 5 foot 3. That’s a small man compared to most men today.
Verse 8 “Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields.”
As Jesus approached Jerusalem, the crowd’s excitement intensified both those already traveling with Him, and
those coming out before Him from Jerusalem to meet Him.
Jesus’ arrival in Jerusalem this time deviated greatly from His previous attempts to avoid calling attention to
Himself. Yet He being powerful in word, and in deed performing miracles made it near impossible to keep a
low profile. In the past Jesus had hushed those who tried to champion Him without fully understanding what He
was sent to do at His first coming. Not reign but die. Jesus had always dampened the aspirations of those who
only saw visions of the glory of Israel ahead. They wanted glory, but Jesus needed to go to Golgotha, which in
the Aramaic language means “place of a skull.”
So, on this occasion there was a complete reversal: Jesus encouraged public rejoicing over Him! Passover
season crowds certainly tended to be celebratory remembering Israel’s deliverance from Egyptian bondage; but
they were to be sadly mistaken if they expected their Messiah-King to achieve a military coup against Roman
oppression. “Spreading their cloaks on the road” in front of Jesus was a customary way of expressing
submission and honor to a king. It acknowledged that the king was elevated above the common people, and
symbolically affirmed that they were under his feet, so-to-speak. They believed and publicly acknowledged that
Jesus of Nazareth was their Messiah-King! “Branches they had cut” (were including Palm Trees – note John
chapter 12 verse 13) the parallel passage which Palm trees symbolized joy and victory. Which is why many
Christian denominations celebrate today “Palm Sunday.”
So, Jesus’ followers, Jerusalem and area residents, and the Passover pilgrims, in the thousands were all
caught up in the excitement lining the road with leaves and branches and filling the air with a chorus of
“Hosannas” and beatitudes which (means blessings.)
Verses 9 and 10 “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 heaven!””
The word “Hosanna” is a Hebrew Language expression meaning “save” which also became an exclamation
of praise. They shouted their excitement and their hope.Hosanna could also mean “Save Now” as a messianic
praise (which in Matthew’s parallel passage to this links to the messianic title: “Son of David.”) Matthew
chapter 21 and verse 9. The expression “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD!” Comes from
Psalm 118 and verse 26 “Hosanna (or save) in the highest heaven” was the supreme expression of praise and
hope. Their hope was to be saved from the detested Romans.
So, these people were not pleading to be saved from their sins; but instead to be saved now by deliverance
from Roman rule and oppression. They desired to be saved by God’s blessing, for prosperity, and entrance into
the golden age of Israel. They sought the fulfillment of all the prophecies of the Hebrew prophets and promises
connected with Messiah-King as written in the Old Testament.
When Jesus of Nazareth did not deliver on those promises their praises turned to hostility. Because just a few
days later in the same week they shouted Crucfy Him! Crucify Him! (Mark chapter 15 verses 13 through 14.)
So, why did Jesus allow the crowds to shout “Hosanna!” without hushing them. To shout “Save,” even “Save
Now?” Why didn’t He, Jesus just withdraw from them as He had done so many times before?
Because His time to die had come as divinely determined “before the creation of the world.” (First Peter
chapter 1 verses 18 through 20). Jesus Christ, therefore, permitted such a massive display of popular acclaim,
not to raise Him up in their minds, not to raise Him up on David’s throne of His people Israel, but instead to
provoke the Jewish religious leadership to insist that Jesus be raise up on a Roman cross because there was no
other way. The perfect Lamb of God Jesus Christ is the only one: “who takes away the sin of the world.” (John
chapter 1 and verse 29)
Therefore, Jesus needed to die, for believers to live – that is – eternally live with God.
David Johnson is minister of Sellersburg Church of Christ in Sellersburg, IN.