How then are we to assess the meaning of this inaugural event of the last week in the life of Jesus? It is clear that the ride into the city of Jerusalem was planned, and was a deliberate part of Jesus' strategy as he came to the city. He came at Passover time when the cities population was greatly increased by pilgrims. He chose to ride in, with an action which was in part fulfillment of the prophecy found in Zechariah 9.9. The prophecy itself was a reflection or residue of ancient Israelis coronation ritual for the royal house of David, and must be understood more fully in the light of the royal Psalms of the Psalter, such as 2, 72, 89 and 110, and the ritual portrayed in I Kings 1. In Jesus' entry into Jerusalem ordinary people accompany him. In I Kings 1 Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet and Benaiah a military chief are mentioned as accompanying Solomon who is about to be crowned king. Solomon is mounted on David's mule, and he rides down with the procession to the spring of Gihon. Here, presumably, Solomon was washed or baptised. Zadok then anointed Solomon king and blew the trumpet to signal the crowning to the accompaniment of the shouts and dances of the people.

Jesus' own ride must therefore be interpreted mainly in terms of entrance upon kingship. As we have seen, the references are explicit. Even if the acclamations by the crowd of Jesus as "king" and king of Israel are the expression of later reflection by the Gospel writers in the early church, such additions draw out the basic core of meaning in the event and the prophecy on which it is based. That is, they illustrate what the writers understood to be the mind and intentions of Jesus himself.