Those who greeted Christ so ecstatically apparently were sincere in their praise. He seemed to be all they were seeking. But not everything was as it seemed. Of course, Jesus could see into the hearts of those on the outskirts of the crowd. What He saw there was not wild cheering but genuine fear fear of losing authority, fear of breaking with tradition and, perhaps unwittingly, fear of coming too close to God.
Fear has a way of giving way to anger and resentment and resistance and deception.
Sometimes, when a person or group's fear festers long enough, it manifests itself in unthinkable and unspeakable acts. That's what happened in the case of Jesus. As we approach Palm Sunday and Holy Week, we have the benefit of the rest of this story. The Gospels give us the facts of the story as well as holy commentary. Because we know how this story ends, we sometimes are guilty of approaching it with mere sentimentality.