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Whisper hosanna.
March 29, 2026
Matthew 21:1-11|Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29|Isaiah 50:4-9a|PhilippiNA 2:5-11|Matthew 27:11-54|Psalm 31:9-16
The crowds that went ahead of him and that followed were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is the one who come in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
Hosanna!
It is a word that we hear with joy and celebration. It is connected to an image of throngs of people surrounding Jesus as he entered into Jerusalem, waving their hands in the air, throwing their cloaks and branches on the ground to pave the way for their savior and king.
Hosanna!
It is a word that is a reminder as much as a celebration. “God saved us!” The cry speaks to God’s actions in the past, to the ways that God has been present with the people when they were in narrow places, when they were oppressed.
Hosanna!
It is a word that is demands God’s action and intervention. God save us from the oppression of Rome! God save us from the struggles and suffering that we are all living with here and now!
On Palm and Passion Sunday it is important that we hear the fullness of a word that is not just a cry of celebration. It is a word that holds celebration and remembrance and demand. It is a cry of joy and a cry of hope that is mixed with lamentation. The demand for intervention, the demand for God’s salvation in a specific way. These shouts of hosanna may be part of what fed the people to later cry “crucify him.” Broken expectations of who people wanted Jesus to be led to disappointment, to feelings of betrayal, and to rejection. We start the Sunday with a cry of celebration but we need to be aware of where our celebration, laden with demands and expectations, can lead.
Our own hand-waving and throwing our palms before Jesus will lead to the cross. Our own shouts our fed by our hopes, are fed by our expectations. They lead to our hurts, lead to our feelings of rejection, our rejection of God, and to the cross.
Whisper, do not shout hosanna. Say hosanna with hesitation. Realize that we are part of the crowd celebrating Jesus’ entry into the holy city. Wait for the salvation that will come, but only after the despair of the crucifixion. This is the dissonance of Palm and Passion Sunday. God has saved us. God is saving us. And God, who is to be crucified and who is to die, will save us.
hosanna.
Jonathan Malone
