The Triumphal Entry

"You don't spread your cloaks on the road—especially in the dusty, stony middle East!—for a friend, or even a respected senior member of your family. You do it for royalty. And you don't cut branches off trees, or foliage from the fields, to wave in the streets just because you feel somewhat elated; you do it because you're welcoming a king... The point Mark wants to make... is clear. From chapter 8 onwards the disciples have believed that Jesus is the true and rightful King of the Jews, on his way to the capital city to be hailed as such. This is the moment of his royal reception." —N.T. Wright, Mark for Everyone, 147.