In Johns gospel Palm Sunday comes after the raising of Lazarus. Whe else would the people recognise who he was? Why would they process and chant? Mary the sister of Lazarus recognised this when she took the perfume and poured it over Jesus "for the day of his burial" (John 12v7)The plot has thickened, the chief priests are planning to kill Jesus and Lazarus because of this raising from the dead. And you get this commotion, this revolution. At this moment when the secret is out Jesus fully acknowledges who he is and perhaps enjoys the adulation and the full meaning of him riding into Jerusalem on a donkey. For a moment the mood is different. And th disciples did not understand all this until later. And so we have this story of love and hate. A story of duplicity. Jesus has stirred up such feelings in people that they either love him or hate him, worship him or are threatened by him, he is too powerful perhaps too good, too popular. And Jesus knew them, understood their weakness, knew they were not sincere. It is the knowledge and insight of a very wise person. How right he was!
