Today is Palm Sunday. As a little girl I loved palm Sunday. Not only was it usually a sunny, spring day, but at church we were given HUGE palm branches which all the children were allowed to wave as we walked through the Sanctuary calling out Hosanna! Hosanna!
This sweet memory is so precious to me. The churches we have attended over the past 10 years or so, do not give out palm branches for the children and I miss that. For them and for me.
On Palm Sunday Christians celebrate the triumphal entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem, the week before his death and resurrection. For many Christian churches, Palm Sunday, often called “Passion Sunday,” marks the beginning of Holy Week, which concludes on Easter Sunday.
Easter is my favorite holiday celebration of the year and this is a week that I try to spend extra time in prayer. It is a time of spiritual rejuvenation for me.
The Bible reveals that when Jesus entered Jerusalem, the crowds greeted him by waving palm branches and covering his path with palm branches. Immediately following this great time of celebration in the ministry of Jesus, he begins his journey to the cross.
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. Here is Matthews accounting:
The Triumphal Entry
“Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.” 4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying,
5 “Say to the daughter of Zion,
‘Behold, your king is coming to you,
humble, and mounted on a donkey,
on a colt,[a] the foal of a beast of burden.’”
6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. 8 Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” 10 And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” 11 And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”
Happy Easter to you and your family. May the Blessings of The Lord be with you also.