jesus entry into jerusalem

• Jesus' entry into the City of Jerusalem six days before Passover marks the beginning of the Passion Narrative; the story of Jesus' suffering, crucifixion and death..
• Many Jewish people tried to visit the Temple in Jerusalem at Passover. It was a special festival.
• The Romans were on high alert fearing a riot by the Jewish people who were looking for freedom from the Romans. It was a tense time as patriotic feelings were high.
• Messiah


  The beloved descendent of the great King David that Jewish people believed would come
• Jesus' entry into Jerusalem

  1. Jesus and disciples approached Jerusalem near Bethpage and Bethany and came to the Mount of Olives

  2. Jesus sent two disciples with instructions to find a colt that had never been ridden and bring it to him

  3. The disciples found the colt, some bystanders asked what they were doing and they answered as Jesus had told them

  4. They brought the colt to Jesus and people spread their cloaks and branches on the road in front of him

  5. The people began to shout "Praise God! God bless him who comes in the name of the Lord! God bless the coming Kingdom of King David, our Father!"

  6. Jesus went to the Temple and looked around, then went out to Bethany with the twelve disciples
• The entry into Jerusalem was filled with symbolism, which identified Jesus as the Messiah
• Jesus did not identify himself with the popular Jewish idea of Messiah
• The crowd may have been very large as a scene like this would have attracted the attention of the Roman soldiers who were on the lookout for any trouble at Passover time
• Christians remember the entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday
• Jesus is the humble, gentle, suffering Messiah riding into Jerusalem on a colt and not on a horse as a warrior King
• Jesus fulfils the prophecy of Zechariah in the Old Testament that the coming Messiah will be a religious figure 'humble and riding on a donkey'
• By referring to King David, the people are recognising Jesus as the Messiah
• It is unclear if the crowd really understood the kind of Messiah Jesus was. By the end of the week they were calling for his death. This shows the changeable nature of people
• Prophecy


  The foretelling or prediction of what is to come. Something that is declared by a prophet
• Old Testament


  The books of the first part of the Bible, comprising 39 books
• The entry into Jerusalem was an important event because it revealed Jesus' identity as the Messiah