Matthew 21: Is Jesus the Messiah for Jerusalem people?

In Matthew 21 Jesus arrives in Jerusalem from Galilee. He is welcomed by the people of Jerusalem as the Messiah, the son of David:

6-9 The disciples went and did exactly what Jesus told them to do. They led the donkey and colt out, laid some of their clothes on them, and Jesus mounted. Nearly all the people in the crowd threw their garments down on the road, giving him a royal welcome. Others cut branches from the trees and threw them down as a welcome mat. Crowds went ahead and crowds followed, all of them calling out, “Hosanna to David’s son!” “Blessed is he who comes in God’s name!” “Hosanna in highest heaven!”

However, the Jewish leaders had another idea as for example: Jesus is a mere human - so it is an absurd that he is so welcomed in Jerusalem, or worse, he got power from Satan when performing miracles. Jesus said to them that they pretended to be doing the will of the Lord using just their mouth:


31-32 “Which of the two sons did what the father asked?”
They said, “The first.”
Jesus said, “Yes, and I tell you that crooks and whores are going to precede you into God’s kingdom. John came to you showing you the right road. You turned up your noses at him, but the crooks and whores believed him. Even when you saw their changed lives, you didn’t care enough to change and believe him.

In Matthew 21, we see Jesus as the Messiah to the crowd but not to the Jewish leaders. To welcome Jesus is to welcome the kingdom of heaven, while rejecting him is to reject the kingdom of heaven.