We who gather together as "Grace Fellowship" come from different backgrounds - Catholic, charismatic, agnostic, atheist, high church, low church, house church - and so we bring with us a variety of Palm Sunday traditions, ranging from nothing at all to very elaborate. For some of us, Palm Sunday is an important part of "Passion Week" - the week commemorating all the events of the last week of Jesus' life, starting with Palm Sunday, then the Last Supper, the Garden of Gethsemane, the trials, the crucifixion, and of course the resurrection (celebrated by "Easter"). For those who have a tradition of celebrating Lent, Palm Sunday is the last day of the 40-day Lenten season.
There is no evidence that the early church made any intentional celebration of Palm Sunday until the 3rd Century, or more likely not until the late 4th Century. It started as a celebration in the church in Jerusalem, with believers walking from site to site of the events of that last week, reading the Gospels aloud at each site (which would be a cool thing to do!!!). By the 5th Century, there's clear evidence of celebrating Palm Sunday as far away as Constantinople. There were significant changes and additions to the tradition each century after that through at least the 8th Century.
With the history of the Church, it is no surprise that the celebration of Palm Sunday has its primary roots in the pre-Catholic, Catholic, and Orthodox churches.
Some have noted that the crowds that day may have been celebrating a mistake. Here's a crowd of people who are lauding Jesus as the one who comes in the name of the Lord, the great king. Which, of course, He is. But it's also clear that the crowd didn't realize how right they were. They were expecting a king like David, with a political and military kingdom that would become autonomous from the Roman Empire. Even though they lauded Jesus as king, they didn't comprehend that He was entering Jerusalem as the King of all Kings whose kingdom is "not of this world" (John 18:36). They weren't very accurate at all! Or better, they were more accurate than they realized.
Are we celebrating a mistake? Should we call this "Facepalm Sunday"?
Furthermore, some note that just days later, the crowd was crying out, "Crucify Him! Crucify Him!" What a reversal! Should we celebrate that? However, there's nothing in the text that says that people in the first crowd were also in the second crowd, so this is mere speculation at best. We should just note the mere possibility, and then draw no real conclusions from this.
What value, then, is celebrating Palm Sunday? We have inherited some traditions from the historic Catholic church, but we're not Catholics. The early church didn't make a deal out of this for centuries. The crowd was not really celebrating what we celebrate when we remember the entrance of the true King into Jerusalem. Palm Sunday is usually something we make a bigger deal of for the kids than for the adults, as if we eventually "grow out of it." What, then, shall we make of Palm Sunday?
Whatever we want, actually. It's a great singular event to begin commemorating the most crucial week in human history. It's a very picturesque event to engage children (and adults) into the story. Regardless of what the early church didn't do, of what the Catholic church did do, or even of what the people who were there did incorrectly, we can grab this moment to remind our kids and one another that Jesus in fact is the King who took on human flesh, which He could then use to put on the back of a donkey, eat a final meal, receive lashes, expire from crucifixion, and then physically raise from the tomb.
Traditions are most valuable for passing on to each successive generation the meanings of our faith, not just the traditions themselves. You've got a great, built-in excuse to share with others how your King voluntarily rode right into His own death on our behalf. It's one of the best ways we keep alive the purpose of our history. It helps connect us to two centuries of the followers of Jesus.
I encourage to make more of this than just a "church thing." We want to teach all our kids about this week, but the most effective way for them to keep our stories front and center is through you. Make a week of it.
