 The Word of Grace Devotion for the Week of April 10, 2017
Hosanna Mark 11:9, “Hosanna in the highest!" Beloved, we often sing the word “Hosanna” as we praise our Savior but what does “Hosanna,” mean? First of all Hosanna is mentioned in three different Gospels, Matthew 21:9, 15; Mark 11:9, 10; and, John 12:13. We also know that the NT was first written in Greek, and the OT was first written in Hebrew. Wherever the word "hosanna" occurs in the NT, do you know what the Greek word is? Yes! It's "hosanna." All the English translators did was use English letters (h-o-s-a-n-n-a) to make the sound of a Greek word. It was transliterated. Now, if we look in a Greek dictionary to find what it means, we find that it is really not originally a Greek word. The men who wrote the NT in Greek did the same thing to a Hebrew word that our English translators did to the Greek word: they just used Greek letters to make the sound of a Hebrew phrase. Our English word "hosanna" comes from a Greek word "hosanna" which comes from a Hebrew phrase hoshiya na. Hence, hosanna is a twice-transliterated word! That Hebrew phrase, hoshiya na, is found one solitary place in the whole OT, Psalm 118:25, where it means, "Save, please!" It is a cry to God for help. However, throughout the years there has been a shift in meaning to the phrase, hoshiya na. Over the centuries the phrase hoshiya na stopped being a cry for help in the ordinary language of the Jews. Instead it became a shout of hope and exultation. It used to mean, "Save, please!" But gradually, it came to mean, "Salvation! Salvation! Salvation has come!" Hence "Hosanna in the highest!" means, "Let all the angels in heaven join the song of praise. Salvation! Salvation! Let the highest heaven sing the song!" So when we sing "Hosanna" now, let's make it very personal. Let's make it our praise and our confidence. The Son of David has come. He has saved us from guilt and fear and hopelessness. Salvation! Salvation belongs to our God and to the Son! Hosanna! Hosanna in the highest! I pray that you will have a blessed week! I love you and I will be praying for you! In Jesus’ Strong Love Pastor Joe
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Deuteronomy 24:17-18 "The Foreigner." on this week's Word of Grace Devotion with Pastor Joe Marquez.4/4/2017  The Word of Grace Devotion for the Week of April 3, 2017
The Foreigner Deuteronomy 24:17-18, “True justice must be given to foreigners living among you and to orphans, and you must never accept a widow’s garment as security for her debt. 18 Always remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God redeemed you from your slavery. That is why I have given you this command.” Beloved, we are living in a day where there is a struggle in how to deal with foreigners and immigrants who come to our country and especially those who come illegally. We are a country of Laws and we certainly believe that all should obey the government and yet as Christians we live under grace and I believe that we sometimes forget about that grace. We forget about it when we demand that the Law should be imposed upon those who break it and yet we are constant law breakers. So, what we should do and how should we respond to “illegals?” The Bible says that we must provide true justice to foreigners and to orphans. We do so because the Israelites were once slaves in Egypt and God redeemed them from their slavery just as we were once slaves to our sin and have been redeemed by the precious blood of Jesus. Beloved, I do not pretend to have all the answers when it comes to immigration and immigrants living illegally within our borders. But I do know one thing. I know that God would want me to treat them justly and to care for them while they were in my vicinity. This was a lesson that I learned as a young child. I grew up alongside the train tracks and every so often there would be men walking north on the tracks. Occasionally some would stop and ask for water and food and my parents would feed them. We did not know them, though we would logically conclude that they were illegals travelling north for work. But, as I said, we would feed them and they would continue their way. As Pastor Chuck would say, “I would rather error on the side of grace.” Beloved, may we learn to be gracious to the foreigner, the orphan, the widow and to one another! May we treat one another justly and may we extend God’s grace to all! I pray that you will have a blessed week! I love you and I will be praying for you! In Jesus’ Name- Pastor Joe |
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