Palm Sunday Sermon: Hosanna in the Streets and God Keeps His Promises

Now allow me to speak to our children, and I’ll begin in Armenian, because there are things I need to say to you and to the adults as well. Today is Palm Sunday. We Armenians call it Tsaghkazard, because we remember how, when we celebrate this important church feast, the church is decorated with flowers and the participants with garlands and so forth. This is part of our celebration today, but naturally today we remember when Jesus entered triumphantly into the city of Jerusalem. And at that time, when he entered the city with palms, what did the people say, what did they cry out — who remembers? Hosanna, Hosanna, right? Hosanna — and I recall we learned this last year on this day — means in Hebrew, in ancient Hebrew, “save us.” So it was a plea, because the people were waiting for their savior, who would come to save them all — the people of Israel and the world. And they were waiting for that savior.

But I want to note this today: that word, Hosanna — “Hosanna in the highest” — was used only inside the temple. It was a liturgical thing, a liturgical word. Just as we come to church and the deacons say, “And again in peace let us beseech the Lord and receive and have mercy” — have you ever heard such a thing outside church, that you go to a shop and someone next to you says, “And again in peace let us beseech the Lord”? No, because such expressions, such language, are heard only inside the temple. Likewise the word Hosanna was not said among the people, in their daily lives; it was used only in a liturgical context.

But this did not happen inside the temple. When the people said Hosanna, crying out “Hosanna, Hosanna” — where were they? They were in the city, in the streets. So Christ came, and they received him and pleaded: “Hosanna, save us, save us, O King.”

So this is what we want to emphasize to you today: that that same feeling — our hope, our faith, our devotion — should be felt not only inside the temple, but outside the temple. When we leave church today and return to our daily lives, that same Hosanna should be on our tongues. That same feeling we have as the people of Jesus Christ inside the temple should also be expressed in the world, so that people know we are Christ’s people, that we have hope in our hearts. So today we pray, today we will say, “Hosanna, hosanna” — but that same feeling, if not in word, then in the same spirit, with that same sentiment, I want to encounter you in the social hall and in our daily lives.

Good morning, guys. Welcome back, Jacques. Love you, buddy. How are you guys all doing? How was Sunday school today? Good. Are we ready to celebrate Palm Sunday? You guys all have your palms? Yes. I can see there’s a lot of palms to be blessed and for us to process with today so we can reenact that event that happened in Jerusalem a long time ago.

Now, how many of you guys are on spring break? You guys like spring break? Yes. Why do you like spring break so much? Because you don’t have to go to school. ’Cause you don’t have to go to school, right? I guess you probably don’t have homework. Does anybody have homework during spring break? No. The big kids do. You can go on vacations as long as it’s between Monday and Wednesday. You can do things that are more important. Spending time with your family is very important, Sophia. You can go to different places, hang out. A lot of fun places you can go when you’re in school every day, all day. Free time, freedom. Five hours of screen time. That’s freedom, baby.

Now, did you guys know that you were going to have spring break before it happened, or were you surprised when it did? No. Now let me ask you this question, guys. This is the question I need you to think about today. If you knew that spring break was going to happen and then the time came for spring break to start and then your teacher said, “You know what? Never mind. We’re going to skip spring break this year. Make sure that you come back to school on Monday,” how would you guys feel? Cheated. Enraged. Sue the school. Furious. There’s no telling how mad we would all be if we thought we were going to get a spring break and it never happened.

So how important is it that when somebody tells you something is going to happen, that it actually happens? Very important. Has there ever been a situation where something happened and you weren’t warned about it? Confused. Very frustrated. So it’s important that the things that are going to happen, we’re ready for them, and that things that we’re told are going to happen actually happen, right? Now, let me ask you this question. Have you ever told somebody that you were going to do something and then not done it? Yes. Once. That happened when I asked you to take a shower and you don’t. It’s very important that when other people tell us that something is going to happen, they actually make sure it happens, and it’s important that we tell other people that something is going to happen that we follow through with it, right? Because if we didn’t, that would make us hypocrites. That would mean that we expect more from other people than we’re able to do ourselves.

So let me tell you guys how this has to do with Palm Sunday today. When Palm Sunday happened, when Jesus walked into Jerusalem two thousand years ago, do you think people were surprised? Some people might not. For you guys that thought that some people might be surprised, how much warning do you think Jesus gave people that he was going to do that? A lot. Every day. Well, let me tell you. Actually, guys, not just Jesus, but God told everybody that was going to happen hundreds of years before it happened. Hundreds of years before it happened, there was a prophet. A prophet is somebody that God speaks through, and that prophet said that that thing was going to happen — the exact same thing that happened, that the one who would be our savior would enter into Jerusalem in the exact same way that Jesus did. So God promised that it was going to happen a long time before it did, and it did happen. They had a lot of time to get ready for it, which is why the people had their palm fronds out, and they were like, “Let’s do this. Hosanna in the highest.”

Now, what does that tell you about God? He never lies. God never lies. Thank you so much, Sophia. When God says he’s going to do something, he does it. God keeps his promises. He’s not like, “Yeah, yeah, yeah, I’ll get to it.” It might not be when you think it would be, but it’s absolutely always going to happen. God never changes his mind. Like Jesus says that he’s going to be the king of the universe, and he is. He comes through with his promises.

So I want you guys to take that message away today from Palm Sunday. God promised that Jesus would do what he did, and Jesus did it. God always keeps his promises, and you, as God’s people, should be like him and always keep your promises, too. Jesus always keeps his promises. God the Father, and God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, they can never say something that isn’t right.

So with that being learned today, I want you guys to stand up, because we’re going to get ready to live the same thing that happened in Jerusalem two thousand years ago. God promised that it was going to happen, and it did happen, because we can trust in his promises. And today, I want you to put your trust in God, knowing that he’s always going to make his word a reality.