33 “Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and leased it to tenants, and went into another country.

34 When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his fruit. 35 And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. 36 Again he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them.

37 Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.’ 39 And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

40 When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?”

41 They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.”

42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:

“‘The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
this was the Lord's doing,
and it is marvelous in our eyes’?

43 Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. 44 And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”

45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them. 46 And although they were seeking to arrest him, they feared the crowds, because they held him to be a prophet. Matthew 21:33–46

They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, “Hosanna!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Blessed is the king of Israel!”

The word hosanna (Latin osanna, Greek ὡσαννά, hōsanná) is from Hebrew הוֹשִׁיעָה־נָּא, הוֹשִׁיעָה נָּא hôšîʿâ-nā, and especially the short form הוֹשַׁע נָּא hôšâ-nā, and related to Aramaic ܐܘܿܫܲܥܢܵܐ (ʾōshaʿnā) meaning 'save, rescue, savior'.[2]

In the Hebrew Bible it is used only in verses such as "help" or "save, I pray" (Psalms 118:25). However, in the Gospels it is used as a shout of jubilation,[3] and this has given rise to complex discussions.[4] In that context, the word Hosanna seems to be a "special kind of respect" given to the one who saves, saved, will save, or is saving now. If so Hosanna means "a special honor to the one who saves." The literal interpretation "Save, now!",[5] based on Psalm 118:25, does not fully explain the occurrence of the word.[3]

Thus says the Lord,
who makes a way in the sea,
a path in the mighty waters,

who brings out chariot and horse,
army and warrior;

they lie down, they cannot rise,
they are extinguished, quenched like a wick:

Do not remember the former things,
or consider the things of old.

I am about to do a new thing;
now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?

I will make a way in the wilderness
and rivers in the desert.

The wild animals will honor me,
the jackals and the ostriches;

for I give water in the wilderness,
rivers in the desert,

to give drink to my chosen people,
the people whom I formed for myself

so that they might declare my praise.

Fr. Stephen: ...And the people, they mock him and they spit on him. And this is very important, because, in our modern era, a lot of people will take these descriptions of what happens at Christ’s death, and the hymns about them that we’re going to sing in Holy Week in a few weeks, and label them as anti-Semitic.

Fr. Andrew: Yeah, which we’re actually about to show you how it’s the opposite. [Laughter] It’s the opposite! It’s not anti-Semitic. Okay, perfect example; this is probably the classic example: Matthew 27:25, where the people say in response to Pilate, “His blood be upon us and upon our children.” Now, given everything we just said about the blood of the goat, and given everything you should know if you’re a Christian about what the blood of Christ does, if his blood is upon you, that’s actually good. I mean, St. Matthew is himself a Jew—anti-Semitic?—he’s writing the most Jewish of the gospels, the most Hebraized of the gospels! When he says that Christ’s blood is going to be upon them and upon their children, that’s a blessing! That’s absolutely a blessing!

Fr. Stephen: Right, and what St. Matthew conveys there with “His blood be on us and on our children” in narrative theology, Hebrews just comes out and says, in Hebrews 9:18-22, that says, “They were sprinkled with the blood. They and their children were sprinkled at the blood at the beginning of the old covenant, and now we have been sprinkled and purified with the blood of Christ.” So that’s the non-narrative theology way to say it. But, yes, this is… St. Matthew is deliberately subverting a potentially anti-Semitic reading of this. This is like Joseph in Genesis. They meant it to him for evil, but he meant it for good. They’re cursing him; he’s taking away their sins.

Fr. Andrew: “Father, forgive them.”

Fr. Stephen: Yeah, and note that it’s not just Jews who are doing these Day of Atonement things. It’s also the Roman soldiers who are doing these Day of Atonement things in St. Matthew’s gospel.