Welcome back. I’m so glad you’re here. This Sunday is Palm Sunday!
It’s also the first day of Passover.
For background we’re going to start in Exodus 12:1-3 NIV
The Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread
The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt,“This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year. Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household.
“When each Jewish family was choosing their lamb on the tenth day of Nisan for Passover, God was revealing His Lamb at the triumphant entry of Jesus, the fulfillment of Zechariah 9:9.”*
*Norten, Michael. Unlocking the Secrets of the Feasts (p. 26). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.
John 12:12-16 NIV
Jesus Comes to Jerusalem as King
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!”
Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written:
“Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion;
see, your king is coming,
seated on a donkey’s colt.”
At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that these things had been done to him.
This day marks the beginning of Holy Week for Christians and this year, this week coincides with Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread. We would do well to remember the significance of those days if only to be aware of the things that happened to Jesus during them.