On the next day, when the great crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, 13 they took palm branches and went out to meet him, and cried out: “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, [even] the king of Israel.” 14 Jesus found an ass and sat upon it, as is written: 15 “Fear no more, O daughter Zion; see, your king comes, seated upon an ass’s colt.” 16 His disciples did not understand this at first, but when Jesus had been glorified they remembered that these things were written about him and that they had done this for him. 17 So the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from death continued to testify. 18 This was [also] why the crowd went to meet him, because they heard that he had done this sign. 19 So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the whole world has gone after him.”
Six days before Passover Jesus went to Bethany where he had raised Lazarus from the dead (Jn. 11:1-44) and a large crowd came to see him and Lazarus. Some of the crowd had witnessed the raising of Lazarus from the dead and others who had heard of it wanted to see him. When they heard that Jesus was going to Jerusalem they waved palm fronds to greet him shouting as he entered the city, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, [even] the king of Israel (v. 13).” Such a welcome was reserved for visiting dignitaries or military heroes so it would have further provoked the Pharisees who commented, “Look, the whole world has gone after him (v. 19).” The OT prophesy was fulfilled, “Exult greatly, O daughter Zion! Shout for joy, O daughter Jerusalem! Behold: your king is coming to you, a just savior is he, Humble, and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey (Zech. 9:9). The events would only be understood by the disciples after Jesus’ death and resurrection.
Almighty God, your Son was arrested and crucified like a common criminal because, blinded by worldly desires, the religious leaders and the crowd could not recognize his true kingship. Have mercy on us, O Lord, and grant us the grace to see with eyes of faith so we may see the path to everlasting life. This we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen!
References
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
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