45 Palm Sunday Quotes for Your Weekend-Before-Easter Celebration and Religious Observation

Palm Sunday quotes

It's the stuff of children's church programs; palm branches, singing and shouting, a donkey and a crown. Yet it also carries the weight of symbolic significance for Christians moving into Holy Week—remembering the events of Jesus' last week on earth, his final moments leading to the crucifixion and his resurrection three days later. Palm Sunday kicks it all off—and we've got the 45 best Palm Sunday quotes and scriptures to share.

All four gospels offer an account of what is known as "Jesus's Triumphal Entry" into Jerusalem (Matthew 21:1-11; Mark 11:1-11; Luke 19:28-44; and John 12:12-19). Jesus enters on a donkey, fulfilling the prophecy found in Zechariah 9:9: "Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem! Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey" (NRSV). The people, on this particular day, love him. A great crowd formed around him, waving palm branches in the air, eventually laying them on the road beside their cloaks.

For thousands of years, Christians have been observing Palm Sunday, which happens on March 24 in 2024. The palm branches we wave on this day will become the ashes we smear on our foreheads next year for Ash Wednesday.

May these 45 quotes help you reflect on Palm Sunday, preparing you for your own entrance into the sacred spaces of Holy Week, and a blessed Resurrection Sunday to you. 

Related: 115 Encouraging Bible Verses to Motivate You Throughout the Day

45 Best Palm Sunday Quotes & Scriptures

1. "The crowds that went ahead of him and that followed were shouting, 'Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!'" - Matthew 21:9

2. "Now to the gate of my Jerusalem, The seething holy city of my heart, The saviour comes. - Malcolm Quite (Sounding the Seasons)

3. "Our Lord has written the promise of resurrection, not in books alone but in every leaf of springtime." - Martin Luther

4. Mother Teresa, when interviewed by Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show, and asked about how she'd handle the accolades that came with winning the Nobel Peace prize: "Do you think, Mr. Carson, for one moment, that that little donkey thought the crowd was giving him the praise and glory instead of Jesus?"

5. "After this I heard what seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, 'Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power to our God.'" - Revelation 19:1

6. "For no miracle disturbed them so much as that of Lazarus." - St. John Chrysostom

7. "Remember finally, that the ashes on your forehead are created from the burnt palms of last Palm Sunday. New beginnings invariably come from old false things that are allowed to die." - Richard Rohr (Wondrous Encounters: Scripture for Lent)

Related: What Are the 7 'I Am' Statements of Jesus?

8. "As one born of the Holy Spirit and a daughter of the Spirit, you are able to behold the spiritual procession of your King, you are able to behold the righteousness of your King." - St. Ignatius Brianchaninov; translated by Nun Cornelia (Rees)

9. "He barreled through barriers that usually stop us dead in our tracks–fear of ridicule, fear of suffering, abandonment by our closest companions." - Dr. Marcellino D'Ambrosio 

10. "The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him; and the obedience of the peoples is his, binding his foal to the vine and his donkey's colt to the choice vine, he washes his garments in wine and his robe in the blood of grapes." - Genesis 49:10-11 (NRSV)

Related: 25+ Women in the Bible Who Teach Us About Patience, Strength and Faithfulness

11. "Ride on, ride on in majesty! In lowly pomp ride on to die; O Christ, thy triumphs now begin O’er captive death and conquered sin." - Henry Hart Milman (Hymn "Ride on! Ride on in Majesty!")

12. "So let us spread before his feet, not garments or soulless olive branches, which delight the eye for a few hours and then wither, but ourselves, clothed in his grace, or rather, clothed completely in him." - Andrew of Crete

Related: When Is Lent?

13. “Earth is so thick with divine possibility that it is a wonder we can walk anywhere without cracking our shins on altars.” - Barbara Brown Taylor (An Altar in the World: A Geography of Faith)

14. "Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. We bless you from the house of the Lord." - Psalm 118:26 (NRSV)

15. "On this day he entered the holy city of Jerusalem in triumph, and was proclaimed as King of kings by those who spread their garments and branches of palm along his way. Let these branches be for us signs of his victory, and grant that we who bear them in his name may ever hail him as our King, and follow him in the way that leads to eternal life; who lives and reigns in glory with you and the Holy Spirit, now and for ever. Amen." - Book of Common Prayer 

16. "The Lord instructs two of his disciples to go into the village and untether a donkey. If there is any protest, they are to say, 'The Master has need of it.' This is true of every baptized person: the Master has need of your gifts, of you, of the whole of your life." - Bishop Robert Barron 

17. "You showed your strength in choosing penury, since for you to be seated on a foal is a form of beggary. But in glory you shake Zion." - St. Romanos the Melodist

18. “From beginning to end, the Holy Scriptures testify that the predicament of fallen humanity is so serious, so grave, so irremediable from within, that nothing short of divine intervention can rectify it.” - Fleming Rutledge (The Crucifixion: Understanding the Death of Jesus Christ)

19. "I'm goin'a sing when the Spirit says sing, I'm goin'a sing when the Spirit says sing, I'm goin'a sing when the Spirit says sing, and obey the Spirit of the Lord." - African-American Spiritual (author unknown)

Related: Lent Prayers

20. “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people; For He will avenge the blood of His servants, And render vengeance to His adversaries; He will provide atonement for His land and His people.” - Deuteronomy 32:43 (NKJV)

21. "Holy, Holy, Holy. Lord, God of power and might. Heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest. - Sanctus (an ancient hymn)

22. "Everywhere in medieval times, following the Roman custom, a procession composed of the clergy and laity carrying palms moved from a chapel or shrine outside the town, where the palms were blessed, to the cathedral or main church. Our Lord was represented in the procession, either by the Blessed Sacrament or by a crucifix, adorned with flowers, carried by the celebrant of the Mass." - Fr. Francis X. Weiser

23. "Glory, praise and honor, O Christ, our Savior-King, To thee in glad Hosannas inspired children sing." - Benedictine Theodulph, Bishop of Orleans in Latin song: "Gloria, laus et honor"

24. "All hail the pow'r of Jesus' Name; Let angels prostrate fall; Bring forth the royal diadem, and crown Him Lord of all!" - Edward Perronet (Hymn "All Hail The Power of Jesus' Name")

25. "Then hurriedly they all took their cloaks and spread them for him on the bare steps; and they blew the trumpet, and proclaimed, 'Jehu is king.'" - I Kings 9:13

26. "So when we sing 'Hosanna' now, let's make it very personal. Let's make it our praise and our confidence. The Son of David has come. He has saved us from guilt and fear and hopelessness. Salvation! Salvation belongs to our God and to the Son! Hosanna! Hosanna in the highest!" - John Piper

27. "The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb, raising him from the dead, was there giving eyewitness accounts. It was because they had spread the word of this latest God-sign that the crowd swelled to a welcoming parade. The Pharisees took one look and threw up their hands: 'It’s out of control. The world’s in a stampede after him.'" - John 12:17-19 (Eugene Peterson: The Message Bible)

28. "Let us not therefore think highly of ourselves, even if we see ourselves greatly distinguished for our virtues: rather let us offer up the praises of our thanksgivings to Christ Who redeems us, and Who also it is that grants us even the desire to be able to act rightly: by Whom and with Whom to God the Father be praise and dominion, with the Holy Spirit, for over and ever, Amen." -St. Cyril of Alexandria

29. "He will not cry or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street." - Psalm 42:2 (NRSV)

Related: Quiz Your Family's Knowledge With These 300 Bible Trivia Questions (With Answers!)

30. "Self-denial is saying only: He goes ahead of us; hold fast to him." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer

31. “How dangerous a master human emotion is!” - Watchman Nee

32. "[David] The king said to them, 'Take with you the servants of your lord, and have my son Solomon ride on my own mule, and bring him down to Gihon.'" - I Kings 1:33 (NRSV)

33. “Lower your expectations of earth. This isn't Heaven, so don't expect it to be.” - Max Lucado

34. "If you recognise your involvement and prepare to walk with Jesus into the city, to the cross and the tomb, there is a joy and a mystery at the end of the path, because it is inexhaustible divine love that walks with us." - Dr. Rowan Williams (Archbishop of Canterbury)

35. Some things would have been clear to bystanders. In a world with few books but many Scripture readings, the crowds would doubtless have picked up Jesus’s reference to Zechariah’s prophecy about a king riding a donkey. - N.T. Wright ("Palm Sunday As Street Theatre: What Jesus's Performance Meant, And What It Means Today.")

36. "The Lord God helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame; he who vindicates is near." - Isaiah 50:7 (NRSV)

37. One cannot be humble and aware of oneself at the same time. - Madeleine L'Engle (A Circle of Quiet)

Related: When Is Passover 2024? Everything You Need to Know About the Holiday

38. "In 586 BC, Ezekiel saw the glory of God leave the temple, leave the holy city, and come down on Bethany at the Mount of Olives. Now, the One whom the Scriptures define as the brightness of the glory of God comes from Bethany, from the Mount of Olives, goes into the Eastern Gate, goes to the Holy City, and goes to the temple." - R.C. Sproul

39. "Christ did not by progress become God—heaven forbid!—but in mercy he became man, as we believe. We do not preach a divinized man, but instead we confess an incarnate God." - Proclus of Constantinople

40. "Hosanna in the highest!" That ancient song we sing, for Christ is our Redeemer, the Lord of heaven, our King." - Jennette Threlfall (Hymn: "Hosanna, Loud Hosanna")

41. “God, of your goodness, give me yourself; you are enough for me, and anything less that I could ask for would not do you full honor. And if I ask anything that is less, I shall always lack something, but in you alone I have everything.” - Julian of Norwich (Revelations of Divine Love)

42. "His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written of him and had been done to him." - John 12:16 (NRSV)

43. "By thus riding through the streets in state, Jesus Christ claimed to be a king. That claim had been to a great extent kept in the background until now; but ere he goes to his Father, when his enemies rage has reached its utmost fury, and when his own hour of deepest humiliation has just arrived, he makes an open claim before the eyes of all men to be called and acknowledged a king." - Charles Haddon Spurgeon

44. "When we contemplate the sufferings of Jesus, He grants us, according to the measure of our faith, the grace to practice the virtues He revealed during those sacred hours." - St. Angela Merici

45. "Let us all come together cheerfully; let us all receive him gladly, and hold our feast with all honesty. Instead of our garments, let us strew our hearts before Him, in psalms and hymns, let us raise to him our shouts of thanksgiving; and, without ceasing, let us exclaim, ‘Blessed is he that that cometh in the name of the Lord.’" - Saint Methodius of Olympus

Up Next: 75 Best Lent Quotes and Sayings