Dear PPPC –

Have you ever wondered why we wave palms on Palm Sunday?

About 150 years prior to Jesus, Judas Maccabeeus led the Jewish people to victory over the Seleucid dynasty. After the victory, the crowds celebrated by waving palm branches. To commemorate the victory, Judas Maccabeeus stamped an image of palm branches into their coins which symbolized victory for the Jewish people over their oppressors.

When the Jewish people are under foreign rule again (150 years later), they wave their palms in the air shouting, “Hosanna!”…which translated means, “Save us now!” When the crowds shouted “Hosanna!,” they were saying something significant to Jesus. In effect, “Rescue us and rescue us like we’ve been rescued before.”

But Jesus rescues us in ways we often don’t understand…through the surprising and apparent powerlessness of the cross. The crowds wanted deliverance from the power of Rome, but Jesus was about to deliver the entire world from the power of sin and death.

When we wave palms as followers of Jesus Christ, we do so with both a similar and a different spirit. We wave the palms with the same honest cry of “Save us now!” for there is so much from which we long to be saved. So too, do we wave our palms with a resurrection perspective, joyfully trusting in God’s way of salvation in Christ.

See you in church!

Yours for the journey,
Pastor Molly

The Passion: Daily Scripture Readings for Holy Week
You are encouraged to spend some extra time in the Word this week.

Monday, April 14: John 12:1-11
Tuesday, April 15: John 12:20-36
Wednesday, April 16: John 13:21-32
Thursday, April 17: John 13:1-17, 31b – 35
Friday, April 18: John 18:1-19:42
Saturday, April 19: Romans 6:3-11
Sunday, April 20: John 20:1-18