John 12:12-13

“ The next day, a great multitude of persons who had come to the feast, having heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem took branches of palm-trees 13 and went forth to meet him, and they cried, Hosanna! Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the Lord, the king of Israel! ”

This multitude is much more considerable than that of which mention was made in John 12:9-11; it included most of the pilgrims of all countries who had come to the feast. They had heard from those who had gone to Bethany on the preceding evening, that Jesus was really there and that He was Himself preparing to come to Jerusalem. They went forth, therefore, in large numbers to meet Him, and to form a body of attendants on His entrance into the city. Those who started earliest went even to Bethany; the rest must have successively met Him on the road. Thus, in proportion as He advanced, already surrounded by many disciples and friends, He found from place to place joyous groups on the way. Hence an easy explanation is given of the ovation of this day, which, in the Synoptic narrative, has a somewhat abrupt character and remains in a certain degree inexplicable. Not having mentioned the stay of Jesus at Bethany, the other gospels naturally represent Him as entering into the city with the caravan of pilgrims who come with Him from Jericho.

All at once an inspiration of celestial joy passes over this multitude. Their rejoicing and their hopes break forth in songs and significant symbols. Luke, in particular, admirably describes this moment: “ And as he drew near from the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God for all the miracles which they had seen ” (John 19:37). John gives us to understand what was the one among all these miracles which played the greatest part in the enthusiasm of the multitude and which had produced this very general effect both on those who accompanied and on those who met the Lord: namely, the resurrection of Lazarus.

The palm, by reason of the permanent beauty of its magnificent crown of leaves, is the emblem not only of strength, beauty and joy, but also of salvation (see Keil). In 1Ma 13:51, Simon returns to Jerusalem with songs and branches of palm-trees, to the sound of the harp and of cymbals, because the enemy was driven out of Israel. In Leviticus 23:40, in the institution of the feast of Tabernacles, it is said: “ Ye shall take...branches of palm-trees..., and ye shall rejoice seven days before the Lord. ” On each day during this last feast a procession, in which branches of palm-trees were carried, was made around the altar of burnt-offering; comp. Revelation 7:9. On this day all was done spontaneously. An allusion has been found in the articles τά and τῶν before βαΐα and φοινίκων (the branches of the palm-trees) to the branches which were well-known by tradition and which gave the name to the day; it is more simple to understand by them: “The branches of the palm-trees which were found on the road,” as if John had said: Having stripped the palm-trees of their branches. The term βαΐον already in itself means branch of the palm-tree. But the complement τῶν φοινίκων is added by John for the readers who were not acquainted with the technical term.

The cries of the multitude, as well as the terms: son of David (Matt.), King of Israel (John), leave no doubt as to the meaning of this manifestation; it was certainly the Messiah whom the people intended to salute in the person of Jesus. The acclamations reported by John (John 12:13), the equivalent of which is found in the Synoptics, are taken from the 118th Psalm, particularly from John 12:25-26. It was probably a chant composed for the inauguration of the second temple, and the quoted words refer to the procession received by the priests on its arrival at the temple. Numerous Rabbinical citations prove that this Psalm was regarded as Messianic. Every Israelite knew these words by heart: they were sung at the feast of Tabernacles, in the procession which was made around the altar, and at the Passover in the chant of the great Hallel (Psalms 113-118) during the Paschal supper. Hosanna (from עה ָנּאשִׁיָהוֹ, save, I pray thee) is a prayer addressed to God by the theocratic people on behalf of His Messiah-King; it is, if we may venture to use the expression, the Israelitish God save the King. It seems to us more natural to refer the words in the name of the Lord to the verb comes, than to the participle blessed. The expression: He that comes in the name of the Lord, designates in a general way, and still quite vaguely, the divine messenger par excellence, on whose person and work Israel implores the benedictions of heaven; then there comes after this the great word whose import every one understands, the by no means equivocal term King of Israel. Of course, all in this multitude did not cry out exactly in the same way; this explains the differences in the popular acclamations reported by the evangelists. As in John 6:5, Jesus had seen in the arrival of the multitudes in the desert the call of His Father to give a feast to His people, so in the impetuosity of the multitude who hasten towards Him with these triumphal acclamations, He recognizes a divine signal; He understands that, in accordance with the words of the very Psalm from which the people borrow their songs, this is “ the day which the Lord has made, and we must rejoice in it ” (Psa 118:24); and he responds to the salutation of the people by a true Messianic sign.