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Palm Sunday
The Holy Week leading up to Easter Sunday begins with Palm Sunday, which commemorates the first Palm Sunday found in the Gospel of
Matthew. Jesus made His way from Galilee to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. He rode on a donkey as prophesied by Zechariah:
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and
having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.
Zechariah 9:9 |
He came into the city from the Mount of Olives, and His followers threw garments and palm leaves in his path, which was an Oriental
custom. Palm fronds were the national emblem at the time, and the Pharisee and Roman leaders were offended by the use of palm leaves
as a symbol of honor for a man they considered a heretic.
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And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strewed them in
the way. And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the son of David: Blessed is he
that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.
Matthew 21:8-9 |
Today Christians celebrate Palm Sunday as the beginning of the Holy Week leading up to Easter the following Sunday. The palm leaves
used in Catholic services are burned and saved for Ash Wednesday the next year.
In Jerusalem, Christian pilgrims walk the path from the top of the Mount of
Olives towards the fortressed city reenacting Jesus' arrival in Jerusalem for the Passover Seder.
Photograph courtesy of
BBC News
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