Orthodox icon | Entry of Jesus in Jerusalem | Palm Sunday | 24837

Accompanied by the apostles, Jesus rides into Jerusalem, sitting on a donkey.

The feast of the Lord’s entry into Jerusalem is celebrated on the Sunday before Holy Week after Lazarus Saturday. These two feasts, the Lazarus Saturday and the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem (also called Palm Sunday), are linked not only by the events described in the Gospel, but also by a common liturgical text – the troparion. The feast of the Lord’s entry into Jerusalem is one of the “twelve feasts”. On that day, the Jews who had come to Jerusalem for the Passover festival welcomed Jesus as Messiah, Prophet and great miracle worker; for shortly before that, He raised Lazarus from the dead. The people of Jerusalem place their clothes under the feet of the donkey on which He rides and received Him with green branches and flowers.

The donkey was chosen consciously, because the donkey stands for the humble and weak in contrast to the horse, which expresses the aggressive and warlike.

The feast of the Lord’s entry into Jerusalem leads to Holy Week.

Icon set into a later panel.