John 12:9-19

The Triumphal Entry. If the story of Lazarus is historical it is quite probable that people in Jerusalem should come out to Bethany, to satisfy themselves as to what would happen at the Feast, and that the ruling classes determined to deal with Lazarus as well as with Jesus. The Synoptic and Johannine accounts of the entry differ in details, but the account in our gospel is not in itself improbable. The Feast pilgrims, Galileans and possibly Judæ ans, but not Jerusalemites, learning from those who had been out to Bethany that Jesus intends to come up to the Feast, take palm branches (contrast Mark 11:8) and go out to meet Him. They greet Him with what was perhaps the ordinary greeting to strangers coming up to the Feast (Psalms 118:26), to which is added the King of Israel. The title refused in Gaiilee is pressed on Him again. He accepts their homage, and by an acted parable teaches them the true character of the kingdom and the King, as Zechariah had depicted Him (John 9:9; cf. Matthew 21:4). The author assumes that the rest of the story is known to his readers. He simply adds that it was in the light of later events that the disciples learned the significance of their action. It should be noticed that this account explains, as the Synoptic does not, the sudden change by which the pilgrimage to the Feast becomes a triumphal procession. The Fourth Gospel also accounts for the presence in and near Jerusalem of so many friends on whose help the Lord can depend.