Quotes About Palm Sunday for Sermons and Bulletins
Scripture on the triumphal entry, a king who comes on a donkey, into a city that will turn on him within the week.
Palm Sunday is the one Sunday in the church calendar that is entirely irony: the crowd gets the categories half right (king, son of David) and the posture completely wrong (conqueror, not servant). Every quote below sits inside that tension.
Because so much of Palm Sunday's force is the prophecy it fulfills, this list leans almost entirely on scripture: Zechariah's prophecy and its fulfillment side by side does more work than any commentary line could add to it.
Quotes about palm sunday
Scripture is quoted from the World English Bible (public domain). Every non-scripture quote names its specific source so you can verify it before you preach it.
“Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion! Shout, daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King comes to you! He is righteous, and having salvation; lowly, and riding on a donkey.”
Zechariah — Zechariah 9:9 (WEB)
“Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel!”
The crowd at Jerusalem — John 12:13 (WEB)
“Hosanna to the son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”
The crowd at Jerusalem — Matthew 21:9 (WEB)
“I tell you that if these were silent, the stones would cry out.”
Jesus — Luke 19:40 (WEB)
“Lift up your heads, you gates! Be lifted up, you everlasting doors, and the King of glory will come in.”
David — Psalm 24:7 (WEB)
“When he came near, he saw the city and wept over it.”
Luke, of Jesus — Luke 19:41 (WEB)
Using these quotes in preaching
- 1Zechariah 9:9 and Matthew 21:9 preach best read back-to-back: the congregation hears the prophecy fulfilled in real time rather than being told it was fulfilled.
- 2Luke 19:41, the weeping over Jerusalem, is easy to skip past because it interrupts the celebration. It is the pivot the whole week needs: the crowd is cheering a king who already knows how this ends.
- 3Luke 19:40 ("the stones would cry out") is often quoted alone as a line about worship in general. In context it is Jesus defending the crowd's praise against the Pharisees, worth restoring the context if you use it.
- 4Because Palm Sunday sits one week before Good Friday, a service that only celebrates leaves the turn unprepared. A single line acknowledging that turn (Luke 19:41, or simply naming the week ahead) sets up the rest of Holy Week.
Frequently asked questions
What does "Hosanna" mean?
It comes from a Hebrew phrase meaning roughly "save us" or "save now" (Psalm 118:25). By Jesus's day it had also become an exclamation of praise, which is how it functions in the Palm Sunday crowds, a plea and a shout of celebration at once.
What Old Testament prophecy does Palm Sunday fulfill?
Zechariah 9:9, which describes a righteous king entering "lowly, and riding on a donkey" rather than on a warhorse, a deliberate sign of humility that the gospel writers (especially Matthew 21:5 and John 12:15) explicitly connect to the triumphal entry.
Why did Jesus weep over Jerusalem on Palm Sunday?
Luke 19:41–44 records Jesus weeping as he approached the city, grieving that Jerusalem did not recognize "the things which belong to your peace." It is placed directly in the middle of the triumphal entry, a deliberate contrast to the crowd's celebration.
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Related quote themes
Quotes about Good Friday
Scripture from the cross itself, plus two hymns whose words have carried Good Friday services for three centuries.
Quotes about Jesus
Jesus's own words about himself, plus C.S. Lewis's well-known argument that a merely good teacher is not on the table.
Quotes about Sacrifice
Scripture on sacrifice: Christ's once for all, and the "living sacrifice" it asks of everyone who follows him.
Every quote theme
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