In the accounts of the four canonical Gospels, Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem takes place in the days before the Last Supper, marking the beginning of his Passion.[1][2][3][4]
In John 12:9-11, after raising Lazarus from the dead, crowds gather around Jesus and believe in him, and the next day the multitudes that had gathered for the feast in Jerusalem welcome Jesus as he enters Jerusalem.
In Matthew 21:1-11, Mark 11:1-11, Luke 19:28-44 and John 12:12-19, as Jesus descends from the Mount of Olives towards Jerusalem the crowds lay their clothes on the ground to welcome Jesus as he triumphantly enters Jerusalem.
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According to the Gospels, before entering Jerusalem, Jesus was staying at Bethany and Bethphage, and John 12:1 states that he was in Bethany six days before passover. While there, Jesus sent two disciples to the village over against them, in order to retrieve a donkey that had been tied up but never been ridden, and to say, if questioned, that the donkey was needed by the Lord (or Master) but would be returned.[1][2][3]
Jesus then rode the donkey into Jerusalem, with the three Synoptic gospels stating that the disciples had first put their cloaks on it, so as to make it more comfortable. In Mark and John the entry takes place on a Sunday, with Matthew and Luke not specifying the day.[1] In Luke 19:41 as Jesus approaches Jerusalem, he looks at the city and weeps over it, foretelling the suffering that awaits the city.[1][3]
The Gospels go on to recount how Jesus rode into Jerusalem, and how the people there lay down their cloaks in front of him, and also lay down small branches of trees. The people sang part of Psalms 118: 25-26: Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. We bless you from the house of the Lord ....[1][3][2][5]
In the Synoptic Gospels, this episode is followed by the Cleansing of the Temple episode, and in all four Gospels Jesus performs various healings and teaches by way of parables while in Jerusalem, until the Last Supper.[1][2]
Traditionally, entering the city on a donkey symbolizes arrival in peace, rather than as a war waging king arriving on a horse.[6][5] Christians celebrate Jesus' entry into Jerusalem as Palm Sunday, a week before Easter Sunday.
Matthew 21:1-11 refers to a passage from Book of Zechariah (9:9) and states:[3]
The location of the Mount of Olives is significant in the Old Testament in that Zechariah 9:9 and Zechariah 14:1-5 stated that the Messiah would come to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives:[3][7]
The triumphal entry and the palm branches, resemble the celebration of Jewish liberation in the 1 Maccabees (13:51) which states:[4]
Jesus' entry on a donkey has a parallel in Zechariah 9:9 which states that:
The symbolism of the donkey may also refer to the Eastern tradition that it is an animal of peace, versus the horse, which is the animal of war.[6] Therefore, a king came riding upon a horse when he was bent on war and rode upon a donkey when he wanted to point out that he was coming in peace. Therefore Jesus' entry to Jerusalem symbolized his entry as the Prince of Peace, not as a war waging king.[6][5]