THE PALM 141 



upon an ass ' into Jerusalem before the feast of 

 the Passover. 



' They . . . took branches of palm trees and 

 went forth to meet Him, and cried Hosanna ! ' 



It was a respect paid to a reigning sovereign 

 and would support the accusation of the Jews 

 that He sought to make Himself a king. 



The entry into Jerusalem is not an incident 

 in the life of Christ which is used for devotional 

 contemplation, though it occurred usually in 

 the series of scenes from the life of Christ which 

 were frequent in pre-Renaissance art, executed 

 in carved wood, ivory and marble; and in the 

 hands of the villagers of the Mount of Ohves the 

 palms signified, of course, simply triumph, for 

 they had not yet gained the full Christian mean- 

 * ing of victory through the Cross. 



In representations of the entry of Christ into 

 Jerusalem, the palms are merely a historical 

 detail, but it is a true symbol, in defiance of 

 the probable fact, when the Saviour Himself 

 is represented carrying the palm, as in the 

 Bihlia Pauperum of 1440.' It is then purely 

 a symbol of His triumph over sin and death. 



' At Heidelberg. 



