John 12:12–15 (ESV)  The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. 13 So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” 14 And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written,

15 “Fear not, daughter of Zion;

behold, your king is coming,

sitting on a donkey’s colt!”

Jesus is coming to the culmination to HIS earthly ministry. It is the day after Jesus had dinner with Martha, Mary, and Lazarus. It was the time when all the Jews came to celebrate the major Jewish Feast of Passover. Therefore, the population of Jerusalem had swelled enormously. Josephus, a first century Jewish writer, says on one occasion the numbers present for Passover reached 2,700,000. At this time Jesus had grown in fame and many looked to Him as the coming Messiah. Many people took palm branches and went out to meet him. Waving palm branches, the crowd was shouting, ‘Hosanna!’ / ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel!’ This certainly caught the attention of the Jewish Religious leaders and even the Roman authorities.  Earlier in HIS ministry Jesus avoided the crowds who wanted to make HIM king, but now HE accepted their praise.  However, Jesus doesn’t come in like a conquering King mounted on a war-horse. HE comes riding on a donkey!  Jesus comes fulfilling Scripture. In Zechariah 9:9, it is prophesied that the Messiah will come humbly riding on a donkey. Jesus born in a stable is now making HIS triumphal entry on a donkey