Hosanna!

Palm Sunday begins the most important week of the Christian world that ultimately ends in Resurrection Day (or Easter). When we think of Palm Sunday, palm branches, obviously, come to mind.

The first Palm Sunday began with Jesus sending two of his disciples to Bethphage to find an animal for him to ride in on. They found a donkey/colt for Jesus to ride in on, and the owners questioned why they needed it. The disciples responded "The Lord needs it." This was good enough for the owners, as they allowed the disciples to exit with the donkey/colt.

As Jesus rode into Jerusalem, Jesus was treated as a king. "Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road."(Matthew 21:8). This was similar to when Jehu was anointed King of Israel, "Then in haste every man of them took his garment and put it under him on the bare steps, and they blew the trumpet and proclaimed, “Jehu is king.” (2 Kings 9:13)

"So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!”(John 12:13) Waving palm branches was significant during this time, and wasn't something that was taken lightly. This signaled the hope that a liberator was arriving. It was also significant that they yelled, "Hosanna". "Hosanna" comes from a Hebrew word that means, "save now". This and "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord" can be found in the hallel, which were psalms sang every morning at the Feast of Tabernacles. So clearly, this was significant to the Jewish people.

While the crowd celebrated as Jesus rode into town, it must have been an odd sight. Kings normally would ride into town on royal horses, but Jesus rode in on a donkey. He fulfilled prophecy from the book of Zechariah by riding in on a donkey:"Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey." While the people had envisioned the messiah coming as a strong military leader, instead they got a humble man riding in on a donkey. To add to the visual, donkeys that people ride in that area of the world are much smaller than what we have in America. They are so much smaller that grown men have to bend their knees while they ride so that their feet don't drag the ground. As a side note, I wonder how many at that time realized that Jesus was fulfilling prophecy by riding in on a donkey? Did it click with them?

The celebration would not last, and within a week, Jesus was dead. What looked to be the anointing of a new king of Israel, soon would end with Jesus hanging on a cross at Golgotha. The people celebrated a new king to save them militarily, while Jesus came to save his people from their sins.