Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem

Jesus entered Jerusalem riding a donkey while crowds spread cloaks and palm branches on the road, shouting “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” This event, celebrated as Palm Sunday, marked the beginning of Passion Week and publicly proclaimed Jesus as the Messiah.

The entry deliberately fulfilled Zechariah’s prophecy: “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey” (Zechariah 9:9). By choosing a donkey rather than a warhorse, Jesus signaled that he came as a prince of peace, not a military conqueror—though the crowd’s expectations clearly leaned toward political liberation from Rome.

The crowds shouted “Hosanna” (meaning “Save now!”), waving palm branches—symbols of Jewish nationalism recalling the Maccabean victories. They spread their cloaks on the road, the customary greeting for royalty. The Pharisees demanded Jesus silence the crowd, but he replied, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.”

Jesus wept over Jerusalem, prophesying its coming destruction because it failed to recognize “the time of your visitation.” Within days, the same crowds crying “Hosanna!” would shout “Crucify him!” The triumphal entry’s irony is profound: the crowd welcomed Jesus as a conquering king, but he came to conquer through suffering and death, establishing a kingdom “not of this world.”