At war with perception

Excitement filled the streets of Jerusalem as thousands of pilgrims streamed into the city to celebrate the ancient festival of Passover.  The Passover was a celebration of freedom.  During the Passover God’s people remembered how 1500 years ago they were set free from slavery in Egypt and delivered from when an innocent lamb’s blood was shed so that the angel of death would pass over them.  An estimated 2,000,000 people streamed into the city to celebrate the Passover.

Now, every Passover was exciting but this one was even more so.  Matthew tells us that “10 the whole city was stirred”.  You see, rumor had it that Jesus of Nazareth was coming to Jerusalem.  He was not as well known to the residents of Jerusalem, but the pilgrims that streamed into the city knew him very well.  Some had heard him teach and preach with the power of the prophets.  Some had seen him drive out demons and command the lame to walk with the authority of a king.  But it is likely what most of them were talking about was what he had recently done for his friend Lazarus.  You don’t raise a guy who has been dead for four days back to life without people noticing.  People not only noticed that Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, but it made them think that perhaps Jesus was the promised Messiah that they had been waiting for.  The idea that the promised Messiah was coming to celebrate the Passover was very exciting.

That is why when people found out that Jesus had arranged for a donkey to be brought to him, a crowd began to gather.  Those who were traveling to Jerusalem hurry to catch up to him while those who lived in the city rushed out to meet him.  Matthew stresses that it was a “8 very large crowd”. It is likely that in this very large crowd at least some of them recalled the 500-year-old prophesy about the coming Messiah; the one where the prophet Zechariah wrote, “Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.  I will take away the chariots from Ephraim and the war-horses from Jerusalem, and the battle bow will be broken. He will proclaim peace to the nations. His rule will extend from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth.”[1]  The sight of Jesus sitting on a donkey, on a colt the foal of a donkey clinched it for many; to them there could be no doubt.  Jesus was the promised Messiah who had come to proclaim peace to the nations and extend His rule to the ends of the earth.  So naturally, Matthew tells us they “8 spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.” This is a very old custom where the officers of the court would demonstrate their allegiance and loyalty to their king by placing their cloaks under his feet.  The Passover pilgrims excitedly placed their cloaks and palm branches beneath Jesus’ feet as a demonstration of their allegiance and loyalty to Him as their Messiah King. 

The joy and excitement the people felt in their hearts for their Messiah king had to be expressed in words as well as actions.  Matthew tells us “9 The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”  “Hosanna in the highest!” Their hearts were full of joy and excitement and so the word Hosanna leapt from their lips. 

I am going to go out on a limb here and guess that out of all the words that have leapt from your lips over the last few weeks, “hosanna” has not been one of them. I am going to guess that you haven’t been feeling very hosanna-ie’ for quite a while now.  Frankly I don’t blame you.  This Covid-19 business, stinks.  In addition to the constant threat of disease and death (last I checked nearly one million people worldwide have been infected), in addition to that unemployment is predicted to reach an all-time high and the stock market has suffered its worst decline in the first three months of a calendar year in its 124-year history.   In an effort to slow the impact this virus has had both physically and financially the various levels of our government have enacted shelter in place orders.  As of last Friday the entire state of Georgia is shut down. I understand why they have done it; indeed I support their decision to do it, but as a result, we are now also dealing with a psychological impact from this virus.  

It turns out we were not created to be isolated from one another.  As the good Lord once said, “it is not good for man to be alone.”[2]  He created us to be social creatures.  We not only enjoy the company of other people, we need it.  Be it grilling out on a back deck, cheering in a packed stadium, or sipping drinks at a local establishment, we crave social interaction. 

Pastor Fedke told me that people can actually suffer from touch deprivation; he called it “skin hunger”.  Thinking that the good reverend might be pulling my leg I looked it up and sure enough “skin hunger” is a real thing.  Turns out old pastor Fedke knows what he is talking about. People who suffer from “skin hunger” can have them same symptoms as infants who were left lying in a crib un-held.  Smart people who study this kind of thing recommend that in order to avoid the damaging effects of “skin hunger” we should receive 8 hugs a day for maintenance and 12 hugs a day for growth.  Studies have shown that a simple hug reduces stress, protects against illness, and releases the chemical oxytocin which is associated with happiness.  Well this may very well be what we need but during a time of social distancing and shelter in place isolation it’s nearly impossible to get the prescribed number of daily hugs.  I mean you might could count on your family for one or two hugs, but let’s be honest you have been spending a massive amount of time with those people while you have been working from home and your kitchen table has turned into a homeschool classroom.  Your family is no more likely to hug you as you are to hug them.  As a result, you may be experiencing the psychological impacts of social distancing:  increasingly irritable, uncharacteristically cantankerous, and just downright crabby.

Perhaps that is why out of all the words that have leapt from your lips the last few weeks, “hosanna” hasn’t been one of them, but it probably should have been.  You see, there is a false perception that “hosanna” is a word that ought to be reserved for celebrations, like the Passover parade.  But the word “hosanna” is a funny word.  Did you know the only time the word “hosanna” occurs in the New Testament is here in the Palm Sunday account?  We observe the Passover pilgrims use the word “hosanna” as they celebrate the coming of their Messiah king and simply assume the word is akin to “whoopee” or “yahoo”, but “hosanna” is much more than that.  The word “hosanna” is found much more frequently in the Old Testament.  There we get a better understanding of the depth of meaning contained in the word “hosanna”.  Surrounded by enemies, the Gibeonites cry out “hosanna”.  They say, “Do not abandon your servants. Come up to us quickly and [hosanna] save us! Help us”[3]  A Samarian woman on the brink of starvation cried out, “hosanna”.  She said “[Hosanna]Help me, my Lord the king!”[4]  King David feeling as though he was the last believer left cried out “hosanna”!  He prayed, “[Hosanna]Help, LORD, for the godly are no more; the faithful have vanished from among men.”[5] As you can see “hosanna” means much more than “whoopee” or “yahoo”.  At its core “hosanna” is a cry for help; it is a cry for deliverance. 

So, can you think of a better time to shout “hosanna”?  This virus surrounds us like the armies that surrounded the Gibeonites.  Like the Samarian woman, our resources are rapidly being depleted.  Like David, we feel cut off from each other.  Is this not the perfect time to shout, “hosanna”?  “Hosanna to the Son of David!” “Hosanna in the highest!” Help us Jesus!  Save us Lord God!  If the word “hosanna” hasn’t leapt from your lips lately, I suggest you take some time today to bow your head, close your eyes, and pray, “hosanna”.    

The word “hosanna” is, as I said, a funny word.  It sometimes happens that over time a word can actually change its meaning as a reflection of how the word is used.  Such a change occurred with the word “hosanna”.  Over time the word “hosanna” evolved from a cry for help to a call of praise.  As it happened, those who cried out to the Lord for help received the deliverance that they needed.  This happened so frequently, so consistently, over such a long period of time that people who used the word “hosanna” began to attach a sense of confidence and trust to the word.   They knew that when they cried out to the Lord for help and deliverance the Lord would answer them.  So, in the same word they expressed both their need for help and their appreciation for deliverance.  That is why the Passover pilgrims whose hearts were full of joy and excitement welcomed their Messiah king with shouts of “hosanna”.    

You know, the word “hosanna” can be used in the same way by us.  We have even more reason to be confident that our Lord will not only hear our cry for help but answer us according to our needs.  The Israelites had Passover to remind them how the Lord set them free from slavery in Egypt and delivered them from the angel of death.  We have Palm Sunday; we have a day that reminds us our Savior Jesus rode into Jerusalem to set us free from our sins and deliver us from eternal death.

We Palm Sunday people have even more reason than the Passover pilgrims to cry out “hosanna”!  We have a Savior who set us free from sin and delivered us from death, I am quite certain He can handle a virus.  Therefore, I encourage to let the word “hosanna” leap from your lips.  Cry out “hosanna” to the Lord that He may deliver us from this virus.  Shout out “hosanna” to the Lord that He may cause our economy recovers.  SIng “hosanna” to the Lord that He may gather us together once more.  Cry, shout, sing “hosanna” confident that the Lord hears you and will in due time deliver you. 

“Hosanna to the Son of David!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Hosanna in the highest!” Amen.   

[1] Zechariah 9:9-10

[2] Genesis 2:18

[3] Joshua 10:6

[4] 2 Kings 6:24

[5] Psalm 12:1