Behind Palm Sunday

Even though "Palm Sunday" over, we can still learn about its important role in the Gospel story.
John 12:12-16 of the Bible gives a pretty good image of what "Palm Sunday" is about. Other than this special day being the Sunday before Easter, it is also a significant point in the prophetic ministry of Jesus Christ. In this post I will go over each part of this passage in the book of John, referring to other verses of the Bible to better understand this scene.

The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out: “Hosanna! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ The King of Israel!”
Then Jesus, when He had found a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written: “Fear not, daughter of Zion; Behold, your King is coming, Sitting on a donkey’s colt.”
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.
John 12:12‭-‬16

1. "a great multitude that had come to the feast"
This "feast" was the Passover. You can read about the very first Passover in Exodus 12:1-30. This was when God struck down the first born of Egypt, but passed over the first born of Israel.
"Palm Sunday" in Bible times was known as lamb selection day. The Passover lamb was very special, it had to be without spot or blemish, the fur perfectly white. This symbolized righteousness. Only righteousness can cleanse unrighteousness. If you want to learn more about Old Testament sacrifices, the book of Leviticus explains the process in detail. But I warn you, it is rather gruesome. But the significance of Palm Sunday being lamb selection day is that Jesus was the "spotless Lamb of God," come to pay the sacrifice for the sins of every human on Earth. Jesus was the selected Lamb.

2. "when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, [the multitude] took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him"
This part is why it's called "Palm Sunday", because of the palm branches the multitude broke off of the near by palm trees, and worshiped Jesus with.

3. “Hosanna! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ The King of Israel!”
This is a reference to Psalm 118:26. The Israelites were proclaiming that Jesus was the fulfillment of the previous prophesies that had been foretold by God's prophets. They were praising Jesus as the One who came in the Name of the LORD to save Israel.

4. "Then Jesus, when He had found a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written: 'Fear not, daughter of Zion; Behold, your King is coming, Sitting on a donkey’s colt.' ”
This scene is another fulfillment of a previous prophesy in Zechariah 9:9. Another good reference is Jeremiah 23:5-6. "Zion" was another name for Israel.

5. "His disciples did not understand these things at first"
The disciples did not know what all this meant at the time it was happening. They thought it was great that other people were worshiping the One they thought was the Messiah. Surely this was God's people recognizing their Savior, and they would now follow Him through anything. They might have even believed that Jesus was going to become their military leader, and free them from their oppressors. But God's ways are not man's ways (Is. 55:8).

6. "but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written about Him and that they had done these things to Him"
After Jesus died and rose again, He sent His Holy Spirit to guide us in His ways, and to make us more like Him. When the disciples received the Holy Spirit, all was revealed to them, as we can see in the book of Acts, when the disciples became bold in preaching the Gospel, and revealing to others the mysteries of God that had recently played out before their eyes. Suddenly the Scriptures and Prophesies were opened to them, and they understood how God's plan of Salvation works.

This scene of the famous "Triumphal Entry" was only one of the many pieces of God's master plan that would lead to Easter...

-Elizabeth :)
Jesus Loves You! <3