Hosanna!

Times were tough in ancient Egypt. The Israelites had been slaves for 400 years, and their masters were very cruel to them. For years, they prayed for deliverance, and God heard their cries. He sent a guy named Moses, and God used Moses and his brother Aaron to deliver the Israelites out of slavery. God sent ten plagues on the Egyptians, and the last one was the hardest for the Egyptians to handle. The firstborn of each family, even including the animals, died. But God passed over the Israelites and spared their firstborn. Up to that point, the Pharaoh had been pretty stubborn about wanting to keep his slaves, but losing his heir made him realize that some things just weren’t worth losing what you love the most. So he finally let the Israelites go. So began a period of 40 years as the Israelites traveled home to the land of their ancestors, and every year they celebrated their deliverance when God passed over them. Passover became one of the most important feasts of the year. For years, they had been praying, “Hosanna!” Please save us! God had heard their pleas and answered. He had saved them. But as the years went on, they needed to be saved again and again. Years later, they split into two kingdoms and eventually were captured by the kingdoms of Babylon and Assyria. The nation of Judah got to return home after 70 years in exile in Babylon, but eventually, the empire of Rome came along and took over the whole area. Prophets foretold of a Messiah who would one day deliver them from their oppressors, and so they continued their pleas of “HOSANNA!”

Somewhere around 1400 years after the Israelites left Egypt, angels appeared to shepherds on a hillside announcing that the promised Savior had arrived! Wise men from the east saw a star and came to worship this new child who had been born to a girl named Mary. The child’s name was Jesus, and he grew up to become a respected rabbi who preached, told stories to teach lessons, and did some amazing miracles. Word was getting around that Jesus was fulfilling a lot of the prophecies of the Messiah.

So it was that the year Jesus was 33, He and His disciples arrived in Jerusalem to celebrate Passover. People came from all over the place to celebrate in the capital city, and as Jesus got close, He had an odd task for some of His disciples. He told them to go to a nearby farm, where they would find a donkey colt. They were to untie it and bring it to him. Jesus told them, “If the donkey’s owner asks you why you’re untying it, tell him, ‘The Lord needs it.’” So they did as they were told. Sure enough, the owner asked why they were untying his donkey. They explained the situation just as Jesus had told them to do, and he let them take it.

Many years earlier, the prophet Zechariah had foretold that the Messiah would come in victory, riding a donkey colt. So now they saw that prophecy happening before their very eyes! The plea that they had been praying for hundreds of years suddenly became a shout of praise! “HOSANNA! SAVE US! Yay! Our Savior is here! You’re here in the name of the Lord, and you rock!” While they were shouting and excitedly praising God, they took off their coats and laid them on the ground for the donkey to walk on. They had cut down palm branches from nearby trees, and they laid those on the ground too! This was how they welcomed a King into the city.

There were some Pharisees in the crowd, though, and they weren’t too happy with what they heard. They told Jesus, “Tell your followers to be quiet!”

“Are you kidding?” Jesus replied. “If they stopped their praises, the rocks would shout out!”

For hundreds of years, the Israelites had praised God for all the wonderful things that He had done. They praised Him for delivering them from Egypt, for providing food in the wilderness, for helping them to conquer their enemies in the Promised Land. All that time, they had also been praying for deliverance from their oppressors. Now their prayer for deliverance became their shout of praise for what they knew Jesus was about to do: deliver them!

But as we’ll find out next week, Jesus had a plan up His sleeve that was much better than delivering them from the Romans. They didn’t realize right away that it was better, though.

The Road to Emmaus

I wrote this a couple years ago for a Sunday school lesson on Luke 24, and thought I would share it. I ran out of time to finish before teaching the class, so when I got to the end, I just told it to them without reading it. I just now finished it. The first paragraph is based on the beginning of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, and the end is based on the final lines of his A Tale of Two Cities.

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Jesus was dead, to begin with - deader than a doornail. I don't know what's so dead about a doornail. I don't even know if they used nails in their doors in Jerusalem at that time. I do know that several of Jesus' friends watched Him die, and they saw Him buried. There was no question that He was dead.

Now it was the third day since He had been tortured and killed in a way that no human should have to suffer. Strange rumors were going around town. A few women were saying they had gone to Jesus' tomb, and that it was empty! Not only that, but they said angels had appeared to them and told them Jesus was alive! Of course, Cleopas knew better. People didn't come back to life after being dead. These women must have been out of their minds!

After a very sad and very strange day, Cleopas and his friend were walking home to the town of Emmaus, seven miles from Jerusalem. As they walked, they were talking about what had happened the past few days. They had been through a lot the past week, and now this new rumor was really confusing.

While they were walking, a stranger joined them and asked what they were talking about. Cleopas couldn't believe that someone didn't know what had happened. He asked the stranger, "Are you a visitor to the area? Do you really not know what's been going on lately?"

"What's been going on?" asked the stranger.

So Cleopas and his friend explained all about Jesus. They told the stranger how Jesus had come to town and done some amazing things, and that they had been sure this must be the promised Savior. But the priests had arrested Him, and the Romans and the priests had condemned Him to death on a cross. They explained how they had hoped He would save Israel, but instead, they had watched their beloved teacher die slowly on a cruel wooden cross.

Then they explained what the women had told them about the empty tomb and the angels. Then Peter and John had gone to look, and they found that the tomb was empty. This was all very strange, and they couldn't figure it out.

Then the stranger surprised Cleopas and his friend. He said, "You silly people! Why is it taking you so long to believe what the prophets said? Don't you know that the Savior had to suffer and die? Then He started in the book of Genesis and explained everything the prophets had said about Jesus.

Pretty soon, they reached Emmaus, and the stranger acted like he was going to go on his way. It was getting dark, so Cleopas and his friend invited the stranger to stay with them for the night.

So they sat down at the table to eat. The stranger thanked God for the food. Then he broke the bread and handed it to them. Maybe it was the way He gave thanks and broke the bread. Maybe they saw the holes in His wrists as He handed them the bread. Whatever it was, they suddenly realized: This was Jesus! And just like that, He disappeared.

Needless to say, they forgot their dinner. They jumped up and went right back to Jerusalem ... seven miles ... in the dark ... and they told Jesus' followers that Jesus was alive and they had seen Him with their own eyes! Then they found out that Peter had also seen Him alive. However, some people in the room still didn't believe them ... that is, until Jesus appeared in the middle of them. Even then, some people thought He was a ghost. So He showed them His hands and feet. He had them touch Him because ghosts don't have skin or bones. Then He asked for something to eat, so they gave Him some fish, and He ate it. Since ghosts don't eat fish, they knew He was alive! Jesus reminded them that this was what He had told them before. He explained that everything Moses, the Prophets and the psalms said had to come true. The Savior had to die a terribly painful death to save us from our sins, and He had to rise from the dead the third day. Starting in Jerusalem, His followers needed to proclaim the great news of His death and resurrection to everyone around the world. He reminded them that they had seen this with their own eyes, and promised that He would send them the power to preach, as God had promised. However, they needed to stay in Jerusalem until that happened.

And so they did. Jesus left them a few days later and returned to Heaven, but just as promised, He sent them the power of the Holy Spirit, and they preached boldly. Many of them gave their lives so that others would know that He came to save them from an eternity of torment. It was a far, far better thing they did than they had ever done, and when their time on earth was done, it was a far, far better rest they went to than they had ever known.