Word-of-mouth news spread quickly in those days (+-33 A D) - but since the little village of Bethany nestled on the slope of one side of the Mount of Olives, and the other side of the mountain led down to the valley at the base of Temple Mount in the city of Jerusalem, just 2 miles away, word of Jesus' present location spread very fast! Jesus was back!
The crowds surged up and over the Mount of Olives and converged on Bethany and the feast being held in Jesus' honor. They didn't go just to see Him, they also wanted to see Lazarus, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. The result of Lazarus' popularity among the people was: the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well . . . because on account of him, many Jews were placing their faith in Jesus.
The very next day, John tells us, this same crowd of people heard Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, so they cut palm branches and went out to meet Him, showing Him the honor given to a King. As He passed by, riding on the back of a donkey's colt in fulfillment of ancient prophecy, as He wended His way down the slope of the Mount of Olives they adoringly waved their palm branches and shouted, "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!"
Hosanna! The word means 'save' or 'save now' and is a cry for salvation, as well as a declaration of praise!
Hosanna! Savior! Hosanna! Save us! Hosanna! You are the promised One who comes in the name of the Lord! You are the Messiah! You are the true King of Israel! Hosanna!
And the reason they believed this: the resurrection of Lazarus just weeks before!
Their acclamation only proved the Pharisees worst fear. To them it appeared the whole world had gone after Jesus.
John doesn't write his book as a sequential record. Just as he leaked earlier that Mary was the one who anointed Jesus' feet with nard and dried them with her hair before it occurred in the sequence of telling the events he records, John now tells us in verse 16, as a bit of an aside, that the disciples didn't understand what was happening, even as Jesus was being honored by the crowds - but later they would put two and two together - what had been prophesied about Him, and what they witnessed were precisely fulfilled in what had been done to Him. That, in fact, is the proof of His claim of being the Great I Am. He fulfilled every prophecy ever written about the coming Messiah!
In trying to figure out the timeline for this period, it appears their dinner celebration was very likely on a Saturday night - after Sabbath. But - - it is possible that His triumphal entry was on a Monday, not a Sunday.... What matters is not that I am able to figure that out in satisfaction of my curiosity for the timing, but that it happened, just as it was faithfully recorded! And it did!
He rules! He reigns! He says He's coming back again! He will! And - like John, I am telling the story from this side of His resurrection!
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