Hosanna to the Son of David!

 

 Now when they drew near Jerusalem, and came to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, "Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her.  Loose them and bring them to Me.  And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, 'The Lord has need of them,' and immediately he will send them."  All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying:

    "Tell the daughter of Zion,

    'Behold, your King is coming to you,

    Lowly, and sitting on a donkey,

    A colt, the foal of a donkey.'"

 

So the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them.  They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, and set Him on them.  And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road; others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road.  

 

Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying:

    "Hosanna to the Son of David!

    'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'

    Hosanna in the highest!"

And when He had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, "Who is this?"  So the multitudes said, "This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee."

 

- Matthew 21:1-11 

 

On Saturday we read that, as Jesus and the disciples went out of Jericho, on the road toward Jerusalem, a great multitude followed Him.  And behold, two blind men sitting by the road, when they heard that Jesus was passing by, cried out, saying, "Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!"  Then the multitude warned them that they should be quiet; but they cried out all the more, saying, "Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!"  So Jesus stood still and called them, and said, "What do you want Me to do for you?"  They said to Him, "Lord, that our eyes may be opened."  So Jesus had compassion and touched their eyes.  And immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed Him.  

 

 Now when they drew near Jerusalem, and came to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, "Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her.  Loose them and bring them to Me.  And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, 'The Lord has need of them,' and immediately he will send them."  All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying:  "Tell the daughter of Zion, 'Behold, your King is coming to you, lowly, and sitting on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey.'"  Today's reading describes what is known as Christ's Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem.  We celebrate this event in the Church on Palm Sunday.  My study Bible explains that by Christ's time, Jewish nationalism had led to the expectation of a political Messiah to deliver them from Roman control, and to reestablish the kingdom of David.  (Hence, the name used by the blind men in yesterday's reading, above, for Christ as Deliverer, "Son of David.")   But, in humility, Jesus explicitly shows -- and through careful direction to the disciples -- that He has not come to establish an earthly kingdom.  He doesn't ride on a horse or a chariot, signs of a king's power, but rather on a donkey, which is a sign of humility and peace (Zechariah 9:9; see also Isaiah 62:11).  My study Bible also tells us that this entrance into the Holy City declares the establishment of the Kingdom of God. Moreover, it is a promise of Christ's final entrance into the heavenly Jerusalem with all believers and of His accepting the New Jerusalem as His pure Bride (Revelation 21:2).   Matthew's gospel reports also a colt as well as a donkey.  In patristic literature, the two animals are seen as representing the faithful Jews and the Gentiles who are brought together in the Kingdom.  

So the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them.  They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, and set Him on them. And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road; others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road.  My study Bible comments that the people spread their clothes before Jesus as paying reverence to a King.  Spiritually this is interpreted as our need to lay down our flesh, even our lives, for Christ.  

Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying:  "Hosanna to the Son of David!  'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'  Hosanna in the highest!"  And when He had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, "Who is this?"  So the multitudes said, "This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee."  The cry of the multitudes comes from Psalm 118:25-26, which was associated with messianic expectation.  At the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot), also known as the Feast of the Coming Kingdom, it was recited daily for six days and seven times on the seventh day as branches were waved.  Hosanna means, "Save, we pray!"

The people cry Hosanna, meaning "Save, we pray!" as my study Bible's final note indicates.  Let us consider what this means for us, exactly.  Effectively, the people cry out for a Messiah, and one of their own expectations.  But they will get a very different Messiah in Jesus from the one of popular expectation.  As they cry out, Hosanna, desiring a deliverer from the Romans, they will get a Savior of a different kind, with salvation front and center as the message of this King.  Jesus' entrance into the Holy City is this first step in what we call Holy Week, indicating what it means to truly save, and the beginning of this final week of His life which will culminate in the saving act of His Passion, death, and Resurrection.  It is, essentially, an expression of the need to understand not only earthly realities, but the power of heavenly reality intervening, shaping, and transfiguring what we experience of our world and our understanding of ourselves in our place in Creation.  Christ's entrance into Jerusalem parallels and transfigures, as my study Bible indicates, by affirming His entry into the heavenly Jerusalem with all believers as the culmination of the salvation of the cosmos, the Creation.  We can't really understand this unless we accept that salvation comes not from war on material terms but from the spiritual power of Christ to save and to heal through faith, and to bring us into that communion of His Church, His Bride.  When we think of this communion, also understood as the Body of Christ, we should think about not only our fellow worshipers whom we know and see, but that entire communion of the faithful which includes the saints of past, present, and future, and even the spiritual beings such as angels of every kind, who worship and recognize Christ as Savior.  For this entrance into what is known as the Holy City, the earthly Jerusalem, serves as initiation for the fullness of what it means to save, and even the fullness of what is to be saved -- not just individual human believers, but an entire Creation that awaits the Savior.  St. Paul affirms this for us when he writes, "For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now" (Romans 8:22).  St. Paul sees in our salvation -- even in whatever present difficulties we find ourselves through our faith -- the glory of this complete salvation to be revealed.  And this is the fullness that Christ brings to the world, for all that He does is transfiguring, adding dimension to our understanding.  Perhaps the greatest, most astonishing transfiguration of all is the Cross itself -- the horrible instrument of cruelly punishing death becomes the means for salvation for all, "trampling death by death" in the words of the Orthodox Paschal hymn.  Let us begin this journey into Jerusalem with the humble Christ, the Savior, whose means of changing and challenging and shaking the pillars of this world starts with faith.