Palm Sunday marks Jesus’ approach to Jerusalem just days before His death—the event at which the crowds spread palm branches in the road and hailed Him as king: “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!” It was the fulfillment of a prophecy from Zechariah in which the ancient seer predicted the Messiah would come riding into town in celebration of Israel’s final victory over all their national enemies, a moment that would inaugurate peace all around the world (Zech 9:9-10).
The event itself turned out to be rather anticlimactic. Nothing much happened once Jesus reached the city. Nobody challenged Pilate or Herod. The Roman Fortress of Antonia sat quietly unassaulted beside the Jewish Temple. The crowds simply dispersed and disappeared. Depending on which gospel account you read, even Jesus didn’t do much.
John tells us Jesus had a private conversation, said a few words to the crowd, and disappeared (12:20-36). Luke records that He wept over the city as He drew near, after which He entered the Temple and drove out the commercial operations (19:41-48). Mark says He went to the Temple, looked around, and left (11:11). Matthew includes the Temple cleansing, followed by some healings and a prickly exchange with the Pharisees (21:12-17). These are all noteworthy activities, but there’s not much there that looks particularly kingly or triumphant. Israel’s enemies still held power. The world still waged war. If this was the highly anticipated introduction of the Messiah, what did it mean?
The main lesson of Palm Sunday is this: the culture of the kingdom is created by the character of the King.
In retrospect, we can see that yes, Jesus was Israel’s long-awaited King, and He did inaugurate a new kingdom. But as with so many other events in Jesus’ life, the full significance of this one didn’t became plain until later, after His death, resurrection, and ascension. The events of Palm Sunday show us that:
- Jesus’ kingdom comes by grace not by force, demonstrated as the humble King rides into town on the foal of a donkey instead of a charger trained for war (Mt 21:5).
- The top item on His kingly agenda is to bring spiritual nourishment to the nations and eliminate their empty rituals, seen in His purging of the Temple (Mk 11:15-17).
- The deepest longing of His heart is to free people from spiritual oppression not political oppression, shown in His tears over Jerusalem’s self-destructive rebellion and blindness (Lk 19:42-44).
- His battle strategy is to die for His enemies rather than crush them, conveyed in His dialogue with the Greeks who sought Him (Jn 12:20-24).
In short, Palm Sunday shows us the kind of king Jesus came to be. Everything else follows from that. The culture of the kingdom is created by the character of the King.