Palm Sunday: The Entry into Jerusalem

All four Gospels tell of the entry (Matthew 21, Mark 11, Luke 19, John 12). Jesus comes to Jerusalem for the Passover and deliberately rides in on a young donkey — not a war-horse — fulfilling the prophet Zechariah's words about a king coming "lowly, and riding upon an ass." The crowds, many of whom had heard of the raising of Lazarus, treat it as a royal welcome: they spread their garments on the road, cut branches from the trees, and shout "Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord." "Hosanna" is a Hebrew cry meaning "save now" — half acclamation, half prayer.

The feast follows immediately upon Lazarus Saturday, the day the Church commemorates Christ raising his friend Lazarus from the tomb after four days. The two days belong together: because He has just shown Himself Lord over death, He enters the city as its true King. Yet the Church never lets the celebration forget itself. The same crowds shouting "Hosanna" will, within days, shout "Crucify Him"; the palms of Sunday shade into the Cross of Friday. Palm Sunday is joy that knows exactly where it is going.

The icon sets the scene between two poles: on the left the Mount of Olives and the disciples following Christ, who often turns back toward them; on the right the walls and towers of Jerusalem, from which elders and children come out to meet Him. Children are everywhere — spreading garments, climbing a palm tree to cut branches, laying them under the donkey's feet — because the Gospel says it was the children who cried out in the Temple, and Christ defended them. He rides sidesaddle in calm majesty, blessing the city that will condemn Him.

The feast keeps two troparia. The first looks back to Lazarus: "By raising Lazarus from the dead before Your passion, / You did confirm the universal Resurrection, O Christ God! / Like the children with the palms of victory, / we cry out to You, O Vanquisher of Death: / Hosanna in the highest! / Blessed is He that comes in the Name of the Lord!" (OCA translation). The people receive blessed branches at the vigil and hold them through the service, standing in for the crowds of that first Palm Sunday.

Palm Sunday is one of the Twelve Great Feasts and, in the Church year, the doorway between the long ascetic labor of Great Lent and the deep grief and greater joy of Holy Week. That evening the tone of the services changes; the Church begins to walk with Christ toward His Passion, and the branches in the hands become, by Friday, a silent question about how quickly praise can turn to abandonment.

The day asks each worshipper the question the crowds answered badly: will you welcome a King who saves not by conquest but by the Cross? To hold the palm is to say yes — and to be warned. The road from this gate leads through the tomb to Pascha, and the Church walks it one day at a time.