History of Palm Sunday: How it starts Holy Week
The week we now call Holy Week or Passion Week started with Palm Sunday. Why was this week so important that three of the gospel writers (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) devote a full third of their contents to reporting this week, and The Fourth Gospel (John) dedicates its entire last half?
Jerusalem, which had a normal population of about 50,000 at the time of Jesus, had at least tripled in size because of the influx of pilgrims celebrating the Jewish holiday Passover. Early Sunday morning, Jesus made his dramatic public entry into the city. This was the end of any privacy and safety his ministry had afforded previously. It marked the beginning of an inevitable collision course with the religious and political authorities: both Jewish and Roman.
Geography of Palm Sunday
The procession started at the Mount of Olives, across the land bridge of the Kidron Valley that ran along the eastern side of the city and through the eastern gate into the city. There is some debate among scholars about which of the two gates on the eastern wall of the city Jesus would have entered.
