I think I sort of get what the Jewish leaders were most afraid of at this point. Probably, they didn't have a lot of patience with the criticisms and teachings He was speaking. But I think they were afraid of the civil unrest that could result from all of this. Sure, they weren't big fans of Rome, but they had it pretty good, and the status quo of Pax Romana was much better than some sort of misguided revolt led by this Jesus character. Chances are, they would all be stamped out like so many ants, by the boot of the Roman Legions.
To be sure, the people were expecting some sort of revolt, a recapturing of the glory of earlier days. Judas Maccabeus, who had lead an earlier successful revolt, is said to have entered Jerusalem in much a similar way to Jesus' triumphal entry. The people were making a clear statement about what they were expecting from Jesus. Hosanna - Save us! That's what the leaders were afraid of, and what finally pushed them to act. It's one thing to plot someone's death. It's another to actually put that plan into action.
I've always wondered what the deal with the "donkey and her colt" thing was. Did Jesus sit on both? That'd be kinda weird, especially since the version of this story doesn't mention both (John 12:12-16). I figure He probably sat on the colt, and probably the mom followed along as well. John probably didn't figure those were important details and condensed it down a bit.
With the crowd chanting for Jesus, it kind of reminds me of a baseball game. Some big slugger comes up to the plate with the bases loaded and the home team down by 3 with two outs in the ninth. They are all hoping for a home run; even expecting one. But in their eyes, Jesus eventually struck out and was met with a chorus of boos (crucify the bum!). That's how quickly the crowd can turn on you when you don't give'em what they want. But then again, that was never Jesus' plan.
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