Palm Sunday: What this feast day is all about — and why Christians celebrate it
Ahead of Easter, 'the Lord Jesus permitted hosannas to be sung for him,' said one faith leader about Palm Sunday.
Holy Week is the most sacred time in Christianity. From Palm Sunday to the victory of Easter seven days later is what defines the faith.
There is no Christian religion without the resurrection of Jesus. And there is no resurrection without his crucifixion — and no crucifixion without understanding why, just a few days before his arrest, Jesus was hailed as a hero when he entered Jerusalem with throngs waving palms and shouting hosannahs.
Biblical scholar Dr. Eugenia Scarvelis Constantinou, an adjunct professor at the Franciscan School of Theology at the University of San Diego, said that what Jesus did just a few miles from Jerusalem is key to understanding Palm Sunday and the entirety of the week. Jesus raised Lazaurus from the dead.
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"It says in the Scriptures," she said. "John tells us that it's because of the raising of Lazarus that Jesus received this kind of welcome as he entered into Jerusalem. And when he gets hailed ... as the Messiah, which had a lot of political overtones in those days, this is when the Jewish leaders said, ‘You see, the whole world is going after him. We have to do something about it. We have to stop him.’"
Constantinou is an expert on ancient Jewish and Roman law. She has six degrees, including a law degree. In her book, "The Crucifixion of the King of Glory," she uncovers the political intrigue that condemned Jesus.
Clergy and parishioners are shown holding palms during the procession as part of a Palm Sunday service. (iStock)
On an upcoming episode of "Lighthouse Faith" podcast, she talks about the book, which is an historical nonfiction narrative but delves into all the twists and turns of any crime drama, with characters fulfilling roles of infamy. There's the jealous religious leaders fearing loss of power, the company man concerned about keeping his job and keeping order ... and a betrayer whose love of wealth overcomes his love for a friend.
Jesus was on their radar long before he entered Jerusalem.
For three years Jesus had been gaining followers in countryside towns and remote areas healing the sick, blind and crippled. The Jewish people loved him. But the religious leaders, the Pharisees, Saducees, scribes and elders feared his influence.
He was on their radar long before he entered Jerusalem. But now that he was close to their home base, a confrontation was imminent. They had the most to lose if the people began following this itinerant rabbi who had no formal training.
Constantinou is Greek Orthodox, married to an orthodox priest.
She told "Lighthouse Faith," "The Orthodox Church is the oldest continuous church. It goes back to the time of the apostles. Now, of course, this is what Catholics say, too, but Catholicism has changed tremendously over the centuries. Anybody who visits an Orthodox church will see that it is like stepping back in time to the early church."
Even in America, the faithful still hear the New Testament read in the original Greek language. It's that tie to the first century and understanding its cultural norms that makes Constantinou's narrative unique.
Wooden cross on palm leaves, Palm Sunday. It is during Holy Week, writes Lauren Green, "that the religious leaders looked to trap Jesus in not only violating the laws of Moses, Jewish law — but Roman law as well." (iStock)
The Orthodox Holy Week begins the Saturday before Palm Sunday with a service commemorating the raising of Lazarus. Lazarus and his two sisters, Mary and Martha, were close friends of Jesus.
The Bible doesn't illuminate much more on their relationship except to say that he loved them. When Jesus finally arrives in Bethany to their home, Lazarus had been dead four days. Martha meets him outside the house and berates Jesus for not arriving sooner.
"Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died."
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Jesus answers her, "Your brother shall rise again" — and then, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet he shall live" (John 11).
People ran to tell everyone they knew.
Bethany was about two miles from Jerusalem and the Jewish temple, the seat of religious power. When people saw a man being raised from the dead, the news spread like wildfire.
People ran to tell everyone they knew and especially in Jerusalem, where the city was packed with worshipers coming to the only Jewish temple in the world for Passover.
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Constantinou writes in her book, "Only the Orthodox Church celebrates the Saturday of Lazarus, illuminating not only the spiritual significance but the historical connection between the raising of Lazaus and the Lord's entry into Jerusalem."
Enough to set religious leaders on edge
Now the stage is set.
Jesus enters Jerusalem, riding on a donkey no less, fulfilling Zechariah's prophecy, "See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey!"
It's enough to set religious leaders on edge, because they know the prophecy — they know what Jesus is doing. They also know the people see it as well.
They want Jesus put to death. But they can't do that without the help of the Romans.
So, it is during this week that the religious leaders looked to trap Jesus in not only violating the laws of Moses, Jewish law — but Roman law as well.
They want Jesus put to death.
But they can't do that without the help of the Romans.
Lazaurus is the first catalyst.
Lent is a time of prayer, fasting and almsgiving as preparation for the upcoming celebration of Easter. Holy Week, in part, commemorates Jesus' entry into Jerusalem after he raised Lazarus from the dead. (iStock)
The second is the cleansing of the temple when Jesus overturns the money tables and says, "My house should be a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves."
The temple was a huge complex occupying a quarter of the land of Jerusalem. For people traveling far distances to make their passover sacrifices, many couldn't carry the animals, so they bought them at the temple. Sometimes they had to exchange money just like we do today, traveling from the U.S. to Europe, dollars for Euros.
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But this kind of activity is not what Jesus is angry about. It's the corruption of the high priests and chief priests — those who got wealthy off the temple operations. These are the men who hated Jesus.
During this week they try to trap him, catch him saying something seditious.
Said Constantinou, "They were worried that he could start a revolt and this would lead to them losing their power and their positions, which primarily centered around the temple, and that tremendous amount of extraordinary power that they had politically, religiously and all the money that flowed in from the temple."
So during this week they try to trap him, catch him saying something seditious. One of the traps is sending a scribe, a lawyer, to ask, "Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar?"
If Jesus says "no," then he's an enemy of Rome and could be accused of mounting an insurrection.
Just a few days before his arrest, Jesus was hailed as a hero when he entered Jerusalem with throngs waving palms and shouting hosannahs. (iStock)
If he says "yes," then he's downgraded in the eyes of the people, for the people hated Rome and its oppressive rule.
But Jesus famously asks to see a coin. The coin has Caeasar's image. He says, "Render under Caesar that which belongs to Caesar. And render unto God that which is God's."
We bear God's image. Therefore, we belong to God.
Theologians say that Jesus is saying to the religious leaders, and to us, that image bearing is crucial. The coin bears Caesar image. It belongs to him.
But we bear God's image. Therefore, we belong to God.
They were stumped.
What the religious leaders did — and why
Constantinou gives many more examples of the religious leaders trying to confuse Jesus. But each time Jesus shows that he has the theological upper hand, an understanding of Scripture far deeper, wider and higher than anyone has shown previously.
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Because of that, his death sentence is a foregone conclusion. But the religious leaders can't arrest him in broad daylight while the crowds are near.
They must do it at night, when he's unprotected, and before the Sabbath and Passover.
All during Holy Week, Christians read Bible passages that describe Jesus' entry into Jerusalem — and the days leading up to his death and resurrection. (iStock)
It's now Thursday — the day of the betrayer.
Judas Iscariot was one of the 12 apostles. He's a character in the drama that some people have tried to understand and sympathize with. But Constantinou will have none of it. Plain and simple, she said, "He did for the money!"
She told "Lighthouse Faith," "If you are a Christian and you believe that the Bible is an inspired word of God and that it is honest and historically accurate, you cannot cook up these reasons because there is one motive and one motive only that's given to us in the Bible, and that is money."
Judas goes to do his dirty work. It is night. It is quiet.
So after the Apostles share the Passover meal in the upper room — what Christians call "the Last Supper" — Judas goes to do his dirty work. It is night. It is quiet.
Judas leads the arresting guards to the Mount of Olives where Jesus and the other apostles are. Jesus is arrested. His followers scatter.
A mockery of justice
Jesus' trial is for the most part a mockery of justice. Jewish law says you cannot convict someone on the basis of only one witness. There must be at least two. It takes them a while to find two people who they coerce to say something Jesus did was evil and blasphemous.
All of the witnesses make statements that are half-truths and/or lies. Nonetheless, Jesus is convicted.
They want him disgraced. They want him crucified.
But the religious leaders don't want him just convicted: They want him disgraced. They want him crucified. Jewish law says, "Cursed is anyone who is hung from a tree."
Crucifixion was not just slow torture, it meant a person was cursed by God. And no messiah would ever suffer such a fate.
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The man for the job was the governor of Judea, Pontius Pilate. Pilate is Roman, the symbol of Roman oppression to the Jewish people. But he's learned to work with the Jewish chief priests and the high priests to keep order among the people. Both have benefited from the arrangement.
Jesus is a threat to that.
Crucifixion was not just slow torture, it meant a person was cursed by God. And no messiah would ever suffer such a fate. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)
Constintinou says it's clear from Scripture that Pilate has no idea who Jesus is until the religious leaders bring him and demand he be put to death. He had no reason to do so.
Jesus wasn't mounting an insurrection.
He wasn't telling people not to pay their taxes. There would be no reason for Pilate to be concerned about this country rabbi.
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So even Pilate won't put a man to death without a conviction violating some Roman law. A charge of being "an evildoer" just doesn't quite justify the death penalty.
"Now they use this as their trump card and they force Pilate to condemn Jesus to death."
Yet the religious leaders know what will convince Pilate. They know what he fears. He fears Caesar's wrath. And this is where they corner him.
Constantinou said, "The Jewish leaders say if you don't put him to death, you are no friend of Caesar."
Pilate knew there was a leading adviser to Tiberius Caesar who had been put to death for treason only a few months before this. And the Jewish leaders are hinting because they know about the politics; they know what's going on in Rome.
"I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet he shall live." (iStock)
Said Constantinou, "Now they use this as their trump card and they force Pilate to condemn Jesus to death. It is after they say, 'You're no friend of Caesar,' that he immediately to sentences Jesus to death."
Poor Pilate. He wanted to let Jesus go, even offered to release him as a Passover gift. But instead the religious leaders ask for Barabbas, a murderer and insurrectionist.
A lot has been debated about who is responsible for the death of Jesus. Was it the Romans? Was it the Jews?
\What Constantinou makes clear is that human sin is what condemned Jesus. Pride, greed, self-righteousness, all the seven deadlies that linger in every human heart.
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It is for this reason that Jesus was born — to live the life that we couldn't live, one without sin.
To die the death that we deserve, excruciating separation from God.
And to free us from our ultimate enemy, death itself.
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On Easter Sunday, the Orthodox sing the ancient hymn Christos Anesti.
The words are, "Christ is risen from the dead, Trampling down death by death, And upon those in the tombs, Bestowing life!"
Jesus' words to Martha are words to us as well: "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet he shall live."
