By John SnyderThis is an excerpt from the journey for Holy Week that I wrote as a free e-book that you can download for your personal Holy Week journey. You can download this for free by clicking here.
The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”
When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?”
~Matthew 21:9–10
As we begin the first day of our Holy Week prayer journey, we celebrate Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, joining his people with shouts of “Hosanna!”
We’re all familiar with this unusual word “Hosanna” on Palm Sunday, with the songs of celebration as children walk down the aisles of the church waving palm branches. It’s a joyful word! But strangely, the “Hosanna” we now know, used in this passage of Matthew, was originally a plea for help turned into an expression of praise.
How did it take on this meaning?