What does First B Jackson teach about hosanna meaning?
Drawn from the messages where it was actually addressed: the words said from the front, the passages taught, and where to hear the whole thing.
At First B Jackson, the teaching on the word 'Hosanna' begins with its Hebrew roots in Psalm 118:25, where it functions as a desperate plea directed at God, meaning 'save us now.' Several messages have pressed on the fact that this was not a polite liturgical phrase. It was the kind of cry you shout when you are out of options, the language of people under military occupation who had just watched a dead man walk out of a tomb two miles from the temple. Pastor Carl, Pastor Brian, and Pastor Mark have all returned to this starting point: the crowd on Palm Sunday meant every word of it, and the weight of the word is inseparable from the weight of their situation.
At the same time, the teaching here holds that 'Hosanna' carried a second meaning alongside the first. In its more developed usage the word had shifted toward a shout of confidence, the declaration of people who already trusted that rescue was on the way. Both meanings were alive in the crowd at once, and both were exactly right. The people shouting it were right that they needed saving. Where they went wrong was in what they expected that saving to look like. They wanted a military deliverer who would do to Rome what the Maccabees had done to the Seleucids, and the palm branches they were waving said so plainly to anyone who recognized the symbol. Jesus rode in on a donkey instead of a war horse, fulfilling Zechariah's description of a humble king, and even his own disciples did not understand that connection until after the resurrection.
The teaching at First B Jackson does not let 'Hosanna' stay safely in the past. The same messages that trace its political and historical meaning also press on the fickleness that turned the same cry into 'crucify him' within a week. Pastor Carl, in particular, has used that turn as an occasion for honest self-examination, asking whether the gap between what we say on a Sunday and how we live the rest of the week looks any different from what that first crowd did. Psalm 118 held the whole story, the rejected stone, the festal sacrifice, the gate of the righteous, but the crowd only had part of it. The invitation in these messages is to hold more of it: to let 'Hosanna' be both the honest cry of need and the grounded confidence of people who know who is doing the saving.
Taught from Psalm 118:25-26 · Psalm 118 · John 12 · Zechariah 9:9 · Psalm 136
The passage taught · 1 John 4:16
16 We know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and he who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him.
World English Bible
The messages that teach on it
- April 10, 2022 Palm Sunday April 10th 11 am Serivce Palm Sunday sermon on the crowd's fickleness, the meaning of palm branches as symbols of revolt, and God's steadfast love that never wavers even when ours does.
- April 10, 2022 Hosanna: The Steadfast Love of the Lord Endures Forever Palm Sunday sermon on fickle human nature versus God's steadfast love, tracing the symbolism of palm branches from the Maccabees to Christ's humble entry into Jerusalem.
- April 14, 2019 Save Now: The Triumphal Entry Palm Sunday sermon on John 11-12: the raising of Lazarus, the triumphal entry, and what it means that Jesus is the one who saves.
- April 14, 2019 Sir, We Wish to See Jesus Palm Sunday sermon exploring the political, religious, and economic world Jesus entered, and why He rode into Jerusalem on a donkey to the cries of a desperate people.
- March 25, 2018 His Steadfast Love Endures Forever Palm Sunday sermon exploring the Hebrew "Hosanna," the Psalms of Ascent, and how God's steadfast love endures forever, even in our lowest moments.
- March 20, 2016 Save Us Now: A Palm Sunday Detour Palm Sunday sermon exploring the triumphal entry, the raising of Lazarus, and what it means to cry out "Hosanna, save us now" to the only One who actually can.
- March 20, 2016 Save Us Now: Hosanna and the Tender Box On Palm Sunday, Pastor Carl traces Romans 2, the Lazarus story, and the triumphal entry to show why Christian identity must be rooted in Christ alone, not politics or heritage.
- April 13, 2014 His Mercy Endures Forever Palm Sunday sermon exploring the two meanings of "Hosanna" and Psalm 136's repeated refrain, showing why God's enduring mercy calls us to grateful, confident praise.
Mentioned along the way
- March 29, 2026 Hosanna to Crucify Him: The Fickleness of the Crowd Palm Sunday sermon on Jesus' triumphal entry from John 12, the fickleness of crowds, and Paul's vision of the gospel going out to all people in Ephesians 3.
- March 29, 2026 Save Us Now: Hosanna and the Fickle Crowd Palm Sunday sermon exploring the crowd's "Hosanna" cry, human fickleness, and Paul's letter to the Ephesians on God's plan to bring the gospel to all people.
- April 13, 2025 Palm Sunday Sermon @ First B Jackson April 13th 2025 Palm Sunday sermon on the Psalms of Ascent, exploring God's steadfast love in Psalms 117, 118, and 136 as a love meant for all nations, not just a chosen few.
- April 13, 2025 His Steadfast Love Endures Forever Palm Sunday sermon on God's steadfast love from Psalms 117, 118, and 136: a love reaching every nation, enduring forever, worthy of our praise and proclamation.