From “Hosanna!” to “Crucify Him!”
The great crowd that had come to the (Passover) festival heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord—the King of Israel!” – John 12:12-13
Pilate called together the chief priests, the leaders, and the people, and said to them . . . “I have not found this man guilty of any of your charges against him.”. . . but they kept shouting, “Crucify, crucify him!” . . . they kept urgently demanding with loud shouts that he should be crucified; and their voices prevailed. – Luke 23:13a, 14b, 21, 23
This worship service of Palm/Passion Sunday is a study in contrasts. We process into the sanctuary with palm leaves in hand, singing “All Glory, Laud and Honor” in joyful, celebratory music. We hear the account of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem to cheers and shouts of joy, as the crowds acknowledge him as God’s chosen King of Israel.
We follow Jesus as he is teaching, preaching, prophesying, and preparing for what is to come. He institutes the Lord’s Supper on the Day of Passover, and shortly after, goes to the Mount of Olives to pray. He is arrested, and then, in a bureaucratic-seeming back and forth, is brought up on “charges” which the Roman governor finds baseless. But again a crowd has gathered, and this time the shouts are filled with hatred and rage, and, in one voice, they cry out, “Crucify him!”
The reading of the Passion of Our Lord takes us on a journey from exaltation to despair and grief. It leaves us feeling as though we have trudged along a rough and twisting road, physically and emotionally draining. As those who claim the name of Christian, it is truly important that we listen to these accounts and hear the voices going from hosannas to hatred, because they are the voices of humankind throughout the ages.
Reading, pondering, and trying to imagine these two contrasting scenes, I couldn’t help but wonder if some of the people who were caught up in shouting praises to the Lord as he came into Jerusalem were also part of the crowd screaming for Jesus’ crucifixion. It’s only supposition, but how many times have we seen how quickly attitudes change, cheers turn to jeers, and the beloved become the hated?
Most of us would like to think we wouldn’t turn on a dime like this, that we stand by our beliefs and principles, and wouldn’t get caught up in some kind of mass hysteria. But when we look into our hearts and acknowledge our own sinful nature, we realize that it’s that sin that cries out for the death of God’s own Son. The good news is that we have been given the gift of faith through the grace of God, and that is how we can be assured that his promises are true, that we are redeemed as God’s own, and we are made anew in Christ daily.
Your friend in Christ,
Mary Rogers