Hosanna : But for Which King Are You Cheering?

Introduction

On Palm Sunday, the crowd cheers Jesus through the streets of Jerusalem. They cry, "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel." Palm branches wave, the entry is triumphal. And yet, five days later, the same crowd will cry, "Crucify him!" What happened in between? A misunderstanding about who this King really is. In this message, Togbe Naingaye asks a question that runs through the entire Holy Week and concerns you today: Hosanna when everything is going well, when your prayers are answered the way you want, but when the trial comes, when God's silence settles in, when his help doesn't look like what you imagined, don't you too abandon him on the road to Emmaus?

Message outline

1. A misunderstanding that runs through Jesus' entire life

• From the moment Jesus is born, Herod hears that "the king of the Jews has been born" (Matthew 2:2) and can only see it through the lens of political power: a rival, a threat, a throne to defend.
• Wherever Christ comes into the world, all who feel threatened will try to snuff out that newborn life. Herod kills innocents because of a misunderstanding in his own mind.
• Yet Christ comes neither in a palace nor with an army. He comes as a baby, stripped of his power. A baby doesn't impose himself, he lets himself be adopted. This is the first sign that God does not reign the way humans reign.
• After the feeding of the five thousand, the crowd wants to make Jesus king by force. He withdraws alone to the mountain (John 6:15). He doesn't refuse the crown because he isn't king, but because his kingdom is not what the crowd imagines.
• Paul will say it in Romans 14:17: "For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit." Jesus is not against your material needs (he even multiplied the loaves), but if that's your only reason for following him, your faith will waver at the first day of difficulty.

2. The signs of Palm Sunday and the tears of Jesus

• "Hosanna" means "save us now, save us please." It is the cry of a people who are suffering, under domination, waiting for deliverance, but it is also a cry of hope, because they have identified the one to whom they are calling for help.
• The people remember the Maccabean revolt, about 150 years earlier, when Israel freed itself from Greco-Syrian occupation. They are waiting for a military liberator of the same kind. Jesus, however, comes to defeat an enemy far more dangerous than Rome.
• Matthew adds a detail: the crowd also cries, "Hosanna to the Son of David." For the people, the Son of David is the one who defeated Goliath, the mighty man. But in the Scriptures, David wanted to build the temple and God answered: it won't be you (it will be your son. Solomon), whose name means peace, built the first temple; the messianic Son comes to build the ultimate temple, made not of stone or gold but in the human heart.
• Jesus then performs a prophetic act: he rides a donkey. The horse was the mount of war and conquest; the donkey, the mount of peace. Zechariah had announced it four centuries earlier: "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey" (Zechariah 9:9). And Zechariah continues: "He shall speak peace to the nations." The reign of God goes beyond "he's my God alone", he comes even for those you think are your enemies.
• Luke records a detail the other Gospels did not preserve: at the sight of Jerusalem, Jesus weeps over it (Luke 19:41-42). A striking contrast: the crowd shouts for joy, and he sheds tears. He knows that five days later, the same crowd will cry, "Crucify him!" He sees a city that is missing its peace because its faith is based on material accomplishments, not on who he truly is.

3. When the misunderstanding falls away, peace begins : on the road to Emmaus

• On the Sunday of the resurrection, two disciples leave Jerusalem downcast and head in the opposite direction, toward Emmaus. For them, it's over. The one they believed in did not fulfill the mission they had projected onto him.
• A stranger joins them on the road: it is Jesus. But they don't recognize him. A troubling detail: normally, a disciple recognizes their master. If they don't recognize him, it's because they had formed an image of Christ that doesn't match the real Christ. God warned us: do not make images of him. Yet in our minds, we can freeze God into an image that doesn't look like him.
• A precious contrast: they don't recognize Christ, but Christ recognizes them. In the crowd of thousands he had fed, he knows each one individually. Even when you form a false image of him, he recognizes you and wants to walk with you.
• Cleopas sums up the entire disappointment: "We had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel." The verb is in the past tense, they no longer hope. How many of us have experienced this moment, when the image of God we had formed collapses, when prayer no longer seems to be heard?
• Jesus does not abandon them. He walks with them and explains to them, beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, how the Scriptures spoke of him. "Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?" The cross is not a failure, it is the path; it is the plan from the beginning. Isaiah 53:5 had announced it: "He was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace." The disciples knew these texts, but they were blinded by the image they had formed.

Key takeaways

• Christ does not impose himself (he offers himself. He comes in vulnerability), from the manger to the cross, so that you may adopt him freely, out of love and not by force.
• A faith based on material outcomes or specific expectations is fragile. The day the trial comes, it wavers and scatters, like the crowd that cried Hosanna five days before crying Crucify him.
• The kingdom of God is not primarily about what you eat or what you gain, it is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. Seek first his kingdom; the rest will be added to you.
• Your image of Christ may not be Christ. When your prayer is not answered the way you wanted, the real question is not "Why, God?" but "Is he love? Does he love me?", and the answer is yes.
• Even when you walk toward Emmaus with your head down, Christ recognizes you and draws near. True peace begins when the misunderstanding about him falls away and you welcome him as he is.

Personal application

1. What specific expectation have you placed on Jesus that you might be ready to lay down this week in order to welcome him as he is?
2. What image of Christ (shaped by your hopes, disappointments, or needs), do you need to let go of to see the true face of the King of peace?
3. What is your primary motivation when you come to Christ: his benefits for you, or his reign in your heart? What would you do if the benefits stopped?
4. In what trial have you stopped saying "I hope" and started saying "I hoped"? Can you, on the road to Emmaus, let Jesus reopen the Scriptures with you?
5. Is your heart a temple where Christ takes pleasure in reigning, or merely a place you go to look for him when you need something?

Verses cited

• John 12:12-15 · The triumphal entry into Jerusalem
• Matthew 2:2 · Where is the one born king of the Jews?
• John 6:15 · Jesus withdraws to avoid being made king by force
• Romans 14:17 · The kingdom of God is righteousness, peace, and joy
• Zechariah 9:9-10 · Your king comes to you, humble and mounted on a donkey
• Luke 19:41-42 · Jesus weeps over Jerusalem
• Luke 24:13-32 · The disciples on the road to Emmaus
• Isaiah 53:5 · He was pierced for our transgressions

Further reading

• How to Meditate on a Bible Verse
• Understanding the Bible: Difficult Passages
• Bible Reading Mistakes: How to Avoid Them at the Start

Frequently asked questions

What does the word Hosanna, shouted on Palm Sunday, really mean?

"Hosanna" literally means "save us now, save us please." It is first of all the cry of a people in distress, under domination, waiting for deliverance. But because this cry is addressed to someone identified as savior, it also becomes a cry of hope and victory. On Palm Sunday, the crowd recognizes in Jesus the one who can save, but they are waiting for political liberation, not the liberation of the heart that he came to offer.

Why did Jesus choose a donkey rather than a horse to enter Jerusalem?

In the culture of the time, the horse was the mount of war, conquest, and domination; the donkey was the mount of peace. By choosing a donkey, Jesus fulfills a prophecy announced by Zechariah more than four centuries earlier: "Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey" (Zechariah 9:9). He visually declares to the crowd that he is not a warlord come to overthrow Rome, but a king of peace who comes to offer that peace even to the nations, including those thought to be enemies.

What should you do when you no longer recognize Jesus in a trial you're going through?

The road to Emmaus teaches three things. First, if you no longer recognize him, it may be because you had formed an image of him that doesn't match who he truly is. Second, even when you turn your back on Jerusalem, Christ recognizes you individually and draws near to you. Third, clarity does not come first through a new circumstance but through a return to the Scriptures: "their hearts were burning within them" before they even recognized him. Let him reopen the Word with you, and ask the real question, not "Why, God?" but "Does he love me?"