Many celebrate Palm Sunday, the week before Easter. For Jews, it is the start of the Passover. Jesus and His disciples comes to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened bread. It was a time to commemorate God’s deliverance of the nation. Jesus came to deliver the world. A week later, He would be betrayed, arrested, mocked, beaten, stripped and crucified, and resurrected on the third day after His death. Jesus came to this earth for that purpose.
So what is the significance of Palm Sunday? What was it about? It was described in all four gospels. It was prophesied in the Old Testament. I think it was significant for a few reasons. First, it was proclaimed to all of Israel that He was the Messiah. Many Jews flocked to Jerusalem. When they saw Jesus, they worshipped Him. Many worshipped Him because it was shortly after He raised Lazarus from the dead and they either witnessed this firsthand, or heard of the news of what Christ had done. Second, He was fulfilling prophesy and it was time to reveal who He was and why He had come.
The psalmist writes about this day centuries before. This is the day the Lord has made and He has become our salvation. He is our cornerstone, He is our foundation, through whom we can stand. He praises and worships God for salvation and the people in Jerusalem did the same, quoting part of the Psalm.
Ps 118:21-29
I will praise You,
For You have answered me,
And have become my salvation.
The stone which the builders rejected
Has become the chief cornerstone.
This was the Lord’s doing;
It is marvelous in our eyes.
This is the day the Lord has made;
We will rejoice and be glad in it.
Save now, I pray, O Lord;
O Lord, I pray, send now prosperity.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
We have blessed you from the house of the Lord.
God is the Lord ,
And He has given us light;
Bind the sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar.
You are my God, and I will praise You;
You are my God, I will exalt You.
Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!
For His mercy endures forever.
As Jesus and His disciples come to Jerusalem, He sends them to bring a colt of a donkey as prophesied in Zechariah 9:9 to enter the gates as King. The people worshipped Him and proclaimed Him as King, the Messiah.
Luke 19:29-40
And it came to pass, when He drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mountain called Olivet, that He sent two of His disciples, saying, “Go into the village opposite you, where as you enter you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat. Loose it and bring it here. And if anyone asks you, ‘Why are you loosing it?’ thus you shall say to him, ‘Because the Lord has need of it.'”
So those who were sent went their way and found it just as He had said to them. But as they were loosing the colt, the owners of it said to them, “Why are you loosing the colt?”
And they said, “The Lord has need of him.” Then they brought him to Jesus. And they threw their own clothes on the colt, and they set Jesus on him. And as He went, many spread their clothes on the road.
Then, as He was now drawing near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen, saying:
“‘Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!’
Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”
And some of the Pharisees called to Him from the crowd, “Teacher, rebuke Your disciples.”
But He answered and said to them, “I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out.”
Many did not know what exactly was going on or the significance of it. The disciples did not realize it until after the resurrection and the Holy Spirit revealed it to them. The Pharisees thought of Him as a threat and they were envious of Jesus’ power and authority. Even Gentiles witnessed this great event and proclamation. Not only did the people proclaim His name, but God the Father spoke revealing the day that was approaching. Jesus tried to tell of His crucifixion and resurrection to save the lost, yet no one understood. I thank God that He revealed this to us. He sent His Son to die for us. He took on our sins so that we may live in all eternity.
John 12:16-36
His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written about Him and that they had done these things to Him.
Therefore the people, who were with Him when He called Lazarus out of his tomb and raised him from the dead, bore witness. For this reason the people also met Him, because they heard that He had done this sign. The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, “You see that you are accomplishing nothing. Look, the world has gone after Him!”
Now there were certain Greeks among those who came up to worship at the feast. Then they came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, saying, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”
Philip came and told Andrew, and in turn Andrew and Philip told Jesus.
But Jesus answered them, saying, “The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor.
“Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour. Father, glorify Your name.”
Then a voice came from heaven, saying, “I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.”
Therefore the people who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to Him.”
Jesus answered and said, “This voice did not come because of Me, but for your sake. Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.” This He said, signifying by what death He would die.
The people answered Him, “We have heard from the law that the Christ remains forever; and how can You say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this Son of Man?”
Then Jesus said to them, “A little while longer the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going. While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.” These things Jesus spoke, and departed, and was hidden from them.
Jesus, the Light of the world, came in the form of man, to be the sacrificial Lamb to offer His blood to pay the price for our salvation and free us from our sins. It is my prayer that all who read this will be blessed and would understand what sacrifice Jesus made for us, that He took all of our sins upon His shoulders and gave us grace, declaring us righteous, those of us who believe. I pray that you will surrender to Him and believe in Him that you may be saved.
My Daily Scriptures 