Luke’s account of the day Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey is unique in many ways. First, he doesn’t mention branches of any kind (read this post to geek out about that). Second, he changes the words of the Psalm.

When you compare all four Gospels, it seems likely that the people are singing Psalm 118 as Jesus is riding into Jerusalem. Or, at least, the Gospel writers are associating the themes of Psalm 118 with this event. It makes sense. Psalm 118 is a great Psalm of thanksgiving to God for bringing victory to Israel through their great king David.

Matthew 21:9 (NRSV)
9 The crowds that went ahead of him and that followed were shouting,
“Hosanna to the Son of David!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

Mark 11:9–10 (NRSV)
9 Then those who went ahead and those who followed were shouting,
“Hosanna!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
10 Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David!
Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

John 12:13 (NRSV)
13 So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, shouting,
“Hosanna!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord—
the King of Israel!”

That’s what the people want Jesus to do for them.

Matthew, Mark, and John quote the crowd as saying, “Hosanna!” This is a Hebrew word that means “save us, deliver us, bring victory for us!” It is a direct quote of Psalm 118:25.

Look what Luke does.

Luke 19:37–38 (NRSV)
37 As he was now approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen, 38 saying,
“Blessed is the king
who comes in the name of the Lord!
Peace in heaven,
and glory in the highest heaven!”

Instead of the people crying out “hosanna,” they say, “Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!”

peace and glory

Where else have we heard those two words used together in Luke?

Luke 2:13–14 (NRSV)
13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,
14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace among those whom he favors!”

Remember when the army of the heavens showed up in the field outside of Bethlehem and spoke to the shepherds? They shouted, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!”

Allow me to make two observations about this.

First, the host of heaven declares peace on earth in Luke 2. Then in Luke 21 the crowd of humans declare peace in the highest. That is a fascinating inversion; Peace from the heavens to the earth and from the earth to the heavens.

Second, both crowds (angels and humans) use the term glory. This is the Greek word doxa.

Here is my big question for this post: What is the doxa of God?

Doxa is a tricky Greek word to translate. In Greek culture it often meant having a big reputation, to be thought of in high esteem. We might think of it in terms of fame in our culture.

It can also be associated with brightness or brilliance, or something that literally or figuratively shines brightly.

For the Greeks, the term seems to refer to something that is flashy, important, powerful, bigger-than-life.

We need to keep in mind, however, that the people who are shouting and singing Psalm 118 are Jewish people. They think in Aramaic and are inheritors of the Hebrew Scripture. Their Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible uses the word doxa to translate the Hebrew word kabod.

kabod feels different than doxa, to me. The kabod of Jehovah has a heaviness, or a gravitas, to it that is far deeper than being shiny. The kabod of God is grounded in the abundance of God’s chesed—steadfast love—and faithfulness to God’s promises.

Two years ago I drew this image as I was meditating on Jesus’ entry to Jerusalem. I invite you to dwell in it for a moment. Yes, I know there are palm branches, so I obviously wasn’t drawing from Luke that year. However, this year I see this image differently now that I have the term glory on my mind.

When you look at this image and hear the words of Luke’s crowd, what happens inside of you?

“Blessed is the king
who comes in the name of the Lord!
Peace in heaven,
and glory in the highest heaven!”

One of the biggest mistakes that the church has made throughout the centuries, in my opinion, is to invert the sense of kabod. We desperately want Jesus to be riding on a big, glorious white horse, brandishing the “Sword of the Lord” and destroying all the “sinners” and people who are making our world unchristian. (And, if you think that is what happens in Revelation, at Jesus’ second coming, then I have to disagree. The one who sits on a throne in Revelation is the slain lamb. There is irony in the images of Revelation, but that’s a commentary for another post.)

I fall into that trap all the time. We live in a world that is captivated by fame, power, wealth, instant gratification, comfort, self-indulgence, etc. We live by the Golden Rule of every Empire: The one who has the gold makes the rules.

My drawing reminds me of the message and mission of Jesus (at least, how I interpret it). He came to remind the people of Israel and all of his disciples that the Kingdom of God is not of this world. The Kingdom of God corrects the inverted distortions of human domination systems.

• King Jesus does not ride on a war horse. He rides on a donkey.
• King Jesus does not lord it over people, flexing his power at every turn. He is a servant to all.
• King Jesus does not surround himself with the rich and powerful. He hangs out with sinners, losers, and those pushed to the margins.
• King Jesus does not drive out the sinners. He came to set the captives free and proclaim the year of jubilee.
• King Jesus does not wear a crown bedazzled with jewels. He wears a crown of thorns.
• King Jesus does not sit on a throne of gold. He hangs on the cross, executed as a rebel.
• King Jesus is not a cross-builder. He is a cross-bearer.

As a disciple of Jesus, I pray to God that I will have the courage to lay down my coat in the road, take up my own cross, and stand in humility and solidarity with all who are brutalized by those who seek glory and power.

“Blessed is the king
who comes in the name of the Lord!
Peace in heaven,
and glory in the highest heaven!”