Palm Sunday: The triumphant entry of Jesus

Today is Palm Sunday and this joyous occasion that happened when our Lord Jesus Christ entered in triumph in Jerusalem actually ushers our commemoration of Holy Week where we go back to the time of the passion and death of our Lord. But despite the sorrow that Christians experience in the Holy Week, it ends in Easter Sunday, the glorious resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ who conquers death and does the salvific work of God the Father. Today’s gospel comes from Luke 19:28-40.

“[Jesus} proceeded on his journey up to Jerusalem. 29 As he drew near to Bethphage and Bethany at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples. 30 He said, “Go into the village opposite you, and as you enter it you will find a colt tethered on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it here. 31 And if anyone should ask you, “Why are you untying it? You will answer, ‘The Master has need of it.’”

32 So those who had been sent went off and found everything just as he had told them. 33 And as they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying this colt? 34 They answered, “The Master has need of it.” 35 So they brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks over the colt, and helped Jesus to mount. 36 As He road along he people were spreading their cloaks on the road; 37 and now as he was approaching the slope of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of his disciples began to praise God aloud with joy for all the mighty deeds they had seen.

38 They proclaimed: Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven and glory in the highest.” 39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” 40 He said in reply, “I tell you, if they keep silent, the stones will cry out.”

This gospel account sounds very strange because it begins with our Lord Jesus instructing his disciples to go to the village and they will see a colt which no one has sat and to bring the animal to him. If anyone asks why they were untying the colt, all they need to do was tell the person that the Master needs it. If we did that today and we instructed our servants to untie an animal, you might end up being charged with cattle rustling! But somehow our Lord knew of the presence of a colt that was never ridden before and that its owners wouldn’t mind if he used for his triumphant entry to Jerusalem.

A similar event can also be found in Zechariah 9 under the title “Restoration under the Messiah, which reads, “Rejoice heartily, O daughter Zion shout for joy, O daughter Jerusalem! See, your king shall come to you; a just savior is he, Meek, and riding on an ass, on a colt, the foal of an ass.” This proves that the story of the Messiah was foretold a long time ago and each event involving our Lord Jesus Christ has meaning in the past in the Old Testament and is fulfilled in the New Testament.

For us Catholics, Palm Sunday is celebrated by waving and spreading palm branches shouting loud cries “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, the king of Israel! A huge throng met Jesus riding the colt in Jerusalem. They were the people who have heard of the so many wondrous things the Lord had done, when he healed the sick and the blind and most especially when he raised the dead Lazarus from the tomb. In entering Jerusalem they acknowledge him as the King that God has sent for them. To many Jews, Jesus was the Messiah who would free them from the bondage of Roman occupation.

However a group of Jews called the Zealots wanted a Jewish King to lead them against the tyranny of Rome. But the Zealots mistrusted Jesus because of some of his teachings especially about the love of enemies. How could a Jew love a Roman? The Zealots realized that this Jesus of Nazareth despite his growing popularity amongst the Jews was not about to lead a violent revolution against their Roman occupiers, because as he said, he did not come to this world to rule over it, but to save mankind from their sinful ways so we can live with God in paradise, where God intended man to be.

This is why after his joyous entry into Jerusalem the very same crowd that greeted the Messiah condemned him to his death. When Pontius Pilate presented a Zealot named Barabbas and asked the crowd which of the two should be freed in celebration of the Passover, the crowd turned against the man who did those great miracles and asked Pilate to free Barabbas!

Hence, a few days later, our Lord Jesus puts Christ entered into his passion and death in fulfillment of scriptures. He is to be the Paschal Lamb who would be sacrificed who is totally pleasing to God. Thus we wave our palms and have them blessed, as it is a symbol of the martyrdom of Jesus. Filipinos by tradition the palm on their walls of their door in order to ward off evil spirits. But to ward off the evil in us, we must go to confession.

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