Hey-sanna, hosanna!

Palm Sunday

“The next day the great crowd that had come for the Feast heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, ‘Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the King of the Jews.”
John 12:12-13

Today is Palm Sunday, the day we celebrate Jesus’ final entry into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey. Today we sing ‘Hosanna’ and make a joyful noise. It’s a little like Mardi Gras, in that we have a happy parade just before the horrors of Holy Week begin. We celebrate today knowing that for the next week, we will walk the path of the cross, and hear about Jesus trial and crucifixion. We will lean hard toward Easter’s resurrection for seven whole days.

We know how the story ends—unjustified death in the Roman tradition of nailing people to a cross and letting them die slowly and painfully. We really don’t want to think about this part even though Jesus said the crucifixion was the very reason he was born. And when you think about it, where would we be if Jesus had become just another King of the Jews. Who beyond Solomon and David do we even remember? Jesus even set up his own death by naming Judas as his betrayer, and by mocking the Chief Priests, Pharisees and Sadducees with his parables and his ‘woes’. He called them snakes and vipers! He wanted and needed to be a martyr in order to be accepted as the Messiah.

We are slightly uncomfortable with this radical Jesus—this one who would spit in the faces of the powerful of his day and dare them to do anything about it. We prefer to sing happy hosannas and then get right on to happy Easter. Jesus was a firebrand of the sort that made people uncomfortable, even furious. We have to know there’s a little ego in that—couldn’t he have survived longer if he’d just carried on with teaching and healing? Wouldn’t that have made more sense? But no, Jesus went on a tear and ticked off everybody he possible could, even his own disciples by announcing that they would deny him.

Jesus did what he did for a reason. According to the gospels, he died for the sins of many. I have to say, I think we’ve used this as a bit of a crutch for two-thousand years. I personally think that I am still accountable for the life I lead. I will pay for the indifference, the intolerance, and the hateful and cruel things that I say and do. I will pay by feeling guilty and cold hearted and mean spirited. Jesus cannot, and should not, take away my responsibility to lead a decent life.

Hosanna!
Jane