Five days before the Passover, everybody was excited.  It was a national festival and spiritual high point in the year.  So many people, who had heard of Jesus, hoped He would be there.  When they found that He was close to Jerusalem, they went out to meet Him.  All that they had heard about Jesus pointed in one direction only: that He must be God's Messiah, the King in David's line who had come to save them.

Tearing down palm branches as flags to wave, they shouted out Psalm 118:25-26, “Lord, save us!  Lord, grant us success! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.  From the house of the Lord we bless you.”  [‘Lord save us’ translates the Hebrew word ‘Hosanna’].  They praised Him as the Messiah.  Even the donkey Jesus rode on was a sign to them, as they chanted from Zechariah's prophecy: "Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion!  Shout, Daughter Jerusalem!  See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey." (Zechariah 9:9).  They welcomed Him as their King.  It was a royal salute.  

To the crowds, that was a glimpse of glory, the beginning of His majestic reign.  But Jesus knew it was a fickle response with much self-interest behind it.  He knew it would soon turn to angry condemnation, demanding that He should die.  He fully understood that the clock was ticking towards His death within a week (John 12:32-33).  But He accepted the people’s praise because it was right to praise Him as Lord, and because the Scriptural prophecy had to be fulfilled.  Even though the people, or disciples, did not know how right they were to praise Him - He was glad that they publically proclaimed His Kingship and prophesied His total superiority over every power.
 
When God touches people's hearts with the truth about Jesus, they may not know why they react as they do.  Either they are proud and refuse to give room to Jesus: or they see Him as being everything they have ever looked for.  Sometimes they oscillate between those two opinions, as the Jerusalem crowd did within the week leading up to Jesus' death.  But irrespective of their final word, it is still true that Jesus is God who is worthy of praise.  Whenever people praise Him, they do the right thing as they proclaim His Lordship to others.  So those who understand His love should take every opportunity to praise Him: privately and in the family; and publically in the community and at work.  As you do, others will be drawn to Him, and those who believe in Him will be saved (John 3:14-15).