I've been pondering this question for a while. With Easter right around the corner, I figured this is the perfect time to ask. See these verses:
Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”
Matthew 21:8-9 (ESV)The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!”
John 12:12-13 (ESV)
Why did the people lay palm tree branches on the road that Jesus entered on? Did this have a special significance in Jewish culture at the time?