And Palms in Their Hands

To my daughter, 

                Today is what we call Palm Sunday where we remember the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem and start to commemorate the last week of the Savior’s life. Hundreds of years before, the prophet Zechariah prophesied what was going to happen: “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass” (Zechariah 9:9). Jesus fulfilled this prophecy as He rode into Jerusalem on a donkey to start the final week of His life. He commanded His disciples to bring Him a donkey, and He rode upon it into the city: “And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strawed them in the way. And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest” (Matthew 21:8-9). What an incredible scene that must have been to see Him coming and preparing to complete His mission to die and be resurrected in Jerusalem. In John’s account He recorded this detail: “On the next day much people that were come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, Took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord” (John 12:12-13). That is why we call it Palm Sunday: the people took palm leaves and laid them on the ground where He was traveling. The word Hosanna means to “save now” and as Elder Gong taught, “the waving of palm branches accompanied the chanting of ‘Save now, I beseech thee, O Lord.’” These people wanted Jesus to save them, and He did just that through His great atoning sacrifice and His resurrection that He would complete later during that final week of His life.

                In a conference talk last year Elder Rasband taught about the significance of Palm Sunday and then highlighted another future event that we have to look forward to. He said, “My heart and soul, like yours, longs to shout, ‘Hosanna to the Most High God.’ Though we do not stand at the gates of Jerusalem today with palms in our hands, the time will come when, as prophesied in Revelation, ‘a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, [will stand] before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands.’” I hope that this will include us in some future day where like the ancient inhabitants of Jerusalem we too will be able to wave palms in our hands to celebrate the triumph of Jesus Christ over death and sin and usher in the thousand years of peace that will be the Millennium. It is not without significance that Jesus too had something happen related to palms that week, but for Him it was the nails that were driven through His palms as He was crucified for our sins and gave His life to save you and me. Someday we will see those prints in His palms and in His feet that testify to the infinite love He has for you and me. I hope that this week we will do more to remember Him and the events of the most important week in the history of the world.

Love,

Dad