Palm Sunday marks the beginning of the Holy Week and Triduum, leading up to Easter, in the celebration of Jesus’ resurrection. Palm Sunday commemorates Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem riding a
donkey, greeted by cheering crowds who wave palm branches and lay down their garments on the
road. They came to celebrate the Passover, the feast commemorating how God helped their ancestors, the children of Israel, escape their plight from Egypt. The story includes God’s plagues on Egypt, the Israelites marking their doors with lamb’s blood so the “angel of death” would “pass over” their homes, and their eventual escape.
There was a heightened excitement in Jerusalem as many pilgrims had heard that Jesus would be there. Many had learned about Jesus, His healing miracles, the multiplication of the bread, the raising of Lazarus from death, and His inspiring teachings about the Kingdom of God. During that time, the Jews were awaiting the promised savior. They were in a place of desperation from the oppressive Roman regime. From what Jesus had shown, they had high hopes and expectations that Jesus could do wonders to free them from the Romans. They welcomed Him in the temple with a grand spectacle.
They spread palm branches before him as a sign of triumph or victory. They cry out, “Hosanna!”. It’s a
declaration of praise, like Hallelujah, but it is a plea for salvation. They shouted and pleaded to Jesus, “Save us!”
That is now the Palm Sunday that we celebrate. We commemorate Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. The story of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, which includes the waving of palm branches, is rooted in Jewish traditions and scriptures, particularly the prophecy in Zechariah about a king riding a donkey (Zechariah 9:9): Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! Behold, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
To continue the story, a few days later, when the Roman soldiers arrested Jesus, the former supporters
likely felt intimidated by the authority. There was a fear that supporters of Jesus who were accused of rebellion must also be put in prison with Him. Even Peter denied Jesus. Not once, but thrice. Moreover, the crowd was discouraged because their expectations of Jesus to be the savior failed to take place. In hindsight, it’s clear to them during the trial that Jesus could not save himself. The shouts of praise turned into shouts for crucifixion. From “Hosanna Hosanna” to “Crucify Him, crucify Him.”
What does this situation communicate to us? Palm Sunday reminds us that Jesus is the Messiah who shows His might through humility. The ways of God may be different from our ways and our expectations. God answers our prayers differently than how we expect things to turn out.
Many of us are here today, bringing different expectations, hopes, and dreams into our lives. It may be the healing of our strained relationship, the cure for our illness, the promotion of our job, the stability of our finances, and so on. We may be coming to church, praying hard, and praying to God. However, at times, we feel God is not listening.
Palm Sunday invites us to accept and understand that God has plans for us. His plans may be different from ours. Jesus will address our prayers not according to how we want things to happen but according to His perfect will. We cannot dictate to God how He’ll respond and save us from hardship. God has His ways, and His actions and plans are complete, without flaw or imperfection, and are always aligned with His perfect nature. Let us humbly submit to the will of God.
In finality, His ways are better than our ways. This Palm Sunday, let us ask ourselves: How do we respond to our trials—difficulties, illness, strained relationships? How do we respond to our fears? How
do we receive Jesus in our lives? What is our expectation of God? The palms we will hold at our entrance to church remind and challenge us to keep welcoming Jesus into our lives with grand spectacle. He is our Messiah.
Jesus is with us all the time, in good and challenging times. Let us remain with Jesus. Let us not allow
setbacks to defeat us. We already knew that He came out in glory three days later. Jesus can turn our despair into hope, pain into peace, and struggles into joy and realization.
May we have a meaningful celebration of the Holy Week and the Triduum!
~ Fr. Dennis