John 12:12–19
Read the passage.
With so many people come to see Lazarus and Jesus, Jesus’s movements could no longer be hidden. When He started towards Jerusalem to attend the Feast of Unleavened Bread and Passover, everyone knew about it. From all the things they had heard Jesus say and do, this crowd was convinced that He was the Messiah, the prophesied King of Israel who would throw off the shackles of Roman oppression. The benediction “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the ,” is from Psalm 118:25–26. This is the end of a section of Psalms associated with Passover, so it is natural for it to be on the people’s minds. Narratively, Psalm 118 is from the perspective of the king, so it makes sense that the people would add on “even the King of Israel!” to the end, especially when they are expecting Jesus to set up His kingdom very soon.
The people’s expectations are further enflamed when Jesus gets on a donkey’s colt and rides it into the city. John explicitly calls this out as a fulfillment of Zechariah 9:9. The disciples didn’t catch it then, but I suspect some of the crowd noticed what was happening. Zechariah 9 speaks of judgement on Israel’s enemies, and then the King of Zion enters the city on a colt and establishes peace, even going so far as to remove the instruments of war during his reign, which extends to the ends of the earth. If Jesus was fulfilling the first part of that prophecy, then it stood to reason that Israel was about to become a world power, ruling in peace and prosperity.
When the Pharisees heard about all this, they were dismayed. They had a comfortable position in the status quo, and they didn’t see how they could keep it if Jesus actually came to power as king over Israel. He had clashed with them too much for that to be politically viable. More and more people were believing in Jesus instead of what they taught, and they were also worried that Rome would take exception to this idea of a king not under Caesar’s rule.
You are blessed forever and ever. Rule and reign in our hearts, our lives, and our nation.