A few years ago, I discoverd the true meaning of Palm Sunday. It goes much deeper. The celebration of Palm Sunday is the beginning time of preparation for Passover, which is one of the most important holy days for the Jewish people. Passover celebrated their ancestors’ emancipation from Egypt, made possible through the blood of lambs on their houses. Jesus chose to enter Jerusalem on a specific day, four days before his death, for a reason. The day He entered Jerusalem was the time that each Jewish family chose a lamb for their household. “Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb according to their fathers’ houses, a lamb for a household” (Exodus 12:3 NIV). Each Jewish household would then examine the lamb for four days to be sure that this lamb had no blemish or defect. Jesus entered Jerusalem on “Palm Sunday.” He desired that the nation of Israel would choose Him as their lamb. When John the Baptist saw Jesus, he said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). Jesus was born to be the Passover lamb who would take away our sin. When He rode into Jerusalem four days before his death, there was great excitement! The crowds shouted, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” (Luke 19:38).
Sadly, the same crowd that cheered Him on this day was shouting “Crucify Him!” four days later. They cheered Jesus because He seemingly fit into their theology, plan of redemption, and cultural preferences. On Palm Sunday, Jesus wept over Jerusalem, saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace!” (Luke 19:42). The Jewish people wanted a ruler to deliver them, not a lamb to die for them.
It is no coincidence that Jesus was arrested, condemned, and crucified during the feast of Passover. Jesus modeled what every Passover lamb experienced from Palm Sunday to the crucifixion. He shows up in Jerusalem, inviting the Jews to choose him as their lamb for their household. Taking a lamb was commanded since the first Passover. “Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight” (Exodus 12:5-6 NIV). Jesus arrived in Jerusalem on Choose a Lamb Day, the tenth of Nisan. We call it Palm Sunday, but to the Jews, every family would find a lamb for their household. Over the next four days, the family would live with the lamb to be sure it was without blemish. The Jewish leadership questioned Jesus after arriving on Palm Sunday. “Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question” (Matthew 22:41). They desired to trap or discredit him. “Then the Pharisees went and plotted how to entangle him in his words” (Matthew 22:15). After four days of inspecting Jesus with their questions, the Bible tells us: “And no one was able to answer him a word, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions” (Matthew 22:46). The Jewish leaders were left speechless and convinced that words alone could not stop this man. He had to be killed because he was without blemish.
Just as the Passover lamb had to be judged without blemish, so Jesus was also deemed innocent by six other witnesses. Only a lamb without blemish could be an acceptable sacrifice. And only this lamb’s blood could be placed upon the doorpost of the households.
