“Social media channels are global tools that can personally and positively impact large numbers of individuals and families. And I believe the time has come for us as disciples of Christ to use these inspired tools appropriately and more effectively to testify of God the Eternal Father, His plan of happiness for His children, and His Son, Jesus Christ, as the Savior of the world; to proclaim the reality of the Restoration of the gospel in the latter days; and to accomplish the Lord’s work” (“To Sweep the Earth as with a Flood” [address given at BYU Campus Education Week, Aug. 19, 2014], LDS.org).
“Only kings and conquerors received such an extraordinary token of respect as this. (2 Kings 9:13.) … Amid shouts of praise and pleas for salvation and deliverance, we see the disciples strewing our Lord’s course with palm branches in token of victory and triumph. This whole dramatic scene prefigures that yet future assembly when ‘a great multitude,’ which no man can number, … shall stand ‘before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands,’ crying with a loud voice, ‘Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.’ (Rev. 7:9–10.)” (Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, 3 vols. [1965–73], 1:578).
“Hosanna is a Hebrew word that ‘means “please save us” and is used in praise and supplication. … At the Lord’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem, the multitudes cried “Hosanna” and spread palm branches for Jesus to ride upon, thus demonstrating their understanding that Jesus was the same Lord who had delivered Israel anciently (Ps. 118:25–26; Matt. 21:9, 15; Mark 11:9–10; John 12:13). These people recognized Christ as the long-awaited Messiah’ (Guide to the Scriptures, “Hosanna”; scriptures.lds.org). The phrase ‘all the city was moved’ (Matthew 21:10) suggests that Jesus’s triumphal entry was noised throughout the city and was known by many people” (New Testament Student Manual [Church Educational System manual, 2014], 64–65).
“The Lord has provided many avenues by which we may receive [His] healing influence. I am grateful that the Lord has restored temple work to the earth. It is an important part of the work of salvation for both the living and the dead. Our temples provide a sanctuary where we may go to lay aside many of the anxieties of the world. Our temples are places of peace and tranquillity. In these hallowed sanctuaries God ‘healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.’ (Ps. 147:3.)” (“Spiritual Healing,” Ensign,May 1992, 7).
The Savior’s cursing of the fig tree taught several important lessons. The fig tree could serve as a representation of the corrupt religious leaders of the Jews, who made an outward show of piety but lacked true righteousness. In this vein, the event taught that all of us must strive to live our lives in a manner that is consistent with what we believe and teach. Cursing the fig tree also provided a visual illustration of the lesson the Savior taught earlier in His ministry with the parable of the fig tree (see Luke 13:6–9): all must repent or perish. After witnessing the disciples’ reaction to the cursing of the fig tree, the Savior also used this occasion to teach them about the power of faith to work even greater miracles than the one they had just witnessed.
Jesus Christ is “the stone which the builders rejected” (Matthew 21:42) and became the cornerstone of the kingdom of God on the earth (see Acts 4:11; Ephesians 2:19–20). The Savior’s instruction about those who fall on the stone being broken refers to the fact that rather than building their lives on this stone (see Helaman 5:12), the Jews would stumble and fall on it (see Isaiah 8:14; 1 Corinthians 1:23). They would be broken, or destroyed, for failing to accept Jesus as the Messiah and Son of God and for failing to accept His gospel. The stone falling on others refers to the Savior destroying those who would reject Him. (See Joseph Smith Translation, Matthew 21:47–56 [in the Bible appendix].)