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Palm Sunday

Palm Sunday
Entry of our Lord into Jerusalem

Happy Feast of Palm Sunday! During the Palm Sunday liturgy, the Church commemorates the entry of our Lord into Jerusalem. We read the Gospel according to St. Matthew, St. Mark, St. Luke, and St. John. On Palm Sunday, as Jesus was heading to Jerusalem from Bethany, the place where He raised Lazarus from the dead, He asked his disciples to go into a village to get a colt for Him to ride (Mark 11:2). By riding on a colt, Jesus fulfilled the following prophecy from Zechariah: “Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!” (John 12:15, Zechariah 9:9) As He was entering Jerusalem, the people laid clothes and palms on the road (Matthew 21:8) and were chanting “‘Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!’” (Matthew 21:9)

From this passage, there are many takeaways and lessons we can learn. In one of St. John Chrysostom’s Homilies, he says “But these things He did, not as displaying any pomp, but at once, as I have said, both fulfilling a prophecy, and teaching self-denial, and at the same time also comforting His disciples, who were grieving for His death, and showing them that He suffers all these things willingly” (Homily 66 on St. Matthew).

Firstly, there is the humility of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ was considered a King. In fact, the people in Jerusalem were calling Him the King of Israel (John 12:13). Normally, kings are riding on chariots or in some great way to signify their status and royalty. But Jesus Christ instead rode on a mere colt into Jerusalem. Hence, He humbled himself–very similar to how he humbled himself by being crucified on the Cross. He did not choose the praise of Man, which can be a form of self-denial. He shows us an example of humility to apply in our daily lives.

Additionally, St. John Chrysostom addresses how Jesus rode on a colt into Jerusalem to show the disciples how the suffering He will endure is willingly and not by force. Before entering into Jerusalem, Jesus says to his disciples ‘“Go into the village in front of you, where on entering you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever yet sat. Untie it and bring it here’” (Luke 19:30). Jesus asked the disciples to get a colt, showing how He chose to ride on a colt. He was not forced into riding the colt. Even if it is riding a colt, this scene demonstrates how what Jesus went through during Holy Week was willingly.

During the duration of the Holy Week, let us remember the humility and self-denial our Lord went through and apply that in our own lives.

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