The sound of Hosannas still sings in our ears!
The laughter of the crowd,
so excited,
so filled with passion,
so uncommonly joyous,
for it is the Messiah who rides the donkey
just as Zechariah had said:
“Shout loud, O daughter Jerusalem!
Lo, your king comes to you;
triumphant and victorious is he,
humble and riding on a donkey …
and he shall command peace to the nations!”
Palm branches waving,
coats thrown on the ground in front of him,
this One who comes in the name of God,
this Jesus who comes to save.
Oh, how we love a parade!
Oh, how we love this Jesus!
What then happened?
What did he do?
What did he say
to cause such wrath?
What strange stories:
a hungry Jesus curses a fig tree
because it bears no fruit.
Where, O Israel, is the fruit of your faith?
Where are those who have kept covenant?
Where are those who have walked with God
in justice and mercy and humility?
An angry Jesus drives the
money changers out of the temple.
He who entered Jerusalem
in the name of God
has judged the church to be
hypocritical and worldly,
anything but a house of prayer.
“Is it not written:
‘My house shall be called
a house of prayer for all the nations’?”
Open, open, open the church doors!!!
for all who want to kneel in prayer.
Who is this Jesus anyway?
The State and the Church were unhappy,
for he spoke as one in authority and he had
captured the imagination of the people.
Unhappy, yes, but unhappy enough
to plot to kill him?
Jesus told the people to follow him,
to live in covenant with God,
Love God with all your whole being
and and and
Love your neighbor as yourself.
He quoted Isaiah to them:
“This people honors me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me:
In vain do they worship me,
teaching human precepts as doctrines”.
He taught the crowds that God loved them.
He told them to walk in God’s way,
not the way of the worldly authorities.
He denounced the religious authorities:
“They devour widows houses and
for the sake of appearance say long prayers”.
He told the people to care for the poor,
to visit the prisoners, to heal the sick, even on the Sabbath……
Is it any wonder they killed him?
And there is always a Judas!
Always someone who will sell his soul
for a little money.
Always someone willing to betray!
And so the end begins.
Jesus had been anointed
by the woman with the alabaster jar,
the woman who walked in Hosannas.
The Passover preparations had been made.
The twelve came with Jesus when it was evening,
and sitting at the table eating,
Jesus told them that
one of them would betray him.
Had we been there,
we would have said
what they said:
Surely not I!
Those eyes looking at each of them:
It is one of you …
one who is dipping bread in the bowl with me.
Surely not I!
Surely not I!
This is my body broken for you.
They ate the bread broken for them.
Just as we do.
This is my blood of the covenant.
They drank from the cup poured for them.
Just as we do.
After they sang a hymn
they went out to the Mount of Olives,
and Jesus told them
they would all desert him.
Just as we do.
“I will strike the shepherd
and the sheep will scatter”.
Then here comes Peter,
as we knew he would:
“Even though all become deserters,
I will not”.
Oh, Peter, Peter, Peter,
you are the Rock on which
his Church was built.
It is our voices we hear:
We will not! We will not! We will not!
After all, we’ve learned from Peter.
We even feel a little sorry for him,
put in a situation like that.
Jesus speaks again:
“Truly I tell you, this day, this very night,
before the cock crows twice,
you will deny me three times.”
Even though I must die with you,
I will not deny you!
The rest said the same thing.
But they could not stay awake
while he prayed in Gethsemane…
not even for one hour.
And then a kiss..
a betrayer’s kiss.
Jesus is arrested and
taken to the high priest
where all the chief priests, the elders
and the scribes had gathered.
Blasphemy!
Condemn him!
Agreed!
Done!
Death!
We sit on the church steps,
our palm fronds in our hands,
remembering our Lenten days.
We would see Jesus …
We had waved our palm fronds
as we paraded into the sanctuary.
Where was the excitement?
the passion?
the uncommon joy?
Instead there is dread and fear,
uncertainty and confusion.
Who do we say that he is?
The Lenten days went too quickly,
as we feared they would.
Are we further down the road of faith?
Or did we go in circles?
Follow me, he said,
and we thought we could,
but now we face this week,
this so-called holy week
with unholy trembling.
Surely not I!
we whisper under our breaths,
Surely not I!
And so having supped with him,
we go to pray in Gethsemane.
We pray that we can stay awake
for the hour has come,
and we find ourselves in the courtyard
where we must answer
whether we know him or not.
One by one we will be asked:
Who do you say that I am?
Surely we will not be
the sheep who scatter.
Surely we will not desert him.
Surely not I?
I know him. I know him. I know him.
Surely…..
Now to Pilate
who tries to wash his hands
of any responsibility,
What shall I do with this Jesus?
Crucify him!!
Pilate gives him up to the crowd.
Barabbas is freed.
Jesus is flogged
and crucified
The Lamb of God is sacrificed
for the ones who deny him.
Surely not I!
Surely not our church!
Surely we know him
Surely …
O Lamb of God,
O Bread of Life,
O Light of the World,
O Prince of Peace,
O Bright and Morning Star
lead us through our luke-warm faith
through the death-shrouded Friday
to the justice and mercy
of your Easter dawning.
May we have the faith to speak
your gospel of life
in this world of death
and the love to live abundantly.
We would see Jesus!
Ann Weems of St. Louis, Mo., is a best-selling poet-writer, speaker, and conference leader. She is an ordained elder in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Her works include Kneeling in Bethlehem, Kneeling in Jerusalem, and Psalms of Lament.
