On the morrow a great crowd who came to the feast, having heard that Jesus is coming into Jerusalem,
The day after the supper at Bethany, Jerusalem is full of Passover pilgrims, and word spreads that the man who raised Lazarus is coming. What follows is a public welcome of Jesus as Israel's King — but who are these people, and why does the shouting stop so soon?
One writer traces how the crowd formed. Two groups came from opposite directions and met on the way.
At first there were two separate companies. One had come with the Lord from Bethany. The other went out from Jerusalem to meet Him when they heard He was near (John 12:17-18). The two joined on the Mount of Olives. Those who came out from Jerusalem most likely turned round when they met Him, and led the procession into the city.
The crowd does not gather because of teaching or argument. One miracle brought them out.
It was His resurrection power that impressed the crowd so deeply. They did not draw the full lesson of faith. They concluded that He must be the promised Son of David, and they met Him as such. The Pharisees, meanwhile, had to admit among themselves that their stand and their opposition were plainly useless, and that the world — the prize of unbelief — had gone after Him.
Lazarus himself was now a marked man.
All the enemy's efforts to block these testimonies to the glories of Jesus were powerless. They would have been glad to kill Lazarus. But they could not touch a hair of his head while his testimony to Jesus' glory was still needed.
The welcome gives Jesus a second title, straight after the tomb at Bethany.
This is the second character in which God would have Jesus recognised, despite His rejection. The resurrection of Lazarus had shown Him as Son of God. Now He is owned as Son of David.
A third title follows later in the chapter.
The resurrection of Lazarus bore witness to the glory of Jesus as the Son of God. Now we have the privilege of hearing a further witness to His glory as the Son of David (John 12:12-19), and as the Son of Man (John 12:20-36).
The crowd did not invent the branches or the words. They took both from a festival and a psalm.
Then they broke out in glad shouts, quoting in part from Psalm 118: "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest." Hosanna means "save now." The Jews use the word "Hosanna" at the Feast of Tabernacles, and the waving of the palms also brings that feast to mind.
The psalm they chose carries its own picture, and the crowd hardly knew what they were saying.
They took their shouts of triumph from Psalm 118. That passage pictures the nation of Israel bringing into His glory the Head Stone which the builders had once rejected. They may have neither understood nor intended any of this. But God moved them to play the part they played, so that the whole scene would present their King, in full form, to the city and nation of the Jews.
This was more than a wave of feeling in a holiday crowd.
It is a wonderful scene. Cold human reasoning is not what is at work here. Nor is it only the effect of His miracles, though it is one fruit of them. It is the mighty working of God on the minds of the crowd, forcing it for a short time to bear testimony to the despised Son of God.
The welcome was real, but it did not last.
There was a partial fulfilment when the Lord entered Jerusalem (John 12:12-15). But within a few days the cry "Hosanna" changed to "Away with Him."
The same shout will sound again, and next time it will hold.
The people give Him the welcome due to the Messiah: "Hosanna! (Save now.) Blessed is the King of Israel who comes in the name of the Lord." Jerusalem will hear that shout again, and next time no terrible cry of "Crucify Him!" will follow it.
- Cause — one raised man. Lazarus walked out of the tomb, and that drew the crowd out of Jerusalem. No threat could hide the evidence.
- Crown — a second title. Bethany showed Him as Son of God. On the road into the city He is owned as Son of David. Son of Man comes later in the chapter.
- Cry — "Hosanna" means "save now." It comes from Psalm 118, and the palms belong to the Feast of Tabernacles.
- Control — God's hand, not the mood of a holiday crowd. God moved the crowd to give testimony to His rejected Son.
- Collapse — and a coming day. Within days the same voices said "Away with Him." The shout of Psalm 118 waits for a Jerusalem that will not take it back.
took branches of palms and went out to meet him, and cried, Hosanna, blessed [is] he that comes in the name of [the] Lord, the King of Israel.
A crowd streams out of Jerusalem with palm branches and greets Jesus with words lifted straight from an old psalm, hailing Him as Israel's King. Yet within days the same city would demand His death. So what was this welcome, and whose doing was it?
The scene looks like spontaneous excitement. Commentators see God's hand behind it.
The power of God moves the hearts of the crowds. They greet Him as King, as Son of David, using the words of Psalm 118... It would have been a happy thing for them if their hearts had been changed to keep this testimony in the Spirit. But God in His sovereignty moved their hearts to give this testimony. He could not let His Son be rejected without receiving this testimony to Him.
Another writer looks at the Lord's own part in the scene, and at how carefully the prophecy behind it is quoted.
It was not mere enthusiasm in the crowd, but God at work. The Lord Himself sat on the young donkey, just as Zechariah 9 had prophesied. It is remarkable how both Matthew and John leave out the part of the prophecy that did not apply then, however certain it is for later. He knew well that He was to suffer at that time, so that He might bring salvation when He comes again in glory.
The word is not a cheer. It is Hebrew, and it asks for something.
"Hosanna!" is a Hebrew word meaning "Save now!" It becomes a set way of asking for the Lord's help when the true Christ, or Messiah, is recognised... This cry recognised Jesus as the Son of David, the Messiah.
The crowd quoted Psalm 118 rightly. But one writer points to a later word of the Lord that puts the psalm's true moment in the future — and leaves the temple empty until then.
The crowd welcomed Him as Messiah. They were right to apply to Him the words of Psalm 118. In Matthew 23 the Lord says those words will be spoken by the repentant remnant of Israel who will see Him when He returns to reign. Until then the house, once made holy by Jehovah and bearing His name, is only their house, left to them desolate — for they had made it a house of trade and a den of robbers.
So the entry is a preview, not a coronation.
The Lord's triumphal entry into Jerusalem came very close to the time of His crucifixion. Even so, it is a lovely foreshadowing of the day when He will take up His royal power and reign over the house of Israel. For a few short hours the Lord has His rightful place as the King of Israel among His earthly people.
The branches were not random greenery. They already had a fixed meaning in Israel's worship and in the Bible's picture of the coming kingdom.
Palm trees or palm branches also have their significance in the Word. When the Lord entered Jerusalem as the King of Peace, His disciples bore palm branches before Him. It is the sign of the peaceful triumph of a reign about to begin. In the same way, the huge crowd in Revelation 7 hold palm branches, celebrating the Lamb's victory. Palms were used at the Feast of Tabernacles (Leviticus 23:40), a symbol of the celebration of the thousand-year kingdom... So palm branches symbolise the peace, security, and triumph of that reign of righteousness.
News about Lazarus had spread through the city. One writer sets that news inside a larger purpose.
God, however, decides that there will be a full witness to the glory of the One Whom man has rejected. Witness has already been given to His glory as the Son of God. Now God raises up a further witness to His glory as the Son of David. Many people hear that the One Who has raised Lazarus from the dead is coming to Jerusalem. They go out with palm branches to hail Him as the Son of David, the promised King of Israel who comes in the Name of the Lord, as their own Psalm says (Psalm 118:26), riding on a donkey's colt, as it is written in the Prophets (Zechariah 9:9).
Days later the same crowd changed its cry. One writer weighs what the shouting was worth.
It is a terrible thing to see how fickle the multitude is... The same crowd that cried, "Hosanna to the Son of David!" and praised Him to the skies cried with one voice, "Crucify him, crucify him!" within a few days... their applause was nothing. Applause is only human feeling stirred up for the moment, and that feeling can give way to the opposite one very quickly.
Commentators hold two things together. God arranged a true witness to His Son, and the people who gave it had no faith behind their words.
- Arranged — The welcome was God's doing, not the crowd's idea. He would not let men reject His Son without a public witness to His kingship.
- Asked — "Hosanna" means "Save now." The crowd was not clapping. They were asking for help, in the words Israel uses when Messiah is recognised.
- Borrowed — The words come from Psalm 118. Its true speakers are the repentant remnant of Israel who will greet Him when He returns.
- Symbolised — Palm branches stand for peaceful triumph. They tie the scene to the Feast of Tabernacles and to the joy of Revelation 7 — the kingdom shown for a few hours.
- Hollow — The same voices shouted "Crucify Him" days later. Excited feeling is not faith. Only what God works in the heart lasts.
And Jesus, having found a young ass, sat upon it; as it is written,
The crowd has just hailed Jesus as the King of Israel, waving palm branches after news of Lazarus spread through Jerusalem. Then He picks out a young donkey and rides it in. The act matched a prophecy written centuries earlier. Nobody there saw it at the time — not even His own disciples.
The entry was public and formal. Jesus offered Himself to the city in the role Scripture had given Him, and He came in the lowliest way possible.
The next day Jesus presented Himself to Jerusalem as Israel's King, just as Zechariah the prophet had said. No earthly ruler could afford to make his formal entry into his capital city in such a humble way. But He was the Word made flesh. For Him, all the glory that was possible then would have been loss, not gain.
This was the nation's final opportunity to receive Him on these terms.
In the Gospels His entry into Jerusalem was the Messiah's last offer to the nation. They could still receive the One the prophets had spoken of. But they did not want Him.
John ties this scene to the raising of Lazarus, and the two events show two glories of the same Person. The other Gospels tell how Jesus found the colt; John does not.
This is the second character in which God would have Jesus recognised, despite His rejection. The resurrection of Lazarus had shown Him as Son of God; now He is owned as Son of David. Here the event is directly connected with the resurrection of Lazarus and the title of Son of God. In Luke, and even in Matthew and Mark, it is connected instead with the title of Lord, and there we find the details of how Jesus found the donkey's colt.
The animal He chose said something about this coming — and about the one still ahead.
He fulfils prophecy by riding into Jerusalem on a donkey's colt. He comes in lowliness and peace, not on the war-horse of mighty conquest that He will ride in the day of His glory (Rev. 19). No doubt it would seem out of place for the Messiah to come in such a lowly way. Yet the prophecy itself should have stirred enough interest to prepare Israel for this unusual event.
The donkey had never been broken in. One writer sees a picture in that detail.
He finds a young donkey and sits on it. That illustrates what will happen when Zechariah 9:9 is fulfilled. He will bring everything into subjection to Himself, and His sitting on a donkey that no one had broken in is a picture of that. Then He will bring salvation, which is the meaning of "Hosanna", to Israel.
Zechariah's prophecy is longer than what John records. The missing words are not an oversight. They describe what could not be true that day.
This was not mere excitement in the crowd. It was God at work, and the Lord Himself sat on the young donkey, just as Zechariah 9 had said. It is remarkable that both Matthew and John leave out the clause of the prophet that did not apply then, however certain it is later on. He knew well that He had to suffer at that time, so that He could bring salvation when He comes again in glory.
John cuts the quotation shorter than Matthew does. One writer links that to the character of this Gospel.
John 12:15 quotes this verse from Zechariah even more briefly: "Fear not, daughter of Zion: behold your King comes, sitting on a donkey's colt." It leaves out the joy of Jerusalem, and it leaves out the character of Christ as Saviour. Even His lowliness is not mentioned here. In this Gospel He is shown as the Son of God, and the Father testified to His kingship at the moment He laid down His life.
The disciples took part in the whole scene, but its meaning stayed closed to them. John says so in the next verse.
Here again we are told that even His disciples did not know these things at first. But when Jesus was glorified, they remembered that Scripture had said these things about Him, and that they had done these things to Him. He needed no one to tell Him about man or about Himself. Past, present, future, earth and heaven all lay open to His gaze… In the light of His glorification the disciples learned the meaning of the word and of the facts.
- Presented. Jesus offered Himself to Jerusalem as her King, exactly as Zechariah had said. It was the nation's last chance to receive Him.
- Owned. The raising of Lazarus showed Him as Son of God. Now He is owned as Son of David — a second glory that man's rejection could not erase.
- Lowly. He came on a donkey, in peace, not on the war-horse of conquest He will ride in the day of His glory.
- Partial. Both Matthew and John leave out the prophecy's words about salvation. He had to suffer first. The full words wait for His return.
- Delayed. The disciples acted out the prophecy without understanding it. Only after Jesus was glorified did they see what they had done.
Fear not, daughter of Zion behold, thy King cometh, sitting on an ass's colt.
The crowd is hailing Jesus as King of Israel, and John points to a prophecy Zechariah wrote centuries earlier. But John shortens that prophecy, changes its opening call, and leaves us asking why the King rides a donkey's colt.
The raising of Lazarus is fresh in everyone's mind. The entry into Jerusalem follows straight on from it.
The people go out to meet Him with palm branches. They greet Him as the King of Israel who comes in the name of Jehovah, according to Psalm 118. This is the second character in which God would have Jesus recognised, despite His rejection. The resurrection of Lazarus had shown Him as Son of God; now He is owned Son of David.
One word in the promise makes it personal.
How different this presentation of Israel's King is from that of the world's monarchs in all their pomp and splendour! Notice that it is "your" King. As another has written, "He does not say a king, but your King, your own, the long-promised, the long-expected."
Zechariah's own words call the King "righteous and having salvation." John leaves that phrase out. One writer asks why.
Why are they not quoted? Because they would not apply to the Saviour's circumstances at that moment. He was going to certain and known rejection. It was always true that He had salvation for those who trust Him. But He was not at that time going to bring salvation to the daughter of Zion. Nor did He present Himself to her then as the "just," or righteous One. If He had entered her gates in righteousness at that time, it would have been for her destruction. He will enter that way when He establishes the kingdom.
More than that phrase is missing. Zechariah's call to shout for joy is gone too.
John 12:15 quotes this verse from Zechariah even more briefly. The joy of Jerusalem is missing here, and so is the character of Christ as Saviour. Even His lowliness is not mentioned. The reason is that this Gospel presents Him as the Son of God, and the Father testified to His kingship at the moment He laid down His life.
The choice of animal reaches back to Israel's earliest days of rule.
In the purest days of the Jewish government, the leading men in Israel used no animals but donkeys (Judges 5:10; Judges 10:4; Judges 12:14). Horses only came in during the corrupt times of Solomon. So when the Lord took up the style of "King of Israel," He of course took every feature, however small, that belonged to the only pure and true form of such a character... Moses had laid down that the king who would later rule Israel must not surround himself with display that might lift up his head in pride above his brothers.
One day He will come in a very different way.
The animal marked Him out as the Prince of peace. It stands in contrast to the war-horse we see Him on in Revelation (Rev. 19:11). The young animal had never been ridden before. It shows the new and free spirit of obedience that alone could bring Him into His place among His people, so as to be "willing in the day of His power" (Ps. 110:3, older wording).
The next verse says the disciples did not grasp any of this at first. They took part in fulfilling a prophecy they could not yet read.
Here again we are told that even His disciples did not know these things at first. But when Jesus was glorified, they remembered that these things were written of Him, and that they had done these things to Him.
That day answered only part of the prophecy.
But the prophecy was not fully fulfilled then: it awaits the glorious day of which we have spoken. Within a few days Israel cried "Away with Him"... Still, the old prophecies speak of Israel's blessing under the hand of their King. They will find a real and blessed answer when the Lord returns to take the kingdom.
- Presented — Lazarus showed Him as Son of God; the entry shows Him as Son of David. He comes to Zion as "your King," her own and long-promised.
- Trimmed — John drops Zechariah's "righteous and having salvation." Righteousness entering Zion's gates that day would have meant her destruction, not her rescue.
- Steadied — Zechariah's call to shout becomes a call not to fear; the joy waits, the reassurance comes now.
- Lowly — the colt is the old, pure mark of Israel's kingship. It shows the Prince of peace, not the war-horse of Revelation 19.
- Delayed — the disciples understood only after He was glorified. The prophecy too is answered only in part; the rest waits for the day He returns to take the kingdom.
[Now] his disciples knew not these things at the first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written of him, and that they had done these things to him.
The disciples were at the centre of this scene, yet John says its meaning escaped them at the time. Why could the people closest to Jesus not read what was happening in front of them, and what changed later?
Zechariah had foretold a king coming in lowly grace. The disciples played their own part in that scene, and still missed what they were doing.
In the Gospels we see how the more spectacular things filled the minds of the disciples. Even when they acted and played their part in the fulfilment of verse 9, they did not realise they were doing it. John 12:16 tells us this clearly. Only when Jesus was glorified and the Holy Spirit was given did they realise the true significance of what they had done. Again, in Acts 1:6, we see how the coming of the kingdom in power filled their thoughts before the Spirit was given. The coming of the King in lowly grace was little understood or expected by the great majority.
Not understanding did not make them wrong. What they said was true, though the truth ran further than they could see.
They did not understand, yet they spoke out the mind of God, led by the Spirit. They were familiar with the scripture in Zechariah 9:9; but what they did not foresee or expect was that at His first coming the King would be rejected, and that on His rejection as King He would go to the cross and there make a peace wholly connected with heaven.
The verse ties their understanding to one moment: when Jesus was glorified. One writer sees that moment as the start of a new capacity in them, and applies the verse beyond this one event.
This failure to understand is especially marked in John's Gospel. John 12:16 says, "His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered…" Those words were written about acts, but they apply equally to the teachings. When Jesus was glorified the Spirit was given; and then the Church began its existence, and then they had the capacity to understand.
The remembering here is not just better recall. Jesus had promised that the Spirit would bring His words back to them.
"He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you" (John 14:26). What the Master Himself had done or said could not then be pressed home with power to their hearts. It was precious, beautiful and full of divine meaning. Yet it was often unnoticed or forgotten, because its significance was missing from their souls. It would all come back in a mighty flood and with greater blessing. Every word would be musical, and every act fragrant with the virtue and the value of His atoning work and glorified Person. The Holy Spirit, that other Comforter, now discloses it to faith and ministers it.
The men who wrote the Gospels understood these events only afterwards. That changes what their record is.
They could only tell the wonderful story after He was glorified — and they have told it to us, blessed be God! It was not that they were impressed by it while He was there and saw its meaning. It was that the Holy Spirit had come down from heaven. So they gave us a history of the Son of God, and Son of Man, such as none but the Holy Spirit could give, or make us understand and delight in.
After He was glorified, they saw both what Scripture had written about Him and what they themselves had done to Him. The crowd stopped short of that.
In the light of His glorification the disciples learnt the meaning of the word and of the facts. It was His resurrection power that impressed the crowd so greatly. They did not draw the full lesson of faith, but concluded that He must be the promised Son of David, and met Him as such.
- Blind obedience. The disciples fulfilled Zechariah's prophecy with their own hands. They did not realise they were doing it.
- Blind but true. Their words still expressed the mind of God. They missed one thing: this King would first be rejected and go to the cross.
- The hinge. Everything turned on the glorifying of Jesus. Then the Spirit came, and only then could they understand.
- Memory as gift. The Spirit brought back words and acts they had missed or forgotten, now full of the value of His atoning work and glorified Person.
- The result. The Gospels are not the impressions of eyewitnesses. They are a history only the Holy Spirit could give — and make us delight in.
The crowd therefore that was with him bore witness because he had called Lazarus out of the tomb, and raised him from among [the] dead.
A crowd stood at a tomb near Jerusalem and watched a dead man walk out. Now the same crowd walks into the city with Jesus, and God uses them as His witnesses.
The people who bear witness here were not there by chance. Bethany lay close to Jerusalem, so mourners were already at the house when Lazarus came out of the tomb.
Bethany was near Jerusalem, so many Jews had gone there. They came to show sympathy with the dead man's sisters and to comfort them. In this way a crowd of witnesses was brought to the spot. They were there to confirm the Lord's wonderful work, to spread the report of it in the holy city, and to establish that it was genuine beyond any contradiction. This brought on the crisis, which would soon have its solemn outcome in the death of the Saviour, according to the counsels and settled purpose of God.
Verse 16 has just said the disciples did not understand what was happening. Verse 17 hands the testimony to people outside that circle.
But when there was no one to know Jesus, the Lord had prepared a testimony. Note this well: His disciples did not understand these things at first. They were not looking for it, so they knew nothing of it. The testimony came from the Lord upon the hearts of the people... He must have the honour. His disciples are always the last to give it. The little they have received has so tied up their own minds. They are so taken up with what it has brought them into. So they are unable and unfit to see further and bear this witness.
The same writer weighs how much such a witness is worth:
The crowd were witnesses to Him. This was how God provided testimony to His Son... It was an outside testimony, but that did not matter here. It came despite all the opposition of His nation, and so it was all the more powerful.
Some in this crowd stood at the tomb and saw Lazarus come out. Others joined later, on the strength of the report.
The world went after Him: part with Him when He called Lazarus out of the tomb, part meeting Him because they heard it.
The witness of verse 17 concerns a resurrection; the shout of verse 13 hailed a king. Commentators link the two as successive testimonies to who Jesus is.
The raising of Lazarus had shown Him as Son of God; now the people own Him as Son of David. Here His entry into the city links straight to the resurrection of Lazarus and the title Son of God.
Another writer traces a third link in the same chain. He reads the whole sequence as God's answer to the nation's rejection of Christ:
The sickness of Lazarus had been "for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it." In the middle of death He appeared as the Resurrection and the Life. Just now He was to be presented to the Daughter of Zion as her King... When Greeks asked to see Jesus, that brought out that He was Son of Man... And God arranged this threefold testimony to the glory of His Person as the answer to the settled rejection of His words and works.
Lazarus was a marked man. Killing him would have cut this witness off at its source.
Notice how powerless the enemy's efforts were. They could not stop these testimonies to the glories of Jesus. They would have been glad to kill Lazarus. But they could not touch a hair of his head while his testimony to Jesus' glory was still needed.
What the crowd carried was true, and it moved a city. It still fell short of what faith sees.
It was His resurrection power that made such a deep impression on the crowd. They did not draw the full lesson of faith. They concluded that He must be the promised Son of David, and met Him as such. Meanwhile the Pharisees had to admit among themselves that their stand and opposition were useless — the world, the prize of unbelief, had gone after Him.
- Prepared — Bethany lay close to Jerusalem, so mourners were already there. God had a crowd at the tomb to confirm the miracle beyond contradiction.
- Provided — The disciples still did not understand. So God raised up the testimony to His Son from the hearts of the people.
- Powerful — This witness came from outside His own circle, despite the nation's opposition. That made it weigh more, not less.
- Progressive — The raising of Lazarus showed Him as Son of God. The entry into Jerusalem owned Him as Son of David. The Greeks would draw out Son of Man.
- Protected, yet partial — No plot could silence the witness while God still needed it. Yet the crowd stopped at "Son of David" and never drew the full lesson of faith.
Therefore also the crowd met him because they had heard that he had done this sign.
News of what Jesus had done at the tomb of Lazarus spread fast, and a crowd streamed out of Jerusalem to meet Him on the road. Did that news produce faith in who He was, or only excitement at what He could do?
John tells this entry more briefly than the other Gospel writers. But he explains one thing they leave out: why there were two crowds on the road that day.
A crowd went out from Jerusalem to meet Him, hearing that He was coming to the city. And a crowd accompanied Him from Bethany (John 12:12-13, 17-18). The first group, on meeting the Lord, would naturally turn and go ahead of Him. All four Gospel writers record this triumphal entry. You need what each one supplies to fill in the picture.
Jesus' enemies wanted Lazarus dead too. Yet the report spread from those who saw the miracle to those who only heard of it. One writer follows the word "crowd" through the chapter to show how far it went.
See how powerless all the enemy's efforts were to stop this testimony to the glories of Jesus. They would have been glad to kill Lazarus. But they could not touch a hair of his head while his witness to Jesus' glory was still needed. The testimony spread everywhere. Verse 9 speaks of "a great crowd of the Jews." In verse 17 the crowd that was with Him when He raised Lazarus from the grave bore Him witness. And verse 18 says, "The reason why the crowd went to meet Him was that they heard He had done this sign." In each of these verses the word is "crowd."
The sign they had heard about was a raising from the dead. The welcome they gave was to a king, and one commentator shows how the two titles fit together.
The next day the people learned that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. Struck by this great miracle of the resurrection of Lazarus, they go out to meet Him with palm branches. They greet Him as the King of Israel who comes in the name of Jehovah, according to Psalm 118. This is the second character in which God would have Jesus recognised, despite His rejection. The resurrection of Lazarus had shown Him as Son of God; now He is owned as Son of David.
Their conclusion about Him was true as far as it went. It did not go far enough.
It was His resurrection power that made such a deep impression on the crowd. They did not draw the full lesson of faith. They concluded that He must be the promised Son of David, and they met Him as such. Meanwhile the Pharisees had to admit among themselves that their stand and their opposition were plainly in vain, and that the world had gone after Him.
The verse calls the raising of Lazarus a sign. One commentator explains why John recorded such signs, and where faith in miracles stops short.
John adds here that he wrote to awaken and encourage faith in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God. He wrote so that people might have life in His Name. That is why he did not attempt the impossible task of recording all the signs Jesus had done. These were countless. And a faith built only upon miracles is not enough (John 2:23-25). His aim had been that the divine glory of the Lord should appear.
Within days the same crowd that ran out to meet Him would call for His death. One commentator explains what lay behind that turn.
It is a terrible thing to see how fickle the crowd is. Crowds are just the same today. They will never be any different until the Lord changes the face of all peoples. The same crowd that cried, "Hosanna to the Son of David!" applauded Him to the skies. Within a few days that same crowd cried with one voice, "Crucify Him, crucify Him!" And how was that? It was the power of Satan. It was their unbelief, because their applause was nothing. Applause is only human feeling stirred up for the moment. That feeling can swing to the very opposite, and very quickly.
- The cause — one grave opened at Bethany, and a road filled outside Jerusalem. The crowd came because of a report about what Jesus had done.
- The witness — no one could silence the report, because no one could touch Lazarus while his testimony to Jesus was still needed.
- The reach — the same sign carried two titles: the raising showed Him Son of God, and the welcome owned Him Son of David.
- The limit — His resurrection power impressed them, but they did not draw the full lesson of faith. Faith built only on miracles is not enough.
- The result — applause is only feeling stirred for a moment. The crowd that shouted "Hosanna" shouted "Crucify Him" days later. Faith must rest on who He is, not on the thrill of what He did.
The Pharisees therefore said to one another, Ye see that ye profit nothing behold, the world is gone after him.
The Pharisees wanted Jesus dead. Days later they stood watching crowds stream out of Jerusalem to welcome Him. What they said to each other is one of the strangest lines in the Gospel: an admission of defeat, spoken days before they got their way.
John supplies the detail the other Gospels leave out — the day, the crowd, and the reaction of the men in charge.
From John we learn the real day of the triumphal entry. It was the fifth day before the Passover, the morning after Mary had anointed the Lord in the house of Simon the leper. Matthew has told us of the stir in Jerusalem when the Lord entered on the donkey. John has so often mentioned the hostility of the Pharisees of Jerusalem and their desire to kill the Lord. Now he tells us of the open disappointment of those Pharisees who saw it: "You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him." The rejoicing crowds, the surprised city, the disappointed Pharisees — what lights and shades there are in this picture!
They said this to each other, not to the crowd. What forced the admission was the crowd's response to the raising of Lazarus.
The crowd, impressed by the raising of Lazarus, rightly conclude that this glorious Person was the long promised Son of David. In the presence of this witness to the glory of Christ, the Pharisees have to admit "among themselves" that their opposition is of no avail. It is good too for the believer always to realise that, despite all appearances to the contrary, no opposition against Christ or the truth can finally prevail.
Older translations read "you prevail nothing" — the Pharisees admit they are making no headway. Resistance is the usual setting for God's work, and even the worst of it ends up serving His plan.
These opposers must learn that the weakness of God is stronger than men. "You see that you are gaining nothing," say the Pharisees. "Look, the world has gone after him." It is always so when God works. If all the leaders of the nation had been in favour of the testimony, could it have spread as it did when all were against it? I believe not. Take the last effort of human hatred. With wicked hands they took and killed the Prince of life. Even then they were only carrying out the purpose of God.
Notice the word they chose: the world. The crowd's welcome was not faith, and neither side saw what was really happening.
It was His resurrection power which impressed the crowd so mightily. They did not draw the full lesson of faith. They concluded that He must be the promised Son of David, and met Him as such. Meanwhile the Pharisees had to admit among themselves that their stand and opposition were plainly in vain, and that the world — the prize of unbelief — had gone after Him. Little did they know what He proclaims just afterwards: "Now is the judgment of this world." By misjudging Him, the world sealed its own doom. He sought its salvation, not popularity, but God's will.
They spoke as men reporting a disaster. Their words also describe a day still to come.
It was an outward testimony, but that was not the point here. It was given despite all the opposition of His nation, and was therefore all the more powerful. So the Pharisees said to themselves, "You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him." And so it shall be. The world will go after Him when He is exalted as King of Israel — that is, when the crowds of Israel own Him as King of Israel. The resurrection is the ground of their faith now in the same way.
The Pharisees measured their loss by the size of the crowd. Within the week the same voices were shouting for His death.
It is a terrible thing to see how fickle the crowd is. They are just the same to this day, and they will never be any different until the Lord changes the face of all peoples. The same crowd that cried, "Hosanna to the Son of David!" applauded Him to the skies. Within a few days they cried with one mouth, "Crucify him, crucify him!" And how was that? It was the power of Satan. It was their unbelief, because their applause was nothing. Applause is only human feeling stirred up for the moment. That feeling can swing to the opposite very quickly.
- Prevailing nothing. The men who planned His death admitted to each other that they were getting nowhere. They said it in private, which is what makes it honest.
- Prevailing against. Opposition did not slow the testimony down; it spread it. Even the killing of the Prince of life served God's purpose.
- Prevailing crowd. The crowds were right that He was the Son of David, but stopped short of faith. Applause that is only feeling turns within days.
- Prevailing prize. "The world" was the stake the Pharisees feared losing. He was not competing for it. He sought its salvation, and the world sealed its own doom by misjudging Him.
- Prevailing King. Their complaint reads as prophecy. When Israel owns Him as King, the world will indeed go after Him.