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(Zec 9:9) and declaration of Jesus’ Messiahship. It also tells how
it drew a proper response of intense faith and adoration from
one class of people and adverse reactions from the other crowds.
The enthused multitudes that had gathered for the feast in
Jerusalem surged to greet Jesus as he descends from the Mount
of Olives towards Jerusalem on a donkey. The crowd gathered
and Jerusalem was abuzz with excitement and anticipation as
Jesus entered the city. Jesus was fully aware that His time had
come and therefore allowed the multitude to publicly ascribe
adoration, praise and honor to Him as their King.
In Jesus’ day, the word ‘Hosanna’ would have been a term
familiar to everyone in Israel. While originally signifying a cry
for help, but it was also an invocation of blessing, an exclamation
of praise, and/or a shout of celebration. In this context, the
shouts of Hosanna from the crowd seemed to have had all these
nuances. In Greek ‘hosanna’ is a transliteration of the Hebrew
phrase ‘O save us.’ Jesus’ final entry into Jerusalem was carried
out overtly, in full public view, shows that all Jerusalem would
have been able to hear the ‘coronation’ of Jesus as the King of
Israel (cf Lk 23:2, 3, Mt 27:42, Mk 15:32, Jn 1:49), the King of
the Jews (Mt 2:2, 29:11, 29, 37).
Secondly, the crowd that cried ‘Hosanna to the Son of
David’ were quoting the Messianic passage in Psalm 118:25.
There was an explosion of their sentiment alive with expectation
that Jesus was the Messiah for whom they had longed for
centuries. Their act of spreading the cloaks and branches was
in recognition of Jesus as their king (at least for the moment).
Their indomitable spirit shined through even when the going
got tough. Thirdly, there were those who rejected Jesus such as
elders, priests, scribes, and pharisees who had been gathering
and assembling and moving about everywhere falsely accusing
Jesus. There were people who further questioned Jesus’ identity
saying ‘who is this?’. These crowds, heavily influenced by mob
psychology, joined each other and turned on Jesus later that
week, and called for Jesus’ blood. As they saw that Jesus was not
the warrior king or political leader they had sought-after, their

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Lenten Meditations Re - Imaging People