Palm Sunday at last! And thank God for John, even though our reading comes from Matthew. But if it weren’t for John’s gospel (John 12:13), we wouldn’t know that palm branches were used for the celebration that welcomes Jesus into Jerusalem.

In Matthew’s gospel this is Jesus’ first time in the holy city, the official center of Jewish life and faith. In fact this “new to Jerusalem” theme explains much of the Palm Sunday/Passion Week tensions as described by Matthew. In Matthew’s gospel Jesus’ Galilean identity, as exemplified by his disciples and by the geography of his teachings and miracles, is what sets the stage for many of the conflicts he will face in Jerusalem.

It is fitting that in church tradition Palm Sunday is a bit of a spectacle day. According to today’s Matthew’s text, Jesus plan…