Palm Sunday kicks off Holy Week observances
Holy Week kicks off this weekend and Christians are preparing for Palm Sunday, which honors the last days of Jesus, his trial and crucifixion.
Palm Sunday is celebrated on the first day of Holy Week, the Sunday before Easter. This year, the Palm Sunday falls on March 24.
Traditionally, churches will keep some of the blessed palms, burn them to ash and use the ashes for Ash Wednesday the next year and churchgoers will keep the leaves of the palms and fold them into crosses.
Christians around the world celebrate Palm Sunday to mark the beginning of the journey that ends with Jesus’ death and resurrection, said Mark Jobe, president of the Moody Bible Institute and founding pastor of the New Life Community Church in Chicago.
What do palms symbolize?
The large, long palm branches were common in the Holy Land, Jobe said. During ancient times, they symbolized goodness and victory.
“When kings would come to town or when conquering warriors would come in, they would welcome them with palm branches, which they would throw on the ground in front of them,” Jobe told USA TODAY.
Why do Christians celebrate Palm Sunday?
“Palm Sunday makes no sense unless you understand that shortly after, Jesus would die and pay the price for anybody, no matter prostitute or religious person, to forgive their sins and to give them an entrance into a new kingdom called the kingdom of Heaven,” Jobe said.
Jesus entered the city knowing he’d be crucified, Bishop Vashti McKenzie, interim president and general secretary of the National Council of Churches, told USA TODAY.
When was the first Palm Sunday?
After the first celebration in the gospels, the first recorded Palm Sunday dates back to the 4th century in Jerusalem, Jobe said.
What does the donkey symbolize?
According to Jobe, Conquering kings typically rode in chariots or on the back of stallions, so Jesus riding a donkey went against the norm.
The donkey, he said, was a symbol of peace but it also represented the fulfillment of a prophecy from Zechariah 9:9.
“Your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey,” the chapter reads.
The donkey is also a symbol of humility, said McKenzie, from the National Council of Churches.
What do modern Palm Sunday celebrations look like?
Today, Palm Sunday celebrations vary according to the denomination.
Some people wear red or purple that day, Jobe said.
Churchgoers sing praise songs and lift palm branches of various sizes at the “very celebratory worship service,” said McKenzie.
“It is a time of celebration,” she said.