Hosanna

Hosanna in the highest!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest!

We say this when we celebrate communion together, and here it is today in the Bible reading.

Hosanna in the highest!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest!

Jesus was riding into Jerusalem, at the beginning of Passover week. Passover celebrated the escape of the Hebrews from Egypt. Jesus celebrated the Passover meal with his disciples on the Thursday evening, and we will hear that part of the story later in the week.

Jesus was riding into Jerusalem as many other people of Jewish faith were also arriving in town. There were sacrifices to make at the Temple and preparations to make for the Passover meal. Also arriving in Jerusalem would have been extra Roman soldiers to make sure things stayed peaceful, with Pilate leading the procession.

The Romans maintained peace and order with lots of soldiers. There was no room for dissidents. The Jewish elite collaborated with the Romans, in an effort to keep the Romans from interfering with the Jewish religious traditions. While there were always soldiers based in Jerusalem, at Passover the population increased greatly, and so did the number of soldiers.

Into this atmosphere came the wandering teacher Jesus, on the back of a lowly donkey – no way for a king to travel. And we see a pattern we have seen before, people are curious about Jesus, they have heard about his teaching, his challenge to the Pharisees and Sadducees, news of the raising of Lazarus would have spread, and this man can heal and remove demons. Now they call out Hosanna, Hosanna, a phrase which means save us. They are looking for someone to save them from the Roman occupiers.

A clash of power, a clash of authority, Jesus on a donkey with crowds waving branching calling for salvation, and Pilate with the Roman soldiers reminding people they are under occupation.

This is often as far as we go in the Palm Sunday reading, but I wanted to look at the next thing Matthew records for us. Matthew follows the entry into Jerusalem with the incident of Jesus cleaning the Temple of stallholders. John includes this story much earlier in Jesus’ ministry, but Matthew has it here in Passover week. 

When people came to worship in the Temple, they would need local coins for offering, and livestock to offer as sacrifices. The money changers were like money changers today, they change your overseas money for local currency.  Because Israel was under Roman occupation, many people would only have Roman coins, to make an offering in the Temple required Jewish coins, so people were forced to deal with money changers. If people travelled any distance to the Temple, it was not possible to bring their own doves with them to sacrifice. The religious rulers had the people in a difficult place. People wanted to worship, and the religious and Temple leaders did not make this easy. So Jesus goes in to clean out the Temple, not to destroy the Temple, or to tell people not to worship, but to remove some of the obstacles to worship.

All along Jesus was trying to reform Judaism from within, to encourage people to worship God with their lives, to live out the compassion of God.

On Palm Sunday with the procession, Jesus was making a political statement about civil authority; then in the Temple he is making a political statement about religious authority.

Matthew then gives 5 chapters of teaching from Jesus, followed by Jesus reminding his disciples he is about to be killed, and the religious leaders plotting to be rid of the troublesome Jesus. Note Jesus links his death with Passover, and the religious leaders want to avoid Passover, they don’t want a fuss.

Then we hear of Jesus eating with Simon, a former leper, the implication being he was healed by Jesus. During the meal, a woman pours perfume over Jesus’ head.  This causes a stir, with the disciples complaining about the expense, not just Judas, the disciples. Jesus sees something different in her actions; she is readying him for burial. Jesus has told the disciples a number of times of his impending death, and yet they don’t get it, this woman, somehow knows to anoint him. Typically kings were anointed on their heads as part of coronations. Here she proclaims him king, and readies his body for death.

The response to the birth of Jesus was greeted by celebration, singing, searching, killing, and exile. During his ministry, the reactions to Jesus were mixed. Jesus was greeted enthusiastically in some places, but we remember today, he was a threat to those who held power, both civil power and religious power. The people who were in control, made life difficult for ordinary people; which meant anyone who wasn’t part of the elite, the establishment.

We can read these passages from Matthew and see ourselves as part of the cheering crowd, recognising who Jesus is; we can see ourselves amongst those who Jesus was defending in getting rid of the money changers and stall holders; we can see ourselves as the woman with the perfume.

But I wonder:

In what ways do we collaborate with the Government and civil authorities in keeping people in poverty, downtrodden and oppressed?

In what ways do we, as a church, make rules that keep people out?  That tells people that access to God is limited?  That shows people that they aren’t good enough?

In what ways do we treat religion as a means to an end; a way of keeping things the way we like them.

In what ways do we put down other people’s worship of God?

Palm Sunday is about a clash of kingdoms, the kingdom of God, peace, reconciliation, justice and liberation; and a kingdom based on maintaining order, keeping people downtrodden, defending the powerful, and destroying anyone who gets in your way.

We may not physically kill people, but how often have we killed the spirit of another, how often do we buy goods made in sweatshops, how often do we vote for a Government that will make our life easier, rather than looking after all people in the community.

Today we shout out:

Hosanna in the highest!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest!

As we move through holy week and Easter, does our living mirror the life of Jesus, defending the weak against the powerful, giving everything we have for the kingdom of God, or do we try not to stand out too much, not to be too obvious in our worship, living by the rules of the world.

Jesus challenged the religious and political rulers of the day. Whose authority do we live by?

Time for reflection