The palm branches were a symbol of revolution; the colt was a symbol of victory and royalty. That makes the first Palm Sunday less of “Church in the Park”, and more of a political rally or protest.

[A short thread]

But neither the palm branches nor the colt become the central symbol for Christians, as they had been for previous revolutionaries and Messiah movements. Instead, it is the cross.

It’s the cross, not the palm branches or the donkey, that makes Jesus a different kind of king. The revolution and the victory result from self-giving, sacrificial love.

This year, on Palm Sunday, we rejoice that Jesus is the saving King. And in the midst of our own suffering and pain, we are also keenly aware of the kind of king He is. He is the King who stood in solidarity with the suffering and the dying.

He is the King whose death became the unlikely and unexpected victory over death, sin, and all the evil in the world. He is the king who took up His cross and calls us to do the same. Our victory is not empty triumphalism; it is the revolution of sacrificial, self-giving love.

Hosanna! Let us follow our King to the cross.