Hosanna!
Matthew 21:1-11
News traveled fast. It was nearing the Passover, the religious feast where the Israelites celebrated their freedom from the oppression of foreign governments. A festival that no doubt irked their Roman governors. The city, already buzzing with preparations, was set ablaze by the rumors. Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee, was coming toward the city — and he was riding the foal of a donkey. To this oppressed people, any passage of scripture that promised freedom would be high on their list to memorize; and Zechariah 9 would have been toward the top. Here at the festival of freedom they would be free.
Waving palm branches, and covering the streets with this symbol of victory, they cried out the traditional benediction to the feast of Tabernacles...a prayer for the coming of Messiah, "Hoshiah Na" (Please bring salvation! or I beg you, save now!). Hosanna, to the son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the Highest.
Their expectation was at an all time high. "Could this really be it? Could all of our oppressors be on their last legs?" But Jesus was not that kind of King. The oppressors he was out to destroy were not the ones the crowd wanted destroyed. In fact, they had grown fond of the oppressors that Jesus came to remove. Pride, impatience, anger, malice, gossip, deceit, greed, sexual immorality, and the like, had become familiar. In fact, they no longer even thought of it as oppression. They would rather continue to live at odds with God, as long as politically they could be free.
This is why in five days, the crowd would turn. They would see Jesus pass up the opportunity to free them from the Romans. This person they thought was so strong, would be presented to them in chains. How could he save them now? And so the shouts ring out, "Crucify him!" The choice between Jesus and Barabbas, was a choice between a peaceful teacher and a revolutionary. They chose war, and a generation later Jerusalem lay in ruins.
History, as they say, is prone to repeat itself. What expectations do you have of Jesus? When you cry out "Hosanna! Lord Save!" what kind of King do you expect? When health fails, when jobs disappear, and your world is turned upside-down, will Jesus be what you expect? Will you, who laud him one day, betray him the next? If our expectations of Jesus do not match who He is, we too will face the choice of rejecting His work in our lives. Let us learn from the past; let us seek out and find what kind of King He wants to be.
Homework this week. Pray this simple prayer. "Merciful Christ, reveal to me the ways you want to rule in my life. Show me from what oppressors you want to free me."
News traveled fast. It was nearing the Passover, the religious feast where the Israelites celebrated their freedom from the oppression of foreign governments. A festival that no doubt irked their Roman governors. The city, already buzzing with preparations, was set ablaze by the rumors. Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee, was coming toward the city — and he was riding the foal of a donkey. To this oppressed people, any passage of scripture that promised freedom would be high on their list to memorize; and Zechariah 9 would have been toward the top. Here at the festival of freedom they would be free.
Waving palm branches, and covering the streets with this symbol of victory, they cried out the traditional benediction to the feast of Tabernacles...a prayer for the coming of Messiah, "Hoshiah Na" (Please bring salvation! or I beg you, save now!). Hosanna, to the son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the Highest.
Their expectation was at an all time high. "Could this really be it? Could all of our oppressors be on their last legs?" But Jesus was not that kind of King. The oppressors he was out to destroy were not the ones the crowd wanted destroyed. In fact, they had grown fond of the oppressors that Jesus came to remove. Pride, impatience, anger, malice, gossip, deceit, greed, sexual immorality, and the like, had become familiar. In fact, they no longer even thought of it as oppression. They would rather continue to live at odds with God, as long as politically they could be free.
This is why in five days, the crowd would turn. They would see Jesus pass up the opportunity to free them from the Romans. This person they thought was so strong, would be presented to them in chains. How could he save them now? And so the shouts ring out, "Crucify him!" The choice between Jesus and Barabbas, was a choice between a peaceful teacher and a revolutionary. They chose war, and a generation later Jerusalem lay in ruins.
History, as they say, is prone to repeat itself. What expectations do you have of Jesus? When you cry out "Hosanna! Lord Save!" what kind of King do you expect? When health fails, when jobs disappear, and your world is turned upside-down, will Jesus be what you expect? Will you, who laud him one day, betray him the next? If our expectations of Jesus do not match who He is, we too will face the choice of rejecting His work in our lives. Let us learn from the past; let us seek out and find what kind of King He wants to be.
Homework this week. Pray this simple prayer. "Merciful Christ, reveal to me the ways you want to rule in my life. Show me from what oppressors you want to free me."