It’s common in many churches on Palm Sunday to hand out palm branches. Some churches will just give you a palm branch while others may form it into a palm cross. You may wonder what the significance of the palm is, and yes, there is a greater meaning to what it represents. While handing out the palm is fine, it’s the why behind it that is of greater importance. If you are given a palm cross, it is a symbolic connection to how the last week of Jesus’ life started and how it ended.
What Is Palm Sunday?
Palm Sunday marks the beginning of Holy Week, which many consider the most important week in all of Christianity. The first day of this week is Palm Sunday, where we remember the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. Five days before his death, Jesus entered Jerusalem riding on a donkey. As Jesus entered the city, many people lined the streets and laid palm branches in his path. They did this while shouting praises to God and hailing Jesus as King of the Jews.
"The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, 'Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the king of Israel!'” (John 12:12-13)
While they were celebrating the arrival of their king, the method Jesus used to make that arrival was not the norm. Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. Typically, when kings are celebrated in this fashion, they would parade in on a majestic horse or a glorious chariot to the adoration of those around them. This was a show of their strength and leadership. However, Jesus chose a humble donkey. He was also showing his strength and leadership, but not in the way most people would have deciphered. Horses often were symbols of war, but donkeys were symbols of peace. Jesus rode in as king and was about to bring a kingdom that would not come through force, but through sacrifice.
What Is the Significance of Palm Branches?
Palm branches were a symbol of triumph, victory, peace, and prosperity. As the people were waving their branches and laying them in the road, there was great expectation of what their conquering king would soon gain for them. Yet there was a disconnect because Jesus was restoring a kingdom, just not in the manner many of them thought he would. This leads to incredible irony in the story. The ones who were shouting blessings upon and declaring Jesus king in just a few days would shout to crucify him. Jesus comes into Jerusalem hailed as king and days later dies the death of a criminal on a cross.
What Is a Palm Cross?
A palm cross is simply a cross made from a palm branch or leaf. It symbolizes two events that happened in the last week of Jesus’ life on this earth: the triumphal entry, where he is hailed as king, and the cross, where he was crucified. I wonder if there could not be two greater ironies happening in such a short period of time.
3 significant truths about the palm cross:
1. Palms represent peace
While palms are often associated with peace, the cross was anything but peaceful. To die by execution on a cross was one of the most agonizing ways to die. This was a slow and excruciatingly painful death. Some historians note that the average person would take between 24 to 72 hours to die. Many would die from dehydration or asphyxiation. What an amazing contrast between the palm and the cross.
2. Palms represent victory and triumph
While the cross was brutal, one thing it accomplished was it gave us a way of redemption back to the Father. Jesus’ death on the cross made atonement for our sins. Isn’t it amazing that the very people who were beating Jesus, mocking him, and nailing him to that cross were the same ones whose sins were being placed on Jesus so they could find forgiveness if they put their trust in him? Yet it goes beyond that because even though I was not in that crowd that day (neither were you), and I did not mock, beat, or pound the nail, my sins (and yours) were placed on Jesus too. We were just as guilty as everyone in that crowd, and because of Jesus’ sacrifice, we can find the same forgiveness they could if we put our trust in Jesus.
3. Palms can also signify prosperity
One more thing palms represents is prosperity. By prosperity, I don’t mean you are going to get a bigger house or a better-paying job. Those things are nice, but they are temporary and that is not why Jesus died on the cross. If anyone tells you that, please ignore them and if your pastor preaches that, run quickly from that church. The prosperity Jesus won for us on the cross means we have an eternal inheritance waiting for us when our days on this earth are done.
"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you" (1 Pet. 1:3-4).
This inheritance is not about material things, but eternal life that can never be taken from us. If you are given a palm branch or a palm cross on Palm Sunday this year, let it remind you of the eternal victory that was won for us by the death and resurrection of Jesus.
What Do You Do with a Palm Cross?
What should you do with the palm or palm cross if you receive one this year? In some church traditions, the palm cross is seen as something that is blessed. For full transparency, I don’t share that belief (I’ll explain), but there is still value in what the palm cross represents.
While the symbolism of a palm cross is meaningful, the true power lies in the real cross of Christ—not in the physical symbols we use to remember it. These reminders, like the palm cross, point us to the incredible sacrifice Jesus made for us, but they don’t carry any power of their own.
Even so, many people cherish their palm crosses in different ways. Some place them inside their Bibles, using them as bookmarks or special keepsakes. Others display their palm crosses in their homes as a daily reminder of the triumph and sacrifice of Jesus. Some churches take the old palm branches from previous Palm Sundays and burn them to make the ashes for Ash Wednesday, which is a way of tying the whole church calendar together. Whether or not you choose to keep your palm cross, the most important thing to remember is what it represents. We have victory in Jesus because of his ultimate sacrifice on the cross. That is something worth remembering, and if a palm cross helps you do that, then all the better.
"When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross" (Col. 2:12-15).
Want to make your own palm cross?
Read this article for a tutorial!
Learn more about the meaning and significance behind the Easter holiday and Holy Week celebrations:
What is Lent? and When Does Lent Start?
What is Ash Wednesday? and When is Ash Wednesday?
What is Palm Sunday?
What is Maundy Thursday?
What is Good Friday? and When is Good Friday?
What is Holy Saturday?
What is Easter? and When is Easter Sunday?
Easter Bible Verses
The Resurrection of Jesus
Easter Prayers
Photo credit: ©Getty Images/Kara Gebhardt
