They
brought the young donkey to Jesus, and threw their garments on it, and Jesus sat on it. Many spread their garments on the way, and others were cutting down branches from the trees, and spreading them on the road. Those who went in front, and those who followed, cried out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the kingdom of our father David that is coming in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”
Mark 11:7-10
Mark 11 [4.] They went away, and found a young donkey tied at the door outside in the open street, and they untied him. Some of those who stood there asked them, “What are you doing, untying the young donkey?” They said to them just as Jesus had said, and they let them go.
Mark 11 [7.] They brought the young donkey to Jesus, and threw their garments on it, and Jesus sat on it. Many spread their garments on the way, and others were cutting down branches from the trees, and spreading them on the road. Those who went in front, and those who followed, cried out, “Hosanna! [b] Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord![c] Blessed is the kingdom of our father David that is coming in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”
Mark 11 [11.] Jesus entered into the temple in Jerusalem. When he had looked around at everything, it being now evening, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.
Meaning:
The disciples had brought the young donkey just as Jesus said (Mark 11:4-6). Now comes the event often called the Triumphal Entry, remembered by Christians on Palm Sunday. For most of his ministry Jesus had told people to keep quiet about who he was. Here he openly accepts the praise of a crowd that hails him as the one who comes in the name of the Lord. The scene fulfils the prophecy of a lowly King riding on a donkey (Zechariah 9:9), and it is full of words and actions drawn from Israel’s Scriptures and history.
- “Threw their garments on it, and Jesus sat on it”
The disciples had no saddle, so they used their own cloaks. Others in the crowd went further and spread their garments on the road in front of him. In Israel this was a sign of royal homage. When Jehu was anointed king, his fellow officers “took his cloak, and put it under him on the top of the stairs, and blew the trumpet, saying, “Jehu is king.”” (2 Kings 9:13). To lay down one’s cloak, the main outer garment and for the poor a blanket at night, was to honour someone as king and to submit to him.
- “Others were cutting down branches from the trees”
Leafy branches cut from the fields were spread on the road like a carpet, and John adds that the crowd took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him (John 12:13). Branches were part of Israel’s feasts of joy, and since the days of the Maccabees, who had cleansed the temple about two centuries earlier, palm branches had become a symbol of national victory and freedom. The crowd was welcoming Jesus like a conquering hero.
- “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Hosanna” is a Hebrew cry that means “save us” or “help us, we pray”, as the PIB footnote explains. The words come from Psalm 118: “Save us now, we beg you, Yahweh! … Blessed is he who comes in Yahweh’s name!” (Psalm 118:25-26). This psalm was part of the Hallel, the psalms of praise sung at the great feasts, and pilgrims sang it as they went up to the temple. By applying it to Jesus, the crowd treated him as the coming one, the deliverer sent by God.
The same psalm contains another verse the crowd did not shout: “The stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner” (Psalm 118:22). Within days Jesus would quote it about himself (Mark 12:10-11). The people sang more truth than they understood: the one they welcomed would be rejected by the builders of the nation, and through that rejection God would save.
- “Blessed is the kingdom of our father David that is coming”
God had promised David a descendant whose throne would last forever: “Your house and your kingdom will be made sure forever before you. Your throne will be established forever” (2 Samuel 7:16; see also 2 Samuel 7:12-13). Bartimaeus had just called Jesus “son of David” at Jericho (Mark 10:47), and the angel Gabriel had told Mary that God would give her son “the throne of his father, David” (Luke 1:32-33).
Many in the crowd hoped for a political kingdom that would throw off Roman rule. Jesus did bring David’s kingdom, but not in the way they imagined. He came riding a donkey, not leading an army, and his throne would be reached by way of the cross. “Hosanna in the highest” calls on heaven itself to join the praise. Matthew records that even children took up the cry in the temple, to the anger of the chief priests (Matthew 21:15-16).
The Significance of Mark 11:7-10
- Jesus is King
For the first time Jesus openly accepts royal honour. He is the promised son of David, and he deserves the praise of every heart.
- Praise with understanding
The crowd’s enthusiasm was real but its expectations were mistaken. True worship welcomes Jesus as he is, the humble King who saves through suffering, not as we would like him to be.
- “Save us”
The cry “Hosanna” is still the right prayer. Jesus came to save, though the salvation he brought was deeper than freedom from Rome: rescue from sin and death.
Cross-References:
Psalm 118:25-26: "Save us now, we beg you, Yahweh! Yahweh, we beg you, send prosperity now. Blessed is he who comes in Yahweh’s name! We have blessed you out of Yahweh’s house." The psalm the crowd sang.
Zechariah 9:9: "Behold, your King comes to you! He is righteous, and having salvation; lowly, and riding on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a donkey." The lowly King on a donkey.
Luke 1:32-33: "He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father, David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever. There will be no end to his Kingdom." The kingdom of David promised to Jesus.
Matthew 21:15: "But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children who were crying in the temple and saying, “Hosanna to the son of David!” they were indignant" Praise that angered the leaders.
Conclusion: Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a young donkey while the crowd spread cloaks and branches on the road and shouted words from Psalm 118: “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” They hailed the coming kingdom of David, and Jesus accepted their praise as the promised King. Yet he came in humility and peace, fulfilling Zechariah’s prophecy, and the salvation he brought would come through rejection and the cross rather than through political triumph.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible