Palm Sunday

On the Sunday before the Resurrection (Easter), Jesus rode triumphantly into Jerusalem on a donkey. The people spread branches of palm trees on the ground shouting, `Hosannah!`
Hosanna means: "save I pray thee; keep; preserve"

Zechariah 9:9 - "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass."

John 12:13,14 - "Took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna:Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord. And Jesus, when he had found a young ass, sat thereon; as it is written,"

The palm was considered a symbol of victory.
"After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all
nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;"
~Revelation 7:15~
The Branches Were:
• The emblem of victory - Revelation 7:9
• Carried at feast of tabernacles - Leviticus 23:40
• Used for constructing booths - Nehemiah 8:15
• Spread before Christ - John 12:13

In the first century after Christ, palm symbols were put on the tombs as a special sign of martyrdom. This was considered victory and triumph for the Christian.

Today, in some churches, palm leaves are brought in and sometimes twisted into crosses. Greek Orthodox Christians receive branches of fragrant bay leaves. The leaves are then used in cooking during the year.


It is said that since the first Palm Sunday the backs of donkeys have been marked with a cross. If you look, you may find a dark stripe of hair down the donkey’s back that is crossed by another stripe which spreads across his shoulders.

Jesus on the Cross

I often wondered about why, at Easter, I'd see a cross displayed with a cloth draped upon it. I thought the cloth represented the Risen Lord. But after going to the Holy Land Experience in Orlando, Florida, I saw the true meaning.

After Jesus died they took a long piece of cloth, wrapped it around His chest, under His arms, and across the horizonal bar of the cross. This held Him in place while they removed the spikes in His hands and feet. Then, after they took His body down, the cloth remained.