Triumphant Palm Sunday to you brothers and sisters in Christ! Today, our Lord Jesus Christ has come into the Holy City of Jerusalem, riding triumphantly on a donkey, a symbol of peace, coming to establish the heavenly Kingdom of God on earth, therefore fulfilling Old Testament Prophecy about the coming Messiah who was to liberate his people, his children, from the bondage of death. And so on Palm Sunday, which is this day, we celebrate the wonderful fact that the Christ, the Son of God, has come to establish the Heavenly Kingdom of God, with Jesus Christ as the Eternal King, so that all of humanity can have the wonderful reality of having Theosis, or Union with God. So my friends in Christ, Rejoice, for the King has come!

There are many meanings hidden in the Triumphal Entry of Christ into Jerusalem. All of them are very important to know, and all of them are very good to know about, for they will bring us all into more intimacy with God, more intimate knowledge of him who saved us, and more intimate love with the one who redeemed us. Before we get into only some of the meanings and teachings of Palm Sunday, the establishment of the Kingdom of God by the Messianic King, Jesus Christ, it is good to have a visual guide learning about Palm Sunday. So, here is the clip from The Chosen about the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem, and also a Holy Icon depicting Palm Sunday:

And here is the Holy Icon of the Triumphal entry into Jerusalem. If it does not load, here is the link to the website that has the picture of the Icon. It is a very beautiful Icon, and it captures what Palm Sunday is all about: the coming of the Christ who is to redeem all of humanity.

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Now, it is time for some of the teachings and meanings of Palm Sunday. One of the teachings is obviously that Christ on this day has come into the Holy City of Jerusalem, where his ancestor King Daivd himself presided over the nation of Israel, Christ has come to establish the long-awaited Kingdom of Heaven. The Kingdom of Heaven is a kingdom not of this world, not a kingdom where armies invade other kingdoms and nations, conquering their neighbors, but rather the Kingdom of Heaven is a Heavenly type of Kingdom, a Kingdom in which everyone in it is intimately united with God, and so always feel his Love, Compassion, Kindness, Courage, Faithfulness, Mercy, and his everlasting Peace. It is a Kingdom in which we Christians will have new perfect bodies because of the resurrection at the end of the age, a Kingdom in which we are heirs to, a Kingdom that knows no separation from God, the creator of all good things, a Kingdom that only knows intimacy and union with God, forever and ever. This is the type of Kingdom that Christ came to establish, all for the ones who will love him, and all are welcomed into it. For God wants all of humanity to be reconciled with himself, and all of humanity to be in intimate communion with himself, to give his intimate love to all of humanity. And that is the reality seen here as Christ came to establish the Kingdom of Heaven on this day, Palm Sunday.

The people greeting and cheering Jesus were expecting an earthly kingdom, one that would overthrow Rome and establish the good old days of David's Kingdom. However, Jesus proves their perception of him to be false, for he comes not on a horse or chariot, vehicles of war, but he comes riding on a donkey, a symbol of peace, true peace that heals even the deepest wounds and most jagged parts of our lives. So then, Christ came to establish the Kingdom of God in peace and humility. In like manner to our Lord, we should also come in peace and humility, proclaiming and teaching the Kingdom of God whenever prompted to do so. And whenever learning about the Kingdom, we should also have peace and humility, so that we can allow the words of Christ and the teaching of the Kingdom, the Church, to transform us into true children of God. For being a child of God is hard, but it is the most valuable treasure in all of creation.

There are also a few more additional teachings as well. The people spreading their cloaks on the ground for Jesus shows that they are treating him as the King of the Jews, and for some the King of the Universe. This has a spiritual meaning as well: we Christians must lay down our flesh, our attachments to this world, our sins, and so by doing this deny ourselves, take up or crosses, and follow Christ. It is hard, but if we so choose to do so, the gift from God is great, and we will receive Eternal Life from God, the greatest gift anyone can have. The cry of 'Hossana!' from the people means 'Save, we pray!' And this entrance into Jerusalem is a prefiguration of Christ's future heavenly entrance into the Heavenly Jerusalem, where all Christians who have stayed faithful to the very end, who have endured to the very end, who have stayed loving to God and to others in a Christ-like way to the very end, they will receive Eternal Life at that time. This calls us therefore to keep enduring, keep having faith, and keep persevering, for when we do as faithful followers of Christ, we will find Life, as prefigured on Palm Sunday today.

There is so much more about Palm Sunday that is just so interesting, and my friends in Christ, if I had to write it all out, it would take a very long time just to comprehend the complete scope of God's love on Palm Sunday. One thing is clear though: Jesus Christ, the Son of God, arrived triumphantly on this day around 1996 years ago, and he came to establish the Kingdom of God, which is the Holy Church, and it is through the Holy Church, which Christ is ever-present in, that we have union with Christ, where we die to sin and become alive to God Almighty, and where we have real communion with God. And on Palm Sunday, this very day, we welcome and celebrate the wonderful and great entry of Christ our Lord, then entry that marked the start and establishment of the Kingdom of God. So let us turn and follow Christ our Lord, into the city, never turning away from him, always repentant, always filed with his Grace, and surely we will find life within him. Amen.

Glory to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the Holy Trinity in Unity, now and forever unto the end of the age. Amen.