We will shout it this Sunday, most of us – Hosanna! – which means, “Save us.” It is the cry of a people who know they are at the end of their ability to save themselves, a full-throated acknowledgement that we, all of us, live by grace and walk by a light that is not our own.
We will sing it this Sunday – Ride On, Ride On, in Majesty – while we imagine Jesus astride not one, but two animals. A bit of over-the-top, funny, beautiful hyperbole; Matthew’s way of saying Jesus is a different kind of king – both victorious and humble – the only kind of king who can truly save.
We will wave them this Sunday – palm branches – with the kind of muted fervor that only Presbyterians can pull off, but fervor nonetheless. These branches mean victory, and we wave them high alongside our prayers that this humble king unlike any other will once again ride into our midst and save us.
Hosanna!
christopherjoiner 