On Sunday, April 2nd, Christians all over the world will celebrate Palm Sunday. Palm Sunday celebrates an event in the bible where  Jesus entered Jerusalem riding on a donkey and was greeted by the people waving palm branches. Palm Sunday is also the last Sunday of the month before Easter.

This event is recorded in all 4 gospels and also fulfills the old testament prophecy made in Zechariah 9:9 which says “Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” When Jesus entered Jerusalem riding on a donkey a lot of people assumed that he fulfilled the prophecy and was the promised king that came to free them from the rule of the Romans but they did not realize that Christ had come to free them from their own sins. John 12:12-13  says “The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, “Hosanna!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Blessed is the king of Israel!”

A week after Jesus would be crucified on the cross to deliver all mankind from their sins. The coming of Jesus into Jerusalem was to let people know that Jesus had come to free them from their sins. He was a king but his kingdom was not of this world.  He did not come to free people from oppression and rule from the Romans but came to free them from the oppression of Sin.  The same crowds who were crying out “Hosanna!” to celebrate Jesus as their Messiah on Palm Sunday were those who said “Crucify Him!” just a week later. They saw Jesus but they did not recognize him for who he was nor did they understand why He came.

Jesus himself said in Matthew 13:14:15  “In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: “‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise, they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.”

So what is the significance of Palm Sunday? It is the same as it was in the time of Jesus. When Christians all over the world come to celebrate Palm Sunday we must not forget why we celebrate this special day. It is to celebrate the coming of our Messiah who came to fulfill all old testament prophecies and free mankind from their sins. It is easy to celebrate Jesus as a king, and as a hero on Palm Sunday but completely miss the reason why he came, just like those Jewish people did during the time of Jesus. We must celebrate him for who he is, the savior of the world who came to take the sins of this world and not as someone who came to rule this world.

Jesus always came for the people. Jesus said in John 18:36 “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.” This palm Sunday let us all remember that Jesus came to save us all from our sins and bring us into his kingdom. He did not come to establish an earthly kingdom but a heavenly kingdom where there is no sin and Jesus is the king. Let us not lose sight of this with all the celebrations around palm Sunday.