Woot! Hosanna! And What Happened M-W?

Things change. Words change meaning, crowds change allegiance, what we thought we knew becomes something else.

Would Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem be greeted with WOOT’s these days? Want One Of Those became quickly a shorthand for “wow” or “Hurrah”. Hosanna is generally thought of as an exclamation of exuberance as well, but its roots are a Hebrew verb that means  “save” or “salvation” and if I remember my Biblical Studies prof correctly it was in the imperative form – so the people were saying SAVE US, PLEASE!!

We don’t know what was going through the minds of the people who thronged out the gates of Jerusalem with leafy branches, but I’d wager their idea of salvation was not what Jesus had in mind.

The story of Judas Maccabeus took place some years before Jesus, but it’s likely that event was in some of the minds of those who were there that day. Judas Maccabeus and his brothers re-took Jerusalem and the Temple from the occupying army of Antiochus Epiphanes around 165 BCE. Jerusalem, now under Roman occupation, understandably looked for another conquering hero to “save” them.  A musical sidenote here -- In 1746 Handel wrote his oratorio    Judas Maccabeus for the celebrations surrounding the victory of the English army over the Scottish Jacobite uprising. The oratorio’s most famous chorus “See, the conqu’ring hero comes” has come down to us as the tune for our Easter hymn “ Thine is The Glory”.

I remember asking my Sunday School teacher at some point “ What happened between Sunday and Thursday?” – trying figure out why the joyous, triumphant entry into Jerusalem turned so horribly wrong. The Gospel narratives give us some clues: Jesus “cleanses” the temple, and denounces the scribes and the Pharisees saying they don’t practice what they preach. So crowds of people re-enacting the Maccabean victory probably set the Romans on edge and Jesus speaking truth to the power of the leaders of his own community [and calling them liars and thieves !] goes a long way to explaining how “Hosanna!” became “Crucify Him!” in a few short days.

My own faith journey is like a little Passion Week. It starts out with false expectations –coming to the city gate with agendas in hand, valuing things that are of the world. Then finding that the things of the world are not as they seem. There are no answers in nationalism, consumerism, or political movements – those things all die. The answer is found in the sacrifice of the self, in “attuning” my life to God, dying to my own ego, wants and desires to be resurrected in a new life. Being human, I have to undergo this regularly it seems.

Lord, lead us through this Passion Week, so that we enter this Passion Week shouting “ Save Me Please!” and come out singing “Thine is the Glory”.

Amen.

Paul S.