Jesus’ Entry into Jerusalem 

Basic Info

Matthew 21:1–11, Mark 11:1–11, Luke 19:28–44, John 12:12–19

All four Gospels report that a few days before he was taken into custody, Jesus arrived at Jerusalem and was greeted with cheers and shouts. He was given a donkey’s colt on which to ride into the city, and the cheering crowds laid palm branches and their cloaks on the ground. This is the story celebrated by Christians on Palm Sunday, or Passion Sunday, a week before Easter.

The event details fulfill the words of two Old Testament messianic prophesies: Isaiah 62:11 and Zechariah 9:9. In Matthew, Mark, and Luke, Jesus orders the colt to be brought to him to ride; in John the ass is simply there with the gathered crowd. An ass was a sign of peace, unlike a war horse. The palm was a symbol of victory for Romans and of paradise (indicating the presence of an oasis) for desert dwellers. Sometimes Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1–10) is depicted in a sycamore tree near the procession, as the story of his climbing the tree to get a better look at Jesus is told shortly before Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem.

The crowds are the first sign to the authorities that Jesus might be a threat.

What to Look For

• Cloaks, palm branches, other kinds of branches on the ground
• Jesus’ emotional response to the event (expression, posture, gestures, etc.)
• Who is present and who is not in the cheering crowds (rich, poor, young, old, male, female, etc.)
• Faithful Zacchaeus in his tree
• Whether the authorities looking on suspiciously

Questions to Focus a General Interpretation

This is Jesus’ most explicitly triumphal moment. How does the artwork depict triumph? Is it an event for everyone, or does the artwork depict some exclusivity?

What is Jesus’ emotional response to the event? Does he seem to be focusing on the crowds who have embraced his message or on the risks ahead of him?

Questions to Guide a Personal Interpretation

Though many of Jesus’ followers showed up to welcome him to Jerusalem, plenty of good people stayed home. Can you see yourself as one of the people in the crowd depicted in the artwork? Do you celebrate Jesus’ life and teaching?

Do you think the artwork captures the true makeup of the crowd that would have welcomed Jesus? Whom or what has the artist added that may be inappropriate? Whom or what has the artist omitted that you think would have been there?

Questions to Suggest a Historical Interpretation

Because Palm Sunday was regularly celebrated throughout Christian history, the artworks often reflect the liturgical practices of the artist’s day. Which aspects of the artwork may relate to the liturgical practices of the artist’s time and place?

Crowds of followers may be used to symbolize churchgoers or the Church of the artist’s place and time. What was the relationship between the Church and the kind of people depicted in the crowd in the artist’s time and place and how might it have influenced the artwork?