Palm Sunday

Jesus came to Jerusalem,
the week he was to die,
riding on a donkey,
riding strong and high.

Children ran to meet him,
palms in hand they sing:
"Hosanna, Son of David,
"Hosanna to our king."

Sunday April 9, 2006 - Palm Sunday

The beginning of Christian Holy Week (also know as Passion Week)

Holy Week or Passion Week -- so called because it is the week between Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday in which the Christians commemorates Jesus Christ's suffering, death on the cross, and resurrection on the third day.

The Sunday before Easter is known as Palm Sunday. It is the beginning of Holy Week. It celebrates Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey. Great crowds of people thronged the streets waving palm branches to welcome Him. The people shouted "Hosanna" and laid their cloaks and palm branches from the nearby trees in His path.

Notes:

Jesus enters Jerusalem riding a donkey rather than a horse which signifies the peacefull nature of his entry. People are expecting a king and surrender themselves to his authority by taking their cloaks off and laying it on the ground. The Palm branches signify the expectation of a military victory of their king over the occupying Romans. Jesus is entering Jerusalem to bring Peace and forgiveness to the world by taking the sin of the world upon Himself - a Spiritual King. People are seeking a worldly and physical king.

As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, "Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, tell him that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away." This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: "Say to the Daughter of Zion, 'See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.' " The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. They brought the donkey and the colt, placed their cloaks on them, and Jesus sat on them.

A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, "Hosanna to the Son of David!" "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" "Hosanna in the highest!" When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, "Who is this?" The crowds answered, "This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee." The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them. But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple area, "Hosanna to the Son of David," they were indignant. "Do you hear what these children are saying?" they asked him. "Yes," replied Jesus, "have you never read," 'From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise'?" And he left them and went out of the city to Bethany, where he spent the night.