Only the sectarians celebrate Palm Sunday. Zechariah 9:9b; “…behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation…”
John 12:12-13; “On the next day much people that were come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, 13 Took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord.”
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Beheld as King … The significance of the people waving palm branches can be used as a great witnessing tool to the Mormon people so be sure to utilize this! The following info on palm branches comes from a series on our sites for Holy Week.
In the Greco-Roman tradition of the time, palm branches were waved as the triumphant victor of a battle rode into a village or province, or they served simply to signify a victory in a court case.
At this time of year the city and roads were clogged to the breaking point with visitors arriving from all over to celebrate the Holy Feast Days where all three fell within a one week period of time; Passover, Feast of Unleavened Bread and the Feast of the Firstfruits. They referred to this week as the Passover Feast.
Attendance at the seven annual feasts was prescribed by the Lord in the Laws of the Sinai Covenant found in the following chapters; Exodus 12, Leviticus 23 and Numbers 23 and attendance was expected.
Deuteronomy 16:16; “Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles: and they shall not appear before the LORD empty.”
The 10th of Nisan (also known as Abib/Aviv) fell on a Sunday (we refer to this as Palm Sunday). It’s on this day male lambs or kids are chosen for the Passover sacrifice and we see this in Exodus 23:3-6.
The significance of this date for the Mormon means nothing. They don’t acknowledge or celebrate Palm Sunday whatsoever. In our article on this I mentioned how I was saved on Palm Sunday of ’93 and wondered why people would lay dirty branches of a tree on the floor of the church I attended.
Not only can you witness about the fulfillment of scripture, you can also tell them why this was so significant!
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Mormon Doctrine, p. 393; “Sectarians traditionally celebrate the Sunday before Easter as Palm Sunday in commemoration of our Lord’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem…it is not the common practice to single out Palm Sunday for any special commemorative worship. Rather the Latter-day Saints memorialize the transcendent events of their era, such things as the coming of John the Baptist, the restoration of the Melchizedek Priesthood, the conferral of the sealing keys by Elijah, and the organization of the Church again on earth.” – Bruce McConkie
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