Topic: What was the purpose of laying palms before Jesus?

Source of this posting: moderator response

Date originally posted: September 20, 2003

Moderator who originally posted this source:  Kathy Martyn

Question:  What was the purpose or symbolic meaning of laying palms before Jesus?

Answer:

Palm Sunday is the Sunday before easter Sunday and marks the moment when Jesus entered Jerusalem before his trial and crucifixion. In Matthew and Luke's Gospels there is no specific mention of palms. "A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road." Matthew 21.9

It merely describes the scene of Jesus entering the city on the back of a donkey to be greeted by a multitude. The idea of the palm fronds being waved and thrown onto the road to pave his way comes from the Roman tradition of greeting returning war heroes in this same way. This would have had a particular significance at that time as a statement of defiance by the Jewish people of Jerusalem under Roman occupation in conjunction with their belief that Jesus was the Messiah, the man to lead the Jewish people to self-rule.