Station Three
Tom DuBois: Hosanna, 2002 (limited edition print 34 1/2 X 17)
Luke 19:37-40
When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen: “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”
Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”
“I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”
Mark 11:8-11a
Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields. Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted,
“Hosanna!”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!”
“Hosanna in the highest!”
Jesus entered Jerusalem and went to the temple
Jesus' entrance into Jerusalem was a glorious event. Finally Jesus' authority and power were recognized. When Jesus comes in power to our hearts it is also a glorious event! We shout “Hosanna” with the crowd. But five days later many in this same crowd would cry, “Crucify him!” How fickle are our hearts! How many times by our actions have we denied him or brought shame to him? Take a few moments now to remember those times. Walter Russell Bowie wrote this prayer during the early part of the twentieth century
O God, whose dearly beloved Son was greeted by the crowd on Olivet with hallelujahs, but who in that same week was mocked as he went lonely to the
Cross, forbid that our welcome to him should be in words alone. Help us, we beg you, to keep the road open for him into our hearts; and let him find there not another crucifixion, but love and loyalty in which his kingdom may be established evermore.
