The Message, March 29, 2026, Palm Sunday: "Hosanna!" Matthew 21:1-11
Author: Rev. Scott W. Cousineau
March 31, 2026
“Hosanna!”
A Message by Rev. Scott W. Cousineau
Matthew 21:1-11
The “Pax Romana” … the Peace of Rome
… was established about thirty years before the birth of Jesus. Twenty-seven
years to be precise. It was in many ways the “Golden Age of the Roman Empire.”
Two hundred years of peace and stability. That peace and stability allowed
education and the arts to flourish. They enabled the building of roads,
highways and other infrastructure. The Pax Romana also allowed for the
accumulation of great wealth and prosperity … for some.
The peace and stability allowed for
tremendous expansion of the empire. That was possible because under the “Peace
of Rome” the conquered peoples were allowed … in many ways … to maintain life
as usual. All they had to do was comply, keep the peace. If the Roman Empire
had bumper stickers or catchy slogans printed on tee shirts, they would say
something like, “Keep in line and you’ll be fine.”
The Pax Romana allowed for Rome to raise
up and install “kings” from the conquered nation that would “rule” their own
people … as long as they did the bidding of Rome. The subjugated people could
practice their own religion … as long as they worship and honored the emperor.
The people could work their traditional jobs … as long as they paid their taxes
and tributes to Rome.
Of course, as you might suspect, the “peace” of Rome was
maintained by the threat of crushing violence. “Keep in line … or we will send
a Roman garrison to destroy you.”
In First Century Judah, King Herod
and the following Herods were the kings installed by Rome. They were brutal and
paranoid and ruled according to the whim and will of Rome.
The Romans had built a massive
fortress right next to the Temple complex, the walls and towers of which were
much higher than the Temple walls. The Roman guards could watch everything that
happened in the Temple courts from their fortress. Naturally, the Chief Priest,
Caiaphas, and the other temple authorities also did the bidding of Rome.
Accordingly, they lived a very comfortable and luxurious lifestyle.
The Pax Romana allowed for the
celebration of the Passover, the greatest religious festival of the Hebrew
people. Historians estimate that there may have been as many as two and a half
MILLION people in and around Jerusalem for Passover. (The Law dictated that ALL
adult males that lived within twenty miles of Jerusalem were required to make
the pilgrimage. Of course, others traveled from greater distances to join in
the festival.) And as you know, the Passover celebrated and commemorated the
power and providence of God to set the people of Israel free from their slavery
in Egypt, and guide the people in their journey through the wilderness to the
Promised Land.
That was the setting for Jesus’
entry into the Holy City … the City of David. The city was busting at the seams
with pilgrims celebrating their freedom … while they lived under the crushing
thumb of their current oppressor … Rome. “Let us celebrate the freedom of our
ancestors while we secretly wish for freedom today. Everyone wave to the nice
soldiers. Hail Caesar!”
The story is familiar and dramatic.
We have seen reenactments and artistic renderings our whole lives. We had our
own reenactment this morning with the children’s palm procession. In our minds’
eyes we can picture ourselves in the ancient city. We can see the ancient
walls; we can feel the energy of the crowd. We can sense the fear and the
anxiety of the disciples who had been trying to dissuade Jesus from coming back
to Judah because they were trying to kill him.
But there was Jesus … riding a
donkey right down the middle of Main Street, in the middle of the day, with
people yelling and waving palm branches. Do you think that the Romans noticed? Of
course they did. Jesus rode right past the Antonian Fortress on his way to the
Temple.
We know that Jesus did not do this
on a whim. He did not wake up that morning and say, “Come on! I think I will
take a donkey ride to Jerusalem today!” He knew his destiny was in Jerusalem.
He had been planning this ride for some time. He had already made the
arrangements with the owners of the donkey. He had been telling the disciples
that this was where he was going … where he HAD to go. He had to go back to the
city of his lineage … Jerusalem … the City of David … the Holy City of God. And
as we also know, Jesus had been telling them precisely what was going to happen
to him there.
The pageant … the drama … played out
like a lesson in the great moments of Jewish history.
Jesus rode into the city on the back
of a donkey just like the prophet Zechariah had foretold. The prophet foresaw
the king … the messiah … coming into Jerusalem riding on the back of a mount
that symbolized peace and humility and service, rather than on a stallion, a
war horse, that symbolized violent earthly power. The prophet foretold of the
One who would bring justice, righteousness and salvation to the people.
(Zechariah 9:9)
The cloaks being spread on the road reached
back over eight hundred years to the time when King Jehu was anointed by the
prophet Elisha as the rightful king of the Northern Kingdom. Jehu would carry
out judgment on the house of Ahab and Jezebel. Jehu would eradicate the worship
of Ba’al which had been the official state religion under Ahab and Jezebel and return
to the worship of Yahweh. The supporters of Jehu proclaimed their loyalty to
the rightful king by placing their cloaks upon the road. (2 Kings 9:13)
The people waving palm fronds called
to mind the procession of Judas Maccabaeus who was welcomed into the city after
defeating the pagan armies two hundred years earlier. Judas Maccabaeus, known
as “The Hammer of Israel,” restored the city and the Temple that had been
defiled by the pagan occupiers. Jesus’ entry into the city was almost an exact
replication of the Maccabean procession. (2 Maccabees 10:7)
But … Jesus was not riding into
Jerusalem as the same kind of king as Jehu, or Judas Maccabaeus, or Herod, or
even his ancestor King David. He was not riding in with a conquering army. He
was not riding in to assume his rightful place on an earthly throne. He came in
peace. He came as the One who is gentle, the One who is Love Incarnate. He did
not enter into Jerusalem to restore the House or the line of David. Jesus rode
into Jerusalem to proclaim the realm and reign of God.
As Jesus rode into the Holy City,
the people shouted, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Hosanna in the highest
heaven!” The crowds were not shouting, “Hail, Son of David! Hallelujah!” They
were shouting, “Save now, Lord! Help now!” It was a cry from a people in
distress addressed to their God or their king. The word would become an
expression of praise, but it had its roots in worship, “Save now, we beseech
thee, O Lord.” (Psalm 118:25)
Of course, as we sit here today, as
we worship today, the words “Save now, help now,” still come forth from our
troubled hearts and minds. The oppressors and the occupiers are still very much
with us. Those who would choose to follow the emperors and the “Herods” of the
world are still with us. The manipulators and the corruptors are still with us.
Those who will shout, “Crucify him!” are still with us.
But so is God.
So is Jesus Christ.
So is the peace and the power and
the Presence of God. We can cry out, “Save now! Help now!” because we know that
God is always with us.
On that day nearly two thousand
years ago, Jesus delivered a very clear message to his followers, and that
message remains the same as it was all of those centuries ago.
Choose the donkey over the warhorse.
Choose gentleness and humility over
arrogance and violence.
Choose compassion over cruelty.
Choose to serve over the need or
desire to be served.
Choose the Way of God over the ways
of the world.
Hosanna, Son of David! Hosanna, Son
of God!
Save us! Help us!
Amen.
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