Liberty Lighthouse Journal: Palm Sunday

Tomorrow, Palm Sunday, marks another historical event concerning Jesus of Nazareth that continues to be a controversy between science (archaeology) and theology as time goes on. Palm Sunday, according to the Canonical Gospels rode a colt into Jerusalem with his disciples and friends and how the people lay down their cloaks in front of him and branches of the Palm tree as well. The people sang part of Psalm 118:

… Blessed is he who comes in the name of Yahweh. Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father, David …

Scholars say that Jesus of Nazareth entered at the ,Golden Gate and some claim that his entrance into Jerusalem was to the south of the Golden Gate, which had stairs that led directly to the Temple.

The palm branch, the reason why the proclaimed holy day in Christianity, is a Jewish tradition and symbol meaning triumph and victory, The general Jewish public in Roman Judea believed that Jesus was the Messiah – the one who would return the sovereignty of Israel, as well as encourage the restoration of the Temple of Solomon.

In a passage within the Wikipedia entry:

Christians often interpret a passage from the Zechariah as a prophecy which was fulfilled by the Triumphal Entry:

Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion!Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem!See, your king comes to you,righteous and having salvation,gentle and riding on a donkey,on a colt, the foal of a donkey.I will take away the chariots from Ephraimand the war-horses from Jerusalem,and the battle bow will be broken.He will proclaim peace to the nations.His rule will extend from sea to seaand from the River to the ends of the earth.

… A widespread Jewish belief states that the Mount of Olives would see the coming of the Messiah This belief is based upon Zechariah 14:3-4:

Then shall the Lord go forth and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. And his feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east.
Therefore, it describes a revengeful warrior Messiah, who may be interpreted as your king … righteous and having salvation. The image of a revengeful warrior Messiah is much highlighted by the use of palm branches and by the fact that Jesus, once in Jerusalem, first visited the Temple.Therefore, it describes a revengeful warrior Messiah, who may be interpreted as your king … righteous and having salvation. The image of a revengeful warrior Messiah is much highlighted by the use of palm branches and by the fact that Jesus, once in Jerusalem, first visited the Temple.

Concerning the day set aside for Palm Sunday, Wikipedia entry states:

On the tenth of Nisan, according to the Mosaic Law, the lambs to be slaughtered at Passover were chosen. Because of the link of this to the Triumphal Entry, some new interpretations report that the event was not even on Sunday, because Nisan 10 would not be a Sunday if the Crucifixion occurred on Friday the fourteenth. This day in the year of the Passion saw Messiah presented as the sacrificial lamb. It heralded his impending role as the Suffering Servant of Israel. There is evidence, however, that the 14^th of Nisan was actually a Thursday, and that Jesus was actually crucified on Thursday and not Good Friday. The day of the crucifixion is called Preparation Day in Matthew 27:62, also called the day before the Sabbath in Mark 15:42 (hence the mistaken assumption it was Friday), but it also referred to as a special Sabbath in John 19:31, which was the Nisan the 15th, the first day of Passover, always known as a Sabbath regardless of what day it actually fell. This is further supported by John 12:1, 12, which shows that Jesus entered Jerusalem five days before the Passover, which would be the Friday after Palm Sunday. Thus the day before that would be Thursday, Preparation Day, followed by the Special Sabbath (Friday the first day of Passover), followed by the regular Sabbath, followed by the first day of the week, Easter Sunday. Originally the Roman Catholic Church officially called this Sunday the Second Sunday of the Passion; in 1970 the formal designation was changed to Passion Sunday, a change that caused considerable confusion because the latter term had heretofore been affixed to the previous Sunday, or the fifth within Lent.

Regardless of what the original days were, it is Christian custom for worshipers to receive palm leaves on Palm Sunday – when they can be obtained.

We establish no religion in this country, nor will we ever. We command no worship. We mandate no belief. But we poison our society when we remove its theological underpinnings. We court corruption when we leave it bereft of belief. All are free to believe or not believe; all are free to practice a faith or not. But those who believe must be free to speak of and act on their belief.
-- -- Ronald Reagan (Temple Hillel Speech, 1984)