Ride On To Die, So We Can Live In Peace

4.2.23 Zechariah 9:9–10

9 Rejoice greatly, Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! Look! Your King is coming to you. He is righteous and brings salvation. He is humble and is riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. 10 I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem. The battle bow will be taken away, and he will proclaim peace to the nations. His kingdom will extend from sea to sea, from the River to the ends of the earth.

Ride on to Die, So We Can Live in Peace

When was the last time you actually shouted in joy? November 26th, 2022? (Michigan over Ohio State football.) Yes, if anything, usually, it is sports. When Rylee made it to the State Finals I caught myself yelling in jubilation when the final seconds ticked off the clock. “Yes! Yes!” On Palm Sunday we see a similar jubilation over Jesus coming to town. The people of Jerusalem were just ecstatic. They were taking off their outer garments and throwing them on the road for Jesus. They were breaking off branches and cheering Him on. It’s kind of a rare thing to see people get that excited over something or someone. If you’ve been a part of a celebration like that you never forget it.

Looking back on Palm Sunday and trying to figure out the source of their joy, it isn’t hard to find when you listen to what they were saying.

Hosanna to the Son of David!

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!

Hosanna in the highest!

This was a quote of Psalm 118 where it also speaks of the “stone that the builders rejected” becoming the cornerstone. We typically sing this on Easter. Hosanna means to “save now.” By calling Jesus the “Son of David” it was clearly a Messianic term. God had prophesied that the future King would be born in Bethlehem and rule forever, having descended from David. (Micah 5:2 and 2 Samuel 7:13) The people knew this. So they praised Jesus as the Son of David. They wanted Him to be the One. They also praised God above - Hosanna in the highest - insinuating that God Himself sent Jesus to save them. It’s a great song to sing!

What did they want salvation from? The Jews of Jesus’ day would have had all kinds of problems.

They had problems with Roman society, which was so very immoral with sexuality of every kind.

They had a problem with the Roman government, which was ruling over them harshly and not allowing them to make their sacrifices or practice their religion freely. History has shown Pilate to be a real butcher, so much so that the Roman government wanted to remove him even prior to Jesus’ crucifixion.

The Jews had a problem with their spiritual rulers who were murderers and adulterers in the line of Herod. The more serious leaders tended to be elitist and unloving legalists who were constantly fighting with each other for power and control.

Then you think of how everyone in that time was so easily oppressed by sickness and disease. They had no cure for leprosy, which was a contagious and deadly disease. Over 45% of children died before they turned 15 and over 25% of infants died before they turned one year old! (https://ourworldindata.org/child-mortality-in-the-past) They didn’t have modern hospitals and nurses.

On top of all that, they had demon possessed people running around on a regular basis!

There’s no way we can fathom the problems that the Jewish people would have had to face living at that time.

So what did they mean when they said “Hosanna?” Each one probably had their own reason for crying it. But Jesus had provided hope in so many directions. He had chased out the demons. He stood up to the religious authorities and reached out to the weak and the rejected. He healed sicknesses and raised the dead. He spoke of forgiveness and mercy. He showed compassion to people. Many of these people had probably had personal interactions with Jesus or would have known someone who was healed or touched by Him. It was a natural cry for help. They were desperately hopeful that Jesus could do something for them, so they cried out to Him with their voices, their coats, and palm branches.

Are you desperate for a Savior, for peace? As we walk into Holy Week it seems all the more hopeless on the political side to have any sense of peace. Russia has just arrested an American news reporter. China is aligning with Russia and threatening to take Taiwan. Drugs are pouring into our borders and Bay City basically smells like a skunk. Former President Trump is now being indicted on criminal charges. Much of American Christianity has laid over for the LBGT agenda and many in our government are still openly pushing for gender change and abortion. Three nine year old children and three adults were slaughtered by a transgender person at a Christian school. Pornography is infecting so many of our children’s brains. Cancer and sickness is still wreaking havoc on thousands of people. Families are falling apart. And if you don’t think the devil is behind this, you’re sadly mistaken.