John 12:13Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

They no longer took Him simply for a prophet. For to which of the prophets had their fathers given such honor? Therefore they cried out: "Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!" From this cry we understand, first, that He is God. For "Hosanna" means "save." The Seventy translators rendered this word in Greek in Psalm 117 (Ps 117:25) in this way. In Hebrew it reads "Hosanna," but in Greek, "O Lord, save!" To save belongs to God alone. To Him it is said: "Save us, O Lord our God!" From all places of Scripture everyone learns that salvation is ascribed by Scripture to God alone. Therefore those who cried to Christ with the words of David show first that He is God. Then they show that He is God in the proper sense. For they say, "He who comes," not "he who is led." The latter is something servile, but to come belongs to sovereign authority. By the words "in the name of the Lord," they express the same thing, that He is true God. For they do not say that He comes in the name of a servant, but in the name of the Lord. They also show that He is not opposed to God, but has come in the name of the Father. As the Lord Himself says, "I have come in My Father's name, and another will come in his own name" (Jn 5:43). They also call Him King of Israel, perhaps dreaming of a sensible kingdom. They expected that some king of a nature higher than human would arise and deliver them from Roman dominion. *** The palms perhaps signified that, by raising Lazarus, He had become victor over death. For in contests the palm was given to the victors. Perhaps they also expressed that the One being glorified is a heavenly Being who has come from above. Among trees, the palm alone reaches, so to speak, to heaven itself. It puts forth leaves on high, and in the leaf it has white kernels. In its trunk and middle, up to the top, it is rough and difficult to climb, since its branches have thorns. So too the one who strives toward knowledge of the Son and Word of God will find that knowledge not easy, but difficult. He ascends by the labors of virtue. Yet when he reaches the height of knowledge, he will be illumined by the bright light of the knowledge of God and by the revelation of ineffable mysteries, like the whitest kernels of the palm. I ask you, marvel at the Evangelist, how he is not ashamed, but openly speaks of the apostles' former ignorance. He says that the disciples did not understand this at first, but understood when Jesus was glorified. By glory he means the Ascension, which followed the sufferings and death. Then, no doubt after the descent of the Holy Spirit, they knew that this had been written about Him. Perhaps they knew that it was written. But that what was written referred to Jesus was hidden from them, and not without benefit. Otherwise they would have been scandalized by His crucifixion, when the One whom Scripture calls King suffered in this way.

For all the saints came not in the authority of lordship, as almighty masters, but as true servants. He came as Lord. Therefore the prophetic word spoken of Him corresponds to Him perfectly. For if some are called lords, they possess this dignity not by nature, but by grace. Thus, because they abstain from lying, people are called truthful. This cannot be said of Christ. He is not called Truth because He does not lie, but because He has a nature wholly superior to falsehood.

Christ did not become King of Israel in order to collect taxes, put a sword in soldiers' hands, and subdue enemies in visible battles. He is King of Israel in order to govern souls, to instruct them for eternity, and to bring them into the Kingdom of Heaven in faith, hope, and love. That the Son of God, equal to the Father, the Word through whom all things came to be, deigned to be King of Israel, is a humbling, not an exaltation. It is a sign of His compassion, not an increase of His power. For He who was called King of Israel on earth is in heaven the King of angels. *** You have heard that the Lord raised a man who had been dead four days, to the complete amazement of the Jews. Some of them, seeing this, believed. Others, through envy, perished in the fragrance which is life to some and death to others. You heard that He dined in the house with Lazarus reclining beside Him, the man who had been raised from the dead. You heard that His feet were anointed with myrrh, and the house was filled with fragrance. You heard that the Jews showed empty malice and, in their ruined heart, conceived a crime full of folly and madness, namely, the killing of Lazarus. About all this we spoke in the preceding discourse as far as we could, as the Lord granted us. Now listen, beloved, to how fruitful was the Lord's preaching before the Passion. Hear how great a flock from the lost sheep of the house of Israel (cf. Mt 10:6) heard the Shepherd's voice. For the Gospel, which you have just heard read aloud, says: "The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, crying: Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel" (Jn 12:12-13). Palm branches are signs of glorification and symbols of victory. For the Lord intended to trample down death by death, and with the trophy of the Cross to triumph over the devil, the prince of death. The cry of those glorifying Him, "Hosanna," expresses, as some who know Hebrew say, strong feeling rather than some definite meaning. Thus in Latin there are words we call interjections. For example, in sorrow we say, "Alas!" In joy we say, "Ah!" In wonder we say, "O, what a thing!" In this case "O" expresses nothing but the feeling of wonder. This is how it should be understood, for neither the Greek nor the Latin translator was able to translate this word. So also here: "Whoever says to his brother, Raca" (Mt 5:22). For it is acknowledged that raca is an interjection expressing indignation. Compare Blessed Jerome of Stridon, Commentary on Matthew 5:22. The phrase "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel" (Jn 12:13), should rather be understood thus: "in the name of the Lord" means "in the name of God the Father." Yet it may also be understood as "in His own name," because He too is Lord. Hence it is written elsewhere that "the Lord rained from the Lord" (cf. Gen 19:24). But the better guide for our understanding is His own word, when He says: "I have come in My Father's name, and you do not receive Me. If another comes in his own name, him you will receive" (Jn 5:43). For Christ is the true Teacher of humility. He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross (Phil 2:8). He did not lose His divinity when He taught us humility. In it He is equal to the Father, and in humility He is like us. Through that in which He is equal to the Father, He created us so that we might exist. Through that in which He is like us, He redeemed us so that we might not perish. Such praise the multitude of the people offered Him: "Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel!" What suffering the Jewish chief priests, filled with jealousy, must have borne in their souls when so great a multitude proclaimed Christ their king! But what was it for the Lord to be king of Israel? What great thing was it for the King of ages to become king of men? Christ is King of Israel not in the sense that He exacts taxes, arms an army, and crushes enemies in open battle. He is King of Israel in the sense that He governs souls, instructs them for eternity, and leads into the Kingdom of Heaven those who are filled with faith, hope, and love. Therefore, for the Son of God, equal to the Father, for the Word through whom all things were made, the will to become king of Israel was an act of mercy, not a striving for exaltation. It was an expression of compassion, not an increase of power. For He who was called King of the Jews on earth is in heaven the Lord of angels.

With great joy and gladness they cried: Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest! (Mt 21:8). By this they showed that what David had said concerning the Son of God was fulfilled in Him, and that He is the Christ proclaimed by the prophet, whose name is praised throughout all the earth.

Deliver us from the bonds of death. Dead through sins and dwelling in the tomb because of the knowledge of evil, let us remember the sisters of faithful Lazarus. With weeping, faith, and love, let us cry to Christ: Save us, O You who willingly became man, and raise us from the tomb of sins, O only Immortal One.

The crowd took its verse of praise from the one hundred seventeenth Psalm. No one will doubt that this is said of the Lord. It is therefore fitting to accept that, in the same Psalm, this too is sung of Him: The stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner (Ps 117:22). For Christ, whom the Jews rejected while building the foundations of their tradition, became the memorial of both peoples, that is, Jews and Gentiles. In this Psalm Christ is called the head of the corner. And in just this way the loud voice of praise from those going before and those following after Him extols Him in the Gospel. In the name of the Lord means in the name of God the Father. He Himself said this elsewhere to the unbelieving Jews: I have come in My Father's name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive (Jn 5:43). Christ came in the name of God the Father because, in everything He did and said, He cared for the Father's glorification and proclaimed to men the need to glorify Him. The Antichrist will come in his own name. Let him be the most wicked of men, an accomplice of the devil. He will still deem himself worthy of the name son of God, as one who opposes and exalts himself above everything called God or an object of worship (2 Thess 2:4). On the other hand, Augustine interpreted in the name of the Lord to mean that Christ came in His own name, because He Himself is the Lord. In doing so, Augustine also relied on Jn 5:43.

The nearness of the moment when the long-awaited Deliverer would enter Zion as King of Israel drew from the many-thousanded crowd a thunderous thanksgiving to God for all the miracles of Jesus: "Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!" (Lk 19:38).

According to the explanation of Archbishop Theophylact, the final words mean this: "The former enmity which we had with God has ceased. For there was no King-God upon earth.

But now, since God comes upon the earth, there is truly peace in heaven, and therefore glory in the highest. For the angels also glorify that union and reconciliation which the King-God, riding on the donkey, has bestowed upon us."

The word Hosanna means salvation. The Jews used it as an exclamation expressing joy on solemn occasions, like our hurrah.

Therefore the expression "Hosanna in the highest" (Mt 21:9) means the desire that the cries of joy and exultation be heard not only here on earth, but also in the highest, in heaven, where God is.

This great multitude consisted chiefly of those who had come for the feast, not of the inhabitants of Jerusalem. The latter were probably more intimidated by the Sanhedrin and the Pharisees (Jn 11:57). These pilgrims spoke more openly about the Lord and awaited Him at the feast (Jn 11:55-56). Now they heard that Jesus was coming from Bethany to Jerusalem. They may have heard this from newly arrived pilgrims who had traveled from Jericho together with Jesus Christ. Or they may have heard it from Jews who had returned from Bethany after believing in Him (Jn 12:11). With palm branches in their hands, they went out to meet Him. Palm branches: in the East the palm is a symbol of strength and beauty. Its branches in the hands are a symbol of joy and triumph (cf. 1 Macc 13:51; Lev 23:40). They went out to meet Him: perhaps some of them had come to Bethany (Jn 12:9-11) and accompanied the Lord from there. Others went out from Jerusalem to meet Him. Since there was a multitude of such people, the procession probably grew larger and larger the farther it moved. More people kept approaching and joining it, increasing its solemnity. By this detail, that a great multitude of the people came out from Jerusalem to meet the Lord, John supplements and somewhat explains the accounts of the first three Evangelists. They do not mention that, on this journey from Jericho to Jerusalem, the Lord stopped for a whole day in Bethany. Continuing the uninterrupted narrative of this journey, they quite naturally present the event as though the Lord were accompanied from Bethany to Jerusalem by the crowds with whom He had come from Jericho. Without doubt, new crowds of pilgrims who had arrived from Jericho that day accompanied the Lord. But John indicates that a great multitude from Jerusalem came out to meet Him. This undoubtedly increased the solemnity of the meeting. Is this meeting of the crowd accompanying the Lord with the crowd that came out to meet Him the moment Luke has in view? He says that the people's enthusiasm was expressed with special strength when the Lord drew near to the descent from the Mount of Olives toward Jerusalem (Lk 19:37). Hosanna and so forth: see the note on Mt 21:9 and parallels. King of Israel: the Messiah, the Christ (cf. Jn 1:49).

Thus the particular circumstances of the entrance described by the Evangelists followed in this order. First, on Sunday morning, on the road to Jerusalem, Jesus commands that a she-ass with her colt be brought. When the command has been fulfilled, He sits upon the colt and rides into the city (Jn 12:14-16; Mt 21:1-7; Mk 11:1-7; Lk 19:29-35). The people meet Him triumphantly (Jn 12:12, 13; 12:17-19; Mt 21:8-11; Mk 11:8-11; Lk 19:36-40), and the Greeks wish to see Him (Jn 12:12-50). Secondly, on Monday, on the road to Jerusalem, He curses the fig tree and weeps over Jerusalem's fate (Mk 11:11-14; Lk 19:41-44). He drives the traders from the temple, heals the sick, and responds to the children's cries (Mk 11:15-20; Mt 21:12-10; Lk 19:45, 46). Thirdly, on Tuesday comes the explanation of the event with the fig tree, and so forth. "On the next day a great multitude took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him." The people gathered for the Passover were impatiently awaiting Jesus in Jerusalem (Jn 11:56). On Sunday morning they heard that Jesus was coming from Bethany to Jerusalem. Pure and impure hopes stirred in their hearts. The people, recognizing Jesus as the Messiah, thought to see in Him not so much the enlightener of men as a king who would restore political independence to the nation. Even the chosen disciples of Jesus were not free from this incorrect idea of Jesus as Messiah. Two of them asked that He grant them the highest places in the Messiah's earthly kingdom. The people now resolved to meet Jesus with honors worthy of the Messiah. Crowds moved outside the city toward the Mount of Olives, with palm branches in their hands. "As He rode, many spread their garments, and others cut branches from the trees and threw them on the road" (Lk 19:36; Mt 11:8). Thus kings and victors were met in the East. Simon, the Jewish leader, "entered Jerusalem with praise and palm branches" (1 Macc 13:51). When Xerxes crossed into Europe, the road was strewn with myrtles (Herodotus 7.54). "And they cried, saying: Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel." The cries resounded before and behind Jesus (Mk 11:9). The cries "Hosanna," meaning "save now," and "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel," expressed solemn joy that the Messiah, the King of Israel, was coming. Others expressed the same thought in different words: "Blessed is the kingdom of our father David that comes in the name of the Lord" (Mk 11:10). Others said, "Peace in heaven and glory in the highest" (Lk 19:38). The inhabitants of Jerusalem, especially those in authority, were stirred and asked, "Who is this coming?" Some of the people answered them, "This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee" (Mt 21:10, 11). This last answer, like the cry "Peace in heaven," expressed thoughts about the Messiah worthy of the Messiah.