"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.”"
John 12:12-19
King of creation, Lord of disease and death, Ruler of all dark powers, King of men - this is how He is presented to us. Yet there was opposition to Him and to His teaching and claims: He came to His own and His own received Him not. There was a great blindness upon their minds. It was in this twofold context - that of His claim to be King and that of the blindness of so many as to Who He was - that He deliberately and of set purpose came to Jerusalem, and rode into the city on an ass. It was a true description of His act to apply to it the words of Zechariah the prophet 'Behold thy king cometh'. It was the coming of the King, then to His own, offering Himself to them as their King and hope of salvation, His plea to them to recognize Who He was. And the offer was refused. The display of enthusiasm was simply something that had repeatedly been made to do duty for heart belief in Him. It did not deceive Him. Indeed so little did it deceive that in Luke's version of the story, Jesus went on to weep over Jerusalem (Luke 19:42). In the terrible fatal blindness that darkened their minds and understanding, His people were soon to lead Him away to be crucified repudiating His claim to reign over them, saying, 'We have no king but Caesar'. That is one significance of the triumphal entry; but that is only one of the lessons, and there are others of just as great importance. We turn to them in tomorrow's Note.