Hosanna in the Highest.

• Passover Lamb of God - Palm Sunday, the day when that Passover lamb was selected, was an integral part of the Cross. We first read about the establishment of the Passover in Exodus 12. On the tenth day of the first month of the year (five days before passover), every family was required to choose a lamb for passover, per the instructions given by God. It is extremely significant that as the lambs were being slain in the temple for the Jewish Passover, that the Lord Jesus Christ – the Lamb of God, Who was “slain from the foundation of the world” (Rev 13:8) – was hanging on the Cross. He was fulfilling all the particulars related to the Passover lamb, which God had expressed in the Exodus 12. At the time when Israel departed out of Egypt, it was the Passover; it was the blood of the lamb applied to the door post that would cause God to skip over the judgement. This is what the word “passover” actually means, “to leap”, “to go over”. Actually, it all pointed to Jesus, the Lamb of God, as John the Baptist announced, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world”. When Abraham was ready to offer up Isaac, remember what Abraham said to Isaac?, “God will provide Himself a lamb”. Lord Jesus Christ is that “Lamb”. This is how a sinner — and it is the only way — can escape the judgment of God. It is only through His blood that anyone can find forgiveness and have their sins washed away and be cleansed. In principle, the Lord Jesus Christ paid for the sins of His people even before He created this magnificently complex universe. Notice the emphasis that is placed on the timing of this wonderful Salvation plan, “from the foundation of the world”. The Passover lamb in Exo 12:5 was to be “without blemish” because it symbolized the perfect nature and work of the Lord Jesus Christ: “Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats”. This typology is confirmed in the New Testament by 1 Pet 1:18-19, that we were redeemed “with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot”.

Exo 12:3, 5-7, 12-13 “Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house: 5Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats: 6And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. 7And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it. 12For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD. 13And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.”

Gen 22:7-8 “And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? 8And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.”

1 Pet 1:18-19 “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; 19But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:”

1 Cor 5:7-8 “Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.”

• Hosanna in the Highest - Palm Sunday is the day of the Lord Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. On the Palm Sunday, why were the palm branches waved and thrown on the ground in front of the Jesus riding on ass? because true believers are likened to palm trees as seen in Psa 92:12 “The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon”. This is also symbolized in Deu 34:3-4, to the promised land - “Jericho, the city of palm trees”. Why did Jesus sit on an ass on that Sunday and ride into Jerusalem triumphantly? because He had salvation, because He was meek and lowly, and because He came to save those who were unclean, according to Zec 9:9: “... behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass”. “Blessed is he that cometh” in Psa 118:26, is really pointing to one of the greatest truths, that God promised to send a Savior, from the very beginning — “before the foundation of the world”, yet in “the fulness of the time was come”, Galatians tells us, the Lord Jesus entered the human race. Hos 13:4 declares, “Yet I am the LORD thy God [‘Elohim, or God plural] from the land of Egypt, and thou shalt know no god but me: for there is no saviour beside me”. The Hebrew name for “Jesus” (or “Joshua”) – that is, the name Jesus, or Yehowshuwa’ (H3091), means “Jehovah is salvation”. The LORD of the Old Testament (Jehovah) is God the Son, Jesus Christ as we read in Mat 1:21, “And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins”. Luke 2:11 declares, “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord”. On Palm Sunday as He ride into Jerusalem triumphantly, He is being hailed, “Hosanna”, “Hosanna”: “Took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord” (John 12:13). The Hebrew word “hósanna” (H:5614) – a transliteration of two Hebrew words yasha’ (H:3467) and na’ (H:4994) meaning “Oh, save now!” or “Please save!”. This word is also translated as “I beseech thee” as we can see this in Psa 118:25 which is quoted in John 12:13.. They were saying this because they knew that the promised Messiah was the One in their midst, right in front of them. The procession took place in Bethany: “Then Jesus six days before the passover came to Bethany ...” (John 12:1), the name of the town itself, means “the house of dates”. Waving a big palm branch symbolizes worship, victory and rejoicing as we see in Rev 7:9-10. The victory being spoken is Christ’s victory over sin, Satan and the grave. The two donkeys, unclean and lowly animal, pictured here represent the true believers who have been made “meek” or “saved” by their King. He sits and rules upon them as He rides triumphantly into new Jerusalem – the holy city from heaven. To “sit” is figuratively associated with “ruling”, or “reigning”, as Christ most certainly does over His eternal church – Daughter of Zion or Daughter of Jerusalem – “The Bride of Christ” (Rev 21:2). If you are saved, you will eventually wind up with a “white robe” and palms in your hands in Heaven, praising and worshiping God, as seen in Rev 7:9-14.

Psa 118:25-26 “Save now, I beseech thee, O LORD: O LORD, I beseech thee, send now prosperity. 26Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the LORD: we have blessed you out of the house of the LORD.”

Matt 21:5, 9 “Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass. 9And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.”

Zec 9:9 “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion [typifying Bride of Christ]; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem [typifying Bride of Christ]: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.”

Rev 7:9-14 “After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; 10And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. 11And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God, 12Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen. 13And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? 14And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”