Hosanna! (Save us!)

Mark 11:1-11

Jesus Comes to Jerusalem as King

1As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples, 2saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 3If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly.’ ”

4They went and found a colt outside in the street, tied at a doorway. As they untied it, 5some people standing there asked, “What are you doing, untying that colt?” 6They answered as Jesus had told them to, and the people let them go. 7When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it. 8Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields. 9Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted,

11Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple courts. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve.

1. We must know that when Jesus entered Jerusalem, it must have looked very comical to many people. Why? Since he was riding a donkey instead of a horse. There was a class in the Roman empire called equestrians. They were normal people who worked their way up the social ladder and were recognized by the state. As a symbol for the recognition for their success, they were given a horse by the state. They would ride the horse given by the government through the town to boast their success and receive honor from people. People must have envied them greatly, since very few could achieve such thing. Jesus was riding a colt, not a horse. He represented the poor, not the successful. Poor people, while seeing Jesus riding the donkey, must have laughed, not at him, but with him, feeling that Jesus represented them. 

2. People shouted at Jesus, "Hosanna!" (Save us!) This means that they had a certain expectation about Jesus. What was that expectation? That Jesus as the son of David would save them from the Roman oppression. They remembered the story of David defeating the giant Goliath. "Jesus, though riding on a donkey, must be able to defeat the ones riding the horses, " they must have thought. But Jesus's intention in entering Jerusalem was not to defeat the Roman empire, but to die on the cross. 

3. Jesus prophesied the destruction of the temple. And it became destroyed in 70 CE. He cherished the temple as his Father's house, the house of prayer for all. However, he prophesied the destruction of it, knowing that his people would become the new temple for God. 

4. Jesus's way of saving the people was through his death, while people expected him never to die. Because Jesus knew that the real enemy was not the Roman empire, but the sins that separated us from God and from each other. Jesus through his death and resurrection forgave us our sins so that he might be with us. Jesus's way of saving is by being with us, as his name "Immanuel" means. 

5. We cry out Hosanna! during this time of crisis of separation. We are separated from each other because we must social distance. He will answer our cry and save us by being with us even during this crisis. 

Amen.