First the Cross, Then the Resurrection

As Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey, crowds of people greeted him with acclaim, waving and placing palm branches before him. Palms were used in triumphal processions by Romans and Jews alike during Jesus’s time. As he passed, the crowd chanted, “Hosanna to the Son of David; blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord; hosanna in the highest.”

The word “hosanna” was a Hebrew shout for triumph and joy, literally meaning “save we pray” or “may God save.” The tradition was found in Psalm 118: 25-26 and was used during the feast of Tabernacles when the priest processed around the altar and people waved palm branches. Since Psalm 118 was regarded as announcing the coming of the Messiah, who would appear as the one who comes in the name of the Lord, it was natural for the people to shout this phrase when they saw Jesus.

Throughout his public ministry, Jesus became renowned for his preaching, healing, and ability to dispel evil spirits from those possessed. He brought together a band of unremarkable individuals to be his closest disciples, and even Peter told him he would die for him and never deny him. We all know how that turned out. Everyone was on the side of Jesus, thinking him to be the awaited Messiah who would change their lives in a few short days from oppression to freedom, from poverty to wealth. The many generations who desired emancipation seemed to have come to them on the back of a donkey.

Then it all falls apart. His trusted disciples are the first to turn on him. Judas hands Jesus over, then Peter denies him, and the other disciples abandon him. Others bear false witness against him, the once jubilant crowds turn on him, and the political and religious powers hand him over to be tortured and crucified among thieves. Jesus was utterly alone, and his last words seemed that God, too, had abandoned him.

There could be no more complete description of someone being excluded, deserted, and destroyed. When we conjure up the passion of our Savior in our imaginations, we mustn’t exclude the complete desolation he endured. In our rote memorization, we proclaim Jesus has taken away the sins of the world so often without contemplating the complete isolation sin has caused.  Jesus, willing to take on our sins, took on the emptiness and complete lack of life those sins cause.  Death and emptiness were nailed to the cross, making it possible that desolation is not our future fate. 

As we begin Holy Week, our prayers and meditations must focus on the cross and Jesus who hangs on it. Our very lives depend on whether we recognize the most crucial event: accepting the cross of Christ as the only means by which we are saved. As a Christian, there can be nothing more important than being willing to die with Christ so we can live with him for all eternity.

When we accept his cross and ours, we affirm our wish for life and work diligently by not denying his salvific work by our sins.  First, the cross, then the joy of Easter. This is how we should engage our God during Holy Week.