{"id":115483,"date":"2026-03-29T16:20:43","date_gmt":"2026-03-29T22:20:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?p=115483"},"modified":"2026-03-29T16:26:56","modified_gmt":"2026-03-29T22:26:56","slug":"for-palm-sunday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2026\/03\/for-palm-sunday.html","title":{"rendered":"For Palm Sunday"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Gerome,<\/a>
Jean-L\u00e9on G\u00e9r\u00f4me, \u201cL\u2019entr\u00e9e du Christ \u00e0 J\u00e9rusalem\u201d (1897)
Wikimedia Commons public domain image<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Today was\/is Palm Sunday, commemorating the day on which, according to accounts given in the New Testament, Jesus entered triumphantly into Jerusalem to the acclamation of large crowds, who spread palm fronds and robes on the ground before him to prepare his way, shouting \u201cHosanna!\u201d \u00a0Within just a few days, he was dead.<\/p>\n

\"Holy<\/a>
I would love to give credit for this, but I don\u2019t know to whom the credit belongs. Anyway, I think it clear and useful.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We\u2019ve now entered into Holy Week, and I\u2019m very happy that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints<\/a> is emphasizing this season more than it traditionally has and is expanding the focus beyond Easter in isolation. \u00a0Here are some resources that you might find helpful for today and for this week leading up to Resurrection Sunday, Easter:<\/p>\n

\u201cHoly Week Insight: President Holland Explores the Last Moments of Christ\u2019s Life:\u00a0Engage in deeper study during these sacred days with the Church\u2019s Easter resources\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThe First Presidency\u2019s 2025 Easter Message: \u2018He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows \u2026 and with his stripes we are healed\u2019\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cFirst Presidency\u2019s Easter Message\u201d (2026)<\/a><\/p>\n

Officially from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: \u00a0\u201cExperience Jesus Christ\u2019s Greater Love For You. Experience Holy Week.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

From the Church News<\/em>: \u00a0\u201cArcheological insights and modern witnesses of Easter:\u00a0Ancient findings and a living Prophet and Apostles help deepen understanding, says Richard Neitzel Holzapfel\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is Palm Sunday and why does it matter to Latter-day Saints? Palm Sunday commemorates Christ\u2019s triumphal entry into Jerusalem\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Kirtland<\/a>
\u201cChrist Appears in the Kirtland Temple,\u201d by Walter Rane (legitimate use, I hope and think)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A year ago, I was struck by this report:\u00a0\u201cHow Palm Sunday in New Zealand involved an Apostle and shouts of hosanna in a house of the Lord:\u00a0\u2018To shout hosanna to God and the Lamb on Palm Sunday is a singular experience,\u2019 says Elder Patrick Kearon as he dedicates the Auckland New Zealand Temple\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\n
\n
Last year, Richard Winmill shared the quotation below on Facebook, and I\u2019m reproducing it here. \u00a0(I hope he\u2019s okay with that.) \u00a0With my wife and others, I was in the Kirtland Temple at about this time of year in 2025, and, while we were in the lower assembly hall, our guide, Elder Rory Scanlon (retired from teaching in the theater program at BYU, where he also served as associate dean for the college of Fine Arts and Communication), mentioned the significant fact that the temple\u2019s dedication took place on Palm Sunday, 1836. \u00a0Also, while we were there we sang \u201cThe Spirit of God like a Fire Is Burning,\u201d as they did at the dedication of that first temple and as has been done at every temple dedication since. \u00a0The chorus of that great hymn reads as follows: \u00a0\u201cWe\u2019ll sing and we\u2019ll shout with the armies of heaven, \u2018Hosanna, hosanna to God and the Lamb! \u00a0Let glory to them in the highest be given, Henceforth and forever, Amen and amen!'\u201d<\/em> \u00a0Here now is the quotation that Brother Winmill shared:<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cA Latter-day Saint reading of the triumphal entry on Palm Sunday lays out yet another level of significance between Jesus\u2019s last week two millennia ago and his future Second Coming. The dedication of the Kirtland Temple on March 27, 1836, occurred on Palm Sunday that year, and the appearance of the glorified, risen Lord to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery (Doctrine and Covenants 110: 1\u201310) occurred on April 3, which was Easter Sunday. This timing has led Robert Rees to observe the following: That entire week, in fact, seems to have been a holy week, for on Sunday, March 27, Joseph dedicated the temple and, at the conclusion of his dedicatory prayer, the congregation sang \u201cThe Spirit of God like a Fire Is Burning\u201d and then partook of the sacrament. Joseph recorded, \u201cWe sealed the proceeding of the day by shouting hosanna to God and the Lamb 3 times sealing it each time with Amen, Amen, and Amen.\u201d Although Joseph does not so indicate, this is the shout given by those who welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem on the first Palm Sunday.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\u2014 Greater Love Hath No Man: A Latter-day Saint Guide to Celebrating the Easter Season<\/em>, by Eric D. Huntsman and Trevan G. Hatch<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n
\n
\"Jesus<\/a>
\u201cChrist Carrying the Cross\u201d (El Greco, ca. 1580) \u00a0(Wikimedia Commons public domain image)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
\n

One of my absolute favorite pieces in the Latter-day Saint hymnal is this one<\/a>, with lyrics by Karen Lynn Davidson (1943-2019), a one-time professor of English at Brigham Young University whom I knew slightly, set to music by Hans Leo Hassler (1564-1612) that was later modified by the great Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750). \u00a0It\u2019s great at any time, but especially at Holy Week and on Easter Sunday:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

1.\u00a0O Savior, thou who wearest
\nA crown of piercing thorn,
\nThe pain thou meekly bearest,
\nWeigh\u2019d down by grief and scorn.
\nThe soldiers mock and flail thee;
\nFor drink they give thee gall;
\nUpon the cross they nail thee
\nTo die, O King of all.<\/p>\n

2. No creature is so lowly,
\nNo sinner so depraved,
\nBut feels thy presence holy
\nAnd thru thy love is saved.
\nTho craven friends betray thee,
\nThey feel thy love\u2019s embrace;
\nThe very foes who slay thee
\nHave access to thy grace.<\/p>\n

3. Thy sacrifice transcended
\nThe mortal law\u2019s demand;
\nThy mercy is extended
\nTo ev\u2019ry time and land.
\nNo more can Satan harm us,
\nTho long the fight may be,
\nNor fear of death alarm us;
\nWe live, O Lord, thru thee.<\/p>\n

4. What praises can we offer
\nTo thank thee, Lord most high?
\nIn our place thou didst suffer;
\nIn our place thou didst die,
\nBy heaven\u2019s plan appointed,
\nTo ransom us, our King.
\nO Jesus, the anointed,
\nTo thee our love we bring!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"HCK,<\/a>
From left to right: Quinton Kappel as Heber C. Kimball, John Donovan Wilson as Brigham Young, Twyla Wilson as Mary Ann Young, and Ted Bushman (who is, by the way, the grandson of the historian Richard Lyman Bushman) as Wilford Woodruff, in a scene from the 2024 Interpreter Foundation film Six Days in August<\/em>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Just a reminder that the tenth installment of Becoming Brigham<\/em> goes up tomorrow (Monday), and that a half-minute teaser<\/em> for Episode 10<\/a> is already<\/em> up. \u00a0And that you can watch the nine preceding episodes at becomingbrigham.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 Today was\/is Palm Sunday, commemorating the day on which, according to accounts given in the New Testament, Jesus entered triumphantly into Jerusalem to the acclamation of large crowds, who spread palm fronds and robes on the ground before him to prepare his way, shouting \u201cHosanna!\u201d \u00a0Within just a few days, he was dead. 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