Hanging On to Our Hosanna

Revised from Palm Sunday 2023 in Iuka.

Palm Sunday. A high holy day. A day that stands between the season of Lent and Easter, that ushers us into Holy Week. A day that we wave palms and parade around singing Hosanna. A day in which we celebrate Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem.

Triumphal entry. A victory march. It’s the Passover. Hundreds of Jews are pouring into the city. Crowded is an understatement. It would be like the city of New Orleans during Mardi Gras or Rio De Janeiro during Carnivale. Streets are jam packed to make way for this huge, lavish parade.

The Jews were still under Roman authority, and they were really supposed to worship the Emperor. Bethany Benz-Whittington says how “every year on the Passover the governor would parade through Jerusalem where all the Jews lived with all of their soldiers and weapons and prisoners just to remind them that they were supposed to worship the Emperor, not God.”

Borg and Crossan describe Pontius Pilate’s imperial procession in their book The Last Week, calling it “a visual panoply of imperial power: calvary on horses, foot soldiers, leather armor, helmets, weapons, banners, golden eagles mounted on poles, sun glinting on metal and gold. Sounds: the marching of feet, the creaking of leather, the clinking of bridles, the beating of drums. The swirling of dust. The eyes of the silent onlookers, some curious, some awed, some resentful.”

Suddenly, this parade has a different feel to it. No one is throwing beads. This parade is a show of power over the people.

On the west side of town, the might of the Roman empire is on full display. But on the other side of town, another parade is forming. Some say it is even a counter-procession.

As Jesus enters from the East, cloaks are being spread down before him and palm branches are being waved. Why palm branches? Why not roses or something a little more fancy? Well it goes back to Jewish history in the Macabbean revolt, when the Jews drove out their oppressors. In celebration of this, they waved palm branches as can be seen in 1 Maccabees 13:51. Palm branches for the Jews would be like waving flag campaign signs. For them, it was a sign of their long-awaited political victory.

Although the people chose palm branches, Esau McCauley notes that this isn’t the symbol Jesus chose for his parade. Jesus chose a donkey. Literally a beast of burden. An animal that shouldered the weight. Not just a donkey, but a colt. An animal that had never been ridden. This type of animal is the type that would have been used for sacrifices for religious purposes. But what does it also symbolize? It’s use fulfills the words of Zechariah 9:9-10. Zechariah says that the king will come humble and riding on a donkey. And that he shall cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war-horse from Jerusalem. And he shall command peace to the nations. Debie Thomas says “Jesus approached from the east, looking ragtag and absurd. His was the procession of the ridiculous, the powerless, and the explicitly vulnerable.”

On one side of town people’s eyes are cast down under the gaze of the empire. On the other side of town, people’s eyes are lifted up to the one who is entering not with a banner of war, but a banner of peace.

On one side of town, the adults say Hail Caesar. On the other side of town, people shout Hosanna. The voices are shouting Hosanna, which actually means Save us. This isn’t a parade cheer, it is a plea for rescue. This is their hope. This is their protest to the way of life as they know it. Hosanna, save us. This was a culture that saw children as little more than property and slave labor. And the cries of the children ring out saying, “Hosanna, save us.”

Hosanna, save us. Jesus chose a donkey, an animal of sacrifice, an animal of peace. But sometimes I think we would rather have Rome than Jesus.

Esau McCauley says “On the flip side, I’ve noticed that some of us have become much too confident in our own discernment. We’re convinced that we are right and our enemies are not just wrong but evil. Surely Jesus hates the things we hate, doesn’t he? Surely he wants to establish his rule through us right now, one angry tweet and fiery comment at a time. And so we pick up our palm branches and raise our shouts in support of the Jesus we’ve created in our minds, not the crucified Messiah—whose rule is rooted and grounded in love. He has become a rallying cry for our agenda, not his....All of us are shouting about Jesus but not paying attention to his own words and actions.”

Everyone thought they knew where Jesus was headed, but no one wanted to join him where he went. This week begins with the cries of children shouting “save us.” and ends with adults shouting “crucify him.” Raised palms turned into clenched fists. Shouts of welcome turn into a call for murder. The signs will be taken down. The palm branches destroyed.

But the voice of the people shouting Hosanna, save us echo in our ears. And maybe, just maybe, we need to stay with them for awhile. As I think of the ongoing conflict between Israel and Gaza, I hear these cries in my ears. Perhaps now more than ever we need to hear and join in the cry, “Hosanna, Save us.” Maybe those cries and voices are the real sermon of Palm Sunday.

Rev. E Crumlish of Castlehill Church once shared a piece about staying with the Hosannas. He says:

“Let us stay with the Hosannas for a while

Let us let them keep on ringing in our ears

Hosanna!

Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord

Instead of rushing on to hear the cries

that came later in the week

Let us stay with the Hosannas

Maybe once we have heard those

in a new way

we will be ready

to make the rest of the journey

A journey that was hastened

and given new purpose

by those Hosannas

For those Hosannas were not

simply the innocent cries

of palm branch waving children

Those Hosannas were the war cries of adults

tired of the oppression

of occupying forces

Those hosannas

were the hopeful cries

of a nation seeking liberation.

Those Hosannas

were an investment of hope

in one they thought would deliver.

Those Hosannas

that we have sanitized over the years

rang out in clear insurrection

sealing the fate

of one who rode on a donkey.

so, let us stay with the Hosannas

Let us wrest them from the lips of children

and allow them to ring in our ears

and spew from our mouths

as a call to action

a call to justice

a call to love.

Let us stay with the Hosannas

even as we journey

with the Christ

who carried those Hosannas

all the way to the cross

and ensured their fulfillment

as the justice and love of God.

Let us stay with the Hosannas.”