Hosanna ??

Sermon preached on April 5, 2009

at Faith United Church, UCC, International Falls, MN

Texts:Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29 and John 12:12-16

This is a week that begins and ends with joy. But sandwiched in between are days of horror and tragedy and torture and fear. And it was political.

Why? Because Jesus declared a new world order when he began his ministry by proclaiming, “the Kingdom of God has come near,” [1] or as scholar John Dominic Crossan puts it, the kingdom of God has begun here and now. It has already arrived, so get with the program! [2]

Jesus called for a new way of life in his Roman-occupied, Roman-dominated homeland of Israel. In this new way of life, God would sit on the throne, not Caesar or Herod. “It would be a new kind of community in which the sick were healed, the poor welcomed, and possessions shared. The common people heard this as good news, but the Roman and Jewish officials took [it] as a direct threat to their peace and order.” [3]

Sadly, what people seem to understand best—throughout history—is violence rather than love. The Romans put Jesus to death on a cross because that was their standardized form of capital punishment throughout the empire. Troublemakers were put to death using this heinous form of torture in order to frighten off their followers with the idea that competing movements would then be eliminated before they became serious trouble.

So, what were the hosannas about on that first Palm Sunday? Some people may have been expecting Jesus to lead a military revolution to overthrow the Roman government, but Jesus wasn’t about violence and war. He was subversive and he was about love and sharing and taking care of the poor, the sick, and the outcasts.

All our lives we’ve heard about one procession on the first Palm Sunday, but actually there were two, and the one led by Jesus was a parody of a grand, ceremonial Roman procession.

“From the east, Jesus rode a donkey down the Mount of Olives, cheered by his followers. Jesus was from the peasant village of Nazareth, his message was about the kingdom of God, and his followers came from the peasant class. They had journeyed to Jerusalem from Galilee, about a hundred miles to the north.

“On the opposite side of the city, from the west, Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Idumea, Judea and Samaria, entered Jerusalem at the head of a column of imperial cavalry and soldiers. Jesus’ procession proclaimed the kingdom of God; Pilate’s proclaimed the power of empire.” [4] Most contemporary Jesus scholars agree that these two processions into Jerusalem on what we now know as Palm Sunday “…embody the central conflict of the week that led to Jesus’s crucifixion.” [5]

The kind of imperial procession that was happening that day was very familiar to people in the Jewish homeland of the first century because it was standard practice for the Roman governors of Judea to be in Jerusalem when the major Jewish festivals were taking place. This wasn’t because they had any reverence for the religious traditions of their Jewish subjects. They wanted to be present in the city–along with their soldiers–in case there was trouble. Uprisings frequently occurred at Passover because this was the festival that celebrated the Jewish people’s liberation from Egypt. So they were probably easily reminded that they were now under the power and rule of Rome and things were not good.

Pilate’s military procession was a demonstration of Roman imperial power and Roman imperial theology. Roman emperors were considered to be the son of God, savior, and most of the other names we always thought were reserved exclusively for Jesus!

So, imagine … Pilate and his troops have come up from Caesaria on the Sea, about 60 miles west of Jerusalem. The troops will provide reinforcements for the garrison stationed at the Fortress Antonia which overlooks the Jewish Temple and its courts. This parade demonstrates Roman power—cavalry on horses, foot soldiers, leather armor, helmets, weapons, banners, golden eagles mounted on poles, sun glinting on metal and gold. There are the sounds of marching of feet, the creaking of leather, the clinking of bridles, the beating of drums. Dust swirls and onlookers watch in curiosity, awe or resentment. [6]

In contrast, Jesus rides on a young donkey and the crowd goes to meet him, waving palm branches and shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord—the king of Israel!” [7] These are the very same words used to describe the emperor! It definitely looks like a “prearranged ‘counterprocession’” or a planned political demonstration! [8]

Jesus’ procession was a deliberate contradiction to the parade going on at the opposite end of the city. Pilate’s parade personified the power, glory, and violence of the empire that ruled the world. Jesus’ procession embodied an alternative vision, the peaceful reign of God consisting of justice and righteousness for all the people, not just the wealthy and powerful. The contrast between the kingdoms of God and Caesar is central to the story of Jesus and early Christianity. A confrontation between these two has been building throughout Jesus’ public ministry and it continues in the last week of his life.

In Jesus’ time the word “salvation” meant security and Jesus’ plan for security for the people was a reorganization of society, particularly the peasant class, from the bottom up by mutual sharing in the name of God. This was the kingdom happening on earth, not in some far-off or future place. [9] Think about the Lord's Prayer... "Your kingdom come, your will be done, on EARTH as it is in heaven." It's here now!

Of course any plan that includes justice and equality for all the people is a serious threat to those in power and those trying to accumulate more money and possessions than anyone else. The Roman Empire didn’t tolerate alternative kings or kingdoms—Caesar was lord, and that was that!

And so, I wonder about the “hosannas.” Did the people who shouted “hosanna!” really understand what was going on? We know the disciples didn’t understand why Jesus kept talking about going to Jerusalem to die. Surely Jesus was aware that the societal changes he was trying to bring about were a huge threat to both the Romans and the Jewish temple leaders in power.

But if the people understood the passion Jesus had for all God’s people and his desire for justice, equality and the reign of God on earth, then their celebration on Palm Sunday was definitely warranted.

The book we’re finishing today in our “Everything UCC” discussion group points out an interesting difference between the crucifix you see in Catholic churches and the empty cross found in most Protestant churches. “These two versions point to different interpretations of the meaning of ‘passion.’ The crucifix suggests that the passion of Christ refers to his last hours of suffering on the cross. The empty cross, in contrast, suggests that the passion of Christ was what he was passionate about in his life—about healing, including, welcoming and transforming.” [10]

Today we celebrate the gift of God’s love in the sacrament of communion. We are also moving into Holy Week. What will be your focus—Jesus’ suffering and death, or Jesus’ love and life? Me? I’m going to sing “hosanna!” remembering our still-speaking God’s love for all the people, demonstrated in the life, passion and love of Jesus Christ! AMEN.


Endnotes
1. Mark 1:15, NRSV.
2. John Dominic Crossan, lectures at Thunderbird Lodge, International Falls, MN, August, 2005.
3. Balaam’s Unofficial Handbook of the United Church of Christ, by Balaam’s Courier staff. 2008, United Church Press, Cleveland, OH., p. 133.
4. The Last Week: A Day-by-Day Account of Jesus’s Final Week in Jerusalem by Marcus J. Borg & John Dominic Crossan. Harper San Francisco, 2006.
5. Ibid.
6. op. cit. p. 3.
7. John 12:13, NRSV.
8. Borg & Crossan.
9. John Dominic Crossan, lectures at Thunderbird Lodge, International Falls, MN, August, 2005.
10. Balaam’s, op. cit. p. 136.