To get to the lost meaning of palms, you might go to your trophy case if you have one, or imagine one if you don’t. Think of these gold-painted golfers, or soccer balls or gymnasts.  Picture the Lombardi trophy (a golden football) or the Stanley Cup (a silver wedding cake?).  2000 years from now people will probably look back at these objects and be as clueless as we are with palm branches as to their meaning.  But of course, its not the painted gold guy or the palm itself that means anything, it’s what thy signify that matters; and they all signify victory!  Trophies remind players that they fought together against all odds, and emerged as the greatest. Palms did the same in the ancient world. The best athlete would not be given a trophy, but a palm branch. An ancient lawyer might put a palm branch on his door after winning a case. And most strikingly, an ancient military leader, parading back home in triumph, would be surrounded by palms, evocative signs of a hard fight, with many lost; but in the end victory!

This is why John recalls the detail of palms in his Gospel, and why we bless and raise and bring home our palms today.  These are the symbols of the victory of Christ, a conquering general who has utterly defeated the enemy. This crowd of his followers are so sure of Jesus’ impending victory, that they are giving him a medal before he finishes the race. His betrayal, crucifixion and resurrection were still days before him, but this crowd didn’t need to see the final victory.  They knew he was a winner. They saw him heal the untouchable, love the unlovable, forgive the unforgiveable.  Likely, they themselves were once the untouchable, unlovable and unforgiveable!  They had seen enough to trust in Jesus’ victory, without yet seeing the end.