The “Come, Follow Me” reading for this week in John 12 tells of Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem. During this Passover celebration, Christ was recognized by many as the Son of God. “On the next day much people…when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, 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 12:12-13).
A comparable account is described in 3rd Nephi 11:16-17, where the Nephite people are gathered at the temple in Bountiful and see Christ descend from above: “And when they had all gone forth and had witnessed [Christ] for themselves, they did cry out with one accord, saying: Hosanna! Blessed be the name of the Most High God! And they did fall down at the feet of Jesus, and did worship him.” Despite taking place across the globe from the previous story, the people of Nephi in the Americas received the same Spirit and witness of their Savior as those in the Old World.
Gary L. Kapp’s painting, “That Ye May Know,” depicts Jesus Christ among the Nephites as they feel his wounds and worship Him. The artist leaves a gap in the foreground for us, the viewer, to participate in this sacred moment too. Though we may not have this same physical experience with Christ, we too can shout “hosanna” with the believers of old as we gain a personal testimony of our Savior’s divinity and redeeming power.
-Lucy Lacanienta