The widespread talk about the raising of Lazarus caused a large crowd to go out of the city to meet Jesus (12:18) as he rode in from Bethany on a donkey; John shows this to be fulfillment of the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9. Jesus was hailed by the crowd explicitly as 'the King of Israel' but his manner of entry rejected the nationalistic, militaristic idea of the Davidic king who would lead a great war against Israel's oppressors. The Pharisees viewed the demonstration of the crowd with alarm (12: 19). The disciples did not understand the significance of what was happening, at that time (12:16).