John 12:12-19, The Triumphal Entry

12 The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. 13 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!” 14 And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written, 

15 “Fear not, daughter of Zion;  behold, your king is coming,     sitting on a donkey's colt!”  

16 His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him. 17 The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to bear witness. 18 The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign. 19 So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him.” 

The feast the people have come to is Passover, the annual remembrance of Israel’s exodus from Egypt. The Jewish historian Josephus tells us that about 250,000 animals were slaughtered at Passover, meaning between 2 and 3 million people were in the city that had a normal population in the range of 50,000 to 100,000. This enormous crowd surrounds Jesus, the center of attention. Luke tells us that he wept approaching the city, knowing the tragedy that lay ahead, the rejection of the Messiah by the people he came to save. 

Yet John focuses on the excitement and joy of the people. The nationalistic fervor is high. The people expect much of Jesus, especially with the knowledge that he had raised Lazarus from the dead. The palm branches they wave are a symbol of the Jewish state since the time of the Maccabees, who were devoted to driving the Romans from their land. They quote from Psalm 118, one of the psalms of assent, used by Passover pilgrims as they make their way to the temple. The people shout “Hosanna” that literally means “Give salvation now.” The psalm is a Messianic psalm that references the Coming One. To this psalm the people add the title “King of Israel.” They want him to save them by declaring war on Rome.  

When a king rides into town for purposes of raising an army for war, he rides a horse. When he come for purposes of peace, he rides a donkey in humility. Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a donkey, fulfilling the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9 and making crystal clear his peaceful intentions. Jesus is not the kind of king the people expect. They expect a war general but get the Prince of Peace.  

A few days later it would be easy for the on-looking, dismayed Pharisees to turn the people against Jesus. After all, he did not meet anyone’s expectation of what a true king and Messiah should be. 

Almighty and everlasting God, whose will it is to restore all things in your well-beloved Son, the King of kings and Lord of lords: Mercifully grant that the peoples of the earth, divided and enslaved by sin, may be freed and brought together under his most gracious rule; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (BCP, p. 236)