HOLY WEEK SERIES, PART I:
- brittbryan1001
- Mar 25, 2024
- 6 min read
Updated: Apr 3
What does Palm Sunday mean for my life? The Meaning of Passover, Palms, & Processions.
Today is Palm Sunday. It's the first day of Holy Week, which begins the final countdown to Easter.
I put out an entire series last year for each day of Holy Week. I don't plan on repeating that this year. (You can check that out with these links: Part I: Palm Sunday, Part II, Part III: Maundy Thursday, Part IV: Good Friday, Part V: The Resurrection, Bonus Blog).
But this morning in church, some people were asking questions about Palm Sunday, so I felt inspired to repost my blog about Palm Sunday, but edited to directly answer some of the questions about this holy day. Questions like:
WHAT IS PALM SUNDAY?
Christians celebrate Palm Sunday on the final Sunday before Easter because it represents the story in the Bible of the final week of Jesus's life (found in Matthew 21, Mark 11, Luke 19, and John 12. I've chosen to use John's gospel for this blog).
The rest of the blog will answer what exactly Palm Sunday represents, so let's start with the significance of the palms themselves.
WHAT'S WITH THE PALMS?
In the Greco-Roman culture of the Roman Empire, the palm branch was a symbol of triumph and victory. Waving palms was traditionally symbolic of celebrating successful military campaigns.
As Jesus rode into town on a donkey, people waved palm trees and shouted, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the king of Israel!”
WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH PASSOVER?
Every spring, every Jew in Israel and the surrounding areas would travel to Jerusalem for a festival to celebrate the Passover in remembrance of how God freed the Israelites from slavery in Egypt (full story in the book of Exodus).
Passover is about freedom. And Jesus decided to confront the religious leaders and the corrupt powers of Rome during a festival - where everyone would be celebrating their people's liberation from oppression - to have this final showdown.
Jesus knew that what he was about to do would lead to his trial and crucifixion. And he chose this moment, very intentionally, for his death. His death that would bring freedom to all.
WHY DID THIS UPSET ROME ENOUGH TO HAVE JESUS KILLED?
There are a couple things we need to know about what was happening at the time Jesus came to Jerusalem to truly appreciate just how subversive his actions were to the powers in play at that time.
First, the story of Jesus's arrival in Jerusalem is from John 12, but it's really important to know what happened just one chapter earlier.
All throughout the gospels, Jesus confronted the power structures of Rome, and he was especially critical of the religious leaders and challenges their laws and authority.
But when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead in John 11, it was the final straw for the Pharisees, who were looking for a way to trap and arrest Jesus. This was the moment they had what they needed.
But they had to get the "sign-off" from Rome to do anything about it, which they got easily enough. Which brings us to the second important thing to know about Jesus's entry on Palm Sunday: he came in riding on a donkey.
In the Bible, donkeys are portrayed as symbols of service, suffering, peace and humility. Just as the palms represented Jesus's triumph and victory, the donkey symbolized the way in which Jesus would achieve that victory. And it was in direct opposition to the powers of Rome.
John 12:14 tells us that, “Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written:
‘Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion; see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.’”
“As it is written” is referring to the prophesy of Zechariah 9:9, which says the king would come, “righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”
So, Jesus was fulfilling the Scriptures.
The donkey as Jesus's chosen method of transportation is important for another deeply symbolic reason. According to historians and biblical scholars, Jesus’s procession was not the only one that came through Jerusalem that day. There was another procession - lead by Rome.
The emperor of Rome at the time was Caesar Augustus, who was also known as the “Son of God.” It was his kingdom that ruled the world.
Still, Rome allowed the Jews to have their religious traditions and festivals (as long as they paid their taxes to Caesar). It was common practice for Rome to maintain a strong military presence during Jewish festivals to make sure things didn’t get too out of hand (and to make sure no one forgot who was really in charge...). And Pilate, who was the Roman governor of Judea at that time, was in Jerusalem for Passover to represent Rome.
So, on the day that Jesus arrived in Jerusalem, Pilate arrived as well, full of pomp and circumstance, probably complete with chariots and soldiers in full armor, with banners and maybe drums and trumpets as well.
Okay, so now that we have the two different processions in mind... Contrast Pilate's procession with Jesus’s. Instead of riding in on the military strength of a horse or chariot, Jesus came in on a donkey. And yet, people were waving palms for him.
Palms that represented military victory, and a donkey that represented peace.
Jesus was saying his victory was going to come another way. The way of peace, not the Roman way. And his kingdom would be very different than Caesar’s. And Jesus was also saying that he was the true Son of God; not Caesar. That right there will get you killed.
WHY DOES THIS MATTER FOR ME TODAY?
Thinking about the world Jesus lived in and the last week of his life is relevant for us today because there is always something vying for our attention and allegiance. Competing processions, you might say.
We may have a procession of work responsibilities coming at us from one direction and a procession of home and family obligations coming from another direction.
We might experience conflicting processions between the world's idea of success and our own convictions.
We will be faced with the challenge of either choosing the procession of holding onto our anger and resentment, or choosing the procession of forgiveness.
I'm not suggesting that all competing processions are bad. I'm just saying we must choose wisely which ones we give ourselves over to, and that's not always an easy or clear decision to make.
But when it comes to the processions of Pilate and Jesus, it's actually pretty easy to see the stark differences, and pretty easy to see them acting in our world today...
Pilate’s Procession - worldly power, forced subjugation, exploitation of the weak.
Jesus’s Procession - heavenly power, loving submission, exaltation of the least of these.
So, which procession do you and I belong to? Which do we want to belong to?
My prayer is that we can begin to see Palm Sunday as more and bigger than just one day. I hope we will recognize the symbolism in the freedom of Passover, the palms of victory, and the donkey of peace.
And I hope we will be able to identify the different processions in our world around us, and choose the way of Jesus every time. Not just this week leading up to Easter, but all year. Always.
For further reading and thought on this topic, I recommend:
The Last Week: What the Gospels Really Teach About Jesus's Final Days in Jerusalem by Marcus J. Borg and John Dominic Crossan
Check out all 6 parts of the Holy Week Series:
Holy Week Series, Part V: Happy Easter! Rethinking Salvation and Living in Light of the Resurrection.
I loved being reminded NOTHING during the first Holy Week was accidental....it was all lovingly and thoughtfully planned by our Amazing God...