When Hope Fades
Just three days ago, we celebrated Palm Sunday—the day when Jesus enters Jerusalem as King (while riding humbly on a donkey), fulfilling so much prophetic hope. He enters into a crowd exclaiming, “Hosanna!” and to the sight of people cutting branches from the trees to pave his path.
But by Friday, a crowd gathers in the city center as Jesus is brought before Pilate. There are probably a few who were present on Palm Sunday who remain on the outskirts of this mob. Confused, scared, perhaps silent.
Perhaps there are a few from that Sunday crowd who are closer to the center. Baffled, curious, perhaps swayed by the energy of the angry crowd, these people no longer shout “Hosanna!” but instead offer a half-weighted assent to the mob’s desire.
And there are a few who gather in the center. Angry, betrayed, feeling lost because this man before them was not the king they expected. These ones yell, “Crucify him!”
Perhaps you, like me, have a hard time understanding how these people—so full of praise on Palm Sunday—would be the same people who would scream for crucifixion on Friday. How does someone flip that quickly?
The crowd on Palm Sunday shouts “hosanna.” The word is a shout of praise, but it is also a cry for help. The word hosanna means “save” or “rescue”, not just hooray. And the psalm that Matthew puts on their lips, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord,” starts with the line “Save us (hosanna, the psalm says), we beseech you, O Lord! O Lord, we beseech you, give us success.”
This crowd is not just saying, “Hallelujah! You’re here and you are wonderful.” They are saying, “Oh, Lord, help. Save us and rescue us and come to us now because, oh how we need you!”
The people who will scream for Jesus’ execution on Friday weren’t only shouting praise to Jesus on the Sunday before. They were sharing their hopes that this man might change whatever in their lives needed saving. They don’t devolve from praise to anger in 5 days, but from hopeful to hopeless. Their King is not what they expected.
Be honest with yourself: have you ever felt your hope fade after God behaved in a way you didn’t expect Him to? Or desperately needed Him to? Perhaps it is easier than first thought to place ourselves in the Good Friday crowd, after all.
So between Palm Sunday and Good Friday, may the praise we shout to our God today be strong enough to hold us throughout the week and throughout all that life throws at us. May our belief in the steadfast love of God be stronger than our understanding of who Jesus should be. And may we have the boldness to continue placing our hope in our God, shouting hosanna, while remaining open to how God will actually show up, redeem, and liberate.
Shelley Woodruff
Interim Pastor for Community Engagement
First Baptist Church of Decatur