What is Palm Sunday, Anyway?

Your question may be the same as mine was: “Palm Sunday? Huh? What’s that?”  There are many people, non-Christians and Christians alike, who wonder about the meaning and significance of Palm Sunday.  I grew up in a church where there was virtually no emphasis or teaching about it.  I thought it was just some ancient, irrelevant ritual reserved for church guys wearing funky robes.

Palm Sunday is the Sunday before Easter.  It commemorates the “Triumphal Entry” of Jesus into Jerusalem.  Often referred to as “Passion Sunday”, it marks the beginning of Holy Week, the week of Jesus’ betrayal, trial, death, burial and resurrection, concluding on Easter.

Jesus was going to Jerusalem to celebrate one of their great feasts.  When he entered Jerusalem, he was riding on a donkey.  Crowds there greeted him by waving palm branches and by covering his path with garments and palm branches.  Palm branches and the donkey were traditional symbols of a king entering a city in peace.  It was a grand acknowledgment of Jesus as the coming King and Savior foretold in scripture.

Have you ever seen people waving flags? At times we wave flags, banners, or streamers in celebration.  The palm branches were used like we use these things today. They were a symbol of triumph and victory and were used in times of great celebration. The people were celebrating, shouting to Jesus, “Hosanna, blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord.” They also placed palm branches on the ground before him. They were using them to celebrate the coming of the King that God had promised them hundreds of years before.  The people shouted, “Hosanna” which means “God saves” or “God save us”.  The word “Hosanna” is used often in the singing and worship on Palm Sunday as people today continue to acknowledge Jesus as their Savior and King.

Immediately following this great time of celebration in the ministry of Jesus, he begins his journey to the cross.  On the following Friday, known as “Good Friday” he was crucified, suffering a brutal death.  Jesus, as God who came in the flesh, died willingly paying the blood price on our behalf to satisfy eternal judgment against us for sin.  On the Sunday after, which we call Easter, he was resurrected from the dead and ascended to Heaven.

The biblical account of Palm Sunday can be found in Matthew 21:1-11,  Mark 11:1-11,  Luke 19:28-44;  and John 12:12-19.

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