The Entry into Jerusalem

Christ enters Jerusalem riding on a donkey while the crowds spread palms and cry "Hosanna" — the humble King coming to His city, deliberately, to suffer and to reign from the Cross.

Overview

• Days before His Passion, Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a young donkey while crowds spread garments and palm branches and shout, "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" (Matthew 21.1-11; John 12.12-19).
• The manner is a deliberate act: by coming on a donkey rather than a warhorse, He fulfills Zechariah's prophecy of the humble king (Zechariah 9.9) and refuses the role of political liberator the crowds want.
• Kept as Palm Sunday, the feast opens Holy Week — the same crowds who cry "Hosanna" will within days cry "Crucify Him," and the King is welcomed precisely as He comes to die.

Summary

The Entry into Jerusalem (Matthew 21.1-11; John 12.12-19) is Christ's public, prophetic arrival at the city where He will be crucified. Everything about it is chosen: He sends for a colt "on which no one had ever sat," rides in lowliness, and receives the acclamation of Psalm 118 — "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord" — as the crowds pave His way with cloaks and palms. By this He openly claims to be Israel's promised King, but the kind of king Zechariah foretold: "righteous, and having salvation; lowly, and riding on a donkey" (Zechariah 9.9), not a warlord. The Church keeps the day with palms and celebrates Christ as the King who enters to conquer — but by the Cross, not the sword. It is bound to Lazarus Saturday before it and opens onto the Passion that follows. Cross-link The Passion, Pascha, The Raising of Lazarus.

Sources

[^1]: Matthew 21.1-11; John 12.12-19 (WEB) — the entry on the donkey, the palms, and the crowd's "Hosanna.". [^2]: Zechariah 9.9 (Brenton) — "Behold, the King comes to you, just and a Saviour; meek, and riding on… a colt.".