The King Comes to Zion

Pilgrims greet Jesus with palm branches and words from Psalm 118: “Hosanna” and “Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord,” adding the title “King of Israel.” John then explicitly invokes Zechariah 9:9: Zion’s king comes humbly on a donkey. The disciples do not understand the scriptural pattern until Jesus is glorified, again illustrating progressive revelation within the Gospel itself. The crowd also bears witness to the Lazarus sign, while the Pharisees lament that “the world” has gone after him—a statement that immediately opens into the arrival of Greeks seeking Jesus.