This Sunday is Palm Sunday, April 2.
Many are not familiar with the meaning.
This study is helpful because it is about Jesus’ last Sunday before His death.
What is Palm Sunday? Palm Sunday is the day we remember Jesus when He rode into Jerusalem on a Donkey.
This begins Passion Week and is seven days away from Easter, the day Jesus rose from the dead.
Palm Sunday is the day we celebrate the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem.
It is one week before His resurrection (Matthew 21:1–11).
This marked the start of what is often called “Passion Week,” the final seven days of Jesus’ earthly ministry.
It was the “beginning of the end” of Jesus’ work on earth.
Before Jesus entered Jerusalem, the Pharisees had put a bounty on Jesus. John 11:57 tells us, “57 Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where He was, he was to report it, so that they might seize Him.”
Yet Jesus knew exactly what He was doing.
Even Zachariah 9:9 foretold by the prophecy of Jesus.
Now there were three siblings: Martha, Mary, and Lazarus.
Most scholars believe Martha was the oldest sibling, Mary was the middle, and Lazarus was the little brother.
Judah Smith points out in his book, “Jesus Is” that, “Lazarus was never recorded as saying one word in Scripture. “Apparently, his big sisters said it all. Poor guy.”
According to John 11, “many of the Jews who came to Mary, and saw what He had done, believed in Him.”
Those who heard about Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead wanted to see him.
This is one of the reasons we get such a large group around Jesus.
Why did they use Palm Branches?
According to the New Unger’s Bible Dictionary, “Palm branches are a symbol of victory” (See Rev. 7:9).
The early church used the palm to express the triumph of the Christian over death through the resurrection; and on the tombs the palm is generally accompanied by the monogram of Christ, signifying that every victory of the Christian is because of this divine name and sign.
The reason they spread their coats on the ground was because this was a customary when a king or a conqueror came back from a victory (see 2 Kings 9:13).
The word, “Hosanna” is a Hebrew word which means to save.
This word is derived from two Hebrew words, “yasha” (pronounced as, yä·shah) and, “na.”
Yasha means, “to save, be saved, be delivered.”
And the word, “na” means, “I (we) pray, now, please.”
When we put the two together we get, “I pray to be saved.”
When the group was rejoicing and singing, “Hosanna! Hosanna!” they were literally proclaiming Jesus as their savior.
Let’s celebrate how we have the victory in Christ by waving Palm Branches!
