Palm Sunday holds memories for me, such as waving fern branches as my Sunday school class marched down the church aisle shouting “Hosanna! Hosanna!” Little boys would whack each other with them like swords, and the girls would turn them into fans. We’d hear the story about Jesus and the donkey that had never been ridden—the story of Jesus’ march into Jerusalem. I always wore my second-best dress on Palm Sunday, then my best dress on Easter. Palm Sunday and Easter were intrinsically paired in my mind.
As I study this story as an adult, I now realize how closely it connects to Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead too. It’s the story that tells of Jesus going to the outskirts of Jerusalem, to a little town called Bethany, just before Palm Sunday. Of course, the disciples expressed their fears about getting that close to Jerusalem, where Jesus was nearly killed last time they were there. Jesus tried to calm their fears by saying the Light of the World doesn’t worry about the dark.
It’s the story where Jesus told Lazarus’s sisters, Mary and Martha, that he is the resurrection. He didn’t simply say that he could resurrect someone; he said he is the resurrection. Just like light overcomes darkness, the resurrection overcomes death.
After he raised Lazarus from the grave, Mary anointed Jesus’ feet, they feasted, and then Jesus got on a donkey and rode into Jerusalem. This is the ramp-up. This is the Resurrector!
He was celebrated by the people while their leaders plotted to put this Resurrector to death. At the time, there was a peaceful equilibrium between the Jews and the Romans. What would the Zealots do if they knew someone who could raise the dead was coming to Jerusalem? Imagine how a Zealot could recruit for a revolution with a general who could make it so soldiers wouldn’t stay dead!
I wonder whether the people cheering for Jesus were cheering for all the wrong reasons. Did they think he was coming to take over Jerusalem from the Romans? Were they excited to have one of their people finally in power? None of them suspected that the glory of God would be revealed through a cross. Did any of them suspect he was coming to save the Jews and the Romans?
I can’t help but feel bittersweet when I see children waving branches and showing their excitement on Palm Sunday. It’s like watching a movie I’ve seen many times before—I know the characters don’t know what’s coming next and I want to warn them. They’re so blissfully happy. What comes next is betrayal, trial, torture, and death. Holy Week has so much destruction. Jesus curses a fig tree. He turns tables over and cleans out the temple. He says he’ll tear it all down and rebuild it in three days.
This is the week of re-creation. Since Jesus was there, God at Creation, he walks in its path. The sun rose and the sun set each of those days of Holy Week, in Creation’s footsteps.
During Creation week, God separated the land from the seas, while during Holy Week, Jesus cleared out his temple.
The day when God created all the plants in the world correlates to Holy Week when Jesus examined the fig tree he condemned.
In harmony with the day God created all the animals, Jesus ate the slaughtered lamb of the Passover.
On the sixth day, in which God created humanity, Jesus himself died on the cross.
On the seventh day, God rested, and Jesus lay in the tomb.
And on the eighth day, Resurrection Day, there is new life. A new creation begins.
This timeline would make Palm Sunday the first day of re-creation. Now when I think of Jesus riding into Jerusalem, I can’t help but think, Let there be light.
This Light of the World does not stumble in the dark.
He who has eyes, let him see. Jesus is about to remake the world.
Gretchen Ronnevik is an author and speaker living in Fergus Falls, Minnesota. She’s the author of Ragged: Spiritual Disciplines for the Spiritually Exhausted and The Story of Katie Luther. She is also the cohost for the Freely Given podcast.
