Palm Sunday Reflection

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The Glory of Jesus and the Glory of the Cross

By Rev. Fr. Dr. Giuseppe Caramazza, MCCJ
Deputy Vice Chancellor
Tangaza University College

On Palm Sunday, we read very important sections of the Bible. In particular, the story of
Jesus entering Jerusalem ahead of the Passion, and the Passion itself. This is the oldest
section of the gospel. The first Christians wrote first of all about Jesus’ Passion, as it was
central to their faith. Matthew quotes freely from the Old Testament. He wants to
summarize here the whole history of his people. Jesus arrives in Jerusalem from the
Mount of Olives. Tradition had it that the Messiah would do just that. He asks his
disciples to bring a donkey. This reminds us of a passage in Genesis: “Jacob said ‘The
sceptre shall not be taken away from Judah, nor the staff of command between his feet,
until he comes to the which it belongs to and to which the obedience of the people is due.
He binds his donkey to the vine and to a screw chosen the son of his donkey”. So Jesus
introduces himself as the liberator, of the messiah of Israel.
The messiah that enters Jerusalem makes no show of power, he does not ride on an animal
of war, such as the horse, but on a donkey. The donkey was the normal ride of humble
people, of the simple people (kings rode on mules). People stretched out their cloaks on
the road (symbol of submission to a king) and palm branches (symbol of the Feast of the
Huts, the time of arrival of the Messiah) while they sing “Hosanna”, which means “save
us”. Trouble is, they sing to the “Son of David”, a title Jesus always refused. He is Son
of God, the loving Father, not son of David, a violent king, a warrior! When the crowd
realized Jesus had not intention to claim the throne of David, they shouted “crucify him”.
Palm Sunday reminds us of both the glory of Jesus’ arrival in Jerusalem, and the glory
of the Cross. The Cross was the worst death sentence known to people. It was a way of

saying “this person is no longer a human being; he is not a member of society any longer”.
Jesus accepted to undergo this horrible torture to be in communion even with what society
labelled the worst human beings. He accepted to be crashed by the power of society to
remind us of the enormity of God’s love. On this Sunday we start the Holy Week. A time
to revisit the meaning of our faith, and the roots of our commitment to God.
This year, amidst the coronavirus tragedy, we also pause to reflect on the suffering
of millions of people who lost their dear ones, lost their jobs, face poverty. We know
that Jesus wishes to walk next to them and is asking us to make clear choices towards
fighting this pandemic, in communion with the poorest.

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