By Reverend J. Loren Russell
John 12:12–13 (NKJV)
“The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out: ‘Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! The King of Israel!’”
The people gathered to witness His entrance into Jerusalem because word had spread about who He was and the miracles He had performed. Their curiosity had been stirred and their expectations heightened. Many came not only to see Jesus—but to see Lazarus, the one He had raised from the dead.
But here lies the problem: they did not truly understand Him. Not even His disciples—those closest to Him—fully grasped His purpose. They misread the moment. They believed this triumphant entry was about political liberation—freedom from Roman rule, relief from present suffering, a shift in earthly power. But it was far greater than that.
What looked like a coronation was actually a countdown. This entry did not signal the rise of a throne—it signaled the approach of a cross. The most important event in human history was now set in motion. And so, they responded the only way they knew how—with celebration.
They cut down palm branches. They laid them in the road. They spread their garments before Him. But notice where they placed their praise: They laid those palms not at His hands—but at the feet of the animal He rode. Their worship was real in expression… but limited in understanding. They honored the moment— but missed the mission.
Because what began with lifted branches would soon turn into lifted hands—not in worship, but in violence. That is the problem with the palms. The same crowd that spread palm branches beneath Him as He rode into the city…would, in less than five days, raise the palms of their hands against Him.
The same hands that prepared a path of honor for the donkey… would become instruments of humiliation against the Savior (Matthew 26:67; John 18:22). From palms on the ground… to palms in the air…to the palms of their hands striking the very One they once celebrated.
They placed palms beneath Him in public—but lifted palms against Him in private. They celebrated Him when it was easy—but turned on Him when it became inconvenient. They gave Him a pathway—but refused Him their hearts. And that is the tension this text exposes: it is possible to honor Jesus with what is in your hands…while resisting Him with what is in your heart.
That crowd is not just a historical moment—it is a mirror. It reflects the contradiction that can live within all of us. We know how to perform celebration. We know how to say the right words. We know how to show up in the right moments.
But the question remains: when the moment shifts…when the pressure rises…when following Him costs something… will the same hands that once honored Him… become the hands that oppose Him?
My prayer is this: That we would not lay palms at His path…yet raise our palms against His will. That our worship would not stop at what we place before Him—but extend to what we surrender within us. That our “Hosanna” would not be a moment of emotion—but a life of devotion. Because Palm Sunday it is not about palms on the ground, but hearts that are surrendered and hands that are lifted in praise.
Be Blessed!
Matters of Faith 
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