Hosanna

Our world is in turmoil, whether we are talking about saving our planet against global climate change, authoritarianism versus democracy, rights of minorities versus rule of majority, or love versus apathy, love of money versus love of neighbor, we are in a struggle for the future of humanity. However, this world has always been in turmoil, just read the Bible or any history book or newspaper in the last one hundred years. Maybe, it just seems more because we can watch it in real time and not just on the evening news. We are flooded with information and stories and first hand accounts and lots of viewpoints. Maybe doesn't make us feel any better, but it can give us perspective that these struggles just haven't sprung up.

Israel, and most of the Middle East and southern Europe have been under the Roman's thumb for quite some time, and going back to Alexander the Great who carved out this Empire, many have not known freedom in a couple centuries. So when Jesus enters Jerusalem followed by crowds of people blessing him in David's name, they are expecting him to throw off the Roman yoke and free the Jewish people. They are thinking rebellion. Jesus however rides on a donkey or a foal of a donkey, not the most reliable animal to lead an army from. 

"Who is this?" the people ask. They are told it is Jesus from Galilee, the prophet. He has come to speak the words of God, the truth, and to expose the powers and people who do not love God with all their heart, their mind, their soul, and their strength and their neighbor as theirselves. He is coming to show Jerusalem a seat of religious, economic, and political power the error of her ways. It is not in the accumulation of such power that serves God, but it is in the service of the least of these using these tools that we truly care for each other and the world. 

In this time, we have a giant cynicism about religion and politics. The largest religious group in our country now is the nones, n o n e s, not n u n s. In our politics, there are more independents that in either of the Republican or the Democratic parties. There are many calls to disband all religion or do away with politics. In my view, if we did away with those two institutions, we would be left with anarchy versus authoritarianism. For we would only have individuals, not communities, religious bodies, political parties, doing their thing with no way to mediate between people. 

I think that Jesus looked at the situation and correctly interpreted it. For in the Gospel of Matthew, immediately following the parade, Jesus goes into the temple and drives out the money changers, those who are buying and selling, and turns over the tables disrupting the business. Then! Then! Jesus begins to heal the blind and the lame. He doesn't drive out the priests, he just shows them a different way for them to be about God's work. 

The crowds, the people, cry out "Hosanna" when Jesus is entering Jerusalem. "Hosanna" literally means "God save us." They are wanting freedom from oppression, from the Roman occupiers. Jesus riding in on a donkey is the opposite of a conquering hero, of a war general or king, but he does show the power of the people as opposed to riding on a horse or a chariot surrounded by armies. 

I am not quite sure why Jesus didn't lead a rebellion or call upon the armies or power of heaven to set the Jews free. However, I think that for God's to be done, on earth as it is in heaven, has to be done honestly and with struggle. Not someone else fighting our battles, not making a wish like rubbing the lamp of a genie, but we, as the human race, as the world, have to come to realize that faith, hope, and love remain, and the greatest of these is love. One community, one state, one body of faith, one nation, one culture, and one person at a time. Love is the most transformative and amazing power, if we are humble and if we strive to heal and if we serve justice for all. 

Let us love, let us humble ourselves, let us turn over a few tables, and let us heal those around us. Amen? Amen.