Palm Sunday
This is the traditional start of Holy Week and the Easter story. The events happened on the Sunday morning at the start of Holy Week.
Jesus and His followers had been staying in or around a village called Bethany near Jerusalem. They were on their way to Jerusalem to celebrate the great feast of Passover there. Many other people were on their way there also for this great Jewish celebration.
Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. As He came near the gates of the great city of Jerusalem large crowds came out to meet Him. They had heard that He was coming and wanted to see Him. The people would have heard about Jesus, being a great teacher and a person who was able to do miracles. They were very excited aboout seeing Him.. Many people spread their cloaks on the dusty road in front of Jesus and many others spread branches of palm on the road - like a red carpet being put out for someone important today. The crowd waved palm also. This was to show respect. They shouted and sang
“Hosanna, Hosanna,
Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord”
The Jewish leaders and religious Pharisees didn't like what the crowd was doing because Jesus was getting far too much praise for their liking. They were very powerful men in Jerusalem at the time and they were jealous of His popularity and influence.
Even though the crowds were praising Jesus, He was sad because He knew that He would die in Jerusalem in less than week!
