The Gospel Of John Chapter 12:12-50
I. Introductory Comments: ‘The narrative of the triumphal entry is found in all four Gospels….John does not include all the details that we find elsewhere, and, for example, says little about the procuring of the donkey, saying only that Jesus “having found a young donkey, sat thereon”…He has some touches of his own. He alone dates the incident (12:12). He alone mentions the palms, the reference to the raising of Lazarus, the fact that the disciples did not understand the significance of these happenings until after Jesus “was glorified”.’ (Morris p. 581) Once again we must reject the theory that the Gospel writers merely copied from each other, or from a common human document. Jesus said they would be guided by the Holy Spirit, and not left to fallible memory or human sources in retelling this events (John 14:26)
II. Commentary: The reader should note that parallel passages mentioning the same account are found in Matthew 21:1-11; Mark 11:1-11 and Luke 19:29-44.
John 12:12 ‘On the next day the great multitude who had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem,’ ‘On the next day’-most feel that this ‘next day’ is Sunday. Jesus arrived on Friday, the feast was either held Friday night, during the Sabbath or on Saturday night. Word quickly spread on that morning that Jesus was on His way to the city from Bethany. Josephus says that at one Passover, over 3 million people were present.
John 12:13 ‘took branches of the palm trees, and went out to meet Him, and began to cry out, “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel.”’ ‘took branches of the palm trees’-Evidently many palms grew in this region and along the route, the palm was a symbol of victory (Leviticus 23:40; Revelation 7:9). ‘Conquering kings and princes were usually honored in this manner at their triumphal 1