When they had come near Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, "Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, just say this, 'The Lord needs them.' And he will send them immediately." This took place to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet, saying, "Tell the daughter of Zion, Look, your king is coming to you, humble and riding on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.? The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them; they brought the donkey and the colt, and put their cloaks on them, and he sat on them. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and the others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and that followed were shouting, "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!" When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking, "Who is this?" The crowds were saying, "This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee."
--Matthew 21:1-11, New Revised Standard Version
Each of the four gospels contributes something unique to the story of Palm Sunday.
Mark was probably the first gospel writer to tell the story.
The Gospel of John is the only gospel that mentions the waving of palm branches. In the other gospels, the people cut down nondescript branches and place them on the road. So, you have John to thank for making you hold up the leafy palms and wave them back and forth. Otherwise, we might be celebrating nondescript branches Sunday!
The Gospel of Luke, as we were reminded a moment ago in the Time for the Child, includes the wonderful anecdote of the authorities complaining to Jesus about the noise of the crowd and Jesus responding that if the people were kept silent even the stones would cry out.
The unique thing about Matthew is that Matthew has Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey and a colt. Two animals. The other three gospel writers simply have Jesus riding on top of one animal.
The 14th century Italian artist Pietro Lorenzetti tried to reconcile Matthew's account with the other three gospel writers. He painted the Palm Sunday procession with Jesus riding on top of a donkey while holding onto the reigns of a young colt that walked beside them.
Pietro Lorenzetti (1280-1348), "Entry of Christ into Jerusalem"
Yet if you listen to Matthew's account closely, it actually sounds like Jesus is trying to ride both animals simultaneously. In fact, verse seven explicitly states that Jesus sat on them. Plural.
One time a woman in a Bible study group told me that she used to imagine Jesus riding sidesaddle on the larger animal while using the shorter animal as a footstool.
How ever you might imagine the scene, Matthew wants us to see Jesus riding two animals at once.
Why does Matthew have us seeing double?
To be honest, some scholars think that Matthew may have made a mistake, that Matthew may have mistakenly assumed that the Prophet Zechariah, whom Matthew quotes, made reference to two animals, when in truth only one animal was intended.
Matthew quotes a line from Zechariah 9:9, "Lo, your king comes to you; humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey." At first, that might sound like two animals--a donkey and a colt, but in reality Zechariah is employing the Hebrew poetic device of parallelism, in which something is said once and then repeated again for emphasis in a slightly different way (see comments by Thomas G. Long in Matthew, Westminster Bible Companion Series).
If I were to say to you, "Jesus came riding into Denver on a bronco [comma] on a horse," I am only describing one animal.
Now, in biblical Hebrew there are no punctuation marks; there are no commas. Nonetheless, the structure of the Hebrew poetry itself reveals the parallelism.
So, what happened? Was Matthew absent that day in 9th grade Hebrew school when the poetic device of parallelism was explained?
Did Matthew make a mistake, or did Matthew have his own reasons for making us see double?
New Testament scholar David Garland has suggested that Matthew found hidden meaning in the two words donkey and colt.
The donkey, a coronation animal, may have been symbolic of Jesus' royal status as the Son of David, whereas the more humble colt may have been symbolic of Jesus' servant role (David Garland, as cited by Long, Matthew, Westminster Bible Companion Series).
I'm inclined to agree with David Garland. I think that Matthew wants us to see the symbolism in both animals. I think that Matthew wants us to see double. Matthew wants us to have double vision.
Matthew wants us to see the cheering crowds, but Matthew also wants us to see how the rest of Jerusalem is in turmoil.
Matthew wants us to see on one level how the religious authorities, the Romans, and the evil powers that rule the world are teaming together to take Jesus' life, but Matthew also wants us to see, on an even deeper level, how Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of David, and how the forces of heaven have the upper hand, and how Jesus gives his life freely, no one takes it away (Long, Matthew).
In recent years it has become customary for many churches to celebrate Palm [slash] Passion Sunday, or they might do what we've been doing here at KPC, which is that one year we will emphasize the liturgy of the palms, as we are doing this year, and another year, we might emphasize the liturgy of the passion, as we did last year.
Thirty or more years ago nearly all of our churches would have simply celebrated Palm Sunday, but in the decades since, as it's become apparent that Maundy Thursday and Good Friday services are not that well attended, many voices have suggested that we remember Jesus' Passion on the Sunday before Easter.
Scott Black Johnston, the pastor of the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York City, argues that many of our attempts to combine Palm Sunday and Passion Sunday in the same worship service don't always work out as well as we intended. He lightheartedly observes that they end up being the liturgical equivalent of the El Camino. Do your remember the El Camino? It was a Chevrolet product that was rolled out around 1965 that was meant to be a combination of a cushy sedan and a pick-up truck. It never sold very well. Those who wanted a sedan bought a sedan, and those who wanted a truck bought a truck (from a sermon by Scott Black Johnston, "Save Us," preached April 5, 2009 on the Day One Radio Network).
Here's the point. We don't have to worry about our awkward attempts to combine Palm Sunday and Passion Sunday because the Gospel-writer Matthew has already combined them for us.
If we put on Matthew's special glasses which enable us to see double, we already see the foreboding of Jesus' Passion in the events of Palm Sunday itself. We can simply focus on Palm Sunday and allow the master storyteller Matthew to do the rest of the work.
Matthew's double vision allows us to see how Jerusalem is the holy city of the Son of David, but it also allows us to see how Jerusalem is the city that kills the prophets and stones those sent to it.
To celebrate Palm Sunday as Matthew celebrates Palm Sunday means that we already anticipate Jesus' Passion and his death on the cross. And we begin to anticipate how Jesus' death will lead to our salvation. To help us understand this, Matthew not only gives us double vision, he also gives us double hearing.
With one ear Matthew wants us to hear the crowds chanting their joyful hosannas, and with the other ear Matthew wants us to hear those hosannas as a cry for help.
Scott Black Johnston points out that, while the precise etymology of the word "hosanna" is uncertain, many scholars believe that the word is likely a combination of two Hebrew words: yaw-shaw (meaning to save or deliver) and naw (meaning to beseech or pray). So, you might translate the shouts of the crowd as "we beseech to deliver us."
Thus, hosanna sounds like a joyful, celebratory word, but it's also a plea for help.
"Lord, save us!"
"We beseech you to deliver us!"
Hosanna!
Lord, save us from shame, from the sinking feeling that we will never measure up or be good enough.
Hosanna!
Lord, save us from deep disappointment in ourselves.
Hosanna!
Lord, save us from the paralyzing grief that prevents us from moving forward. Help us to hold onto what we need to hold onto, but also help us to let go what we need to let go.
Hosanna!
Lord, save us from our own worst inclinations.
Hosanna!
Lord, save us from debt and financial disaster.
Hosanna!
Lord, save us from loneliness.
In our middle schools and high schools there's a cry of Hosanna!, Lord, save us from Tuesday's math test, but there's also a cry of hosanna, Lord, save us from the bullying, from the pressure to conform, form the school shootings.
Hosanna!
Lord, save us from the addictions over which we have no control.
Hosanna!
Lord, save us from obsessive worry about our children, whether those children still live at home, or whether they've long since been adults trying to make their way in the world.
Hosanna!
Lord, save us from cancer, from ALS, from MS, from Parkinson's, from dementia and decline.
Hosanna!
Lord, save us from cruelty, from the harsh treatment that is often given to immigrants and refugees.
Hosanna!
Lord, save us from the savage inequalities that are tearing apart the fabric of our society.
Hosanna!
Lord, save us from the rancor that makes civil, political discourse seem impossible these days.
Hosanna!
Lord, save us from racism, from sexism, from every --ism that causes us to devalue or fear the other, and help us instead to embrace the beauty of each other's humanity.
Hosanna!
Lord, save us from sin.
Hosanna!
Lord, save us from the hell of feeling ourselves abandoned by God.
What is the thing in your life that is weighing on you most heavily right now?
What is the nature of the unresolved grief that you are carrying within you?
What are you deepest longings for yourself, for your children, for our society, that so far have remain unfulfilled?
Acknowledge those things for a moment.
[Pause]
And now, haveing acknowledged them, let us pray together to God for deliverance, let us shout together: Hosanna! Hosanna! Hosanna!
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