PALM SUNDAY: Mt 21:1-11
We start the Holy Week, with the Palm Sunday, celebrating the acclamation of Jesus as Messiah, when he entered Jerusalem.
From all over Palestine and even from lands much further away, people were going in pilgrimage to the holy city for the Passover celebration, becoming a big crowd as they approached Jerusalem, where they would enter with great rejoicing.
Acclaimed as the Messiah
Jesus with his disciples was part of that growing stream of people approaching Jerusalem. As they recognised him, they gathered round him: "And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest" (Mt 21:9)
Jesus was acclaimed as son of David, that is as Messiah and king, applying to him the words of the Psalm 118:25-26
"Save us, we pray, O Lord!
O Lord, we pray, give us success!
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord".
Crying out for deliverance
Following the evangelists, mainly Luke, who wrote: "Peace in heaven and glory in the highest" (Lk 19:38) instead of hosanna, we assume its meaning to be glory, using it in the liturgy of the eucharist with that meaning. However, hosanna is a transliteration through Greek of the Aramaic word, which means "O save".
While sounding as a greeting, it is also and mainly a cry for deliverance. It is the cry of anguish from the oppressed people, and in a way a cry of rejoicing, because a deliverer has been found. We must join the crowd and with them cry out: Lord, save us! Blessed is he who comes to redeem and save us.
A king of peace
We can see Jesus surrounded by the crowds and entering Jerusalem in triumph, while being acclaimed as king. However, if we look closer, we must ask ourselves what kind of king he is, since he entered on a donkey, a humble animal “a beast of burden". Jesus' kingship is very different from any other kingship here on earth. The earthly kings show their power and their glory by the numbers of peoples they have conquered and subdued. The horse was their instrument of power and domination, an essential tool for their conquering armies. The horse was a symbol of pride and an instrument of war and oppression. Instead of the proud horse, Jesus used the humble donkey to show that he came to be a king of peace, who rules by love, not by domination. By entering Jerusalem on a donkey, Jesus proved to be not a threat to anyone. In order to make this very clear, Matthew quotes Zechariah 9:9:
"Behold, your king is coming to you,
humble, and mounted on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden".
The prophet that proclaims God’s love and mercy
As he entered the city, the inhabitants of Jerusalem were surprised and asked the crowd coming with Jesus: "Who is this?", to which they answered: “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee" (Mt 21:11). The ones accompanying Jesus knew that he was not looking for power and that he would not be a king like the rulers of this world. He came from Nazareth and he is a prophet, the prophet, that is the Word, who reveals to us God's mercy and compassion.
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