Palm Sunday marks the beginning of the end for Jesus’ earthly life. It was the first day in what was to be His last week. His week would take him to a cross on Friday morning, into a tomb on Friday night and all day Saturday, then ultimately result in him being raised to life again on Sunday morning.
You can read the story in each gospel. However, my favorite is in Mark 11:1-11. In this passage we discover w reasons why Palm Sunday.
1 – TO SAVE
Jesus rode into Jerusalem that day with a mission. He came to Jerusalem to save people from their sins. He came to die.
It was Passover week. This was the day that commemorated God saving Israel from Egyptian bondage. Every Jew knew God had saved them in the past. But few realized that His Son was arriving to save them from their sin. Just a few days earlier Jesus had made the statement, “For the Son of Man came to seek and save what was lost.” (Luke 19:10).
The word Hosanna literally means “Save!” Without knowing the details, the crowd was clearly articulating what Jesus came to do.
Palm Sunday is a great day to remember that Jesus still wants to save people.
2 – TO PRAISE
As Jesus rode into town, the people let loose with joyous, uninhibited praise. A crowd of people, probably from his home region of Galilee, gathered with shouts of “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord”.
By Jesus’ time, Hosanna had become a common shout of Jewish praise to God. As mentioned earlier, Hosanna literally meant to save – To say Hosanna was to praise.
Mark’s Gospel lets us know that the people were laying things down before Jesus. Their cloaks and branches from the fields. By spreading their coats on the road, as well as freshly cut branches, it was their version of rolling out the red carpet.
Luke’s version tells us that the Pharisees told Jesus He ought to rebuke His disciples. But Jesus said, “I tell you, if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out!” (Luke 19:40). God deserves praise. And if people won’t do it, His Creation will continue to cry out.
Palm Sunday is to praise Jesus. Praise is essentially to giving Jesus a compliment. We can praise Jesus publicly or privately. We can praise Jesus in a variety of ways. (spoken words, printed words, singing, artistry, etc.). Praise is what we’ve been called to do.
“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” (1 Peter 2:9)
In preparing for Easter, I hope you will think about why Jesus came. He came to save and He came to be praised.