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OPINION

Fr. John Chrysostom Kiwanuka

By Fr. John Chrysostom Kiwanuka

Palm Sunday is the final Sunday in the Lenten season signifying the beginning of Holy Week.

The Holy Week is the week leading up to Easter and is held in remembrance of the time of Jesus in Jerusalem before he died and, according to Christianity, was resurrected.

The tradition of palm branches on Palm Sunday actually originates with the Jewish festival of Sukkoth, also called the Festival of the Tabernacles or Booths, which was probably the most popular holiday among the Jews in the first century.

In the observance of Sukkoth, worshippers processed through Jerusalem and in the temple, would wave in their right hands something called a lulab, which was a bunch of leafy branches made of willow, myrtle and palm.

As they waved these branches in that procession, the worshippers recited words from Psalm 118, the psalm normally read during Sukkoth. Among these words were “Save us, we beseech you, O Lord.” Save us in Hebrew is ‘Hosanna.’ This is typically followed by “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.” (Psalm118:25-26).

The palm branch is a symbol of victory, triumph, peace and eternal life, originating in the ancient Near East and the Mediterranean world. In ancient times, palm branches symbolised goodness and victory. They were often depicted on coins and important buildings. Solomon had palm branches carved into the walls and doors of the temple (1Kings 6:29).

Again, at the end of the Bible, people from every nation raise palm branches to honour Jesus (Revelation 7:9). Today, many Christian churches distribute palm branches to worshipers on Palm Sunday.

The people remember the sacrificial death of Christ on the cross, praise him for the gift of salvation and look expectantly to his second coming.

Carrying palms during a procession goes way back into the Old Testament, where it was not only approved, but commanded by God at the very foundation of the Old Testament religion.

In the fall of the year, after the harvest, when the people gathered for the Feast of Tabernacles God said in Leviticus 23:40: “And you shall take to you on the first day the fruits of the fairest tree, and branches of palm trees, and boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook: And you shall rejoice before the Lord your God.”

Symbolically, Palm Sunday — this year celebrated on March 25 — is a declaration of victory over sin. It marks the end of Jesus’ earthly ministry since this week would be his last before his death on Good Friday.

All of the events of Holy Week would be understood more clearly after the resurrection of Christ, Sunday morning.

Palm Sunday was a procession of a King of another kind. One that would die to save His people, and die to pay for the sins of the whole world. Palm Sunday has a very rich history. For example, in the traditional Roman Catholic Church, it was called the second Sunday of the Passion before changing it to Passion Sunday during the 1990s.

The Catholic Church symbolises Palm Sunday as using the colour red, which symbolises the blood of Jesus Christ.

It represents Jesus’ sacrifice upon his entrance to Jerusalem, which brought about his Passion and Resurrection.

Various churches throughout the world keep the palms. These palms are later burned for the purpose of the Ash Wednesday ceremonies.

The writer is the chaplain of Trinity College Nabbingo