3. ‘HOSANNA’, ‘KING OF THE JEWS’, ‘NAME OF THE LORD’
Our third image to consider today is that of the crowds shouting. Verse 13, John records, ‘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 Israel!”
This is significant stuff. We sing ‘Hosanna’ in a lot of songs. We always mention ‘Hosanna’ at Palm Sunday. ‘Hosanna’ is what they are shouting as Jesus is riding into the capital of occupied Judea right under the noses of the Romans even as their collaborators, the Jewish religious leaders, have already put a plan into motion to kill Jesus. Do we know what Hosanna means (Verse 13; cf. Psalm 118:25-26)? Hosanna means ‘O Save!’, ‘Salvation!’, ‘Save us!’ [3]
Jesus is triumphantly entering the historic capital of Judah – which is occupied by the Romans and people are saying, ‘Jesus! You are our king! You –like all kings are supposed to – you come here in the Name of the Lord! Jesus, you – not Caesar, not the Romans, not the chief priests, not the rich, not the powerful elite – Jesus, you are our King; save us from Rome and save us from our present leaders!’[4] Hosanna. Save us!
The establishment have their people in position: governors in place of recent kings, rotating high priests, soldiers to keep order but Jesus (who is from Galilee which is a particularly rebellious region of a rebellious people) is triumphantly entering the town and the crowds are running out to meet him, calling, ‘save us’, save us! Hosanna, o save us.’ The crowds know he is the Messiah. [5]
They want him to save them from the occupation and they are willing to serve him as king. This is no small thing. Think of what superpowers do when crowds of people gather in opposition. Think of Guantanamo Bay. Think of Abu Gharib. Think of Afghanistan. Think of Iraq. Rome, her sympathizers and the establishment don’t want rivals there and then any more than today's powers and their establishment want rivals here and now. These people, the great crowds are risking their lives shouting ‘Salvation, King of the Jews, save us!’
4. PALM BRANCHES
And this brings us to the fourth of our five images for today, the palm branches: John tells us also that the people lining the streets aren’t just yelling, ‘save us king’. This is important. They are waving palm branches. Today is Palm Sunday. Can anyone tell me the significance of palm leaves at this time and place? The palm branches are important.[6] What do the Palm branches represent?
They didn’t just pick up palm branches because palm branches happen to be near-by; they pick up the palm branches because palm branches are a nationalistic symbol (cf. 1 Maccabees 13:51, 2 Macabbees 10:7; cf. also Leviticus 23:40, Psalm 92:12, Matthew 21:8; Mark 11:8). It would be like if Canada was going to seek independence from the US or someone else and we were waving maple leaves or flags with the maple leaf on it – everyone recognises that as a symbol of Canada. This moment probably would have had an even greater effect on the authorities of Jesus’ day than a similar one did on Canadian authorities in 1967 (Canada's Centennial) when France’s President Charles de Gualle cried out, ‘Vive le Quebec Libre!” while visiting Quebec. The palm branch is a national symbol being raised in the traditional capital of an occupied territory. This is where John drives home that Jesus isn’t just a metaphorical or a spiritual king, Jesus is a political king as well.[7] He is the King of Kings and His Kingdom, the Kingdom of God, is at hand.[8] (And John’s placing of vv.14-15 after v.13 further conveys Jesus’ and John’s approval of this claim.)
Our third image to consider today is that of the crowds shouting. Verse 13, John records, ‘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 Israel!”
This is significant stuff. We sing ‘Hosanna’ in a lot of songs. We always mention ‘Hosanna’ at Palm Sunday. ‘Hosanna’ is what they are shouting as Jesus is riding into the capital of occupied Judea right under the noses of the Romans even as their collaborators, the Jewish religious leaders, have already put a plan into motion to kill Jesus. Do we know what Hosanna means (Verse 13; cf. Psalm 118:25-26)? Hosanna means ‘O Save!’, ‘Salvation!’, ‘Save us!’ [3]
Jesus is triumphantly entering the historic capital of Judah – which is occupied by the Romans and people are saying, ‘Jesus! You are our king! You –like all kings are supposed to – you come here in the Name of the Lord! Jesus, you – not Caesar, not the Romans, not the chief priests, not the rich, not the powerful elite – Jesus, you are our King; save us from Rome and save us from our present leaders!’[4] Hosanna. Save us!
The establishment have their people in position: governors in place of recent kings, rotating high priests, soldiers to keep order but Jesus (who is from Galilee which is a particularly rebellious region of a rebellious people) is triumphantly entering the town and the crowds are running out to meet him, calling, ‘save us’, save us! Hosanna, o save us.’ The crowds know he is the Messiah. [5]
They want him to save them from the occupation and they are willing to serve him as king. This is no small thing. Think of what superpowers do when crowds of people gather in opposition. Think of Guantanamo Bay. Think of Abu Gharib. Think of Afghanistan. Think of Iraq. Rome, her sympathizers and the establishment don’t want rivals there and then any more than today's powers and their establishment want rivals here and now. These people, the great crowds are risking their lives shouting ‘Salvation, King of the Jews, save us!’
4. PALM BRANCHES
And this brings us to the fourth of our five images for today, the palm branches: John tells us also that the people lining the streets aren’t just yelling, ‘save us king’. This is important. They are waving palm branches. Today is Palm Sunday. Can anyone tell me the significance of palm leaves at this time and place? The palm branches are important.[6] What do the Palm branches represent?
They didn’t just pick up palm branches because palm branches happen to be near-by; they pick up the palm branches because palm branches are a nationalistic symbol (cf. 1 Maccabees 13:51, 2 Macabbees 10:7; cf. also Leviticus 23:40, Psalm 92:12, Matthew 21:8; Mark 11:8). It would be like if Canada was going to seek independence from the US or someone else and we were waving maple leaves or flags with the maple leaf on it – everyone recognises that as a symbol of Canada. This moment probably would have had an even greater effect on the authorities of Jesus’ day than a similar one did on Canadian authorities in 1967 (Canada's Centennial) when France’s President Charles de Gualle cried out, ‘Vive le Quebec Libre!” while visiting Quebec. The palm branch is a national symbol being raised in the traditional capital of an occupied territory. This is where John drives home that Jesus isn’t just a metaphorical or a spiritual king, Jesus is a political king as well.[7] He is the King of Kings and His Kingdom, the Kingdom of God, is at hand.[8] (And John’s placing of vv.14-15 after v.13 further conveys Jesus’ and John’s approval of this claim.)
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