Palm Sunday

Palm Sunday 

Palm Sunday is the day of the Triumphal Entry. All the gospels record it. This is Matthew’s account:

Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, 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. If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.” 

This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying,

“Say to the daughter of Zion,

‘Behold, your king is coming to you,

humble, and mounted on a donkey,

on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’”

The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. 

They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 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!” 

And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.” (Matthew 21)

Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem showed the was the Messiah and king, now making an open claim to it. As Matthew pointed out, his riding the young donkey, a colt, specifically fulfilled Zechariah 9:9. The crowd recognized this and proclaimed it. They called him Son of David, acknowledging that the king would be a descendant of David in fulfillment of God’s promise to David. They threw their cloaks onto the road in front of his donkey, an acknowledgement of this kingship. The spreading of cloaks was an act of homage for royalty, as we saw in 2 Kings 9:13. Others cut palm branches and laid them on the road. That it why we call this day Palm Sunday.  

Yet, the donkey symbolized the king’s coming in humility. He did not ride in a chariot or on a white horse, as a Roman might have done. He was not the Messiah they expected, one who would fight the Romans with the sword and expel them from the land. 

Nonetheless, he is the king and he rules. When he returns as king, he will have the kingly accouterments. There will be the blast of the trumpet. There will be the shout of a herald, in the form of an angel. And he will come in glory.