When they came near to Jerusalem, and came to Bethsphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go into the village that is opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them, and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and immediately he will send them.”
All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophet, saying,
“Tell the daughter of Zion, behold, your King comes to you, humble, and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv1, 3, 5 Christ by his humility triumphing over the pride of…
Christ by his humility triumphing over the pride of this world, ascendeth to true glory by ignomy of the cross.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv1–5 1 And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and…
1 And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, unto the mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples,
Ver. 1. And when they drew nigh to Jerusalem] In this one verse our Evangelist closely compriseth all that St John sets down of our Saviour’s oracles and miracles from his Mat 7:1-29; Mat 8:1-34; Mat 9:1-38; Mat 10:1-42; Mat 11:1-30; Mat 12:1-12, viz. the history of five months and ten days; for Christ rode not into the city till the fifth day before his last passover, Joh 12:1; Joh 12:12, having the day before been anointed by Mary at Bethany, Joh 12:1, called here Bethphage, or the Conduit House ( Bethphage a בת et πηγη).
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv1, 4 This famous story of our Lord’s entrance into Jerusalem…
This famous story of our Lord’s entrance into Jerusalem is recorded by Mark, and Luke also: by Mark, Mar 11:1; by Luke, Luk 19:29. There is little difference in their relation of it thus far; afterwards we shall find more. I shall consider what they all say, that I may at once give the story perfect. Mark saith, Bethphage and Bethany. He saith, ye shall find a colt tied, whereon never man sat. Luke hardly varies at all from Mark, at least in nothing considerable. Our Lord was come now very nigh Jerusalem; Bethany was but fifteen furlongs from Jerusalem, that was about two miles, wanting an eighth part, Joh 11:18; it was the town of Lazarus, Joh 11:1. Matthew names only Bethphage, which was a place at the same distance, at the foot of the Mount of Olives, so called from the plenty of olive trees growing there; this mount was betwixt Jerusalem and Bethphage. It is like our Saviour was at both these towns, for Mark and Luke nameth both. From one of them he sendeth two of his disciples to a village near hand, telling them they should there find, at their entrance in, an ass tied, with a colt, on which yet never man sat. Mark and Luke only mention the colt, because Christ rode only upon the colt. Matthew mentions the ass, for the fulfilling of the prophecy, of which we shall hear in the next verses.
Loose them, and bring them unto me. And if any man say ought unto you, ( which he knew they would, and Mark and Luke tell us they did),
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ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them. Not, our Lord, but the Lord of heaven and earth, whose are the cattle upon a thousand hills, hath need of them: not for any weariness; he who had travelled on foot from Galilee to Bethany, could have gone the other two miles; but that he might enter into Jerusalem as was prophesied of him, Zec 9:9.
And straightway he will send them. The words are so, as may be understood as a promise of Christ to send them back, but it is more likely they are intended as an assurance to the disciples that the owners would make no difficulty to send them. These instructions (considered with the success) were an evident argument of Christ’s Divine nature, who could tell all particular circumstances, and also which way the heart of man would incline.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain On vv1, 4 The former part of this chapter gives us an…
The former part of this chapter gives us an account of our Saviour’s solemn and triumphant riding into the city of Jerusalem.
Where observe, That in all our Saviour’s journies and travels from place to place, he constantly went like a poor man, on foot, without noise, and without train; now he goes up to Jerusalem to die for sinners, he rides, to show his great cheerfulness in that service, and his forwardness to lay down his life for us. But what doth he ride upon?
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An ass, according to the manner of great persons amongst the Jews; but especially to fufil the prophecy, Zep 3:20, that the Messiah, a King of the Jews, should come riding upon an ass. But this ass was a colt, the foal of an ass, on which never man had rode before, Mar 11:2; signifying thereby, that the most unruly and untamed creatures become obedient and obsequious to him: and upon a borrowed ass, the use of which he demands, thereby manifesting his sovereign right to all the creatures; and accordingly, he bids his disciples tell the owner of the ass, That the Lord had need of him: not our Lord, but the Lord; that is, he that is the Lord of all, whose are the cattle upon a thousand hills; he that is Lord of all beasts and the owners too.
Observe farther, That notwithstanding Christ’s supreme right to the ass and the colt, he will have neither of them taken without the owner’s knowledge, or against his will; but the disciples must acquaint him with it, and by a double argument move him to it.
1. Christ’s right of dominion and sovereignty over them; he is the Lord that sends for them.
2. His present occasion for them; the Lord has need of them.
Note also here, A wonderful instance of Christ’s prescience or foreknowledge, even in the most minute and smallest matters.
1. You shall find a colt.
2. On which no man ever sat.
3. A colt tied and bound with its dam.
4. In the place where two wars met.
5. As they entered the village.
6. That the owners should be willing to let him go.
Such an exact knowledge had Christ of person and actions, even of the circumstances of actions.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv2–5 Saying unto them, go into the village over against…
Saying unto them, go into the village over against you,.... Munster's Hebrew Gospel reads, "before you"; not Jerusalem, as some have thought, for that would never be called a village; though the Ethiopic version reads it, "the city"; but rather Bethany, which was near to Bethphage, and is mentioned with it; though the Jews say (u), the name of the village was Nob, and was near to Jerusalem, and own, that Christ had an ass from hence, on which he rode to Jerusalem, and applied to himself the prophecy in Zac 9:9. And it is very likely this was the village; for Nob was very near to Jerusalem; it was over against it, within sight of it, and from thence might be taken a view of the whole city, according to the Jews; who say (w), that Sennacherib stood in Nob, a city of the priests, over against the walls of Jerusalem, and saw the whole city, and it was little in his eyes; and he said; is not this the city of Jerusalem, &c.
and straightway, or, as in Mark, "as soon as ye be entered into it"; and in Luke, "at your entering", at the town's end, at one of the first houses in it, at the door thereof,
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ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her. The other evangelists only make mention of the colt, or young ass; but, no doubt, both were spoken of by Christ, and both were found by the disciples, the ass, and the colt by her, and both were brought away by them; and on both of them, very probably, Christ rode; first on one, and then on the other, as the prophecy hereby fulfilled seems to require, and as the sequel of the account shows. The ancient allegorical sense of the ass and colt is not to be despised: that the ass may signify the Jews, who had been used to bear the burdensome rites and ceremonies of the law; and the colt, the wild and untamed Gentiles, and the coming of Christ, first to the one, and then to the other:
loose them, and bring them unto me, both ass and colt. So the Arabic version reads it, "loose both, and bring them, both to me".
(u) Toldos Jesu, p. 9. (w) T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 95. 1. Targum, Jarchi, & Kimchi in Isa. x. 32.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv1, 5 Mark xi, 1; Luke xix, 29; John xii, 12.
Mark xi, 1; Luke xix, 29; John xii, 12.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv1–5 Christ rides into Jerusalem upon an ass, and the…
CHAPTER XXI.
Christ rides into Jerusalem upon an ass, and the multitude
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receive him joyfully, 1-11.
He enters the temple, and expels the money-changers, c. 12, 13.
The blind and the lame come to him and are healed, 14.
The chief priests and scribes are offended, 15.
Our Lord confounds them, and goes to Bethany, 16, 17.
The barren fig-tree blasted, 18-22.
While teaching in the temple, the chief priests and elders
question his authority he answers and confutes them, 23-27.
The parable of the man and his two sons, 28-32.
The parable of a vineyard let out to husbandmen, 33-42;
applied to the priests and Pharisees, 43-45;
who wish to kill him, but are restrained by the fear of the
people, who acknowledge Christ for a prophet, 46.
NOTES ON CHAP. XXI.
Verse 1. Bethphage] A place on the west declivity of Mount Olivet, from which it is thought the whole declivity and part of the valley took their name. It is supposed to have derived its name from the fig-trees which grew there; בית beeth, signifying a region as well as a house, and פג phag, a green fig.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv1, 4 Mat 21:1-3. And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem…
Mat 21:1-3. And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem — Namely, on the first day of the week, five days before his death, for the passover was kept on the fourteenth day of the month, and this was the tenth; on which day the law appointed that the paschal-lamb should be taken up, Exo 12:3, and set apart for that service: on that day therefore Christ our passover, who was to be sacrificed for us, was publicly shown. So that this was the prologue to his passion. And were come to Bethphage — Mark says, and Bethany. Then sent Jesus two disciples, saying, Go into the village over against you — This, as the Arabian geographer informs us, was a little village two miles distant from the mount of Olives, toward the south. And straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her — As Mark and Luke say that the colt was tied, the words of Matthew contain an ellipsis, which must be supplied thus, and a colt bound with her. It must be observed, also, that the other evangelists make mention only of the colt, because our Lord sat on him only. See note on Mat 21:7. Here we have “a wonderful instance of Christ’s prescience in very minute matters. He says, 1, You shall find a colt: 2, On which no man ever sat: 3, Bound with his mother: 4, In a place where two ways meet, Mar 11:4 : 5, As you enter into the village: 6, The owners of which shall at first seem unwilling that you should unbind him: 7, But when they hear the Lord hath need of him, they will let him go.” — Whitby.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv1–4 And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem - They…
And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem - They were going up now from Jericho.
Mat 20:29. The distance was about 19 miles. The most of the way was a desert, or filled with caves, and rocks, and woods - a suitable place for robbers. See Luk 10:30. The Mount of Olives, or “Olivet,” is on the east of Jerusalem. Between this and Jerusalem there runs a small stream called the brook Kidron, or Cedron. It is dry in the hot seasons of the year, but swells to a considerable size in time of heavy rains. See the notes at Joh 18:1. The Mount of Olives was so called from its producing in abundance the olive. It was from Jerusalem about a Sabbath-day’s journey. See the notes at Act 1:12. On the west side of the mountain was the garden of Gethsemane, Luk 22:39; Mar 14:32. On the eastern declivity of the mountain were the villages of Bethphage and Bethany. Mark and Luke say that he came near to both those places.
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He appears to have come first to Bethany, where he passed the night Joh 12:1, Joh 12:9-11, and in the morning sent over to the adjacent village Bethphage. Bethany was the place where Lazarus lived, whom he raised from the dead John 11; where Martha and Mary lived; and where Mary anointed him with ointment against the day of his burying, Joh 12:1-7. The Mount of Olives is about a mile in length and about 700 feet in height, and overlooks Jerusalem, so that from its summit almost every part of the city can be seen. The mountain is composed of three peaks or summits. The “olive” is a fruit well known among us as an article of commerce. The tree blooms in June, and bears white flowers. The fruit is small. It is first green, then whitish, and, when fully ripe, black. It encloses a hard stone in which are the seeds. The “wild olive” was common, and differed from the other only in being of a smaller size. There are two roads from Jerusalem to Bethany; one around the southern end of the Mount of Olives, and the other across the summit. The latter is considerably shorter, but more difficult, and it was probably along this road that the Saviour went.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 5 Bethphage, was a village of the priests, and signifies…
Bethphage, was a village of the priests, and signifies the house of figs and dates, or the house of the fountain, or of the flatterer, situated on the declivity of Mount Olivet, about a mile to the east of Jerusalem, a sabbath-day’s journey. As Bethphage was probably so called from the fig and date trees growing there, Mount Olivet was from the great number of olive-trees: Greek: ton elaion. The triumphal entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem from Bethania, was on the first day of the week, answering to our Sunday, the very day on which, by the appointment of the law, (Exodus xii. 3.) the lamb was brought hither, to be sacrificed at the Passover. To shew, moreover, that in himself all the figures of the old law were realized, he chose that very night for the institution of the Passover of the new law, the blessed eucharist, which was appointed for the immolation of the paschal lamb in the old law, and the very day fro the redemption of the world, in which the people of God had formerly been redeemed from Egyptian bondage. ... When they were arrived to the mid-way between Bethania (which he had just quitted) and Bethphage, he sends two of his disciples. In Greek it is, Kai elthon eis Bethphage; i.e. eporeuonto, they were travelling to Bethphage, and were near the place, within sight of it, but had not reached it, as we learn from both St. Mark and St. Luke.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
John Nelson Darby 1862 · Public Domain On v1 Matthew Chapter 21
Matthew Chapter 21
Afterwards (chap. 21), disposing of all that belonged to His willing people, He makes His entry into Jerusalem as King and Lord, according to the testimony of Zechariah. But although entering as King-the last testimony to the beloved city, which (to their ruin) was going to reject Him-He comes as a meek and lowly King. The power of God influences the heart of the multitudes, and they salute Him as King, as Son of David, making use of the language supplied by Psa 118:1-29, [62] which celebrates the millennial sabbath brought in by the Messiah, then to be acknowledged by the people. The multitude spread their garments to prepare the way for their meek, though glorious King; they cut down branches from the trees to bear Him testimony; and He is conducted in triumph to Jerusalem, while the people cry, “Hosanna [Save now] to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest!” Happy for them if their hearts had been changed to retain this testimony in the Spirit. But God sovereignly disposed their hearts to bear this testimony; He could not allow His Son to be rejected without receiving it.
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And now the King is going to review everything, still maintaining His position of humility and of testimony. Apparently the different classes come to judge Him, or to perplex Him; but in fact they all present themselves before Him to receive at His hands, one after another, the judgment of God respecting them. It is a striking scene that opens before us-the true Judge, the everlasting King, presenting Himself for the last time to His rebellious people with the fullest testimony to His rights and to His power; and they, coming to harass and condemn Him, led by their very malice to pass before Him one after another, laying open their real condition, to receive their judgment from His lips, without His forsaking for a moment (unless in cleansing the temple, before this scene commenced) the position of Faithful and True Witness in all meekness on the earth.
The difference between the two parts of this history is distinguishable. The first presents the Lord in His character of Messiah and Jehovah. As Lord, He commands the ass to be brought. He enters the city, according to the prophecy, as King. He cleanses the temple with authority. In answer to the priests’ objection He quotes Psa 8:1-9, which speaks of the manner in which Jehovah caused Himself to be glorified, and perfected the praises due to Him out of the mouth of babes. In the temple also He heals Israel. He then leaves them, no longer lodging in the city, which He could no longer own, but with the remnant outside. The next day, in a remarkable figure He exhibits the curse about to fall upon the nation. Israel was the fig-tree of Jehovah; but it cumbered the ground. It was covered with leaves, but there was no fruit. The fig-tree, condemned by the Lord, presently withers away. It is a figure of this unhappy nation, of man in the flesh with every advantage, which bore no fruit for the Husbandman.
Israel in fact possessed all the outward forms of religion, and were zealous for the law and the ordinances, but they bore no fruit unto God. So far as placed under responsibility to bring forth fruit, that is to say, under the old covenant, they will never do so. Their rejection of Jesus put an end to all hope. God will act in grace under the new covenant; but this is not the question here. The fig-tree is Israel as they were, man cultivated by God, but in vain. All was over. That which He said to the disciples of the mountain’s removing, while it is a great general principle, refers also, I doubt not, to that which should take place in Israel by means of their ministry. Looked at corporately on the earth as a nation, Israel should disappear, and be lost among the Gentiles. The disciples were those whom God accepted according to their faith.
We see the Lord entering Jerusalem as a king-Jehovah, the King of Israel-and judgment pronounced on the nation. Then follow the details of judgment on the different classes of which it was composed. First come the chief priests and elders, who should have guided the people; they draw near to the Lord and question His authority. Thus addressing Him, they took the place of heads of the nation, and assumed to be judges, capable of pronouncing on the validity of any claims that might be made; if not, why concern themselves with Jesus?
The Lord, in His infinite wisdom, puts a question to them which tests their capability and by their own confession they were incapable. How then judge Him? [63] To tell them the foundation of His authority, was useless. It was too late now to tell them. They would have stoned Him, if He had alleged its true source. He replies, Decide on John the Baptist’s mission. If they could not do this, why inquire respecting His? They cannot do it. If they acknowledged John to have been sent of God it would be acknowledging Christ. To deny it would be to lose their influence with the people. Of conscience there was no question with them. They confess their inability. Jesus then declines their competency as leaders and guardians of the faith of the people. They had judged themselves; and the Lord proceeds to set their conduct, and the Lord’s dealings with them, plainly before their eyes, from Mat 21:28 to Mat 22:14.
First, while professing to do the will of God, they did it not; while the openly wicked had repented and done His will. They, seeing this, were still hardened. Again, not only had natural conscience remained untouched, whether by the testimony of John, or by the sight of repentance in others, but, although God had used every means to make them bring forth fruit worthy of His culture, He had found nothing in them but perversity and rebellion. The prophets had been rejected, and His Son would be so likewise. They desired to have His inheritance for themselves. They could not but acknowledge that in such case the consequence must necessarily be the destruction of those wicked men, and the bestowal of the vineyard on others. Jesus applies the parable to themselves, by quoting Psa 118:1-29, which announces that the stone rejected by the builders should become the head-stone of the corner; moreover, that whosoever should fall on this stone-as the nation was at that moment doing-should be broken; but that on whomsoever it should fall-and this would be the lot of the rebellious nation in the last days-it should grind them to powder. The chief priests and the Pharisees understood that He spoke of them, but they dared not lay hands on Him, because the multitude took Him for a prophet. This is the history of Israel, as under responsibility, even till the last days. Jehovah was seeking fruit in His vineyard.
Footnotes for Matthew Chapter 21
62: This Psalm is peculiarly prophetic of the time of His future reception, and is often cited in connection with it.
63: This throwing back on conscience is often the wisest answer, when the will is perverse.
John Nelson Darby — Synopsis of the Books of the Bible: the New Testament (c. 1857–1862) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain On v1
FOURTH SECTION
THE PROPHETIC HOSANNA OF THE PEOPLE AND THE SURPRISE OF THE CAPITAL
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Mat_21:1-11.
(Mar_11:1-10; Luk_19:29-44; Joh_12:12-19. Mat_21:1-9 the Gospel for first Advent, and for Palm-Sunday)
1And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, unto the mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples, 2Saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall [will] find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto me. 3And if any man say aught unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send them [he sends them].1 4All2 this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, 5Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting [mounted, ἐπιβεβηκώς] upon an ass, and [yea upon]3 a colt the foal of an ass [of a beast 6, of burden].4 And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them, 7And brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their clothes [garments], and they set him [and he sat]5 thereon. 8And a very great multitude [most of the multitude]6 spread their garments in the way; [and] others cut down branches from the trees, and strewed them in the way. 9And the multitudes that went before [him],7 and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna8 to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest. 10And when he was come [had entered] into Jerusalem, all the city [the whole city] was moved, saying, Who is this? 11And the multitude [the multitudes]9 said, This is Jesus the prophet [the prophet Jesus]10 of [from] Nazareth of Galilee.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
Mat_21:1. Unto Jerusalem.—Jerusalem is mentioned as the goal, to assign the motive for the mission of the two disciples. Jerusalem, יְרוּשִליִם, ̓Ιερονσλήμ, ̓Ιεροσὸλυμα:—according to Ewald, possession or inheritance of peace; according to Gesenius, the people or house of peace. At all events, a seat of peace, the city of peace:11 poetically, שָׁלֵם Psa_76:8; אֲרִיאֵל, Isa_29:1; Isa_29:8; and, earlier, Jdg_19:10; now called by the Mohammedans, el-Khuds [“the holy” or Beit el-Makdis, “the holy house,” “the sanctuary”]. In every respect this city is the mysterious and wonderful flower of history:12—in its situation, in its history, in its religious position, and especially in its symbolical character. The city lay high; and the hills around came first into view, over which it spread gradually into the higher and lower city: the hill of Zion being the centre,—Zion, Moriah, Bezetha, Akra. Then the valleys, which made it a natural fortress: toward the west the valley of Gihon; toward the south-west and south, Ge-hinnom; toward the east, the valley of Kidron, bounded by the low hill of Gihon, the Mount of Evil Counsel, and the Mount of Olives with its three peaks. The city belonged to the inheritance of Benjamin, but was for the most part inhabited by the tribe of Judah. As it respects the history of Jerusalem, we may distinguish the period before, and the period after, the exile. The former is subdivided into the time of the Canaanite origin of the place (Josephus calls its builder Melchizedec); the time of its gradual elevation and glory; the time of its humiliation down to the destruction of the first temple. The time after the exile may be divided into the Jewish, the Christian, and the Mohammedan periods. Wonderful have been the conquests and spoliations which Jerusalem has undergone, without being demolished.
[See the article Jerusalem in Winer’s Realwörterbuch, and in W. Smith’s Dictionary of the Bible (vol. 1. pp. 981–1035, by James Fergusson, very full and elaborate with maps); Krafft’s Topographie Jerusalem! (Bonn, 1846); Barclay’s City of the Cheat King; and the well-known works on Palestine, by Robinson, von Raumer, von Schubert, Tischendorf, Schulz, Strauss, Tobler, Wolff, Bausman, etc.]
To Bethphage.—It lay, according to Mat_21:2, straight before them, and was soon reached, פּגֵּאבֵּית house of figs. The name indicates a favorable situation on the eastern side of the Mount of Olives. “Descending about 100 steps from the top of the Mount of Olives, the place is seen where Bethphage stood, though no ruin remains at this day to mark the spot: 15 stadia farther down, or a short half hour from Jerusalem (Joh_11:18), we reach Bethany. The village (el Aziriyeh [from el Azir, i.e., Lazarus]) is small and poor, occupied by Arabs (and Christians); the way to Jericho runs through it. The supposed houses of Martha, Mary Magdalene, Lazarus, Simon the leper, are shown to this day; but especially the sepulchre of Lazarus, hewn out of stone.” Von Raumer. Winer suggests that Bethphage lay somewhat east of Bethany; and hence that it is named before Bethany in Mar_11:1; Luk_19:29. But in Mar_11:1 the description runs backward from the starting-point: Jerusalem, Bethphage, Bethany according to which, Bethphage lay between Jerusa lem and Bethany. Robinson follows Winer in drawing the same wrong conclusion from the text.13 Pococke thought that he found the ruins of Bethphage two English miles from the city; but Robinson assures us that there are no traces of it visible. The road, which passed from the valley of Bethany over the hill of Bethphage to the middle hill of the Mount of Olives, then passing downward to the valley of Kidron, was then lost in rich palm plantations and fruit and olive gardens. At the time of the Passover, the many trains of pilgrims, and the tents on the sides of the Mount of Olives (in which many pilgrims lodged), made the road look like a festal and excited encampment.
Then sent Jesus two disciples.—They are not further indicated. The sending was occasioned by the Messianic significance of the journey. The festive procession, which had come from Jericho to the neighborhood of the Mount of Olives, and halted there on account of the Sabbath, was increased on Monday morning by the adherents of Jesus who came out from Jerusalem to meet Him. On the evening before, many Jews had gone to Bethany, to see Jesus, and Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead (Joh_12:9). Others were now added to these. They received Him with palm branches, and went on singing the Messianic greeting of Psa_118:26 : Hosanna, blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord—the King of Israel. He would enter into the holy city with the emblems of the King of peace, according to Zec_9:9 : hence the mission of the disciples.
Mat_21:2. Into the village.—Bethphage.
An ass, and a colt with her.—“The seeming variation of the two animals from Mar_11:2; Luk_19:30; Joh_12:14, is not to be derived (with de Wette and Strauss) from a misunderstanding of the prophetic passage, in which וְעַל עַיִד is the epexegetic parallel of עַל־חֲמֹר. In the same way we must understand καὶ ἐπὶ πῶλον, Mat_21:5. Matthew also says that Jesus rode upon the colt; but the mother animal was there, which circumstance the other Evangelists pass over.” Meyer. The words of the prophet Zechariah run: “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: He is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, yea, upon a colt the foal of an ass.” Here there is a parallelismus membrorum: the ass in the former clause is more fully described in the second as the foal of the ass. Strauss thinks that the Evangelist misunderstood this parallelism, and accordingly made two animals out of one. But, doubtless, the Evangelist, who understood Hebrew poetry, thought of another explanation of the parallel: that, namely, between the mother ass and her foal, as it was realized in the actual event. The Evangelists, all of them, lay stress on the fact, already predicted by the prophet, that Jesus entered the city on a foal not yet ridden. This characteristic of the animal was symbolical, as the whole procession was symbolical. A new time; a new Prince; a new animal to ride upon. But if this foal had never borne a rider, it was necessary that the mother should be led by its side, in order to quiet it for such a service.—According to Justin Martyr (Dial. c. Tryph. 63), the foal was a figure of untamed heathenism; while the ass, accustomed to burdens, was a figure of Judaism under the law.14 But the contrast of the old theocracy and the young ἐκκλησία seems more obvious. In the symbolism of the prophets the ass signifies the peaceable animal of the Prince of peace, in opposition to the proud war-horse of the conqueror. (Against the frivolous witticisms of Strauss on the two animals, compare Ebrard, p. 480.)
Loose them.—“Strauss has no ground whatever for making this prediction a myth, with allusion to Gen_49:11.” Meyer. The disciples were to loose the asses, which stood bound by the way, before the eyes of the standers-by; thus, believing in the word of Jesus, they were to perform an act which seemed violent, but was not so, inasmuch as the Lord knew beforehand the consent of these men, and communicated that assurance to the disciples.—But why did the Lord adopt such a method of entering Jerusalem? In this style of approach we see the character of His progress throughout the world. He is a King, at whose disposal all things stand when He wants them, but who has not anywhere, either for Himself or for His servants, great provision laid up beforehand. Thus He goes on His way through the world, as having nothing, and yet possessing all things. Doubtless, the fact of this provision may be traced to His friends at Bethany, as the provision of the guest-chamber at Jerusalem for the Passover was traceable to friends in the city; but in both cases the exact specification does not point to any external concert, but to the superhuman knowledge of Christ.
Mat_21:4. That it might be fulfilled—The words combine two passages: Isa_62:11 (“Tell ye the daughter of Zion.” Here the city of the present seems to be addressed as the daughter of the ideal, historical, Jerusalem), and Zec_9:9 (see above). This latter passage refers back indeed to the blessing of Judah, Gen_49:11. Judah is there exhibited as combining the conqueror and the prince of peace (Shiloh): first, he is a conquering prince, and then the prince of peace; and in the latter capacity he makes use of the ass. Both these characteristics of Judah are typically separated in the contrast between David and Solomon; and in the Messiah they are united and fulfilled. Zechariah introduces the Messiah first as a warrior, ch.9., and then makes Him enter Jerusalem as a Prince of peace. But the expression, “that it might be fulfilled,” does not here, any more than in Mat_2:23; Joh_19:28, and elsewhere, signify a merely conventional and fortuitous realization of the prophecy. The occasion and need of the moment was the obvious motive. But to the Spirit of God these historical occasions were arranged coincidences with the prophetical word. Christ was in need of the foal of the ass, inasmuch as He could not make His entrance on foot in the midst of a festal procession. He must not be lost in the crowd; it was necessary that He should take a prominent position, and appear pre-eminent. But if He became conspicuous, it must be in the most humble and peaceable fashion: hence the choice of the ass. The dignity of the procession required the ass’s colt, and this made the history all the more symbolical. But it could not be concealed from the spirit of Christ that here again the plain historical necessity coincided with the symbolically significant fulfilment of a prophetical word. The disciples did not perceive this significance till afterward.
Mat_21:5. And (Yea) a colt.—The καὶ epexegetical, for closer description:—and that the foal of an ass.
Mat_21:7. He sat upon them, ἐκὰθισεν ἐπάνωαν̓τῶν—This is referred to the garments by Theophylact, Euth. Zygab., Castal., Beza, Meyer, and others [Wordsworth]. As referred to the animals, it is variously explained. De Wette: a want of accuracy in Matthew. Strauss says that the Evangelist makes Jesus slavishly and unreasonably carry out the prophetic description, by riding at once upon both animals.15 Fritzsche, Fleck, and older commentators, suppose that He rode on both alternately. Other expositors, as Winer, Olshausen, Ebrard, Lange, comp. Calvin and Grotius, [also Alford and Nast, explain it as merely an inexact expression, as we might say: “He sprang from the horses.” We do not, however, lay stress upon this comprehensive expression, but upon the idea that He controlled the pair by riding the foal. (Olshausen is mistaken in supposing that He rode the ass.) If we ascribe to the Evangelist a symbolical consciousness, this circumstance assumes a living significance. The old theocracy runs idly and instinctively by the side of the young Church, which has become the true bearer of the kingdom of Christ With all the enmity that existed, she could not separate from it. The rider of a team does really ride both the united animals, though in a mechanical sense only one; and this view is not opposed, as Meyer thinks, by the fact that in Mat_21:5, where riding in a narrower sense is spoken of, such latitude of expression cannot be assumed. Glassius’s explanation of an enallage numeri must then fall to the ground.
Mat_21:8. Spread their garments [loose overcoats, comp. Mat_5:40].—Oriental mark of honor at the reception of kings, on their entrance into cities: 2Ki_9:13. The disciples had made their upper garments into coverings for the animals; the people follow the example, and spread theirs as a carpet on the way.
Mat_21:9. Hosanna to the Son of David.—חוֹשִיעָח־נָא (יְהוָֹה), Help (Lord); give Thy salvation! Ps. 98:25. The expression seems gradually to have become a Messianic prediction of good wish (Hail, io triumphe, ἰὴ παιάν). Hence its meaning varied according to circumstances; but here its highest significance was disclosed. “The dative is not governed by the verb in ὡσαννά, but is a dative of relation, and Hosanna is a festal cry of good will.” Meyer.—Hosanna in the highest.—In the highest regions (ν̔ψίστοις), that is, in heaven. De Wette: May Hosanna be confirmed by God in heaven. Beza: May it be given by God in heaven. Fritzsche: May it be cried by angels in heaven. Meyer: May it come down from heaven upon the Messiah. Salvation in the heavens, viewed generally, means as well the heavenly salvation which God gives and ensures, as the salvation uttered and announced from the heavens. Hence we might more precisely explain it—May our Hosanna be in the heavens! that is, as a prayer, and as a prayer granted (comp. Luk_2:14), as an exclamation sent to heaven, and as an echo from heaven. In short: May our Hosanna resound in heaven!—These Messianic acclamations seem, according to Mat_21:9, to have taken the form of an antiphonal song between the multitudes which went before, the Lord (the disciples from Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives), and those which followed Him (the Galilean pilgrim-train).
Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord.—The pilgrims’ greeting on their entrance into Jerusalem at the time of the feasts (greeting and response, Psa_118:26).
[Jesus, instead of giving way to this joyous enthusiasm of the shouting multitude, weeps tears of sympathy and compassion over unbelieving Jerusalem. See Luk_19:41. Could such a trait have been invented?—P. S.]
Mat_21:10. And when He was come into Jerusalem.—The journey over the Mount of Olives, and the Lord’s emotions at sight of the city, are passed over. See Luke.
The whole city was moved, ἐρείσοη.—The verb denotes a violent excitement—the being mightily moved, in the external and figurative sense. Meyer: “The excitement was contagious.” But what follows shows that the excitement must not be regarded as merely sympathetic. The question uttered shows this of itself. Jerusalem knew the person of Jesus sufficiently to have spared the question, had it wished.
Mat_21:11. The prophet from Nazareth of Galilee.—Meyer: “The well-known prophet. The accompanying crowds had most distinctly termed Him the Messiah; but the less enthusiastic multitude in the city required first of all to know His name, condition, and so forth. Hence the full answer, in which the ὁ ἀπὸ Ναζαρ τ. Γαλιλ. is certainly not without Galilean pride.” This may be so. Yet it must not be overlooked, that the question of surprise with which the proud city met the Galilean pilgrim-train seems to have lowered in some degree the spirit of their testimony. It is not “the Messiah,” but, somewhat ambiguously, “the prophet,” that they reply.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. See the preceding explanations.
2. On the jubilant acclamation which the disciples, on the Mount of Olives, and in prospect of the city, poured out in honor of Jesus, compare Luk_19:37; Joh_12:4. Doubtless we have here—where they celebrated the miracles of Christ, and especially His raising of Lazarus—the first preludes of the speaking with new tongues on the day of Pentecost. The common object of both, in the first as well as in the last, is to τὰ μεγαλεῖα τοῦ Θεοῦ
3. According to the Wolfenbüttel Fragmentist, the entrance of the Lord was the last attempt at a Messianic political foundation of a kingdom. But this is quite contrary to the whole of our Lord’s previous conduct, as He always avoided, not only all political suggestions and temptations, but even the very idea of a political Messiah itself.16 The readiness with which He could yield to the true Messiahidea, implanted in the minds of His disciples, proves that among them also the proper hope of a political Messiah had been already overcome. That the Lord never made a single attempt to set in motion a political project, does not say enough: we find that His disciples never did so. But that the Lord should suffer Himself to be introduced festally as their Messiah by His people, was only consistent with the truth of His Messiahship and the theocratically-justified expectations of His people. The entry was the purified historical fulfilment of the Messianic expectations of Israel, in conformity with the promise; but, in the form it assumed, it was a testing accommodation to the Messianic expectation of the age. In the wilderness, the popular spirit had tested Him; now His appearance tested the popular spirit. This test was a judgment upon the unbelief of the people; but it was also an important purifier of the rising faith of those who truly believed in Him. To Himself, finally, the kingly procession was a prelude of His sufferings; but it was also a symbol to Him of His glorification, of His kingly procession through the world, and of His future great epiphany. Hence the history of Palm Sunday is read as an Advent lesson. Palm Sunday stands at the beginning of Passion-week, as an anticipation of Easter; just as, conversely, the day of Crucifixion is gently reflected in the Ascension day,—this also being the Lord’s departure, and the consecration of His church as a church of the cross.
[4. Heubner: Christ’s entry into Jerusalem forms in every particular a memorable contrast to the subsequent passion. In the one case He stands on the Mount of Olives, the spot of His glory, looking over Jerusalem, which did homage to Him; in the other He was led to Golgotha, the place of the skull, surrounded by the graves and skulls of malefactors. Here He held His solemn entry, attended by friends and followers and the shouting multitude; there He is thrust out of the city, surrounded by enemies, tied as a criminal, and led by officers and executioners. Here His disciples serve Him willingly, and feel themselves honored thereby; there they forsake Him in dismay and despair. Here all vie with each other in honoring and beautifying His entry; there they spit in His face, and heap all kinds of ignominy on Him. Here they spread garments in the way; there He is stripped of His garments, which are parted by casting lots, while He hangs naked on the cross. Here branches are strewed in the way, and He walks on beds of flowers; there He is scourged and crowned with thorns. Here He rides into the city as King; there He is compelled to bear His own cross. Here the prophecy of Zechariah concerning the coming King is fulfilled; there the awful prophecy of Isaiah concerning Him that is despised and rejected of men. Here He is saluted King, amid shouts of hosannas; there He is rejected, condemned, and crucified as a false prophet and blasphemer. In whose life is there such a contrast—such a sudden transition from joy and glory to humiliation and ignominy? And amid the high excitement of these rapidly-changing scenes, Christ maintains a perfect equanimity, neither giving way for a moment to the importunities of His excited friends, nor overwhelmed by the apparent hopelessness of His cause.—P. S.]
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
Jesus comes as the Christ publicly to His city; or, the day of decision. It was, 1. prepared for with sacred foresight; 2. longed for with the most fervent desire; 3. adorned with the richest miracles of salvation; 4. like a festal revelation from heaven; 5. and yet it was a day of severest test and of decisive judgment for Israel, but, finally, 6. also a day of the approach of redemption for the people of God.—Jesus and Jerusalem; or, the King of peace and the city of peace: 1. Designed ever for each other; 2. bringing each other the doom of death; 3. for each other the means of glorification.—The Mount of Olives: 1. He came over the Mount of Olives,—the Christ of the Spirit; 2. He went to heaven from the Mount of Olives,—the Mediator of the Spirit.—The festal entrance of Christ into the holy city, in its significance for all times: 1. The present—as the glory of the life of Jesus; 2. the past—as the glory of the ancient covenant; 3. the future—as the type of the coming of Christ in glory.—The concealed friends of Christ in the history of His kingdom.—The obedience of the two disciples, a severe test of faith.—The palm-entry of Christ a heavenly type of the coming kingdom of heaven itself.—The festal procession of the Prince of peace: 1. Scriptural representations: the blessing of Jacob, Solomon’s rule, the word of Zechariah 2. Under what signs He appears: the animal of peace, the palm of peace, the people of peace (the last intensely excited, yet without any trace of insurrection). 3. What peace He brings peace of the heart with God, peace of fellowship with brethren, peace of reconciliation with the existing order of things. In all His peace.—The lesson taught by the great palm-entry without any trace of insurrection: 1. Regard not (hierarchically) Christ as separated from His people (freedom of faith); 2. regard not (despotically) the people as separated from their Christ (freedom of conscience).—How we should receive the Lord at His entrance: 1. With devotion of heart, in trust and obedience; 2. with the praise of lips; 3. with festive offerings of our substance.—Lift up your heads, O ye gates! Psalms 24.—The Hosanna of the festal multitudes; or, Israel in the beauty of spring: 1. The blossom full of promise; 2. the fading flowers; 3. the fruit that remained.—The Hosanna, as echo of the angels’ song, Luke 2, in the hearts of men.—The Hosanna in its twofold issue: Crucify Him, and the tongues at Pentecost.—Jerusalem once more excited by the announcement of the Messiah (compare Matthew 2).—All the world must ask who He is.—Loud praise and timid confession.—The day of salvation: To-day, to-day, if ye will hear His voice, Heb_3:7.—Palm Sunday, a preparatory festival, 1. of Good Friday; 2. of Easter; 3. of the Ascension; 4. of Pentecost.
Starke:—With what alacrity does the Lord make arrangements for His end!—A King whose best throne is in the heart.—As all things spoken concerning Christ in the Scripture were fulfilled, so also must be fulfilled all things spoken in the Scripture concerning His church.—Christ’s kingdom is not of this world, but spiritual.—The works of God are not with observation.
Gerlach:—After Jesus had so often avoided the snares of His enemies, He now goes directly to meet the death long predicted for Him; while His friends expected the manifestation of His kingly dignity, and His enemies expected His total destruction.—The hopes of friends and foes were alike fulfilled, yet not in the way they respectively thought: He suffered death, that He might gloriously conquer in it; He received His kingdom on the cross.
Heubner:—Jesus orders all things with supreme wisdom and prudence for His final work.—The last journey of Jesus to Jerusalem.—Jesus is always seeking access into our hearts.—The kingdom of God a kingdom of gentleness and love.—The entry of Christ: 1. Blameless and harmless; 2. wise and dignified; 3. in accordance with duty and necessity.—The contrast between this entrance and the Passion history.—The glorification of Jesus at His last entrance into Jerusalem: 1. By what He Himself did; and 2. by what took place on Him through the instrumentality of others.—What excitement in all the world and in all times concerning Jesus!—On the first Sunday in Advent this Gospel must be viewed in itself, on Palm Sunday in its connection with the history of the Passion.
The Text as the Gospel for Advent.—Hossbach:—Christ holding His entry anew among us.—Hey:—Pious enthusiasm, in its value and in its insufficiency.—Schultz:—When can the Christian say of himself that salvation is come nigh to him?—Lisco:—The preparation for the coming of Christ.
The Text as the Gospel for Palm Sunday,—Rein hard:—Jesus’ deportment before and during the swift process of His last sorrows.—Harms:—In all our sad journeys, let us take Jesus for our guide.—Bachmann:—Introduction to the proper celebration of the holy week.—Ahlfeld:—A glance into the na ture of the kingdom of Christ.—Dittmar:—Behold, thy King cometh unto thee.—Routenberg:—Dare we utter our Hosannas to the Son of David, who is going to Calvary?
Footnotes:
[1] Mat_21:3.—The Recepta reads the future: ἀποστελεῖ, which is sustained by B., D., the Vulgate, Itala, Lachmann, Tischendorf. But Griesbach and Scholz prefer the present: ἀποστέλλει, with Codd. C., E., G., K., al., which it more expressive, though apparently less suitable (Meyer).
[2] Mat_21:4.—Lachmann and Tischendorf [in former editions, but not in that of 1859] omit ὅλον, all, according to Codd, C., D., L, Z., versions, and fathers. [Cod. Sinait. likewise omits it.—P. S.]
[3] Mat_21:5.—Καὶ is epexegetical, and hence ὀπί before πῶλον is superfluous. [But Lachmann, Tischendorf, Tregelles, Alford retain it according to B., L., Z., and Cod. Sinait. At all events καί does not express addition here, but explanation or epeæegesis (und swar, and that, or yea), and thus the apparent difference in the accounts of the Evangelists is easily solved. See Exeg. Note on Mat_21:2.—P. S.]
[4] Mat_21:5.—Υἱὸν ὑποζυγίου “The ass (ὄνος) is the animal meant by the word, but is also characterised by it. (Conant) Lange: Lastthier. Comp. Zec_9:9.—P. S.]
[5] Mat_21:7.—The reading: ἐπεκάθισεν, he sat, instead of the lect.rec.: ἐπεκάθισαν, they set, is sustained by Codd. B., C., Origen, etc., and adopted in the critical editions.
[6] Mat_21:8.—[Ὁδὲ πλεῖστος ὄχλος. Lange and Ewald: das meiste Volk; Kendrick and Conant: (the) meet of the multitude. Comp. ἄλλοι δὲ, and others, in the next clause.—P. S.]
[7] Mat_21:9.—Προάγοντες αὐτόν [instead of πρυἁγοντες simply]. So Lachmann, Tischendorf, [Alford], following B., C., D., al., [and Cod. Sinait.].
[8] Mat_21:9.—[Ὡσαννα (originally a formula of supplication, bat conventionally one of triumphant gratulation and joyful greeting to a deliverer, hence followed by the dative) was properly retained in the English, German, and other moden Versions, as Matthew retained it from the Hebrew (הוֹשִׁיעִי־נּא, σῶσον δή, LXX., Save now!), comp. Mar_9:9-10 Joh_12:18. So we have likewise from the Hebrew the words: Jehovah, sabbath, manna, Zebaoth, amen, etc.—P. S.]
[9] Mat_21:11.—[Ὄχλοι as in Mat_21:9, where the E. V. correctly renders multitudes.—P. S.]
[10] Mat_21:11.—[The oldest reading, sustained by Cod. Sinait, and adopted by Lachmann, Tregelles. Alford, and Conant, προφήτης Ἰησοῦς, the prophet Jesus, instead of Ἰησοῦς ὁ προφήτης. But Dr. Lange in his version retain. the received residing with Teschendorf, and takes no notice of the difference.—P. S.]
[11][Jedenfalls also ein Friedenshain, ein Friedenssitz, dir Friedensstadt.]
[12][Die mysteriöse Wunderblame der Wettgeschichte,—one of the many untranslatable poetic compounds of Dr. Lange. The Edinb. transl. has mysterious glory.—P. S.]
[13][Gresswell and Nast remove the difficulty by supposing that Bethphage lay upon the direct line of this route, but that Bethany did not; so that one travelling from Jericho would come to Bethphage first, and would have to turn off from the road to go to Bethany.—P. S.]
[14][Chrysostom, Jerome, and other fathers, likewise regard the ass as a figure of the synagogue burdened with the yoke of the law, and the colt as a symbol of the Gentiles who were untamed and unclean before Christ sat upon them and sanctified them. See more of this patristic allegorizing in the catena Aurea of Thomas Aquinas. Oxford ed. 1:51. p. 708 sqq. Of modern commentators Wordsworth adopts it in this as in many other cases.—P. S.]
[15][In his new Life of Jesus, 1864, p, 524, Strauss Is not ashamed to repeat this specimen of frivolous criticism, to which it is sufficient to reply that Matthew knew as much Hebrew and had as much common senile as any modem critic of his Gospel.—P. S.]
[16][Comp. the remarks of Dr. W. Nast in loc.: “The absurd assertion of the antichristian critique, ‘that Jesus’ entry was His last attempt to found a worldly Messianic, kingdom,’ is sufficiently refuted not only by the uniform tenor of His previous conduct, rejecting sternly all insinuations and offers of that kind as coning from the Evil One, but also by the form of the entry, which was well adapted to remove every idea of earthly power a d worldly entry. even amid the hosannas of His followers and the attending crowds, and to set forth the spiritual nature of His kingdom. His followers did not carry swords or spears, but branches of palm trees, and He Himself did not ride the war-steed of a king, but the colt of an ass, the symbol of peace. That the entry had no political character appears also from the fact that the Roman Government took no notice of it”—Even Strauss, in his new Life of Jesus, p. 278, refutes the hypothesis of Reimarus (the author of the Wolfenbüttel Fragments), and well remarks that he who makes his entry unarmed with unarmed followers on a peaceful animal must either be already acknowledged as ruler, or he must aim at dominion in such a manner as excludes all force and political power.—P. S.]
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv1–5 Our Lord had now spent nearly three years in…
§§ 111, 112. — TRIUMPHAL ENTRY INTO JERUSALEM —
THE BARREN FIG TREE — THE TEMPLE CLEANSED, 1-17.
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Our Lord had now spent nearly three years in his holy ministry, furnishing to the people the proofs of his Messiahship; he now proceeds by a public demonstration to make proclamation of his claim to the title. He makes entrance into David’s royal city as the Prince of peace, David’s son, and heir to all the fulfilments of prophecy in regard to the Messiah.
Even at the present day there are some who, like Strauss and Hennell, maintain that our Lord really designed to head a military movement, and, by delivering the Jews from the Roman sway, become a temporal monarch. This triumphal entrance into Jerusalem is a main fact upon which they rely in supporting this absurd theory. But all the circumstances go to show that the whole performance was, on the contrary, a purposed demonstration of his character, as being, in contrast with worldly heroes, a prince of peace, a founder of a religious kingdom, and a conqueror with the weapons of truth.
1. He had previously announced his own approaching death. He had come to Jerusalem to lay down his life. Mat_20:17-19; Mar_10:32-34; Luk_18:31-34; Joh_11:7-16.
2. His followers are wholly unarmed, and without military plan or equipments. They have not spears, but palm branches; they have not trumpets, but simply the voice of psalms. Their leader is not mounted upon the proud horse, (an animal forbidden to Israel on account of its warlike character,) but upon the ass, a symbol of peace and humility.
3. The Roman government is not in the least disturbed. The jealous Pilate does not even hear of the joyous procession. When Jesus is subsequently brought before him they are utter strangers. It was the time of the passover; great multitudes were crowding the city, and the tumult of the Saviour’s entrance would not be distinguished by the Romans from many other festal excitements.
4. Our Saviour, after the next symbolic act, the cleansing of the temple, proceeds into the sacred places, and commences teaching the people. But as, on the one hand, his enemies dare not touch him before their time, so, on the other, he avoids their treachery by spending his nights at Bethany among his friends. He keeps his foes at bay until he has had full time to make an impression that is never to be effaced upon the public mind, and has laid the indestructible foundations of his religious kingdom. He then, in due time, submits to the death he came to meet. He passes through scenes of suffering which are necessary to the fulfilment of prophecy, and in their very worst rage his enemies are but executing his own expectations.
Palm Sunday.
1. And when they drew nigh — This was as we suppose on Sunday, the first day of the PASSION WEEK. It was not the Jewish Sabbath, but the day after, like our Monday. The next Sunday, the day of the resurrection, was the first Sunday-sabbath.
Drew nigh unto Jerusalem — On his route from Jericho. Come to Bethphage — Mark and Luke say, “nigh to Bethphage and Bethany.” This implies that the two places were very near each other; but there is much difference of opinion as to which was the nearest to Jerusalem. The order of the names would suggest that coming from Jericho Bethphage occurred first. But the evangelists may have used the order habitual with the inhabitants of Jerusalem. No reliable traces exist of Bethphage. Bethany (signifying the place of dates) was the residence of Lazarus and Mary. It stood near the foot of the eastern side of the Mount of Olives, and was a half hour’s walk, or nearly two miles, from the limits of Jerusalem.
Bethphage signifies the place of figs, and was so called because those fruits were either cultivated or sold at that place.
The mount of Olives — A mountainous ridge on the east of Jerusalem, separated from that city by the Valley of Jehoshaphat. It has three peaks or shoulders, the highest of which is 175 Paris feet above the summit of Mount Zion; so that the mountain commands a complete view of Jerusalem. It received its name from its abundance of olive trees.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv1–5 1. were come to Bethphage, unto the mount of…
1. were come to Bethphage, unto the mount of Olives] “Unto Bethphage and Bethany at the mount of Olives” (Mark). “Nigh to Bethphage and Bethany at the mount called the mount of Olives” (Luke). Bethany was about two miles from Jerusalem, at the S.E. base of the mount of Olives. Of Bethphage (“place of green or winter figs”) no remains have been discovered, and its exact position is unknown. It was probably west of Bethany, and so near to Jerusalem as to be reckoned part of the Holy City. See Godet on St Luk_19:28. Some have inferred from the order in which Bethphage and Bethany are named that Bethphage was east of Bethany.
Nisan 9 (Palm Sunday).
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Ch. Mat_21:1-10. The Royal Entry into Jerusalem
Mar_11:1-11. Luk_19:29-40. Joh_12:12-19. St Luke alone places here the incident of Christ weeping over Jerusalem (Luk_19:40-44).
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv1–5 (1) And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem.—Here again…
XXI.
(1) And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem.—Here again we have, as far as we can, to fill up a gap in St. Matthew’s Gospel. We have to think of the journey up the narrow valley that leads from Jericho to Jerusalem. Our Lord, as before, was followed by the disciples, and they in their turn were followed by the crowds of pilgrims who were drawn to the Holy City either by the coming Passover or by wonder and curiosity to see what part the Prophet of Nazareth would take. Throughout the multitude, including the disciples, there was a feverish expectation that He would at last announce Himself as the Christ, and claim His kingdom (Luk_19:11). They reach Bethany “six days before the Passover,” probably, i.e., on the Friday afternoon (Joh_12:1). They remain there for the Sabbath, probably in the house of Lazarus or Simon the leper (Mat_26:6; Joh_12:2; and in that of the latter we have the history of the anointing, which St. Matthew relates, out of its chronological order, in Mat_26:6-13). The point of time with which the narrative, which now becomes more continuous, opens, may be fixed at the dawn of the first day of the week, the daybreak of Palm Sunday.
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Bethphage.—The village is named in Luk_19:29, and in many MSS. of Mar_11:1, in conjunction with Bethany, and before it, and from this it would seem probable that it lay on the road from Jericho, and was therefore to the east of Bethany. The traditional site, however, followed in most maps, makes it to the west of Bethany, and nearer the summit of the hill. The name signified “the house of unripe figs,” as Bethany did “the house of dates,” and Gethsemane “the oil-press,” the three obviously indicating local features giving distinctness to the three sites. All three were on the Mount of Olives. Bethany is identified with the modern El-’Azariyeh, or Lazarieh (the name attaching to its connection with the history of Lazarus), which lies about a mile below the summit on the eastern slope of the Mount of Olives, in a woody hollow planted with olives, almonds, pomegranates, and figs. The palms implied in the name of Bethany and in the history of the entry into Jerusalem (Joh_12:13) have disappeared.
Two disciples.—The messengers are not named in any of the Gospels. The fact that Peter and John were sent on a like errand in Luk_22:8 makes it, perhaps, probable that they were employed in this instance.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv1–5 Vers. 1-11. Triumphal entry into Jerusalem. (Mar_11:1-11 Luk_19:29-44 Joh_12:12-19)
Vers. 1-11. Triumphal entry into Jerusalem. (Mar_11:1-11 Luk_19:29-44 Joh_12:12-19)
We have come to the last week of our Lord"s earthly life, when he made his appearance in Jerusalem as Messiah, and suffered the penalty of death. If, as is believed, his crucifixion took place on the fourteenth day of the month Nisan, the triumphal entry must be assigned to the ninth, which day was reckoned to commence at one sunset and to continue till the follow-lug evening. This is regarded as the first day of the Holy Week, and is called by Christians from very early times Palm Sunday (see on ver. 10). He had probably gone straight from Jericho to Bethany. and spent the sabbath there with his friends. (Mat_26:6 Joh_12:1) Bethphage. The name means House of figs, and was appropriate to a locality where such trees grew luxuriantly. The village has not been identified with certainty, though it is considered with great probability to be represented by Kefr-et-Tur, on a summit of Olivet, within the bounds of Jerusalem, i.e. two thousand cubits" distance from the city walls. Bethany is below the summit, in a nook on the western slope and somewhat further from the city. The Mount of Olives is separated from Jerusalem by the valley of the Kedron, and has three summits, the centre one being the highest; but though it is of no great elevation in itself, it stands nearly four thousand feet above the Dead Sea, from which it is distant some thirteen miles. Then sent Jesus two disciples. Their names are not given, and it is useless to conjecture who they were, though probably Peter was one of them. Alford suggests that the triumphal entry in Mr 11 is related a day too soon, and that our Lord made two entries into Jerusalem the first a private one, (Mar_11:11) and the second, public, on the morrow But there is no sufficient reason to discredit the common tradition, and St. Mark"s language can be otherwise explained. The deliberate preparation for the procession, and the intentional publicity, so contrary to Christ"s usual habits, are very remarkable, and can be explained only by the fact that he was now assuming the character and claims of Messiah, and putting himself forward in his true dignity and office as "King of the Jews." By this display he made manifest that in him prophecy was fulfilled, and that the seeing eye and the believing heart might now find all that righteous men had long and wearily desired. This was the great opportunity which his mercy offered to Jerusalem, if only she would accept it and turn it to account. In fact, she acknowledged him as King one day, and then rejected and crucified him.
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Vers. 1-11. The entry into Jerusalem.
I THE FULFILMENT OF PROPHECY.
1. Bethphage. The Lord had spent the sabbath in that holy home at Bethany, where he was always a welcome Guest, with that family which was now more than ever devoted to his service, and bound to him by the ties of the very deepest gratitude. On the Sunday morning (Palm Sunday) he made his solemn entry into the holy city. He set out from Bethany on foot; but he intended to enter Jerusalem as the King Messiah. He had hitherto avoided anything like a public announcement of his office and his claims. When the multitude wished to "take him by force to make him a King, he departed again into a mountain himself alone." Not long ago he had forbidden his disciples to tell any man that he was the Christ. He had charged them to tell no man of the heavenly glory of the Transfiguration. The earthly view of the Messiah"s kingdom was universal. The apostles themselves, warned as they had been again and again of its untruth, again and again reverted to it. So strong was the hold which it had upon their minds, that even after the awful scenes of the Passion, "they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?" The Lord would do nothing to sanction this vain expectation. His kingdom was not of this world. But now his hour was come the hour that he should depart out of this world. It was time for him now to make a public assertion of his claims. That assertion, he knew, would lead to his death, and, through his death, resurrection, and ascension, to the establishment of his spiritual kingdom over the hearts of men. He was drawing near to Jerusalem. He was come to Bethphage, on the Mount of Olives. He sent two disciples, bidding them fetch an ass and a colt whereon yet never man sat. He described the place minutely. If any man interfered, they were to say, "The Lord hath need of them." The Lord, the Lord of all; all things are his; he claims them when they are needed for his service. The words were simple, but they seem to convey a great meaning, to imply far-reaching claims. "The Lord hath need of them." The Saviour describes himself simply as the Lord, just as the Septuagint writers express the covenant name of God. The words would be understood as meaning that the ass was wanted in some way for God"s service. The owners knew not how; but they saw the solemn procession passing by; they saw the lowly majesty of Christ. They must have known him. He had been a frequent visitor at Bethany. But a short time ago he had raised Lazarus from the dead. Possibly they may have been among the number of his disciples. Even if not so, they must have felt something of the enthusiasm and excited expectation which were so widely diffused. They sent the ass. We must give readily and cheerfully when the Lord calls upon us; we must keep nothing back which he requires. "All things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee.
2. The prophecy.
(1) It must be fulfilled. "All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet." The apostles were not consciously fulfilling the prophecy. They understood not these things at the first; they did not consider that they were doing the things that had been written of the Christ. (Joh_12:16) They knew it afterwards; the Lord knew it now. The prophecy came through the prophet, but it came from God; and now God, the Author of the prophecy, brought about its fulfilment. The prophecy announced the coming of the Christ as King. God brought it to pass, for that coming to Jerusalem as Messiah the King was the beginning of the great series of events by which the redemption of the world was wrought.
(2) Its substance. It is taken from the Prophet Zechariah, but prefaced by a few words from a similar prophecy in Isaiah, (Isa_62:11) "Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh." Prophets, apostles, evangelists, all proclaim the advent of the King. All his people must swell that proclamation, telling of his presence, sometimes with their lips, always in their lives. "Rejoice greatly," the prophet said. (Zec_9:9) The coming of Christ brings exceeding great joy to the Christian heart. Those who know that joy must declare its sweetness to others, that their joy, too, may be full. "Behold, thy King cometh unto thee." The earthly Zion had not been the usual dwelling place of the incarnate Lord. Yet he cometh now to Zion; he is the King of Zion, her King from the times of old. He is our King now King of the Israel of God. He cometh to us to each individual soul, as on that first Palm Sunday he came to the earthly Zion. Let us receive him with joy; and oh! let us take heed lest we fall away like so many of those who then shouted, "Hosanna to the King!" He is meek; not, like earthly kings, proud and haughty. He is lowly, bowed down by much affliction, a Man of sorrows. The Hebrew word means "afflicted," "poor;" the Greek word expresses that meekness which is the blessed fruit of affliction borne in faith and patience. The King is meek; his followers must learn of him. Pride and violence are hateful in his sight. Blessed are the meek; for they are like the Lord. He sat upon an ass. He approached Jerusalem as a King, but not as one of the kings of the earth; in festal procession, but not with pomp and magnificence; riding, but not as earthly kings would ride riding meekly on an ass. He was a King, indeed, surrounded with a halo of sweet dignity, and something of unearthly majesty that enforced reverence and repelled presumptuous liberties. But his kingdom was not of this world. The procession of Palm Sunday set forth both sides of the truth. He was a King; he claimed no earthly crown.
(3) Its fulfilment. The two disciples obeyed at once. The owners of the asses recognized the mandate of the Lord. The disciples put their clothes upon the colt whereon never man sat, and they set the Lord thereon.
II THE PROCESSION.
1. The approach to Jerusalem. The modest procession climbed the road that slopes up the Mount of Olives till, as they passed the shoulder of the hill, Jerusalem lay clear before them, the temple glittering in all its glory of gold and marble. The Lord wept as he gazed upon it. He, the Prince of Peace, was coming to the holy city; but that city, Jerusalem, the inheritance of peace, had not known the things that belonged to her peace; now they were hid from her eyes. There were outward demonstrations of joy; in some that joy was deep and true; in others it was. though not insincere, founded on mistaken hopes which would soon be dissipated; in very many it was mere excitement, worthless and unreal, one of those transitory bursts of apparent enthusiasm which are so contagious for a time, which run through unthinking crowds. The Lord was not dazzled by the popular applause; he estimated it at its true value. He wept as he looked upon Jerusalem; his eye gazed through the future, resting, not on his own approaching sufferings, but on the fearful doom which awaited the impenitent city.
2. The multitudes. The tidings of the Lord"s approach reached Jerusalem; crowds of pilgrims, who had come thither for the Passover, went out to meet him. There were pilgrims from Galilee, who could tell of many mighty deeds; there were others who were present when he called Lazarus out of his grave. (Joh_12:17) That last wondrous miracle had for a time rekindled the old enthusiasm. The crowd issuing from Jerusalem joined the procession which came from Bethany; they swelled its numbers and increased the excitement. They hailed the Lord as King, spreading their garments in the way, as men had done to welcome kings; (2Ki_9:13) they strewed his path with branches from the trees; they cried, "Hosanna to the Son of David!" they hailed the Lord as the Messiah. The Pharisees had agreed that if any man did confess that he was Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue. (Joh_9:22) But they were powerless that day; they felt that they could prevail nothing; the world, they said, had gone after him. The multitude owned him to be the Messiah, the Son of David, the King of Israel. They raised the shout of "Hosanna! originally a prayer, "Save us now!"; (comp. Psa_118:25) but now, it seems, a cry of triumphant welcome; a cry, however, which recognized him as the Saviour, and ascribed salvation to him. That prayer, they hoped, would reach the heavens; that cry would be heard there; they prayed for blessings upon him, using again the words of Psalm 118.; they prayed that God"s blessing might rest upon him, and bring to pass that salvation which was the real meaning of the hosanna cry. "Hosanna in the highest!" In the highest the hosts of angels need not lift the prayer, "Save us now!" for themselves; but they rejoice, we know, over each repentant sinner, over each lost sheep brought home to the fold on the shoulders of the good Shepherd; they may well re-echo the suppliant hosannas as they add the heavenly incense to the prayers of the saints which go up before God. (Rev_8:3, Rev_8:4) We may well believe that, on that great Palm Sunday, the heavenly host bent in reverent adoration from their thrones of light, watched that lowly procession as it escorted the King of heaven into the holy city, listened to the earthly hosannas that welcomed his approach, and repeated with more solemn tones, more awful expectations, the high chant of praise which celebrated the Nativity, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." Let us make that welcome our own. He who then came to Jerusalem comes now to us. Each day he cometh to expectant hearts, to souls craving peace and mercy. He cometh in the name of the Lord; himself the Lord, he cometh from the Lord, to do his Father"s will, "to perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant." "Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the Lord!" Let us welcome him into our hearts with the hosanna cry of adoration and earnest supplication, "Save now, I beseech thee, O Lord; O Lord, I beseech thee, send now prosperity!
3. The inhabitants. "All the city was moved stirred, shaken (so the Greek word means), at the approach of the jubilant procession. It was filled with crowds waiting for the celebration of the Passover eager, excited crowds, ready to be stirred into commotion by any sudden impulse. "Who is this?" they said. The form of the Lord must have been well known to most of the dwellers in Jerusalem. Perhaps the question was asked by strangers; (see Act_2:5, Act_2:9-11) perhaps it was asked with something of scorn, "Who is this who comes with such a retinue, with all this festal applause?" The multitude, mostly perhaps Galilaeans, understood the suppressed contempt of the proud Pharisees, and answered with something of provincial pride, "This is Jesus the Prophet of Nazareth of Galilee." He belonged to them in a sense; the Pharisees had maintained, with ignorant scornfulness, that "out of Galilee ariseth no prophet." Even Nathanael, the Israelite in whom there was no guile, had asked, "Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?" The Galilaeans had a Prophet now, a Prophet mighty in word and deed; nay, more than a Prophet, the Messiah that was to come. They were proud of his eminence, they shouted their hosannas. Before the week was ended, some of them, it may be, would change that cry to "Crucify him! crucify him!" All would forsake him and leave him to his death. Popular excitement is a poor thing; the Christian must trust neither in crowds nor in princes, but only in God. "Who is this?" the world still asks, some in the spirit of anxious inquiry, some in scorn and unbelief; and still the Christian answers in faith and adoring love, "This is Jesus, the Prophet, the great High Priest, the King of kings and Lord of lords." He cometh to claim his kingdom in each human heart. Receive him; he bringeth peace.
LESSONS.
1. The King cometh; he is lowly. Only the lowly heart can receive the lowly King.
2. Greet him with holy joy; pray that that joy may be deep and true, founded on a living faith.
3. Seek to know him, to say, "This is Jesus," out of a true personal knowledge.
HOMILIES BY W.F. ADENEY Vers. 1-5. The ass of Bethphage.
We cannot tell whether our Lord"s exact description of the locality where the ass and colt were to be found was derived from his superhuman knowledge, or whether, as seems more likely in so simple a case, he had agreed with one of his Judaean disciples to have the animals in readiness at an appointed time. However this may be, we can see from the whole incident that Jesus paid especial attention to the arrangements for his entry into Jerusalem. This was very unlike his usual habit. Let us consider its significance from two points of view.
I THE LORD"S NEED.
1. Jesus needed one of God"s humblest creatures.
(1) This throws light on the lowliness of Jesus. In his Divine glory all the wealth of the universe was at his disposal. But in his earthly humiliation he had very simple wants. He required bread, water, rest. It is a mark of a genuinely low estate to have need of what the great despise.
(2) This shows how what is most humble may yet serve the highest. The ass is needed by the Christ. If a very lowly animal can be thus honoured, much more may the most obscure of men and women, Christ"s own brothers and sisters, render him valuable service.
2. Disciples obtained what their Master needed. He told his need; at once the two chosen messengers set off to have it supplied. It is not enough that we serve Christ in our own way. We have to discover what he really wants. Sometimes it may not be at all what we have chosen. But if it is serviceable to our Lord, that should be enough to determine our course of action.
3. The unknown owner of the animals was obedient to the message of Christ"s need. "The Lord hath need of them" was the talisman to silence all remonstrances. Jesus may claim what is far more precious to us than any dumb animal. Yet if he calls, he needs; and if he needs, his claim is paramount. He may want a child in the other world; or he may require the child in the mission field. Then it is not for us to withhold our dearest from him. "Why should I keep one precious thing from thee, When thou hast given thine own dear self for me?
II THE USE OF THE ASS. Why did the Lord need the ass and its colt?
1. To fulfil prophecy. We do not often come across the conscious and intentioned fulfilment of prophecy. Usually the prediction comes true in spite of the ignorance of the actors in the fulfilment, or while they are aiming at something else than simply carrying out what a seer of old foretold. But now Christ sets himself deliberately to put into practice an idea of Zechariah (see again Joh_19:28). What is best in the Old Testament is followed by Christ in the New.
2. To aid in a solemn triumph. Jesus had long forbidden a public confession of his Messiahship. But now he will make it for himself; for now it can do no harm. He is to ride in triumph, but in triumph to the cross. That glad entry to Jerusalem was to be just marching into the jaws of death.
3. To express the peaceful and gentle character of Christ"s Kingship. Jesus did not choose the spirited war horse. Following the idea of the prophet, he selected the lowly ass, an animal which, although it was very superior in the East to the ill-treated ass of the West, was still associated with quietness and simplicity. It was to be a rustic triumph, an old world triumph, quaint and antique, and therefore a protest against the vulgar fashion of earthly glory. W.F.A.
HOMILIES BY MARCUS DODS Vers. 1-22. Entry into Jerusalem.
Our Lord had now entered on the last week of his life upon earth, but, save in his own heart, there is no premonition of his death. Having spent the sabbath in Bethany, he proceeds on Sunday morning to the city. That was the day, four days before the Passover, on which the Jews were commanded to choose the Paschal lamb. Our Lord, conscious of his calling to die for his people, puts himself into their hands. He now feels that his hour has come, and proclaims himself as the promised Messiah, the King of Peace, by entering into Jerusalem, the metropolis of peace, in a manner which no one could fail to interpret, as One who would certainly furnish men with that which would not give one strong race power over others, but which would weld all men together and give them common feelings and interests, and restore in truth the unity of men. The points in the entry which Matthew considered significant are
I OUR LORD"S PROCLAMATION OF HIMSELF AS KING OF PEACE BY RIDING INTO JERUSALEM ON AN ASS. He did not choose a horse, because that animal would have suggested royalty of quite another kind from his royalty which was maintained by war and outward force.
1. What is it, then, that Christ claims? No one could have the slightest doubt that he claimed to fulfil Old Testament prophecy, and to be that very Person who was to come and bring with him to earth everything which the love of God could bestow. He professes his willingness to take command of earth, not in the easier sense of being able to lay down a political constitution for all races, but in the sense of being able to satisfy every individual, to give peace to every soul, however distracted by trouble and overwhelmed by sin. And some have through him actually entered into such peace that they are impregnable to this world"s assaults, and have gained the mastery over its temptations. They have found him to be all he claims to be.
2. They proclaimed him as the Saviour and King of men, and he accepted these offices in a very different spirit from that in which they were ascribed to him. He knew that to be the King of a people so down trodden with sin, so entangled in ancient evils, was full of danger and suffering; that in order to deliver such a people he must die for them. And it is his expectation that we on our side should open our eyes to what he has done, and acknowledge him as our King. We must not grudge if it comes in the way of our duty to him to make real sacrifices.
3. It must, indeed, have been a humbling experience for our Lord to have himself ushered into Jerusalem by a crowd through whose hosannas he already heard the mutter of their curses. Such is the homage a perfect life has won.
II ALTHOUGH OUR LORD MAKES NO MOAN OVER HIS OWN FATE AS THE REJECTED MESSIAH, HE QUITE BREAKS DOWN AT THE THOUGHT OF THE DOOM OF HIS REJECTERS. Terrible, indeed, must the responsibility often have seemed to him of being set as the test of men, of being the occasion of so many being found wanting. Are we in a condition so full of hazard and foreboding that it might justly bring tears to the eyes of Christ?
III THE WITHERING OF THE FRUITLESS FIG TREE WAS A SYMBOLIC ACT. Our Lord saw in it the very image of Jerusalem. There was there an exuberant display of all kinds of religious activity, with absolutely nothing that could feed the soul or satisfy God. And the withering of the fig tree reveals the other side of our Lord"s character in connection with this rejection by the Jews. He wept, but he also pronounced doom. To calculate our own future we must keep in view not only the tears of Christ, but also his judgment. Throughout his life the one is as prominent as the other. Words which were rarely or never heard from the sternest Old Testament prophet are common on his lips. There is a day of visitation for each man a day in which to us in our turn there appears a possibility and an invitation to enter into the presence of God, and be forever satisfied in him and with his likeness. Picture to yourself the shame of being a failure, such a failure that the truest love and most inventive wisdom must give yon up and pronounce you useless. D.
HOMILIES BY J.A. MACDONALD Vers. 1-11. The triumph of Christ.
In his journey to Jerusalem Jesus rested at Bethany, where, stopping at the house of Simon the leper, Mary anointed his feet. (cf. Mat_26:6 Joh_12:2) His progress on the day following is here recorded. Observe
I THAT JESUS ENTERED THE CAPITAL IN THE ROYALTY OF MEEKNESS.
1. He came in sacred character.
(1) Animals which had never borne the yoke were employed for sacred purposes. (see Deu_21:3) The colt upon which Jesus rode was such. (see Mar_11:2) Specially acceptable to Christ is the consecration of virgin youth.
(2) His sacred character was recognized in the acclamations of the multitude. "Hosanna!" was a form of acclamation used at the Feast of Tabernacles, when the people carried boughs. (see Neh_8:15) "Save now, I beseech thee, O Lord?" equivalent to "Hosanna, O Lord!". (see Psa_20:9) "Hosanna in the highest!" i.e. in the heavens, which is an invitation to holy angels to join with the sons of men in praising the Messianic King. (cf. Psa_148:1, 2 Luk_2:14 Luk_19:38)
(3) That a colt never before ridden should have borne Jesus amidst the shoutings of the multitude was a miracle. (cf. 1Sa_6:7) That miracle set forth the power by which Christ can subject to his will the unruly heart of man. (see Job_11:12)
(4) While Jesus entered Jerusalem as a King, he showed that his kingdom was not of the world. So Pilate acquitted him of treason against Caesar.
2. He came as the Prince of Peace.
(1) He rode not upon the warlike horse. To have done so would have been unbecoming him as King of Israel. (cf. Deu_17:16 Psa_20:7) Has his royalty peacefully entered in triumph into your soul? Has he received a welcome a hosanna, in your heart?
(2) As "the Judge of Israel" he rode upon the colt of an ass. (cf. Jud_1:5:10 10:4 12:13, 14) The kingdom of heaven is not force, but righteousness.
(3) His coming was therefore the triumph of pure joy. This the multitude expressed by acclamation and by spreading their garments and palm branches. (cf. 2Ki_9:13 Psa_118:25 Joh_13:13 Rev_7:9)
(4) The hosannas of earth are the prelude to the hallelujahs of heaven.
3. He came in humble state.
(1) He condescended to have "need" of the ass"s colt. If he is pleased to have need of our poor services, this is reason sufficient for any sacrifice. To render service needed by the Lord is at once the highest honour and the greatest blessing.
(2) He condescended to accept his praises from the lips of "babes." Not from the heads and rulers of the nation, but from his poor disciples. Their greatness is childlikeness. (cf. Mat_18:1-4)
(3) He condescended to come in meekness to those who plotted his destruction. Lo! the King comes to be murdered by his creatures, and in his death to redeem them from wrath!
(4) What triumphs are here! He triumphs over pride in his humility, over affluence in his poverty, over rage and malice in his meekness. "Was it a mean attitude wherein our Lord appeared? Mean to contempt? I grant it. I glory in it. It is for the comfort of my soul, for the honour of his humility, and for the utter confusion of all worldly pomp and grandeur" (Wesley).
II THAT JESUS ENTERED THE CAPITAL FOR THE TRIUMPH OF DESTINY.
1. He came for the fulfilment of prophecy.
(1) This last journey of our Lord from Jericho to Jerusalem was in the same line as the triumphant march of the children of Israel from the time of their first entry into the holy land to the taking of Jerusalem. The spiritual progress is from the lowest to the highest, from the place accursed to the place of the Name of our Lord.
(2) He came as the very Paschal Lamb. It was now the tenth day of the month, when the Law appointed that the Paschal lamb should be taken up. (see Exo_12:2 1Co_5:7)
(3) He rode in triumph to his death. The priest according to the order of Melchizedek suffers as a Priest and triumphs as a King. His victory is moral, viz. over sin, death, and hell. He is the King in his death, according to the inscription on his cross. (see Mat_27:37) How appropriate upon this occasion, then, was the "Hosanna now"!
(4) The history of this remarkable progress was pre-written. (see Isa_62:11 Zec_9:9) Known unto God are all his ways from the beginning.
2. His coming was itself a prophecy.
(1) It suggested, by what Elliot calls "allusive contrast," the ascension of Jesus into the heavenly Jerusalem. Some of the multitude "went before him," viz. those who met him from the city, as the angels met Jesus in his ascension. Some "followed after," viz. those who came with him from Bethany, as the risen saints ascended with their risen Lord. (cf. Ps 24 Mat_27:52, Mat_27:53) Those who would follow Christ in his ascension must follow him now in his lowly state.
(2) It suggested also the second, glorious, advent of Messiah to this earth. Then coming forth to vengeance, he is described as riding upon a horse. (see Rev_19:11) Coming forth in glory, without a sin sacrifice, he will descend upon a throne of white light. He will come with the sound of the great trumpet, which shall wake the very dead. Instead of the retinue of poor Galilaeans, he will come with a myriad retinue of mighty angels. Then will be understood the "Hosanna in the highest!
(3) The Lord"s day is the Christian type of the everlasting sabbath. As the day of the triumphal entry of Christ into the earthly Jerusalem was the tenth of the month, so was it also the first day of the week. It was the first of that series of events which took place on the first day of the week, entitling that day to be called "the day of the Lord." Is there no prophetic reference to this in the words of the psalm which was evidently in the minds of the disciples: This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. Save now, I beseech thee a jy hoshiahnna, from which the disciples had their hosanna]," etc.? (see Psa_118:24-26) J.A.M.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John A. Broadus 1886 · Public Domain On v1 Mat 21:1-11.
Mat 21:1-11.
The Triumphal Entry
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Found also in Mar 11:1-11; Luk 19:29-44; Joh 12:12-19. John has heretofore been parallel to Matt. and Mark only at the early departure from Judea to Galilee, (Mat 4:12; Joh 4:1-4) and at the feeding of the Five Thousand. (Mat 14:13-21 Joh 6:1-14) He appears to have coincided with Luke several times in the last six months. (See above on Mat 19:1) Here he once more becomes parallel to the others, and will be so at the Bethany supper, probably at the Paschal meal, clearly at the betrayal, and at certain points of the Passion and Resurrection. Matthew, Mark, and Luke continue from this time as generally and as closely parallel as they were during the ministry in Galilee. We left our Lord at Jericho, Luke adding that he "went before, going up to Jerusalem." (Luk 19:28, B. U. Ver.) He doubtless climbed the Roman military road, carefully graded and paved with hewn stone, which came up from Jericho past Bethany and across the Mount of Olives to Jerusalem, and portions of which are still clearly marked by patches of pavement. There was no danger in this particular journey that one would fall "among robbers" ( Luk 10:30. Rev. Ver.), since the multitude formed a protection; but there was usually such danger, and one cannot safely travel that road to-day without a guard from the sheik of Lazariyeh (Bethany). The distance from Jericho to Jerusalem is about seventeen miles, or fifteen miles to Bethany; the difference in elevation is some three thousand feet. Matthew does not mention the arrival at Bethany (see on "Mat 21:17"), which John describes as occurring "six days before the Passover " (Joh 12:1), probably on Friday afternoon. Here Jesus appears to have spent the Sabbath, and we may suppose him to have been the guest of Martha and Mary and Lazarus. Hearing of his arrival, many Jews came over from Jerusalem to Bethany to see him, and also Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead; (Joh 12:9) the time of their coming may have been Saturday evening, or early next morning. Mark and Luke mention Bethany, in connection with Bethphage, as reached before the triumphal entry, but give no details of a sojourn at Bethany.
Mat 21:1-3. And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem. The hills which form the site of Jerusalem are really the somewhat lower part of a space which gently slopes from the northwest, and seems elevated only because of the deep ravines which encompass it on the east and west and south. Seen from a real mountain five or six miles distant in the northwest, Jerusalem seems to be in a valley, with the high ridge of Olivet on the eastern and part of the northern side, and with another range of hills on the west and south. Seen from Olivet, the city rises on an opposite but lower elevation, with a deep and narrow ravine lying between them. Seen from another deep ravine on the south, the hill of Zion, or city of David, appears to be on a lofty and exceedingly steep hill, which Joab and his comrades found it hard to climb and capture the supposed impregnable fortress of the Jebusites. (2Sa 5:6 f.; 1Ch 11:5 f.) This central space, which slopes narrowing down from the northwest between its ever deepening ravines, is presently divided by a slighter depression, having the same direction, into somewhat separate ridges, the eastern ridge being the temple hill, two hundred feet lower than the other, which is Zion. The depression between them gradually deepens, containing the pool of Siloam near its southeastern end, and passing into the eastern ravine before that forms a junction with the other ravine which has come down on the west and south of Zion. The northern part of the temple elevation, higher than the site of the temple itself, and outside of the city, is recently with no small probability considered to be Golgotha or Calvary. (See on "Mat 27:33".) A considerable space north and south of the temple enclosure was occupied by dwellings, but the greater part of the city lay on Zion, and in the depression separating it from the temple. The eastern wall of the temple enclosure was part of the eastern wall of the city, and just north of that enclosure appears to have been the principal eastern entrance to the city, now called Saint Stephen’s gate, from the tradition that Stephen passed through it to his martyrdom. Through this gate, Jesus and his followers probably entered in the triumphal procession, and were at once quite near the northern entrance to the outer court of the temple. And every morning, as he walked over the Mount of Olives from Bethany, he would enter the city and the temple the same way. In the northern and shallowest part of the depression between Zion and the temple ridge was doubtless, as now, the great northern gate of the city. Out of this it is most likely that our Lord was led to crucifixion, Golgotha being perhaps the elevation on the right after passing the outer gate. Pilate’s official residence when visiting the city (Mat 27:2) was doubtless on Zion, probably in Herod’s palace. It would be hardly one-third of a mile from that place to the northern gate. Not far north of Herod’s Palace was the principal western gate, probably about the same place as the present gate leading to Joppa. The city at that time doubtless extended considerably farther to the northwest than now, but the whole space enclosed was quite small, as compared with modern conceptions of a great city. After allowing for the fashion in which Asiatics have always crowded together, as the Chinese do now, it is hard to see how the regular population in the time of Christ can have been more than two or three hundred thousand. But vast multitudes came to the Passover (Josephus talks of three millions), sleeping in the streets and public places, tenting in the surrounding fields, swarming over the suburban villages like Bethany for several miles around.
Were come unto Bethphage. To mention the village and the mountain showed on what side they approached Jerusalem, and how near they were. Bethphage might seem from the order of Mark and Luke to have been reached before Bethany, but this inference is not necessary. The traditional site is between Bethany and Jerusalem, on the eastern slope of the Mount of Olives. The village is often mentioned in the Talmud, but not so as to show its location, nor are there any modern remains. It was at least near the mountain on the eastern side, and most likely on the Roman road from Bethany to Jerusalem. The name signifies ’house of figs.’ The Mount of Olives, (Mat 24:3, Mat 26:30, Mat 26:36 Zec 14:4) in Act 1:12 ’Olivet,’ is a low mountain or long and lofty hill, which begins north of Jerusalem and runs eastward, and then turning at a point nearly a mile northeast of the city, runs southward until interrupted by the outlet of the valleys which lie east and south of the city, and send off their united streams at the southeast in a deep ravine towards the Dead Sea. The mountain evidently took its name from its fruitfulness in olives. The valley which separates it from Jerusalem is "the brook Cedron"or Kidron, of Joh 18:1. Looking from Jerusalem eastward across this deep and narrow valley (compare on Mat 26:36), one sees that the central and highest Part of the ridge is some three hundred feet higher than the temple hill, and about one hundred feet higher than the hill of Zion; but that the summit line and face of the ridge are marked by three slight depressions, descending so as nearly to meet where they reach the valley of the Kidron. Up the northern depression, ascending northeastward, went David in fleeing from Absalom, "over the brook Kidron.... up by the ascent of Mount Olivet.... past the top, "and so along a route still distinguishable east of the mountain in that direction. (2Sa 15:23, 2Sa 16:1) The central depression runs nearly east and much steeper, almost straight across the mountain and so towards Bethany (See on "Mat 21:17"), and is the direct way for walking between that suburb and the city. The southern depression ascends far southeastward, giving a better grade and crossing at considerably the lowest part of the summit line; over this gap, and skilfully graded beyond it on the eastern slope of Olivet, is the riding way from Jerusalem to Bethany, still clearly indicated by patches of Roman pavement. Along this road came in the triumphal procession.
Then sent Jesus two disciples (so also Mark and Luke); we know not which two, but very likely Peter and John, as hereafter in Luk 22:8. The village over against you is not certainly known, but was probably Bethphage, fronting them as from Bethany they approached the eastern face of the Mount of Olives. Straightway ye shall find; the description is quite definite. An ass tied and a colt with her. Mark, Luke, and John mention only a colt, which here was the more important of the two. (Compare on Mat 20:30) The object was to have Messiah the King ride a young animal not previously used, "whereon no man ever yet sat" (Mark and Luke), as a matter of special honour; (compare Deu 21:3, 1Sa 6:7) and the mother was probably led in front, to make the colt move quietly. Processions often include led animals, besides those ridden. The Lord hath need of them. We cannot tell whether this would be understood by the owners (Luk 19:33) as meaning that they were wanted for the service of Jehovah, or definitely for the Lord Jesus; in the latter case we might suppose owners who knew of Jesus, and would gladly serve him, as in Mat 26:18. Doubtless the animals were restored that afternoon, as there was no further use for them; it could be easily done in returning to Bethany.
Mat 21:4 f. All this was done, etc.—better as Rev. Ver., Now this is come to pass (in the course of divineprovidence)—that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, compare on Mat 1:22. The Common Text has ’all this,’ evidently altered by copyists so as to be like Mat 1:22 and Mat 26:56.[1] The quotation is from Zec 9:9, where the prophet predicts a righteous and divinely preserved king of Israel, coming to Jerusalem in peace and meekness. The Jews regarded the passage as Messianic. The Talmud of Babylon several times speaks of the Messiah as riding upon an ass (Lightf. and Wun.), and some Rabbinical commentaries apply this prophecy of Zechariah to the Messiah. (Edersheim) Mat 12:14-16 and John distinctly declare the passage of Zechariah to be Messianic, and Jesus so treats it; nor is there anything in the connection of Zechariah to forbid, but several expressions (Zec 9:10, Zec 9:12) which are quite in keeping, while various other prophetic passages also represent the Messiah under the figure of a king of Israel. The Hebrew signifies (Toy), "Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion, shout, daughter of Jerusalem. Behold, thy king comes to thee; just and saved is he, meek and riding ’on an ass, and on a colt the foal of an ass." The Septuagint differs but slightly. Matthew omits ’just and saved,’ as not important for his purpose, and abridges and modifies the opening clause without altering the substantial sense (compare on Mat 2:6), as John does in another way. Some think that Matthew has combined this passage with Isa 62:11. Daughter of Zion, viz., Jerusalem, a common Hebrew figure by which a city was represented as the offspring of the locality. Meek, (compare Mat 11:29) not a fierce warrior. Upon is repeated before ’a colt’ by the correct Greek text. In Isa 62:5, ass the second time is literally (an animal) under the yoke, draught-animal, beast of burden, a more general term, but often used to denote the ass. (2Pe 2:16, and Septuagint) Upon an ass, and a colt, is a Hebrew parallelism of the peculiar kind in which the second clause more precisely defines the first; Rev. Ver. of Zechariah puts it ’upon an ass, even upon a colt.’ The King does not come on a chariot or on a war horse, but riding as rulers did in time of peace. (1Ki 1:33 Jdg 5:10 Num 22:23) The trained mule and donkey of Egypt and Syria are very pleasant for riding, and have there no ludicrous associations. In the imagery of Rev 19:11 the Messiah appears again as a conqueror on a white horse. It seems clear that our Lord arranged to ride the young ass into the city, as an intentional fulfilment of the prophecy. The disciples quickly so recognized, though not fully understanding, (Joh 12:16) and communicated to the multitude the idea that this was a Messianic entry into the capital, as the shouts of Rev 19:9 show that all understood. Jesus has heretofore carefully avoided (Mat 16:20) any public declaration that he is the Messiah, because it would be misunderstood and lead to political agitation and fanatical disturbance, and because the disciples themselves were not yet sufficiently instructed as to the true nature of the Messianic reign. Only two or three days before this he had spoken a parable at Jericho, (Luk 19:11) designed to show that he must go away, and return at a later period to establish his reign. The time has now come (Joh 7:6, Joh 12:23) for declaring that he is the king Messiah, but a lowly and peaceful king. (Compare Mat 26:63 f.)
[1] B has this palpable error, and the "Western" documents, with many others, have the correct text. To ’prophet’ a few copies add Zechariah, and two or three add Isaiah, which is mentioned as illustrating the ways of copyists
Mat 21:6-8. Mark here describes in detail (Mar 11:4-6) the finding of the animal according to direction. And put on them their clothes (garments). An animal to be ridden by a monarch was often covered with splendid cloths. Lacking these, the disciples took off their own loose outer garments (compare on Mat 5:40), and put them as housings, not only on the colt but on the mother ass also, as that was to form part of the procession. And they set; and he sat is the text not only of the leading documents, but also of the majority.[1] Thereon, literally, on them, which naturally means on the garments. Of course the words could mean on the animals. Those who thus take them may understand the phrase generally, like "the postillion rode his horses hard," or "he sprang from the horses,"when of course the saddle-horse is meant. (Winer, 175 219, Olsh., Schaff.)[2] But it is much more natural to understand that he sat on the garments.
[1] ’And they set him’ (Com. Ver.) is not even found in, Stephens’ third edition, usually followed by King James’ revisers; Tyn. and followers had it, doubtless influenced by the Vulgate; so also (Morison) the fourth edition of Stephens, and Beza, who so often influenced King James’ men. Luk 19:35 has an equivalent expression
[2] Strauss and some others have chosen to insist that Matt. represents his Master as riding both the animals. In this absurdly hypercritical fancy they were anticipated by the "Western" documents, which, with their usual free handling, changed ’on them’ (both times) to ’on it’ or ’on the colt.’
We should not know from Matthew’s expression on which of the two animals he rode, but the prophecy he has quoted shows, as do the other Gospels. And a very great, etc. And the most part of the multitude, is the only natural meaning of the Greek, and so Memph. distinctly. Tyn., Cran., Gen,’ many of the people’; K. James followed Rheims, ’a very great multitude,’ which quite overlooks the Greek article. The phrase indicates that a good many did not take part. Besides some who had joined them at Jericho and at Bethany, or had come over from Jerusalem (Joh 12:9) and were returning, there were doubtless persons among the crowd that had followed Jesus from Perea, and perhaps from Galilee, who did not yet believe him to be Messiah, and so were not prepared to treat him as a monarch entering his capital in triumph. Luke presently tells us (Luk 19:39) that "some of the Pharisees from the multitude" spoke to Jesus and complained of what was going on. Spread their garments in the way, having no magnificent carpets to spread on the road over which the King was to ride, as was often done in triumphal processions. Comp; 2Ki 9:13. Wetstein quotes, from Greek, Roman, and Jewish writers, accounts of carpets and garments spread under the feet of some honoured one moving in a procession. Robinson tells of the Bethlehem peasants as on a certain occasion spreading their outer garments on the road before the horse of the British Consul, and entreating his help against the exactions of the Turkish tax-gatherers. And others, must not be taken as meaning the rest of the multitude besides ’the most part’; but simply as an additional number of friendly persons who offered another mark of honour to the king. This second class is mentioned by Mark also, though not by Luke. The tense of the verb ’spread’ changes in Matthew to the imperfect, and with that of ’cut’ describes these persons as engaged in cutting and strewing. Thus three things were done; the disciples placed their garments on the animal, most of the crowd spread their garments on the road, and some spread boughs of trees. The trees are naturally conceived of as mainly olive-trees, which have ample and accessible branches, and from which the mountain took its name, but also fig-trees and others. Mark’s expression suggests rather leaves than boughs. The leaves were of course the main object, and they cast in the road only such smaller branches as would not embarrass locomotion for man and beast. So we scatter flowers.
Mat 21:9. The multitudes that went before and followed, the honoured King having an advance guard and a rear guard. John speaks of a great multitude that had come to the feast and went forth from Jerusalem to meet Jesus, bearing branches of palm trees, (compare Lev 23:40) and crying "Hosanna," etc. (Joh 12:12 f.) It is easy to suppose that they met the procession and turned back with those who preceded Jesus. From this statement in John comes the phrase "Palm Sunday." Cried, imperfect tense, were crying, kept crying. Hosanna is a word borrowed from the Hebrew, meaning ’save now,’ ’O save,’ in Psa 118:25. The Hebrew form represented by Hosanna is a slight and natural alteration of that occurring in the Psalm. The Mishna (Succoth IV., 5) says that every day during the Feast of Tabernacles they encompassed the altar, repeating Psa 118:25. The Talmud shows that this Psalm also formed a part of the series of Psalms sung at the Passover (compare on Mat 26:30), called by Jewish writers "the great hallei," Psalms 113-118. It was thus very natural that the people should break out with this expression and the following verse. To the Son of David, recognized him as the Messiah, compare on Mat 20:30, Mat 22:42. The grammatical construction, ’Hosanna to the Son of David’ shows us that Hosanna had come to be a formula of congratulation or expression of good wishes, not unlike the English "God save the king." He that cometh (see on "Mat 3:11") in the name of the Lord (see on "Mat 28:18"), from Psa 118:26, quoted again by our Lord himself in Mat 23:39. Luke has ’Blessed is the king that cometh in the name of the Lord,’ distinctly declaring him the Messiah; and Mark, ’Blessed is the kingdom that cometh, the kingdom of our father David.’ Various other expressions are given by the four Evangelists, and in this case all may have been employed by different persons (compare on Mar 3:16). Hosanna in the highest, i.e., in the highest (heavens), as in Luk 2:14. It is an appeal to God in heaven that he will save and bless his people; and it here implies a joyful recognition of evidence that he is about to do so. Luke alone here introduces the (Luk 19:41-44) pathetic account of the Saviour as seeing the city and weeping over it [1].
[1] The apparent contradiction in Luke between Mat 21:37 mud Mat 21:41 is fully explained by Stanley, "Sinai and Palrotins," whose beautiful description of the triumphal entry ought to be read by all. It may be worth while to mention that the present writer and a friend went over the ground in both directions with Dean Stanley’s book in hand, and had no doubt remaining as to the correctness of his explanation. A patch of Roman pavement remains to determine within a few feet the point at which Jesus "saw the city and wept over it." comp Mat 23:37-39.
Mat 21:10 f. When he was come into Jerusalem. Mark adds ’into the temple,’ and that he ’looked round about upon all things.’ All the city was moved, a strong word, rendered ’quake’ in Mat 27:51, Mat 28:4, Rev. Ver., ’shaken’ in Rev 6:13. The great procession and the loud salutations as to the King Messiah awakened general attention and agitated all the people. (Compare Mat 2:3) Who is this? It was plain that the multitudes who were applauding Jesus as ’the son of David,’ as ’the king that cometh in the name of the Lord,’ regarded him as being the Messiah. The citizens inquired simply who was the person thus regarded. And the multitudes, plural, as in Rev 6:9, said, imperfect tense, kept saying, or said every time they were asked. This is Jesus the prophet, (Luk 7:16; Joh 6:14, Joh 7:40, Joh 9:17) There could in their opinion be no doubt that he was a prophet; their conviction that he was the Messiah they did not care to assert in so many words. Of Nazareth of Galilee. For Nazareth, See on "Mat 2:23"; for Galilee, See on "Mat 4:12". Certainly some, and probably many of the crowd had accompanied Jesus from Galilee, (Mat 27:55) and would take special interest in stating that he was from that district. The Judeans insisted that the Messiah would not be from Galilee, and that in fact from Galilee arose no prophet. (Joh 7:41-52)
Homiletical And Practical
Mat 21:1-3. Co-workers with Christ. (1) Jesus needing the help of his followers. (2) Jesus giving full directions for their work. (3) Jesus promising them success (Mat 21:8). (4) Jesus joyfully obeyed (Mat 21:6 f.)
Mat 21:3. The Lord hath need of them. (1) The Lord often needs the property of men. (2) The Lord’s ministers must inform men of this need. (3) The Lord promises success in attaining what is needed.
Mat 21:5. The peaceful King. (1) His character is peaceful. (2) His methods and surroundings are peaceful (compare Mat 12:19 f.) (3) His office is to bring men into peace with God and with each other.(Luk 2:14) (4) His service may arouse the hostility of the ungodly, (Mat 10:34 ff.) but its spirit and aim must still be peaceful. (Rom 12:18)
Mat 21:7. Origen, Jerome, and other Fathers made the ass represent the Jews, accustomed to the yoke of the law, and the colt the hitherto untamed Gentiles. Lange: "The old theocracy runs idly and instinctively by the side of the young Church, which has become the true bearer of the kingdom of Christ." It is somewhat dangerous to mention these conceits, even as a warning, for there are persons unwise enough to adopt them. Morison illustrates Mat 21:8 by the famous story of Sir Walter Raleigh’s cloak.
Mat 21:8-11. Popular applause. (1) It may be sincere even when superficial. (2) It need not be despised because so often temporary. (3) It may awaken the attention of others, and thus do good (Mat 21:10). (4) It must not prevent sorrow over the perishing. (Luk 19:41 ff.)
Mat 21:10. Hall: "Christ’s being amongst us doth not make us happy, but his welcome. Every day may we hear him in our streets, and yet be as new to seek as these citizens of Jerusalem, ’who is this?’" Jer. Taylor: "O holy King of Zion, eternal Jesus, be pleased to enter into my soul with triumph, trampling over all thine enemies; and give me grace to entertain thee with joy and adoration, lopping off all my superfluous branches of a temporal condition, and spending them in the offices of charity and religion. Thou, to whose honour the very stones would give testimony, make my stony heart an instrument of thy praises let me strew thy way with flowers of virtue and the holy rosary of Christian graces and let us at last follow thee into thy heavenly Jerusalem with palms in our hands, and joy in our hearts, and eternal acclamations on our lips, rejoicing in thee, and singing hallelujahs in a happy eternity to thee, O holy King of Zion, eternal Jesus Amen".
John A. Broadus, Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew (American Baptist Publication Society, 1886) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v1 And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were…
Mat_21:1-11
And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to Beth-phage.
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Sixth Sunday in Lent
I. It presents an illustration of the relation of Christ to the religious feeling of mankind. We are religious beings. Our very nature is grained with sensibilities for the sacred and the Divine. This scene shows how it is affected by Christ.
1. He rouses it to activity. The multitude was deeply moved. Not merely patriotism or earthly emotion, but earnest spiritual feeling. From Jesus streamed all this awakening power.
2. He inspires it with gladness. There was holy rejoicing. There is a moral awakening which has no joy in it. The natural man is afraid of God. Jesus takes away these terrors.
3. He also encourages the expression of religious emotions and convictions. Christ would have His people speak their joys.
II. An earnest of the Saviours glorious kinghood. The symptoms of glorious consummation are visible in the scene before us.
1. We here see the world serving Him. He commands both men and beasts, and causes them to obey His will.
2. We see here the whole multitude of His disciples filled with joyous exultation. All sorrows were for the hour quite swallowed up in the abounding blessedness.
3. We here see the most unlikely prophecies touching His kinghood fulfilled to the very letter.
4. The sorrowful hopelessness of Christs enemies when He begins to let His royal majesty forth.
III. The text suggests important ideas touching Christs perpetual coming to his church.
1. He comes with the illuminations of His Spirit.
2. He comes to His Church except when it is made impossible by the unbelief of men.
3. The way to enjoy Him in His Church is clearly indicated. We must welcome Him as the Son of God.
IV. As Jesus entered into Jerusalem, so he striveth now for entrance into every heart.
1. He approaches all of us as He approached the holy city. He comes to us as a King, as the promised One.
2. But for His coming to be a blessing we must do as did the happy ones in the text.
3. Great is the blessedness of those who thus receive the Lord Jesus.
V. This entry of the saviour into the holy city calls up our public entry into the spiritual city, of which Jerusalem was a type. Christ entered to be condemned; we to be absolved: He to die; we to live.
1. Like His yours is a triumphal entry.
2. Like His, however, your entry is not full triumph yet.
3. It needs to be marked with meekness and courage.
4. It shall soon be crowned with everlasting victory. (J. A. Seiss.)
The triumphal entry into Jerusalem
I. By thus riding through the streets in state Christ claimed to be a king. This claim had been kept in the background till now; but in the hour of deep humiliation He makes an open claim. He was a spiritual King, therefore He went not to the palace temporal, but to the palace spiritual; He rides to the temple.
II. What sort of a king he might have been if he had pleased, and what sort of a king he might be now, if he willed it If Christ chose He might make His Church rich and powerful, and religion magnificent; but He does not care for this worlds glory.
III. What kind of a king he is, and what kind of a king he claimed to be. Different from other kingdoms.
1. It is a kingdom in which the disciples are courtiers. Here discipleship is the highest degree.
2. It is a kingdom m which the kings laws are none of them written upon paper; they are written upon the heart.
3. It was a kingdom in which riches were no part whatever of its glory. It was povertys own temple.
4. It was a kingdom without armed force.
5. It was a strange kingdom because it was without any pomp.
6. He came to establish a kingdom without taxations. All its gifts are of love.
7. It was a kingdom in which all creatures were considered.
8. It was a kingdom of joy.
IV. The practical objects of this kingdom.
1. That the whole city was moved. Everybody had something to say about it. Some would say that the whole thing was contemptible. Many say that the kingdom of Christ is ridiculous. They want more pomp. Others in Jerusalem were no doubt filled with curiosity. Some looked on with envy. Some were moved to rejoice. Christ is sure to make a stir.
2. That Christ went to the temple. He drives out selfishness, and purifies religion.
3. He held a grand levee, of all whom He had healed and blessed. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Another royal procession
I. That the lord Jesus has even now bright and glorious days of special manifestation in his church
1. They usually occur after the Lord has visited His beloved and quickened them. He came into Jerusalem after He had raised Lazarus from the dead.
2. When His disciples were obedient to Him. He told His disciples to go and they went. Disobedience hinders the advance of the gospel.
3. Another indication of glory-days will be found in the prompt and cheerful obedience which His disciples will make.
4. The glory of Christ is seen when He is publicly proclaimed as king. We must desire the blessings of the gospel to be widely made known and extended.
5. On such days, one part of the glory consists in many going forth to meet Christ. Pray that there may come a great wave of religious thought over the minds of people.
6. Another sign is prevailing enthusiasm.
7. There was inquiry.
8. His enemies were quiet. Such are the marks of the glorious days of Christ.
II. That on these glory-days of Jesus Christ in his church like honours are paid to him now as then.
1. He is at this time as loudly praised and as greatly rejoiced in among His people as He was then.
2. He received then as now homage from all kinds of people.
3. The little ones were conspicuous.
III. Christ executes the same deeds as he did then.
1. Compassion for souls is prominent. He wept over the city.
2. Judgment. Now they are hid from thine eyes.
3. He purged the temple.
4. He healed the sick who came to Him, in the temple.
5. His foes were all confounded.
IV. When Christ came into Jerusalem, all was not gold that glittered. Hosanna was changed into Crucify. When hearts are impressed with the gospel, we must not expect all to be steadfast to Christ. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
An exciting inquiry
Who is this?
I. What will stir london? A reigning Saviour riding in triumph. The shout of a king is not in the Church; the ancient glory has departed. The world cares little about the Church so long as Christ does not reign in her palaces.
II. We must be able to answer the question. Be ready always to give an answer, etc. You must have a knowledge of Jesus Christ. The answer should be clear and distinct. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
True and counterfeit enthusiasm
I. To-day, as long ago, Jesus Christ is the true object of the enthusiasm of mankind.
II. There may be outward devotion to Christ while the heart remains a stranger to His nature, His claims, and His love. What are our religious protestations worth?
III. Beware of regarding emotional excitement as identical with religious feelings and states of mind and heart. The religion of some people exhausts itself in hallelujahs; they possess no constant principle. (J. R. Bailey.)
Christs triumphal entry into Jerusalem
I. A sorrowing Saviour and a rejoicing multitude.
II. A firm Saviour and a fickle multitude. Why was this multitude so fickle?
1. Because they had no true and deep understanding of what they were shouting about on Sunday.
2. Because an influence from a different quarter and of a different kind was brought to bear upon them on Friday.
III. The Saviour advancing to the most glorious deed of all history. The multitude advancing to the most atrocious deed of all history.
1. Here is a word of caution.
2. Here is a word of exhortation. (W. Jones.)
Entire consecration
I. The Lord has need of you.
1. Your prayers.
2. Your praises.
3. Your talents.
4. He may need your most cherished one, that which your heart holds fastest.
II. Natures replies to this claim.
1. Unbelief denies the claim.
2. Weakness hesitates till the opportunity is past.
3. Simulation seems to do it, but does not.
4. Selfishness hugs her own.
5. How much affliction passes over a man before he is willing to comply with the just demands of his Creator. (J Vaughan, M. A.)
Christs entry into the world
I. Who comes? No temporal deliverer. A Divine King. The Son of God. God the Son. Upon the doctrine of Christs divinity depend the truth of His teaching, the perfection of His example, and the infinite value of His sacrifice.
II. To whom does he come?
1. To a world needing a:Redeemer.
2. To humanity wanting a Ruler.
3. To individual souls seeking a king. To be thy King, He must reign in thy heart, over thy thoughts and affections. The will must be surrendered to Him.
III. In what manner does he come?
1. Meek.
2. Lowly. Twin graces are these. We need them. Pride was the principle of our ruin. Through pride Adam fell. Pride is a false imitation of God-the imitation of His independency; but He has said, My glory will I not give to another. The two deepest movements of the human soul are desire and anger; meekness and lowliness are the correctives of both.
IV. How ought we to prepare to receive him? We must go forth to meet Him-
(1) by a holy desire and longing for His presence;
(2) by putting away our sinful habits and desires;
(3) by imitating His virtues;
(4) by obeying His laws;
(5) by praying for a loving, forgiving spirit.
Blessed Jesus, reign within us; cast down every imagination and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of Thyself, and bring every thought into captivity to Thy holy will. Reign within us, till Thou hast put every enemy, every movement of our corrupt nature or the remnants of it, under Thy feet. Reign within us by Thy grace here, and so transform us that we may become like unto Thee in Thy glory hereafter! (W. H. Hutchings, M. A.)
Popular attractions
Here is a multitude:
(1) Attracted by marvellous intelligence;
(2):Following the example of the few;
(3) Rendering regal honour to the son of a carpenter;
(4) Looking for material aggrandisement;
(5) In a little while exchanging Hosanna for Crucify Him. (F. Wagstaff.)
The lowly errand
I. This history as it regards our Lord. Christ really prophesied, and events proved His prophecy truth. There is accuracy of detail, most wonderful. There was miracle as well as prophecy; miracle wrought upon mind; poor men were made willing to give up their property at the bidding of strangers. A striking exhibition of power appropriate as striking. It taught the disciples that Christs presence was not necessary to His guardianship, that He could act on their enemies as well from a distance as when near; that His knowledge and power extended to minute and mean things.
II. The conduct of the disciples. They obeyed the command without hesitation. It seemed a wild errand; looked like robbery, improbable of result. We should do well to imitate their obedience; a readiness to fill the lower offices. We are active enough in great enterprises, but have no taste for the humbler duties. All employment for Christ is noble.
III. The conduct of the owners of the ass and the colt, We do not know the circumstances and character of these men. Whatever their acquaintance with Christ they acted as stewards of their property; not as proprietors. It will be a new era in the Church when to show that the Lord hath need of this or that thing shall suffice to secure its cheerful bestowment. It is thus with children and friends, The Lord hath need of them. In a thousand ways God is saying that He has need of our time, talents, property. Let us yield cheerfully.
1. The vast honour given to humble individuals in that they were allowed to contribute to the progress of the Saviour when accomplishing an ancient prediction. We may all do something towards the sublime consummation for which the Church prays.
2. When He comes in triumph He will acknowledge the services rendered Him. (H. Melvill, B. D.)
The Lords need
He speaks as a man of need. He who could see all things and foretell all things confesses to His personal necessity. The head that carried all knowledge had not where to sleep, of its own right and title. And again in that very self-same sentence He used a word which throws the term need into striking contrast-Lord. Such strange mixture do we find in the talk of this Man. Lord and need in the same sentence. He does not give up His royalty because of His necessity, nor does His royalty and lordship save Him from need. And yet what need could lie have who had but to express the wish and it was instantly complied with? It was a sweet necessity, it was the pain of that hunger which had wherewith to satisfy itself. (Dr. Parker.)
Fulfilment of prophecy
A prophecy may be said to be fulfilled four ways.
I. When the self-same thing comes to pass which was literally delivered in the prophecy.
II. When the thing allegorically signified is fulfilled.
III. When as neither the thing literally nor allegorically meant, but some other like is done.
IV. When as it is daily more and more fulfilled. (John Boys.)
Clothes to tread on
Plutarch mentions it as a circumstance of respect shown to Cato the Younger upon a particular occasion by the soldiery, that they laid their garments for him to tread upon as he marched. (C. Bulkey.)
The city moved
The silence and obscurity of Christ never troubles the world; He may be an underling, without any stir; but if He do but put forth Himself never so little to bear the least sway amongst men, now their blood is up, the whole city is moved. Neither is it otherwise in the private economy of the soul. O Saviour, while Thou dost, as it were, hide Thyself, and lie still in the heart, and takest all terms contentedly from us, we entertain Thee with no other than a friendly welcome; but when Thou once beginnest to ruffle with our corruptions, and to exercise Thy spiritual power in the subjugation of our vile affections, now all is in a secret uproar, all the angles of the heart are moved. (Bishop Hall.)
Christ a King
When Mr. Dawson was preaching in South Lambeth on the offices of Christ, he presented Him as prophet, and priest, and then as the King of Saints. He marshalled patriarchs, kings, prophets, and apostles, martyrs and confessors of every age and clime, to place the insignia of royalty upon the head of the King of Kings. The audience were wrought up to the highest pitch of excitement, and, as if waiting to hear the anthem peal out the coronation hymn, the preacher commenced singing All hail the power of Jesus Name.: The audience, rising as one man, sang the hymn as perhaps it was never sung before. (Foster.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain On vv1–4 1. When they drew nigh unto Jerusalem. Jesus passed…
1. When they drew nigh unto Jerusalem. Jesus passed through Jericho, where he bestowed sight on Bartimæus and salvation on Zaccheus, came up the mountain pass from Jericho to Jerusalem, stopping over the Sabbath in the congenial home of Martha, Mary and Lazarus, in Bethany, and so on Sunday morning made his entry into Jerusalem. Compare Mark 11:1–11; Luke 19:29–44, and John 12:12–19. As they drew nigh to Jerusalem they ascended the Mount of Olives. There were three paths over the Mount of Olives: (1) on the north, in the hollow between the two crests of the hill; (2) over the summit; and (3) on the south, between the Mount of Olives and the Hill of Offence—still the most frequented and the best. Along this Jesus advanced. To Bethphage. Bethphage and Bethany were suburban villages near to one another, and lying on the direct line of road that led to Jerusalem from the east. Mount of Olives. A hill just east of Jerusalem, so called from the olive trees upon it. It was about a mile from the city. It was their open ground—for pleasure, for worship; the “Park” of Jerusalem; the thoroughfare of any going or coming in the direction of the great Jordan valley.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v1 We now enter upon the crowded and peculiarly solemn…
CRITICAL NOTES
We now enter upon the crowded and peculiarly solemn events of the great week of our Saviour’s career, His last week—the passion week (Morison).
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Mat_21:1. Jerusalem.—The Jerusalem of that day, with “its imperial mantle of proud towers,” was regarded as one of the wonders of the world. Tac., Hist., Mat_21:8 (Farrar). In every respect this city is the mysterious and wonderful flower of history; in its situation, in its history, in its religious position, and especially in its symbolical character. The city lay high; and the hills around came first into view, over which it spread gradually into the higher and lower city; the hill of Zion being the centre—Zion, Moriah, Bezetha, Akra. Then the valleys, which made it a natural fortress: toward the west the Valley of Gihon; toward the south-west and south, Ge-hinnom; toward the east, the Valley of Kidron, bounded by the low hill of Gihon, the Mount of Evil Counsel, and the Mount of Olives with its three peaks. The city belonged to the inheritance of Benjamin, but was for the most part inhabited by the tribe of Judah (Lange). Bethphage.—Is by some supposed to have been close to Bethany; others place it on the summit of Olivet, where the Arab hamlet of Et Tôr now stands. A third possible site is the present village of Silwân, especially if we may suppose the name to be a corruption of Beth-Aphek, and to mean “House of the Fountain” (En Rogel). The position and the name are, however, alike doubtful (C. R. Conder, R.E.). The Mount of Olives.—Bounds Jerusalem on the east, and rises considerably higher than Mount Zion. It is the only one of all the “mountains standing round about Jerusalem” which comes quite close to the city. It is more of a ridge than a mountain, and has four distinct summits, from the loftiest of which a magnificent view is commanded at once of the city on the western side, and of the wilderness of Judæa, the course of the Jordan, and the towering mountains of Moab on the other or eastern side (Morison). The olives and olive-yards, from which it derived its name, must in earlier times have clothed it more completely than at present (Stanley).
Mat_21:2. The village.—Probably either Bethphage or Bethany. An ass.—Oriental travellers describe the high estimation in which the ass is held in the East (Carr).
Mat_21:3. He will send them.—The owner was probably, in some sense, a disciple of Jesus.
Mat_21:4. Spoken by the prophet.—The passage referred to is quoted from Zec_9:9. It is quoted freely, however, and in a condensed form. And the Evangelist, while quoting it, had been thinking on another Messianic oracle, which goes delightfully abreast with it, and which is contained in Isa_62:11. From this other oracle he adopts the introductory expression, “Tell ye the daughter of Zion” (Morison).
Mat_21:5. Thy King.—This was the first occasion on which our Lord distinctly put forth His claim to royalty (Gibson).
Mat_21:8. A very great multitude.—The most part of the multitude (R.V.). Part of the crowd had come with Him from Galilee, part streamed from Bethany, excited by the recent resurrection of Lazarus (Joh_12:17). Some went before Him, some followed. As they advanced they were met by a fresh crowd pouring forth from Jerusalem. Of the latter, St. John records that they came out with palm-branches in their hands, as if to salute a King with their symbols of triumph. Cf. Rev_7:9 (Plumptre). Spread their garments.—Oriental mark of honour at the reception of kings on their entrance into cities (2Ki_9:13) (Lange).
Mat_21:9. Hosanna.—It was a kind of holy hurrah. The word “hosanna” is the Greek form of a Hebrew phrase occurring in Psa_118:25, and meaning “O save!” It is thus remarkably like the aspiration or petition that is breathed in our national anthem, “God save the Queen!” And as salvation, in its fulness, is just life, or eternal life, the petition breathed is equivalent to Live! or Live for ever! and is thus tantamount, in the original import, to the French Vive! and the Italian Viva! While, however, the original import of the Hebrew word is O save! the term lost, in its current usage, its precise primary idea, and came, like its modern equivalents, to be just a peculiar form of a hearty acclamation, expressive of a mingled combination of approbation, admiration, and deep desire (Morison). He that Cometh (Habba) was a recognised Messianic title (Carr). In the highest.—There can be no doubt that the expression means in the highest places, i.e. in the heavens; and this is generally admitted by critics. But the import of the entire acclamation, “Hosanna in the heavens,” is a matter of much dispute. We could not say, “Hurrah in the heavens!” But the Hebrews could say, most appropriately and beautifully, “Hosanna in the heavens!” They could use such a complex acclamation because:
1. Hosanna originally means O save! and:
2. The highest salvation possible is consummated, and must be consummated, in the heavens. But when the word hosanna, losing its original supplicatory force, came to be used as a mere acclaiming expression of the highest good feelings, the appended phrase, which owed its peculiar appropriateness to the primary import of the exclamation, just served to intensify, to the highest degree possible, the expression of good wishes. May the richest blessings of heaven be showered upon thy head! Grotius thus was not so very far wrong when he interpreted the expression as meaning—in a holy kind of way—three times three! (Morison.) The parallel passages in Mark 11 and Luke 19 should be studied.
Mat_21:10. All the city.—By a census taken in the time of Nero it was ascertained that there were 2,700,000 Jews present at the Passover. We may picture the narrow streets of Jerusalem thronged with eager, inquisitive crowds demanding, with Oriental vivacity, in many tongues and dialects, “who is this?” (Carr). Was moved.—The word in the original is forcible, “convulsed” or “stirred” as by an earthquake, or by a violent wind. Cf. Mat_27:51 and Rev_6:13, where the same verb is used (ibid.).
MAIN HOMILETIGS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Mat_21:1-11
The kingdom claimed.—We see the Saviour here in an attitude of a novel description. He goes back, as it were, to what was claimed for Him soon after His birth, when the wise men came to worship Him as born King of the Jews (ii.). He does so, also, in much the same way as was done for Him then. The wise men did not find their King in circumstances of power and display. Neither does this King appear now, as it were, in the purple, notwithstanding the marked explicitness of all that He does. Nothing is meeker, indeed, as nothing is plainer than the claim that He makes. This two-fold character may be traced—first, in the preparation He makes for entering Jerusalem; secondly, in the homage He accepts when so doing; and, thirdly, in the prophecy He fulfils.
I. Preparation for entry.—How noticeable the fact, in His case, that there should be such preparation at all! Such careful choice of messengers! Such specific directions! Such thought for contingencies! Such a general and unusual appearance of “state” (Mat_21:2-3). How still more noticeable the special method by which this preparation is effected. As Artaxerxes did for Ezra (Ezr_7:8-9), as the Roman Legionaries afterwards did when they “impressed” (Mat_27:32, R.V., margin) Simon the Cyrenian to “bear the cross,” so did the Saviour do in this case. “The Lord hath need of them” (Mat_21:3). That is how He then “requisitioned” what was necessary for His service. Was there not, also, a touch of the same in the choice of animal made? As became a king it was to be one which had never before been employed in that way. So Mar_11:2; Luk_19:30 (cf. Joh_19:41). So, perhaps, Matthew also (undesignedly), in noticing the fact that the animal employed was accompanied by its “mother” (Mat_21:2; Mat_21:7). yet, when it came, it was but a lowly creature at best; not such as had been half promised once in connection with that place (Jer_22:4); and only such as a peaceful sovereign (so Wordsworth) would employ. Altogether, therefore, so far, about as unassuming an entry as a royal entry could be!
II. Homage accepted.—This also was marked by that double character of which we have spoken. It was so, on the one hand, in the way of action and deed. The animal ridden on was caparisoned by the garments of the disciples—the best that they had for the purpose on hand. The way was strewn by the multitudes with branches cut down from the neighbouring trees—the best they could obtain for that purpose. All, therefore, in its significance was befitting a king. And yet, on the other hand, in its nature, how unlike that which most kings would expect! What were the garments of the disciples and the branches of the multitude to the purple hangings and gorgeous trappings and costly array with which other sovereigns would have come in? So, on the other hand, of the homage paid now in the way of language and voice. The royal lineage of the Saviour, the more than royal dignity of His mission, the fitness of the occasion for the very highest of praises (Mat_21:9), are all expressly and loudly acclaimed; and the Holy “City” itself, also, is therefore “stirred” to its depths, because understanding all this (Mat_21:10). It feels as it listens that it is listening, indeed, to the “shout of a King” (cf. Num_23:21). And yet, at the same time, as in those previous cases, how different a note can be easily heard! “Who is this?” the city cries out as it catches the sound of this manifestly royal approach. “This is Jesus, the Prophet of Nazareth in Galilee,” is the reply it receives. A mere “provincial,” therefore, though thus coming to this metropolis! A despised provincial, though entering it as a King! And One who is more at present of a conspicuous Teacher, when all is said, than of a sceptred Ruler of men! (Mat_21:11).
III. The prophecy fulfilled.—Long before this, “in visions to His saints” (Psa_89:20, so one version), it had pleased God to show something of this. Something, in the first place, of its peculiar glory and joy. How it should be something to “tell” to “Zion” as good tidings indeed—even the good news of being “visited” by her King—and that, above all, and unlike the experience of centuries, by a King of her own (Mat_21:5). Something, in the next place, of the singularly unassuming character of that visit, and of the singularly gracious meekness of demeanour and the equally similar lowliness of equipage by which that visit of royalty would be marked (Mat_21:5 again). And something, therefore, in the last place, of the remarkable deliberation as well as remarkable definiteness which we are taught to see in this scene. Just so exactly had the Lord Jesus always meant to enter Jerusalem at this time. Just so exactly had the Eternal Father meant that He should. And just so exactly, generations before, had He declared that He would. “All this was done” that that prophecy might thus “be fulfilled”!
What is thus presented to us is of yet further importance because of its connection:—
1. With what immediately followed.—It is the key to much that ensued. As the Saviour now began, so He went on—advancing so far, but not for the time any farther; asserting His rights as a King, but not yet acting upon them; never foregoing, but never enforcing them; not flinching from truth, not inflicting punishment; wearing the crown, but not using the sword. The time for that was not yet.
2. With the present condition of things.—What He claimed then is what He wields now—the kingdom only of grace. He asks our submission. He does not enforce it. He rebukes our transgressions, but gives us time to repent. He claims our obedience, He does not compel it. Rather He desires to win it by not yet visiting our transgressions. See Rom_2:4; 2Pe_3:9; 2Pe_3:15; 1Ti_2:4.
3. With what is yet to appear.—This almost anxious, this carefully maintained, this long protracted postponement of punishment only makes it the more sure in the end. And the more terrible also. Nothing is worse than not punished, yet not repented of, sin! Every succeeding moment of time makes it both greater and worse! (Rom_2:5).
HOMILIES ON THE VERSES.
Mat_21:1-9. The King and the kingdom.—Not only did the means adopted by our Lord rise naturally out of the circumstances in which He and His followers were placed, but they were specially suited to suggest important truths concerning the kingdom He claimed as His own. If He had entered the city in regal pomp and splendour it would have conveyed an entirely false idea of the kingdom. The method He did adopt was such as to give a true idea of it.
I. It strikingly suggested the kingliness of lowliness, which was one of its great distinctive principles. As we look back over His recent instructions to His disciples we see how very much this thought was in His heart, and how great was the importance He attached to it. He had just taught them that the Son of man had come, not to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give His life a ransom for many; and His manner of entering into His capital must be in harmony with the lowly, self-renouncing work He had come to do. Thus He shows in the most impressive way that His kingdom is not of this world. There is no suggestion of rivalry with Cæsar, yet to those who look beneath the surface He is manifestly more of a king than any Cæsar. He has knowledge of everything without a spy (Mat_21:2); He has power over men without a soldier (Mat_21:3); He has simply to say, “The Lord hath need,” and immediately His royal will is loyally fulfilled! Evidently He has the mind of a king and the will of a king; has He not also the heart of a king, of a true shepherd of the people? See how he bears the burden of their future on His heart—a burden which weighs so heavily upon Him that He cannot restrain His tears (Luk_19:41-44). There is no kingly state; but was not His a kingly soul who in such humble guise rode into Jerusalem that day?
II. Not less than lowliness is peace suggested as characteristic of His kingdom.
1. By the manner of His entrance; for while the horse and the chariot were suggestive of war, the ass was the symbol of peace.
2. Then, the prophecy is one of peace. Immediately after the words quoted by the Evangelist there follows this remarkable promise: “I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off; and He shall speak peace unto the heathen; and His dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth.” It would seem, indeed, that some, at least, in the multitude realised that through the Messiah was to be expected a deeper peace than that between man and man. This deeper peace may have been suggested to their minds by the words following next in the prophecy, which goes on to speak of prisoners of hope rescued from the pit, and turning to the stronghold; or by the Psalm from which their cry, “Hosanna in the highest,” was taken (Psalms 118). Certain it is that their minds did rise to a higher conception of the work of the Messiah than they had given token of before; for the cry of some of them, at least, was “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest” (Luk_19:38). A striking proof this of the fitness of His manner of entering into His capital to suggest the purest, highest, and best thoughts concerning the kingdom which He claimed as His own.—J. M. Gibson, D.D.
Mat_21:1-5. Christ’s journey to Jerusalem.—What do we see?
I. The superhuman under the garb of the human.
II. The majestic under the garb of the mean.
III. The eternal under the garb of the incidental.
IV. Truth enunciated by an erring crowd.—D. Thomas, D.D.
Mat_21:3. A Palm Sunday sermon.—As in a picture, the memorable entry of Jesus into Jerusalem indicates the way in which our blessed Lord goes through the world now. Now, as then:
1. His purpose is to bless.
2. His contact with men awakens their life.
3. Much excitement about Him is transient.
4. Men’s possessions are claimed by Him to further His progress. We are to observe:—
I. The strangeness of His claim.—“The Lord hath need.”
1. The greater has need of the less.—A universal law. The rich have need of the poor; the strong have need of the sick; the parents have need of the child.
2. The Divine has need of the human.—E.g. Jesus Christ is saving man by man, and so has need of the loyalty, activity, gifts, examples of men. This is an illustration of Divine goodness in putting honour on man, for it might have been otherwise. For instance,
(1) God might have sent successive choirs of angels to continue the anthem of the evangel that broke the stillness of the fields over Bethlehem; or
(2) the skies might have been a scroll and the stars the alphabet of the Divine writing. So Constantine’s myth about seeing the cross might have been a fact; or
(3) a direct revelation to each individual man might have been given from God.
II. The dignity of His claim.—“Thy King cometh to thee.” “The Lord.” There were indications of His right here in His supernatural knowledge. He knew exactly where the ass and colt were to be found. So He knows all about our money, every coin of it; about our time, every hour of it; about our power, every element of it. And yet there is another resemblance in this; the ass and colt were tied. So many men’s possessions are “tied” by pleasure, or greed, or gain, or habit, or the gordian-knot of selfishness. So we are bidden “Loose them and bring them unto Me.”
III. The condescension of His claim.—Though the ass was the ordinary beast of burden of the Jews, it was the scorn of the Romans. Asinarii was then a term of contempt for Christians. And in fulfilment of Zechariah’s prophecy that the King of the Jews should be lowly, Christ thus, by dramatic teaching—for the Greek and Latin supply no adequate word—rode on an ass. So this Prince of peace enters the city of peace in a manner that should for ever emphasise His own teaching, “Blessed are the meek,” etc. In His meekness and condescension He chooses to win His way, the way of blessing and saving men, through the world now, by employing humble, disdained, despised means. If the swift dromedary or the splendid war-horse were the symbol of the agency He employs, but few of the vast world of mediocre men could hope to have any part or lot in the matter. But “God hath chosen the weak things,” etc. He has need of the most ordinary of our powers, the most obscure of our hours, the most commonplace of our days. He can use us and ours in His great triumphal entry into the hearts and nations of the world.—U. R. Thomas, B.A.
Mat_21:5. Christ the King.—
I. Jesus Christ is the church’s King.—One of our brethren, like unto us, according to the law of the kingdom (Deu_17:15), He is appointed King over the church (Psa_2:6). He is accepted King by the church; the daughter of Zion swears allegiance to Him (Hos_1:11).
II. Christ, the King of His church, came to His church, even in this lower world. “He comes to thee, to rule thee, to rule in thee, to rule for thee;” He is “Head over all things to the church.” He came to Zion that out of Zion the law might go forth.
III. Notice was given to the church beforehand of the coming of her King. “Tell the daughter of Zion.”—M. Henry.
Mat_21:7. Honouring Christ.—
1. When we have a clear call ready obedience is our part, without troubling ourselves what may be the success.
2. It is our part to honour Christ, so far as we can, and to lay aside our ornaments to glorify Him.
3. Christ contenteth Himself for any state which is to keep in His kingdom here on earth with what His disciples can furnish Him.—David Dickson.
Mat_21:9. Hosanna to the Son of David.—The hosannas with which Christ was attended speak two things:—
I. Their welcoming His kingdom.—Hosanna speaks the same with “Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord” (see Psa_72:17). Notice:
1. Jesus Christ comes in the name of the Lord. He is sanctified, and sent into the world as Mediator; “Him hath God the Father sealed.”
2. The coming of Christ in the name of the Lord is worthy of all acceptation. We ought all to say, “Blessed,” etc.
II. Their wishing well to His kingdom.—“Send now prosperity” to that kingdom. If they understood it of a temporal kingdom, it was a mistake, which a little time would rectify; however, their goodwill was accepted (Psa_72:15).—M. Henry.
Mat_21:10.—Who is this?—
I. The question:—
1. As asked then.—All the city was moved, saying, “Who is this?” Thronged for feast; saw strange procession sweep towards temple.
2. As asked now.—All the world is moved, saying, “Who is this?” Procession passed, but procession of events went on. Crucified, dead, and buried. Then news of a resurrection, an ascension, a gift of the Spirit, and a call on all men to believe. The story a nine days’ wonder? No. It spread from land to land, from age to age; survived three hundred years of persecution; rose fresh from wreck of the empire; changed all currents of thought, created new institutions, formed foremost nations, possesses civilised world. Its best effects deeper down, in principles, characters, works, lives, deaths, “which are in Christ Jesus.” He has become a universal presence; a vast mysterious power. What account shall be given of it? Who is this? Question ever reopened. Comes up fresh from time to time, especially now. Talk of worn-out creeds and new accounts attempted. You are as if this Jesus, met you, “Whom do men say that I am?” and you can tell what is said. “But whom say ye that I am?” Everything hangs on:—
II. The answer.—As given by Scripture, in the Catholic Church, and according to the faith of God’s elect, it is reached by four steps, each necessitating the next.
1. This is Jesus the Prophet, etc.—First impression of rudimentary disciples. The prophetic mission evident, certain “We know that Thou art a Teacher sent from God,” etc. “A great Prophet has risen,” etc. “This is of a truth that Prophet,” etc. If so, His witness of Himself is true, and higher conclusions follow.
2. This is the Christ.—I.e. the foreordained One, bearing the office, achieving the work described in prophecy; the Redeemer; the Hope of Israel and of mankind. This the first Christian conviction and proclamation. “God has made this same Jesus both Lord and Christ.” If so:—
3. This is the Son of God.—The Christ is declared to be so (Psa_2:7). Understood to be so (Joh_6:69; Mat_26:63). Witnessed (Mat_3:17). Preached (Act_9:20; Joh_20:31). If so, in what sense?
4. This is the Word who was with God, and was God. One with the Father—by whom all things were made—all things consist—over all God blessed for ever—originally the life and light of men—therefore their Redeemer and eternal life. This answer one. First step involves second—and so on to last. Its vital importance to each separate soul. What He is to you depends on what He is in Himself. What you find Him to be to you must depend upon what you take Him to be in Himself.—T. D. Bernard, M.A
The King entering Jerusalem.—
1. When it pleaseth Christ to take unto Him a kingdom, He will avow Himself King in the midst of His enemies, as now He rideth in this glory into Jerusalem.
2. Where greatest show of religion is, it is no new thing to see Christ to be least known, for, “Who is this?” say they.
3. Where He hath a mind to honour Himself in suffering, He will show Himself so evidently as He may be taken notice of by His enemies. All the city is moved, saying “Who is this?”—David Dickson.
What think ye of Christ?—
I. The merely humanitarian view of the person of Christ involves in it:—
1. The gravest intellectual difficulties. There was something peculiar in His intellectual solitude; the difference between Him and other thinkers was not such as, for example, between Shakespeare and other authors. You know all through that Shakespeare belongs to the same species as the others; but Christ constitutes an entire genus by Himself.
2. But the difficulties which beset the humanitarian view of the Saviour’s person from the intellectual side are as nothing compared with those which it has to encounter on the moral. Remember the honesty and integrity by which He was characterised, and then say how these qualities are to be reconciled with the claims which He put forth as One who had come down from heaven for the express purpose of teaching celestial things, if these claims were not well founded.
3. Note the testimony of history to the Deity of Christ. It is the nature of moral evil to propagate itself. Christ turned the tide for all after-time, and to-day the sole corrective agents at work upon the moral and spiritual condition of men may be traced to Christianity.
II. What is involved in the reception of Jesus as the Son of God?—It involves:—
1. That we should implicitly believe His teachings. It is a mockery for one to say that he believes in the Deity of Christ, and then to cavil at His words or to deny their truth.
2. An obligation to rely alone on His atoning work for our salvation.
3. An obligation to obey His commandments. The practical rejection of our Lord’s Divinity by the disobedience of our lives is a more prevalent heresy than the theoretic denial of His Deity, and it is far more insidious and pestilential.—W. M. Taylor, D.D.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
William B. Godbey 1900 · Public Domain On v1 Joh 12:12-19; Mat 21:1-11; Mat 21:14-17; Luk 19:29-44; Mar…
TRIUMPHANT ENTRY
Joh 12:12-19; Mat 21:1-11; Mat 21:14-17; Luk 19:29-44; Mar 11:1-11. John: “On the morrow a great multitude, having come to the feast, hearing that Jesus comes into Jerusalem, took the branches of the palm-trees, and came out to meet Him, and continued to cry out, Hosanna! Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel!” Having arrived at Bethany Sunday evening, and lodged at the house of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, on Monday morning Jesus goes to Jerusalem, over Mount Olivet, as the road then led. Now it goes around it, south of the summit.
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Mark: “When they draw near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, near to the Mount of Olives, He sends forth two of His disciples, and says to them, Go ye into the village which is opposite you, and going into it, you will immediately find a colt tied, on which no one of men has sat. And if any one may say to you, Why do you do this? say that the Lord has need of him, and immediately he will send him hither. They departed, and found the colt tied at the door without, on the crossing of two roads, and they are loosing him; and certain ones of those standing there began to say to them, What are you doing, loosing the colt? And they said to them as Jesus commanded. And they led the colt to Jesus, and cast their garments on him, and He sat on him.” I made a specialty of pursuing this old road over the mountain which Jesus traveled on this notable occasion. Bethphage is about half-way from Bethany to the summit, on the mountain slope. From this place, in the journey, Jesus sent the two disciples, whose names are not given, with orders to go into a village on the mountain in full view, and bring to Him the young donkey, which had never been mounted. Matthew says they brought the mother along with the colt. Those donkeys have wonderful strength, utterly out of proportion to their size, which is quite diminutive. They are much used in the Holy Land, really more than any other domestic animal, the camel ranking next, and being used for all heavy burdens. Some get confused in the statement of Matthew that “He sat on them,” thinking that He rode both of the donkeys, which is untrue, as “them” does not refer to the animals, but to the clothes which they laid on the young animal, and on which Jesus sat. Why did Jesus ride the donkey? Why not a horse? The reason is very obvious. The horse is the symbol of war, being always used in battle; while the donkey, too slow for war, is the universal symbol of peace, and consequently the appropriate animal for the Prince of Peace to ride. Again, the donkey symbolizes humility, as he is the poor man’s animal, eating about as much as a sheep, hardy enough to live in the desert, and so small and tough that he can climb a mountain like a goat. Jesus came, the first time, in His humiliation, homeless and friendless, riding into Jerusalem on the donkey. He will come the second time in His glory, riding on a white cloud.
John: “Jesus, having found the young donkey, sat on him, as has been written, Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, thy King cometh, sitting upon the colt of the donkey.” (Zec 9:9) That is certainly a very beautiful prophecy. As Jerusalem occupies the summit of Mount Zion, the application is clear and unmistakable.
Mark: “And many strew their garments in the way; and others cut down the branches from the trees, and continued to strew them in the way. Those going before and those following alter continued to shout, saying, Hosanna! Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the kingdom coming in the name of our father David I Hosanna in the highest!” Luke says: “He, drawing nigh to the descension of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of His disciples, rejoicing, began to praise God with a loud voice for all the miracles which they had seen.” After the gushing, Oriental style of saluting kings and conquerors, they threw down their garments for Him to ride over them, demonstrative of their perfect submission to His authority, and at the same time they strew His way with palm-leaves, which are so majestic and beautiful in Oriental climates, and vividly symbolic of royalty, conquest, and victory. They had waited three years for that wonderful hour, and now feel sure that the desideratum for which they had prayed, sighed, and cried to God so long is fast culminating into a glorious reality; and when they reach Jerusalem, they are very sanguine that He will be crowned King of the Jews. At that time there were no factories, and clothing was so scarce and costly, comparatively with our day, that we can hardly estimate the sacrifice which they so cheerfully and gladly made in throwing down the best apparel they had, in the dusty road, for the donkey to tread upon. O they are so glad to hail Him King of the Jews, little dreaming that this grand ovation was but a scintillation of the oncoming glory of the triumphant entry of King Jesus into Jerusalem on the white cloud, symbolized by the white donkey, when the mighty host of angels and glorified saints will accompany Him. Thus they witnessed an exultant prelibation of the grandest triumph in the history of redemption, when our Lord shall descend from heaven on the throne of His glory, accompanied by the celestial millions. The perfect submission they manifested by casting their garments beneath the tread of the donkey, and the royal triumphs emblemized by the palm-leaves strewn in the Conqueror’s path, and the joyous shout of the appreciative disciples, “Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord! Glory in the highest!” O what a grand adumbration of our Lord’s triumphant return on the throne of His millennial glory, to girdle the globe with peace, righteousness, holiness, and victory! Satan will be chained and imprisoned; the six-thousand-year weekdays of toil, temptation, conflict, and suffering under the dark reign of Satan will be fled and gone, and the bright Sabbath of Eden return in millennial glories,
“Undimmed by sorrow, unhurt by time;”
the earth, exultant from the long winter of sin and oppression, will again leap into the life of perpetual springtime; and sterility, wintry storms, wasting tempests, will retreat forever before the glorious Sun of righteousness, rising on all the world, with healing in His wings, dissipating forever the long, dismal night of sin, and girdling the globe witch God’s hallowed millennial day. As the happy years roll on, the people will forget the awful suffering, conflict, and desolation of bygone ages. This shouting multitude caught a glimpse of the oncoming victory, and thought the long-prayed-for triumph had actually come. But it receded away, leaving bright memories which have inspired the saints in all subsequent ages. While we contemplate this symbolic adumbration of our Lord’s coming glory, let us all thank God and take courage, remembering that we are eighteen hundred and sixty-seven years nearer that glorious hour when the triumphant coming of our King shall not only verify the prophecies, but triumphantly fulfill the thrilling symbolism of this memorable occasion.
Joh 12:16. “And His disciples did not at first understand these things; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written in reference to Him, and they did them to Him.” When the Holy Ghost descended on them at Pentecost, sanctifying and flooding them with light on the precious Word, then they were able to tightly divide the Word of Truth, and separate the prophecies — some appertaining to His first coming, in humiliation; and others to His glorious coming in triumph. At the time of this public entry into Jerusalem, they were awfully disappointed, because He rendered Himself invisible and passed out of their hands when they came to crown Him King; but the Pentecostal baptism, which followed the glorification of Jesus, gave light on all these mysteries and filled them with joy.
“Then the multitude, being with Him, continued to testify that He called Lazarus out of the tomb, and raised him up from the dead.” Lazarus was then with Him, one of His loving disciples, and also a host of people who had actually witnessed that wonderful miracle, regarded as the greatest of our Savior’s ministry. Therefore the multitude came to Him because they heard that He had performed this miracle.
“Then the Pharisees said to one another, You see that you profit nothing. Behold, the world has gone after Him.” This grand ovation which Jesus received, along with the popular excitement over the resurrection of Lazarus, stirred the gall of the Pharisees and the higher clergy to the very bottom.
Luk 19:39 “And certain ones of the Pharisees from the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, rebuke Thy disciples.” Dead religion can’t stand hallelujah meetings. They are literal torture to dead professors and dry-bone preachers. “Responding, He said to them, I say unto you, that if they must keep silent, the rocks will shout.” We see that the Lord believes in shouting meetings. This was a more noisy time than you ever witnessed at a holiness camp, and yet the Lord rebuked no one for fanaticism, but commended the whole affair. The Lord is going to be praised with “a loud voice.” If the Churches will not do it, He will convert the drunkards and harlots, though their hearts be hard as stone, till they will shout His praises. The rocks did cry out the next Friday, when He hung on the cross, and they were rent with the earthquake shock.
“And when He drew nigh, seeing the city, He wept over it, saying, If thou hadst known, even in this thy day, the things appertaining to thy peace; but now they are hidden from thine eyes. Because the days shall come upon thee, and thine enemies will throw a blockade around thee, and encompass thee in a circle, and they will press thee on all sides; they will slay thee and thy children in thee, and will not leave in thee stone upon stone, because thou hast not known the time of thy visitation.” On the very spot, descending Mount Olivet, here referred to, where Jesus poured forth gushing tears, weeping over the city, we have a most conspicuous view of all Jerusalem. Christian money has built a beautiful, snowy-white stone church-edifice on that very spot. It is called “The Church of Jesus Weeping.” His omniscient eye saw the great and formidable Roman armies coiled round the city, like a huge boa-constrictor, cutting off all ingress and egress, dooming the inmates to famine, which, along with the sword, slew them so rapidly that interment was impossible. Consequently the pestilential exhalations, from the putrefying corpses, produced an awful pestilence, which swept its withering epidemic through the air, actually competing with the sword and famine by heaping the city with mountains of the dead. Josephus says the horrors of the siege actually beggared all possible description, Jesus, with immortal eyes, seeing the future like the present, gazes on these awful and shocking tragedies, while His pure, tender, unfallen human heart gives way to profoundest pity and lacerating sympathy, till His eyes flood with gushing tears. Only four days intervening till the bloody scene of Calvary is to seal the doom of that devoted city, and expedite the righteous judgments of the Almighty, the Holy Spirit, as we here see from the words of Jesus, having already been grieved away, while hell, with its black legions, has come to the front.
Mar 11:11. “Jesus came into Jerusalem, and into the temple; and looking round upon all things, the hour already being late, went out to Bethany with the twelve.” You must not forget that “temple,” in these Scriptures, simply means the Holy Campus, which is said now to contain thirty-five acres, with many valuable buildings on it, and more then than now; for none but the priests were admitted into the temple proper. Jesus, with His apostles, had lodged in Bethany the preceding night, and now goes back and lodges there Monday night. If He had lodged in the city, there is no doubt but His enemies would have attacked Him. Having lodged Sunday and Monday nights in Bethany, Tuesday and Wednesday nights in some of the villages on Mount Olivet, He remained in the city Thursday night, being arrested by His enemies at midnight.
Mat 21:10. “Jesus having come into Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred, saying, Who is this?” We do not wonder at the excitement and the inquiry which had been produced by an entrance so exceedingly demonstrative. Besides the native population, multitudes have already arrived in the city, that they may prepare for the oncoming Passover. As the children of Abraham, the most enterprising people in the world in all ages, had gone away into all the cities of the known world, there to sojourn and accumulate wealth, therefore to the great annual Passover they came from the ends of the earth. “And the multitudes continued to say, This is Jesus, the Prophet, from Nazareth of Galilee. The blind and the lame were coming to Him in the temple, and He healed them.” Many of them are there now. O how they thronged me, last November and December. begging for contributions, which I was only delighted to give, of course, in small value! Jerusalem this day is a practical Bible looking-glass. O what a glory when the blind and the lame all crowded around Him there in the great Temple Campus, and on their sightless eyeballs He poured the light of day, and made the lame to leap for joy!
“And the high priests and scribes, seeing the wonderful things which He did, and the children in the temple, crying, Hosanna to the Son of David, got mad, and said to Him, Do you hear what they are saying? And Jesus says to them, Yes; have you not read that out of the mouth of babes and sucklings Thou hast perfected praise?” (Psa 8:3.) We still see that Jesus believes in noisy meetings — none too young and none too old to shout aloud the praises of God. It made these big preachers and Church officers very mad; and they still get mad when you get up a sweeping holiness revival, and they hear the people praising the Lord with a loud voice, with no exception of age, sex, race, sect, or color.
William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Sermon Bible 1900 · Public Domain On v1 I. Our Lord’s words illustrate, first of all, the…
Mat 21:3
I. Our Lord’s words illustrate, first of all, the deliberateness with which He moved forward to His agony and death. When He sent the two disciples for the ass and the foal which were tied up in the street of Bethphage, He was, as He knew, taking the first step in a series which would end within a week upon Mount Calvary. Everything, accordingly, is measured, deliberate, calm. It is this deliberateness in His advance to die; it is this voluntariness in His sufferings which, next to the fact of His true Divinity, gives to the death of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ its character as a sacrifice for the sins of the whole world.
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II. Our Lord’s words illustrate, secondly, the exact nature of His claims. "If any man say ought unto you, ye shall say, "The Lord hath need of them." Now, what is the justification of this demand? It is a question which can only be answered in one way—namely, that Christ was all along the true owner of the ass and the foal, and that the apparent owner was but His bailiff. He claims what He has lent for a while, He resumes that which has always been His own; we hear the voice of the Being to whom man owes all that he is, and all that he has—"whose we are, and whom we serve."
III. Our Lord’s words show how He can make use of all, even of the lowest and the least; nay how, in His condescension, He makes Himself dependent on them for the fulfilment of His high purposes. It was of the ass and of the colt at Bethphage that He Himself said, "The Lord hath need of them." The ass and colt, insignificant in themselves, had become necessary to our Lord at one of the great turning-points of His life; they were needed for a service unique and incomparable, which has given them a place in sacred history to the very end of time. They were to be conspicuous features in that great sacrificial procession—for such it was—in which He, the prime and flower of our race, moved forward deliberately to yield Himself to the wills of men who today can shout "Hosannah" and who tomorrow will cry "Crucify." The needs of God. It was surely too bold an expression if He had not authorized us to use it. And yet there they stand, the words "The Lord hath need of them." He needed that ass and that foal in the street of Bethphage.
H. P. Liddon, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxi., p. 209.
References: Mat 21:3.—Homiletic Quarterly, vol. ii., p. 241; J. M. Neale, Sermons for the Church Year, vol. ii., p. 80. Mat 21:4.—C. Kingsley, Sermons on National Subjects, p. 1. Mat 21:4, Mat 21:5.—G. Butler, Cheltenham College Sermons, p. 20.
Mat 21:5
I. Not the Law only, but the Prophets also, did our Lord with the greatest carefulness fulfil, that no one mark or tittle of the letter should fail of the Word of God. "All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee," etc.
II. "When He was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is this? And the multitude said, This is Jesus the Prophet of Nazareth of Galilee." This was the answer of the multitude, for the common people were not ashamed of the lowly Nazareth and the despised Galilee. What a wonderful contrast is this to His next appearing, for which we daily wait; when all the dead shall be moved at His coming and all the living; when the sun, moon, and stars shall fall, and earth and heaven shall take wing before His face, and when there will be no more asking, "Who is this?" for all shall know Him!
III. When He came in so much meekness without, and with so much sorrow of heart within, He showed by a remarkable sign what was the occasion of that sorrow. "He went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold," etc. The lesson is, that it is of the very utmost importance how we keep holy the House of Prayer. Worship God aright, and all will be well. Come before Him without fear, and all your life will be as a city over which Christ weeps.
I. Williams, Sermons on the Epistles and Gospels, vol. i., p. 1.
References: Mat 21:5.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. vii., No. 405; vol. xviii., No. 1038; Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. xvii., p. 284; J. C. Hare, Sermons in Herstmonceux Church, vol. i., p. 79.
Mat 21:10
What think we of Christ?
I. The merely humanitarian view of the person of Christ involves in it: (1) the gravest intellectual difficulties. There was something peculiar in His intellectual solitude: the difference between Him and other thinkers was not such as, for example, between Shakespeare and other authors. You know all through that Shakespeare belongs to the same species as the others; but Christ constitutes an entire genius by Himself. Compare the Sermon on the Mount with the utterances of the most exalted teachers, and say if it be conceivable that He who delivered it was no more than a Jewish country artisan, whose life had been spent in one of the lowest villages of the most illiterate portion of the land. (2) But the difficulties which beset the humanitarian view of the Saviour’s person from the intellectual side are as nothing compared with those which it has to encounter on the moral. Remember the honesty and integrity by which He was characterized, and then say how these qualities are to be reconciled with the claims which He put forth as One who had come down from heaven for the express purpose of teaching celestial things, if these claims were not well founded. (3) Note the testimony of history to the Deity of Christ. It is the nature of moral evil to propagate itself. Christ turned the tide for all after-time, and today the sole corrective agents at work upon the moral and spiritual condition of men may be traced to Christianity.
II. But now, supposing that we all receive Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God, what then? What is involved in that reception? It involves: (1) that we should implicitly believe His teachings. It is a mockery for one to say that he believes in the Deity of Christ, and then to cavil at his words or to deny their truth. (2) If we believe that Jesus Christ is the God-Man, there is involved in that an obligation to rely alone on His atoning work for our salvation. (3) If we receive Christ as the God-Man, there is involved in that reception an obligation to obey His commandments. The practical rejection of our Lord’s Divinity by the disobedience of our lives is a more prevalent heresy than the theoretic denial of His Deity, and it is far more insidious and pestilential.
W. M. Taylor, The Limitations of Life, p. 127.
References: Mat 21:10.—Preacher’s Monthly, vol. ii., p. 364; J. O. Davies, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxxii., p. 241. Mat 21:12, Mat 21:13.—Homiletic Quarterly, vol. iv., p. 181. Mat 21:13.—B. F. Westcott, Expositor, 3rd series, vol. v., p. 458; R. Heber, Parish Sermons, vol. i., p. 1. Mat 21:15.—S. Cox, The Bird’s Nest, p. 194; Outline Sermons to Children, p. 124; A. Macleod, Talking to the Children, p. 237. Mat 21:15, Mat 21:16.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxx., No. 1785; Homiletic Magazine, vol. vi., p. 208. Mat 21:16.—W. Wilkinson, Thursday Penny Pulpit, vol. ii., p. 205. Mat 21:17.—W. H. Jellie, Christian World Pulpit, vol. vi., p. 230. Mat 21:17-22.—Parker. Inner Life of Christ, vol. iii., p. 99. Mat 21:18-20.—G. W. Butler, Christian World Pulpit, vol. iv., p. 298; Parker, Hidden Springs, p. 98. Mat 21:21.—H. W. Beecher, Sermons, 1st series, p. 536.
Mat 21:22
These words are said to us as God’s children. This is the one condition of our asking and having. "Ask," our good Lord would say, "your Father as His children, believing in Him, trusting in Him, hoping in Him, trusting yourselves with Him."
I. It is not, then, said to those who will not live as God’s children. He who will not live as God’s child makes himself wiser than God. He chooses what God chooses not; he frames to himself a world of his own, and makes its laws for himself. He contradicts or disbelieves the goodness of God, in that he chooses what God refuses, refuses what God chooses.
II. It is not said as to things which we cannot ask as God’s children. To covet passionately the things of this life, even without actual sin; to long to be above those around us; to desire to be admired, thought of; to have a smooth easy course, to be without trial,—this is not the temper of God’s children. To gain these things might be to lose the soul.
III. We are not children of our heavenly Father if we forgive not from our hearts each other their trespasses; and therefore any secret grudge, any mislike of another, any rankling memory of injury, hinders our prayer being heard.
IV. If we ask not earnestly, we either do not really want what we ask for, or we mistrust that God will give it, and do not really look to Him as our Father.
V. There are many degrees of asking, many degrees of obtaining. God willeth to win thee to ask of Him. He will often give us things more than we could look for, that we may remember how He heareth prayers, and ask Him for what He is yet more ready to give, because it is more precious for our eternal good. He draws us on as earthly parents do their children to trust Him in a more simple, childlike way. Pray, and thou shalt know that God will hear thy prayers. Pray as thou canst, and pray that thou mayest pray better. The gates of heaven are ever open that thou mayest go in and out at thy will. He Himself, to whom thou prayest, prayeth for thee, by His voice, by His love, by His blood. How can we fail to be heard, when, if we wish, God the Holy Spirit will pray in us, and He to whom we pray is more ready to give than we to ask?
E. B. Pusey, Sermons for the Church’s Seasons, p. 372.
The Miracles of Prayer.
Can man change the mind of God? Will God, on the prayer of man, change any part of that wondrous order which He has impressed on His fair, visible creation?
I. God does through man’s acts become other to him than He was before. The returned soul knows that not only is its whole self changed towards God, but that the relations and actions of God towards it are also changed. And this change has often been wrought by Jesus through the prayers of others. Which are greatest, the miracles of nature or the miracles of grace? Which is the greatest interference (to use men’s word)—to change passive, unresisting nature, or man’s strong, energetic, resisting will, which God Himself so respects that He will not force the will which He has endowed with freedom, that it might have the bliss freely to choose Himself? And yet these stupendous spiritual miracles are daily renewed. The love of the Church, of the pastor, the mother, the combined prayers of those whom God has inspired with the love of souls, draw down on the prodigal soul many a wasted or half-wasted grace, until at last God in His providence has laid the soul open to the influence of His grace, and the soul, obstructing no more the access to Divine grace, is converted to God and lives.
II. Whether the whole sequence of natural phenomena follow a fixed order of Divine law impressed once for all upon his creation by the almighty fiat of God, or whether the proximate causes of which we are cognizant are the result of the ever-present action of the Divine will, independently of any such system—these are but the ways of acting of the Omniscient. The difficulty lies in the Omniscience itself, which knew all things which were not as though they were. Who doubts but that God knew beforehand that awful winter which cut off half a million of the flower of French chivalry? But whether that winter, which stood alone in the history of Russian climate, came only in the natural sequel of some fixed laws, or whether it was owing to the immediate fiat of God, the adaptation of these natural phenomena to the chastisement of that suffering host was alike exact, the free agency of its leader was alike unimpaired.
III. Once more, the availableness of prayer has been contrasted with the availableness of human remedies; its unavailableness has been insisted upon, if combined with human sloth. Who bade separate trust in God from the exertions of duty? Certainly not He who, even in His highest concerns,—the salvation of our souls,—bade us work out our own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God which worketh in us, to will and to do of His good pleasure.
IV. One soul there is for which thy prayers are absolutely infallible—thine own. Before thou hast uttered the prayer, so soon as through the grace of God thou hast conceived it in thy heart and embraced it in thy will, it has ascended to the Eternal throne. Already it has been presented to Him who in all eternity loved thee and formed thee for His love. It has been presented by Him, Man with thee, who, as Man, died for thee, who, in His precious death, prayed for thee, Man with thee, but also God with God. How should it fail? Thy prayer cannot fail, if thou, through thine own will, fail not thy prayer.
E. B. Pusey, Selected Occasional Sermons, p. 295.
References: Mat 21:22.—E. B. Pusey, Parochial and Cathedral Sermons, p. 273; J. H. Evans, Thursday Penny Pulpit, vol. xvi., p. 69.
Mat 21:23-27
Why Christ could not make His Authority known to the Pharisees.
I. John had said to the Pharisees, "Bring forth fruits meet for repentance, and think not to say unto yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children to Abraham." They were saying within themselves, "We have Abraham to our father," while they had no likeness to Abraham. They were wrapping themselves up in a comfortable security, while they had a sense of inward hollowness. They were exulting in the profession of faith in an unseen God; they were not believing in the unseen God.
II. Our Lord did not arbitrarily refuse to tell the Pharisees what His authority was unless they could tell Him whether they believed in John’s mission. He refused to tell them what they could not understand except upon a previous condition. Were they still the proud, contemptuous, self-exalting men whom John had denounced? They could not know what Christ’s authority was; they could not enter into its meaning, let it be defined to them with the most Divine accuracy. Had they listened to John’s words? had they felt that they as much as any Gentile needed to be cleansed, and that God must cleanse them? had they received the call to repentance as the best, most comfortable, most Divine of all messages, not only to the publican, but to them? Then they were in a condition to be taught about that mysterious government over the heart and will which Christ carries on; then they could feel something of the freedom and universality and penetrating quality of His royal grace. Every prophet had come proclaiming that valleys were to be exalted, that mountains and hills were to be made low, because every prophet had come witnessing of a Divine and eternal and invisible kingdom, which claims all as its subjects, which refuses its blessings to none who do not choose to be without them.
F. D. Maurice, Sermons, vol. iv., p. 95.
References: Mat 21:23-46.—Parker, Inner Life of Christ, vol. iii., p. 109. Mat 21:25.—Homiletic Magazine, vol. x., p. 99.
Mat 21:28
I. There are two spheres of human duty, the individual and the social. Individually, it is our duty to "work out our own salvation with fear and trembling;" to listen to the voice of God, and hearing, to obey it; to "keep our bodies in temperance, soberness, and chastity;" to keep our minds in the love of that truth which maketh free; and so walk along the path of life that the heaven-appointed guardians of the human soul, the two great angels of duty and conscience, may hold us by the hand and never turn upon us their calm looks of awful indignation. But this individual duty cannot be performed without due recognition of our social duty. Our own souls will suffer, our Christian life will shrivel into a paltry and repellent thing, unless, in the spirit of love and not of officialism, of humbleness and not of religious superiority, we recognize our solemn responsibility to our brethren who are in the world, and learn out of noble motives to do noble deeds.
II. How are nations saved? When they are conquered? when they are in peril? In what way can deliverance come to them? It comes by the work of a single man, or by the united passion and energy of a whole people, or by both combined. Churches and religions are saved in exactly the same way. A decadent nation must pray, "O God, give us heroes, give us patriots, give us men." And a weakened Church and faith must pray, "O God, give us prophets, give us saints." One man who is in earnest, one man who can see the beckoning hands which others cannot see, and who amid the universal roar of base and virulent gossip has heard the "still small voice" which others cannot hear—such a man will do more than a million of the languid and conventional. What made Christianity conquer the world? Not wealth, not learning, not eloquence, not crystallized dogmas, not the splendour of an amazing hierarchy, or the formalism of an external worship. No, but innocence; no, but absolute unworldliness; no, but the moral vividness of great examples; no, but the sincerity of faith which, seeing Him who is invisible, hurled itself against the unbelief of the world—the force of a belief which counted all things as dross for the work of God. "You see the day is passed by when the Church could say, Silver and gold have I none," said Innocent
III. when he saw the bags of gold being carted into the Vatican. "Yes, holy father, and the day is also passed when the Church could say to the cripple, Arise and walk."
F. W. Farrar, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxvi., p. 1.
References: Mat 21:28.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxiii., No. 1338; J. Morgan, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xx., p. 5.
Mat 21:28-30
Promising without Doing.
We promise to serve God; we do not perform; and that not from deliberate faithlessness in the particular case, but because it is our nature, our way not to obey, and we do not know this; we do not know ourselves or what we are promising. Note several instances of this kind of weakness:—
I. That of mistaking good feelings for real religious principle. How often is a man incited by circumstances to utter a virtuous wish, or propose a generous or valiant deed, and perhaps applauds himself for his own good feeling, and has no suspicion that he is not able to act upon it. It escapes him that there is a great interval between feeling and acting. He knows he is a free agent, and can on the whole do what he will; but he is not conscious of the load of corrupt nature and sinful habits which hang upon his will, and clog it in each particular exercise of it.
II. One especial case of this self-deception is seen in delaying repentance. Nothing but past acts are the vouchers for future. Past sacrifices, past labours, past victories over yourselves—these are the tokens of the like in store, and doubtless of greater in store. But trust nothing short of these. "Deeds, not words and wishes," this must be the watchword of your warfare and the ground of your assurance.
III. Another plausible form of the same error is a mistake concerning what is meant by faith. Dead faith, as St. James says, profits no man. What, on the other hand, is living faith? Do fervent thoughts make faith living? St. James tells us otherwise. He tells us works, deeds of obedience, are the life of faith. As far as we know anything of the matter, justifying faith has no existence independent of its particular definite acts. It may be described as the temper under which men obey; the humble and earnest desire to please Christ which causes and attends on actual services.
J. H. Newman, Parochial and Plain Sermons, vol. i., p. 165.
Mat 21:28-31
We must not lose sight of the fact that in this parable both the persons who were addressed were sons. And this is exactly our position. In a sense—in a high and true sense—we are all God’s children, not by creation only, but by baptism, and we cannot escape. The weight of life lies upon the fact of our being God’s children.
I. Three points lie on the surface of this subject. (1) The argument of the Father’s appeal lay upon the sonship. (2) A call to grace is a call to work. (3) There is the instantaneousness of obedience; that which at once makes the essence of a duty, the ease of a duty, and the possibility of a duty. "Go work today in my vineyard."
II. Notice the first reception: "He answered and said, I will not; but afterward he repented, and went." He stands out to us, then: a man thoroughly honest, but opposed; strong in character, resolute in will; his nature hostile to God’s will; but presently, grace working in his mind, and his mind working with the grace, he is abashed and ashamed; rightly perceiving, he follows quickly on juster views; and he repented, and went. Why had not this man, this son, the will to work in his father’s vineyard? (1) He did not really love, or know his father. (2) He liked the imaginary independence which he felt in being his own master outside. (3) The labour which he knew would be inside contrasted unpleasantly in his mind with the play and gaiety of the outer life which he was now leading. (4) The urgency of the demand little suited his desultory and procrastinating mind.
III. Whether in the interval between the "I will not" and the "he repented, and went," there were any particular influences which were brought to bear strongly on his mind, we are not told. (1) No doubt his father’s wish was still echoing in his heart. (2) The vineyard would stand to him every day in a happier aspect. A higher ambition began to fill his mind. (3) Above all, his sentiments towards his father changed. He saw him as he was—his friend, the best of friends, the one who loved him as no other had loved, or could love, him. Nearness to his father became the one object of his life, and so his changed feelings reversed his steps; the door of the vineyard was open to him yet; and the young man "repented, and went."
J. Vaughan, Fifty Sermons, 4th series, p. 46.
Reference: Mat 21:28-31.—J. Thain Davidson, Forewarned—Forearmed, p. 121.
Mat 21:28-32
The Two Sons.
In this parable there are two distinct warnings to two distinct classes, with corresponding encouragements attached, as shadows follow solid bodies in the sunlight;—to the publicans and harlots first, and next to the Pharisees of the day.
I. There is a class amongst us answering to those publicans and sinners to whom Jesus was wont to address the message of His mercy. To this class the parable proclaims a warning. A rank, soporific superstition has crept over these free and easy spirits—a superstition as dark and deceitful as any of the inventions of Rome. Men seem actually to persuade themselves that their very wickedness will supply them with a passport into heaven. It is a false hope. Without holiness no man shall see God. The absence of a hypocritical pretension to holiness will not be accepted instead of holiness. It was all right with the profane son in the parable; but mark, he repented and obeyed. But to this class the parable speaks encouragement as well as warning. So great is God’s mercy in Christ that even you are welcome when you come.
II. There is still a class corresponding to the Pharisees, and to these the Lord in this parable conveys both warning and encouragement. There is encouragement to the Pharisee as well as to the publican to turn and live. There is no respect of persons with God; the Pharisee was as welcome to Christ as the publican, if he would come. When a self-righteous man discovers himself at last to be a whited sepulchre, and, counting his own righteousness filthy rags, flies to Christ as his righteousness, he is instantly accepted in the Beloved.
W. Arnot, The Parables of Our Lord, p. 223.
I. Every man has a mission from God.
II. The mission which most of us are sent into the world to fulfil is described in the short practical word "work."
III. The scene of the work is God’s vineyard. (1) Our own hearts. (2) Our own households. (3) Scenes of daily life. (4) Church and its institutions.
IV. The work is pressing and urgent, and the time at which, if never before, God would have us begin, "today."
V. See how, according to this parable, men treat the command. (1) Some profess to obey, but do actually disobey. (2) Some refuse at first, but afterwards obey.
J. R. Bailey, Contemporary Pulpit, vol. iv., p. 100.
I. "A certain man had a vineyard." It is under this guise that our God appears to us. He is as the holder of a vineyard, who is dependent on help for securing increase. The vineyard needs to be irrigated; the soil must be loosened about the roots of the vines; weeds must be struck down on their first appearance; over-luxuriant shoots of the vine must be pruned. Using this similitude, God comes condescendingly with the illustration of the fact that He asks service of His people.
II. The owner of the vineyard asks his two sons for help in its cultivation. With a father’s authority he says, "Go work today in my vineyard." The demand is for immediate service, and that throughout a definite time of short duration.
III. The poor beginning made by both sons on that day when the father’s demand for service came upon them must first have attention. When the father looks to his sons for help in cultivating his vineyard, he receives a direct refusal from the first, and though the other makes a promise of help, that promise is not kept. There lies before us here a representation of the conduct of our whole race in disobeying God’s demand for service. When God calls to men for service there is universal disobedience to the call.
IV. While universal disobedience is the first result which God beholds, He is not left altogether without service on the earth. But that service comes after disobedience, being in all cases a recoil from it, brought about by the working of God’s own grace. In the case of many there is at length entrance of service by the gateway of repentance. The repentance which turns from sin and guides to pardon, guides by the next step to the beginning of a life of holy service. The passing sight here given us of this son entering by the vineyard gate, with all the signs of preparation for work, is the parabolic representation of an essential feature of Christian life—true service following on repentance.
H. Calderwood, The Parables of Our Lord, p. 163.
References: Mat 21:28-32.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xiii., No. 742; Homiletic Magazine, vol. vi., p. 347; A. H. Bruce. Parabolic Teaching of Christ, p. 438; Parker, Hidden Springs, p. 294.
Mat 21:30
Swift Tongue, Slow Foot.
I. The first characteristic of the swift tongue and slow foot is unbelief. "I go, sir." How admirably this expresses the acknowledgment of that character which gives a general assent to the fact of God’s Being and Providence, but without power of disposition to make that faith the rule of life, like those Israelites of whom it was said by St. Paul, "So then we see they could not enter in because of unbelief."
II. Another characteristic of the swift tongue and slow foot is indifference. Truth is truth; but if men are not interested in it, it will not influence the life. There is truth like useless furniture in the head, and there is much that may be called the useless furniture of religion. Men are rather puzzled than profited by it. They are certainly not interested by it. They bow their heads in assent; they give their acknowledgment to it; but they never live in the light of it.
III. Another impediment is in the manifoldness of intellectual objects; hence it is that wit, learning, and imagination may be—they need not be, they ought not to be, but they may be—hindrances to religion.
IV. And then there is another cause in the burden: "And he went not." For, usually, every man has one load to carry which retards him in his journey. Men have usually only one besetting sin; but they have one strong predominant energy in their nature which may become a vice, a sin that easily besets them. But their whole character is in that one; the conflict hangs upon that.
V. Religion will only become the light, law, and rule of our lives when it, too, becomes a ruling passion. It is the presence of an idea, like the presence of a person, which gives to it its power; we must hunger and thirst after righteousness; we must live in the very life of the holy Law, and count ourselves "not to have already attained, but to be still following after."
E. Paxton Hood, Christian World Pulpit, vol. v., p. 241.
Reference: Mat 21:30.—H. W. Beecher, Sermons, 1st series, p. 414.
Mat 21:31
I. The command, "Son, go work today in My vineyard," is given to us at all times. It was given us at our baptism; it was given to us at the first dawnings of our understanding, when the still, small voice of conscience warned us that we must not be selfish, or false, or disobedient, but must be subject to a higher and purer law than that of our own inclinations. It is given to us at every change or crisis of our lives.
II. The command is addressed to us as sons. Would that we could all feel that we are indeed God’s children; that we are not called to the odious task-work of slaves, but to the labour of love, which every son should render to a Father from whom he has received every blessing which he enjoys. Observe, again, that our Father trusts us and places confidence in us when He bids us work. The words are, "Go work today in My vineyard." He trusts that we shall not disobey Him.
III. Consider the answers given by the two sons, and their subsequent conduct when commanded to go and work in their father’s vineyard. The first shows by his blunt and sullen reply, "I will not," that he is the representative of those who are utterly reckless and careless; he does not deceive his own conscience by making excuses; he flatly refuses obedience. The other son, in the first part of his conduct, has many representatives. His after-conduct should warn us against the snares which may prevent us from fulfilling our resolutions, and which may cause us to resemble the second son’s miserable end. Whether we regard the danger of self-righteousness and self-confidence, or of trusting only to good impulses instead of devoted Christian resolution and the help of God’s Spirit, or the ordinary temptation of selfishness on the one hand, and forgetfulness on the other, there is no one, however good the resolutions which he has formed, who has not abundant reason to pray God that he may be delivered from the withering condemnation of the text.
Bishop Cotton, Marlborough Sermons, p. 78.
References: Mat 21:33-41.—Homiletic Magazine, vol. vii., p. 40; A. B. Bruce, Parabolic Teaching of Christ, p. 447. Mat 21:33-44.—R. Calderwood, The Parables of Our Lord, p. 7. Mat 21:33-46.—W. Arnot, The Parables of Our Lord, p. 237. Mat 21:37.—R. D. B. Rawnsley, Village Sermons, 3rd series, p. 12.
Mat 21:44
I. Every man has some kind of connection with Christ.
II. The immediate issue of rejection of Christ is loss and maiming.
III. The ultimate issue of unbelief is irremediable destruction when Christ begins to move.
A. Maclaren, Sermons preached in Manchester, p. 1.
References: Mat 21:42.—J. Vaughan, Three Hundred Outlines on the New Testament, p. 27. Matt 21-25—A. B. Bruce, The Training of the Twelve, p. 324.
The Sermon Bible, ed. William Robertson Nicoll (1888–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. R. Dummelow 1909 · Public Domain On v1 The Triumphal Entry. Cleansing of the Temple
The Triumphal Entry. Cleansing of the Temple
Chronology of the Last Week of Christ's Life, commonly called Holy Week (chiefly after Hastings' 'Dictionary of Christ and the Gospels').
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Sabbath, Nisan 8. Arrival at Bethany (Joh_12:1). Supper in the evening (Joh_12:2-8; Mat_26:6-13, where see notes).
Palm Sunday, Nisan 9. Triumphal entry into Jerusalem (Mat_21:1). The children's Hosannas, and healings in the Temple (Mat_21:14-16). Return to Bethany (Mat_21:17).
Monday, Nisan 10. Return from Bethany (Mat_21:18). Blasting of the fig tree (Mat_21:19). Cleansing of the Temple (Mat_21:12, where see notes). Retires to Bethany (Mar_11:19). Conspiracy of His enemies (Luk_19:47).
Tuesday, Nisan 11. Returning early He finds fig tree withered (Mar_11:20). His authority to teach questioned. The tribute money. The brother's wife. The first commandment of all. 'What think ye of Christ?' (Matthew 21, 22). Woes on the Pharisees (Matthew 23). Jesus in the Treasury. The widow's mite (Mar_12:41). Visit of the Greeks (Joh_12:20). Christ finally rejected (Joh_12:37). Lament over Jerusalem (Mat_23:37-39). Great prophecy of the fall of Jerusalem, and the Second Advent of the Son of man, followed by parables concerning the judgment (Matthew 24, 25). Counsel of Caiaphas (Mat_26:3).
Wednesday, Nisan 12. This day was probably spent in retirement at Bethany (cp. Joh_12:36). On the evening of this day some place the supper at Bethany at which Jesus was anointed (Mar_14:1-9; Mat_26:6-13), but see above, Nisan 8. The bargain of Judas (Mat_26:14).
Thursday, Nisan 13. In the afternoon preparations for the last supper (Mat_26:17). In the evening, the last supper with the Twelve in the upper room (Mat_26:20). The feet-washing (Joh_13:2). Departure of Judas. Institution of the Holy Communion (Mat_26:26). Discourses in the upper room (Joh_13:31 to Joh_14:31). Departure from the upper room (Joh_14:31). Allegory of the Vine (Joh_15:1). The Comforter promised (John 16). Christ's high-priestly prayer(John 17). Gethsemane (Mat_26:37). The agony lasts 'one hour' (Mar_14:37).
Good Friday, Nisan 14. About midnight Jesus is arrested (Mat_26:47). Preliminary trial before Annas (Joh_18:13). Peter's denials, about 3 a.m. (Joh_18:27). Jesus sent to Caiaphas (Joh_18:24). Trial before the Sanhedrin at daybreak, about 4 a.m. (Mat_27:1). Sent to Pilate, about 6 a.m. (Mat_27:2), from Pilate to Herod (Luk_23:7), and back to Pilate (Luk_23:11). Delivered to be crucified (Joh_19:16). Jesus crucified, 9 a.m. (see Mar_15:25, but contrast Joh_19:14, 'about the sixth hour'). Darkness from 12 noon to 3 p.m. (Mat_27:45). Death of Jesus, 3 p.m. (Mat_27:50). (The paschal lambs were being sacrificed in the Temple at the time of Christ's death, cp. Joh_19:36. In the evening was the Jewish Passover. Our Lord, knowing that His death was imminent, had eaten it the night before.) Burial of Jesus (Mat_27:57).
Easter Eve, Nisan 15. The first day of unleavened bread and the sabbath (Joh_19:31). The sepulchre sealed (Mat_27:62).
Easter Day, Nisan 16. The resurrection very early (Mar_16:9, etc.). Visit of the women to the sepulchre (Mat_28:1). Visit of Peterand John to the sepulchre (Joh_20:3). Appearance to Mary Magdalene (Joh_20:11-18). In the afternoon appearances to the two disciples (Luk_24:13), and to Peter (Luk_24:34). In the evening appearance to the apostles, Thomas being absent (Luk_24:36; Joh_20:19).
1-11. Solemn entry into Jerusalem (Mar_11:1; Luk_19:29; Joh_12:12). More than a third of the entire Gospel narrative is occupied with the last week of Christ's life, commonly called Holy Week. The cause of this is to be sought, partly in the special importance which the Apostolic Church attached to the death of Jesus, partly in the indelible impression which the words and acts of that solemn time made upon the disciples, and partly in the extreme activity of Jesus at this period, which crowded the last days of His life with striking events and sayings. All the evangelists lay stress on the voluntary character of the death of Jesus. They represent Him as coming up to Jerusalern deliberately to encounter it, as being the designed aim and end of His ministry (Mat_20:28; Mat_21:39; Mat_26:2, Mat_26:12, Mat_26:28, Mat_26:39, Mat_26:54 etc.). In view of His approaching death, which might appear to be a complete abnegation of His claim to be the Messiah, He judged it expedient to make the claim openly, and accordingly made arrangements for a formal entry into Jerusalem riding on an ass, as the Messiah was expected to do, and no longer restrained the enthusiasm of His followers, who were allowed openly to salute Him as the Son of David, i.e. the Messiah. The motives of political prudence which had previously restrained Him from an open avowal, had now ceased to operate. He knew that He had alienated the bulk of the Galileans, and that Jerusalem, in spite of certain appearances to the contrary, was thoroughly hostile. He therefore feared no political consequences from the superficial revival of popularity with which His change of policy would be greeted, the more so as He was about to raise the expectations of His adherents only for a moment, in order effectually to quench them.
The entry into Jerusalem is the one gleam of light in tile dark days that closed our Lord's ministry. Its success was due to several causes: (1) The crowd was composed largely of Galileans, many of whom still remained faithful to Jesus. (2) His bold change of policy won back for a moment many who had left Him for His procrastination. (3) The extraordinary enthusiasm with which He was received in Jerusalem itself is to be explained by the recent raising of Lazarus, which had made a deep impression in the capital (Joh_11:45-48; Joh_12:9, Joh_12:17).
Peculiar to St. Matthew is the mention of the two animals; to St. Luke the complaint of the Pharisees, and the weeping over the city; to St. John the mention of the palm-branches, and of the fact that natives of Jerusalem went out to welcome Jesus.
1. When they drew nigh] The synoptistsmake no break in the journey from Jericho to Jerusalem (20 m. of bad uphill travelling), but St. John says that Jesus came to Bethany six days before the Passover (i.e. on Friday or Saturday), and stayed there until the triumphal entry, which was probably on Sunday (Joh_12:1).
Bethphage] lit. 'House of Figs.' There was perhaps a village of this name, but in the Talmud Bethphage is the name of an extensive district stretching from the base of Olivet to the walls of Jerusalem, and perhaps all round the city. 'Whatever is in the exterior circuit of Jerusalem is called Bethphage.' 'What is meant by “outside the wall”? Babbi Johanan said, Outside the wall is Bethphage.'
Mount of Olives] i.e. the range of hills facing Jerusalem on the E. and lying round about from NE. to SE., and separated from the Holy City by the Talley of Jehoshaphat or Kidron. It contains four summits: (1) Galilee or Scopus, due NE. of the Temple site, and about a mile distant; (2) the Ascension, due E. of the Temple site, and distant about ¾ m., 2,600 ft. high, and commanding a fine view of the city, the Olivet of the Gospels; (3) the Prophets, the S. spur of this; (4) the Mt. of Offence, ¾ m. SE. of the Temple site.
The traditional Gethsemane is at the foot of the Ascension towards Jerusalem. Stanley says that Jesus did not pass over the summit of the Ascension, but took the road which passes between the Prophets and the Mt. of Offence, 'because it is, and must always have been, the usual approach for horsemen and for large caravans.'
2. An ass tied, and a colt] The two animals are mentioned only by St. Matthew. An unused animal was preferred for an occasion like the present (see Mar_11:2; 1Sa_6:7).
3. The Lord] i.e. Jesus. The ready way in which the owner parted with the animals proves that he was a disciple, and this is an argument for an earlier ministry of Jesus in Jerusalem.
5. A combination of Isa_62:11 with Zec_9:9. The rendering is free, partly following the Heb. and partly the Septuagint. According to St. John, the disciples did not at the time perceive that Jesus was fulfilling this prophecy.
And a colt] i.e. 'even a colt.' Zechariah makes no reference to two animals.
7. And put on them their clothes] either because they were uncertain which one He intended to mount, or in order gaily to caparison both animals for the procession. Eastern garments are brightly coloured. And they set him (RV 'he sat') thereon] i.e. on the clothes placed upon the colt, not, as some take it, that He rode upon both animals alternately.
By riding upon the ass Jesus deliberately fulfilled the prophecy of Zechariah, and so claimed to be the Messiah. The ass was chosen rather than the horse, because the ass was a symbol of peace, the horse of war; the ass of humility, the horse of pride. The Jews fully accepted the Messianic reference of Zec_9:9. Rabbi Salomo said, 'This cannot be interpreted except of Bang Messiah.'
8. Spread their garments] An extraordinary token of respect, such as was paid to kings and great conquerors (2Ki_9:13).
Plutarch says of Cato the younger that 'he was escorted, not with prayers which are common, nor with praises, but with tears and embraces which could not be satisfied, the people spreading their garments under his feet, and kissing his hands.' It is said of Rabbi Nicodemus, son of Gorion, that, 'whenever he went into the school to lecture, his pupils spread garments of wool under his feet.' In quite recent times the inhabitants of Bethlehem spread their garments on the road under the feet of the horse of the English Consul of Damascus, whose assistance they were anxious to obtain.
9. That went before] These were the multitudes mentioned by St. John, who went out from Jerusalem to meet Jesus. Those who followed behind were the Galileans. Hosanna to the son of David] This can only mean, Glory and honour to the Son of David,' just as St. Mark's phrase, 'Hosanna in the highest,' is translated by St. Luke, 'Glory in the highest (heaven).' How 'Hosanna' comes to have this meaning, is disputed. It is taken from Psa_118:25, where it is addressed to God, and means 'Save (us) now.' Probably it had become a mere exclamation of praise, 'a kind of holy hurrah,' the consciousness of its grammatical meaning being lost, as in the case of 'Alleluia.' This is clearly the case in the 'Didache,' which has the phrase, 'Hosanna to the God of David '(Did. 10).
The exclamation 'Hosanna' was used chiefly at the Feast of Tabernacles. The seventh day of that feast was called 'Hosanna Day,' and the branches carried by the worshippers were called 'Hosannas.' The events of Palm Sunday are thus an imitation of the ritual of that festival.
It is sometimes said that the well-known classical custom of carrying palms in token of victory was unknown to the Jews of our Lord's time; but certainly the palms carried Rev_7:9 seem to be symbols of victory.
12-17. Cleansing of the Temple. Hosannas of the Children (Mar_11:15; Luk_19:45). In St. Matthew this event seems to take place on Palm Sunday, but Mar_11:11 makes it clear that it did not occur till next day. On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus went into the Temple, and 'looked round about on all things,' but, the hour being late, retired to Bethany.
This cleansing of the Temple is probably not the same as that described Joh_2:13; (see notes there), but a distinct event. For, (1) both events are definitely dated by the evangelists; (2) the repetition of the act is natural, the abuses, during a period of two years, having had time to recur; (3) the omission of the former event by the synoptists, and of the latter by St. John, are explained by the general design of the synoptists to record only the Galilean ministry, and of St. John to supplement rather than duplicate the synoptic narratives. The cleansing of the Temple and of its worship, and of the priesthood, were among the expected activities of the Messiah, according to Mal_3:1-3.
The incident of the children in the Temple is peculiar to St. Matthew.
12. The tables of the moneychangers] According to Edersheim the Temple-market was what is called in the Talmud 'the booths of the sons of Annas.' The bulk of the enormous profits went to increase the wealth of Annas, his family, and adherents. The Talmud frequently speaks in strong language of the iniquities of this traffic, which was swept away by a strong explosion of popular feeling three years before the destruction of Jerusalem.
The money-changers sat in the Temple-court, (1) to receive the half-shekel which was due from every male Israelite at this period (see on Mat_17:24), and could be paid either at home or in Jerusalem; (2) to change foreign money into Jewish currency, with which alone the half-shekel could be paid, or animals for sacrifice be bought. The money-changers' commission was called Kollubos, hence the money-changers were called Kollubistœ. They probably paid a large percentage of their profits to Annas.
Plumptre compares with this incident 'the state of the great cathedral of London, as painted in the literature of Elizabeth and James, when mules and horses laden with market produce were led through St. Paul's as a matter of every-day occurrence, and bargains were struck there, and burglaries planned, and servants hired.'
13. Isa_56:7; Jer_7:11.
14-16. Peculiar to St. Matthew.
14. The blind and the lame] who were begging at the Temple gates (Act_3:2).
15. Sore displeased] because even children were calling Jesus 'son of David,' i.e. 'Messiah.' Boys under fourteen are meant.
17. Bethany] He probably lodged with Lazarus and his sisters. Bethany was on the further side of the Mt. of Olives, about 15 furlongs distant (Joh_11:18), on the road to Jericho.
18-22. Cursing of the fig tree (Mar_11:12-14 and Mar_11:20-25). St. Mark makes it clear that the fig tree was cursed on Monday morning as they left Bethany, but that the effect of the curse was not noticed till Tuesday morning.
This, the only miracle of wrath worked by Jesus, is also a revelation of God's mercy, for whereas the countless miracles of mercy were all wrought upon men, this one was wrought upon a tree. 'He parches the tree' (says Theophylact), 'that He may teach men wisdom.' 'He exercises His power '(says Euthymius), 'not on a man, because He is a lover Of men, but on a plant.' The whole incident is an acted parable. There is no reason to suppose that Jesus was really hungry, or expected to find figs. St. Mark says expressly that the time of figs was not yet. Probably His words and actions were entirely symbolic, like those of the prophets (Jer_13:1; Jer_27:2; 1Ki_22:11, etc.).
The one fig tree, standing apart from all other trees, is the Jewish nation, and whereas it alone had leaves, while the other trees were bare, it signifies that whereas Israel made great professions of righteousness and of the service of God, the other nations of the earth made none. Both Jew and Gentile were, indeed, equally unfruitful, but the Jew added to his unfruitfulness the appearance of fruit, for it is the peculiarity of the fig tree that its fruit appears and is well developed before there is any sign of leaves. When, therefore, leaves appear on a fig tree, ripe fruit may justly be expected. The fault of the fig tree, therefore, was not that it had no fruit, which was not to be expected at that season, but that it pretended to have it, and had not.
The curse of perpetual barrenness pronounced by Jesus upon the fig tree, i.e. upon Israel, has received a signal fulfilment. In the time of Christ it was an active missionary religion, making thousands of proselytes in every province of the empire, and leavening religious thought far beyond its own borders. Now it enrolls no proselytes.
20. How soon] RV 'How did the fig tree immediately wither away?' The disciples, instead of asking the meaning of the miracle, ask how it was done? Jesus did not explain its symbolical meaning, but made it an object-lesson in the power of believing prayer.
21. Cp. Mat_17:20; Luk_17:6; 1Co_13:2. Be thou removed] a proverbial expression for something very difficult. The rabbis, who could solve questions of great difficulty, were called 'rooters up of mountains', and it was said of a skilful teacher that 'he plucked up mountains and ground them one upon another.'
22. All things] Not all things absolutely, but all things of which the petitioners are worthy.
23-27. Christ's authority to teach challenged (Mar_11:27; Luk_20:1).
23. The chief priests] A deputation from the Sanhedrin, seeking some excuse to ex-communicate Him. By what authority?] Jesus had not received rabbinical ordination, and had no authority therefore to teach as a rabbi. Doest thou these things] referring not only to His teaching, but to His cleansing of the Temple, His miracles, His triumphal entry into the city, and His ministry in general.
27. We cannot tell] To be forced to admit their ignorance, was more damaging to their reputation than a definite answer would have been, for one of the most important duties of the Sanhedrin, according to the Mishna, was to judge between true and false prophets, and to inflict exemplary punishment upon the latter. Neither tell I] By implication Jesus claimed the authority of a prophet, or an even higher authority.
28-32. Parable of the Two Sons (peculiar to St. Matthew). The 'certain man' is God, and He is represented as a father, to set forth His impartial love to all mankind, righteous and sinful alike. The son who said 'I go, sir,' and went not, is the chief priests, scribes, and Pharisees, who 'rejected for themselves the counsel of God, not having been baptised of John' (Luk_7:30). The other son, who at first insolently refused to go, and then repented and went, is the publicans and harlots, who 'believed John, and were baptised by him.' More generally the first class embraces those who are satisfied with the outward form of godliness and with the avoidance of open sin; the second class those who, though sinners, know that they are such, and so are more easily brought to repentance.
31. Before you] Graciously intimating that the door of repentance was still open to them.
32. In the way of righteousness] i.e. of legal righteousness. The Pharisees had no excuse for neglecting the preaching of John, for it was based on the Law which they idolised, and ran counter to none of their cherished convictions. The preaching of Christ was different, and could not easily be received by strict Jews, unless they had first passed through the preliminary baptism of John.
33-46. The Wicked Husbandmen (Mar_12:1; Luk_20:9). The doctrinal importance of this parable, which belongs to the oldest tradition, is great. In it Christ claims to be in a unique sense the Son of God. He calls Moses and the prophets slaves and bondservants, and places Himself at an immense elevation above them as the beloved Son of the Householder, and the sole heir of His possessions. The parable contains a remarkable prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans (Mat_21:41).
33. 'The householder is God, who on account of His tender love is called a man. The vineyard is the people of the Jews planted by God in the land of promise. The hedge is the Law, which hindered them from mingling with the nations, the winepress the altar of sacrifice, the tower the Temple, the husband-men, the teachers of the people, i.e. the Pharisees and scribes. And the householder (God) departed, when He no longer spoke to them in the pillar of cloud, or perhaps the departure of God is His longsuffering; for God seems to sleep and to be in a far country, when He is longsuffering, and does not call men to account for their sins the moment that they are committed '(Theophylact). Tower] i.e. a watchtower for the keepers who were set to guard the vineyard when the grapes were nearly ripe (Job_27:18; Son_1:6; Isa_1:8).
34. Time of the fruit] 'In the history of souls and of nations, there are seasons which even more than all other are times of fruit; when God requires such with more than usual earnestness, when it will fare ill with a soul or a nation, if these be not found' (Trench). 'And the fruits of the vineyard are the keeping of the commandments of the Law, and the practice of the virtues; and the servants are the prophets who when sent to demand from Israel obedience to the Law and a virtuous life, were variously maltreated' (Euthyndus).
35. Killed] According to tradition Isaiah was sawn asunder, and Jeremiah stoned: see also 2Ch_24:20-22 and cp. Hebrews 11.
37. They will reverence my son] 'This He said, not as if they would do so, for He knew they would not, but pointing out what they ought to do' (Euthymius). 'When God is said to doubt about the future, it is that human free-will may be preserved' (Jerome).
41. They say] Jesus extorts their condemnation from their own lips. Otherwise in St. Mark and St. Luke. He will, etc.] RV 'He will miserably destroy those miserable men.' The allusion is to the destruction of Jerusalem 70 a.d., and the end of the Jewish dispensation.
Other husbandmen] i.e. the ministers of the Christian Church, many of them Gentiles, who succeeded to the charge which the scribes and Pharisees neglected.
42. The stone, etc.] Psa_118:22; Act_4:11. The 'stone,' of course, is Christ. The 'builders' are the Jews. The 'head of the corner' is the most important position in a building, so that Christ represents Himself as the foundation upon which the Kingdom of God was to be built up in spite of His rejection by the Jews.
In the Ps. the 'stone' is the Jewish nation, rejected and despised by the Gentiles during the captivity, but after the return restored to a place of honour among the nations of the earth. But on the principle that what is said of Israel applies especially to the Messiah, the rabbis interpreted the passage Messianically, e.g. Rabbi Salomo on Mic_5:1 said, 'It is the Messiah the Son of David, of whom it is written, The stone which the builders rejected,' etc.
43. The favour of God will be withdrawn from a nation that obeys not His will, and bestowed on one that does. The kingdom = the privileges of the kingdom.
44. Wetstein well says, 'He who falls upon a great stone, is bruised indeed, but can be healed, but he upon whom'a great stone falls, is ground as it were to dust, like the chaff that is scattered to the winds.' Spiritually interpreted, those who fell upon the stone, are those who stumbled at the humiliation of Christ, but were to be recovered by His glorious Resurrection. Those upon whom the stone fell, are those who did not suffer themselves to be recovered even by that miracle, and so were involved in the common destruction of the Jewish nation. Euthymius says, 'Christ is called the corner-stone, because as the corner-stone unites in itself two walls, so also Christ unites in Himself two peoples, the Gentiles and the Jews, and by faith makes them one.'
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain On v1 J. W. McGarvey's The Fourfold Gospel [CV. Jesus' Entry…
J. W. McGarvey's The Fourfold Gospel [CV. Jesus' Entry into Jerusalem].
CV. JESUS' TRIUMPHAL ENTRY INTO JERUSALEM. (From Bethany to Jerusalem and back, Sunday, April 2, A. D. 30.) aMATT. XXI. 1-12, 14-17; bMARK XI. 1-11; cLUKE XIX. 29-44; dJOHN XII. 12-19.
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c29 And d12 On the morrow [after the feast in the house of Simon the leper] cit came to pass, when he he drew nigh unto Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount that is called Olivet, a1 And when they came nigh unto [572] Jerusalem, and came unto Bethphage unto { bat athe mount of Olives [The name, Bethphage, is said to mean house of figs, but the derivation is disputed. Canon Cook and others think that the region on the eastern slope of Olivet was called Bethphage, and that Bethany was located in it. If it was a village, all trace of it has long since vanished, and it is not worth while to give the guesses and surmises of commentators as to its location. But it was evidently near Bethany], then Jesus sent { bsendeth two of his cthe disciples, b2 and saith a2 saying unto them, cGo your way into the village [probably Bethphage, for Jesus started from Bethany] athat is over against you, band straightway as ye enter into it, aye shall find an ass tied, and a colt btied, awith her: bwhereon no man ever sat; loose him, athem, band bring him. athem unto me. [Numerous Scripture references show that the ass was held in high estimation in the East. The sons of the judges used them, and David's mule was used at the coronation of Solomon ( Jdg_10:4, 1Ki_1:33). It is specifically stated that no man had ever sat upon this colt, for if the colt had been used by men it would have been unfit for sacred purposes-- Num_19:2, Deu_21:3, 1Sa_6:7.] 3 And if any one say aught unto you, 31; cAnd if any one ask you, bsay unto you, Why do ye this? cWhy do ye loose him? thus shall ye say, The Lord hath need of him. athem; band straightway he will send him. athem. bback hither. [The owner of the ass was no doubt a disciple or well-wisher of Jesus, and therefore readily consented to respond to the Master's need. Such a well-wisher might readily be found in a multitude ready to lay their garments in the road to honor Christ. The words "send him back" are usually construed to be a promise on the part of Christ that he would return the colt when through with him. But such a promise seems rather out of keeping with the dignity of the occasion. We prefer to construe the words as referring to the movements of Christ's two messengers from the neighborhood of Bethany to Bethphage and back again, or to a backward [573] movement along the caravan's line of march.] a4 Now this is come to pass, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophet, saying, 5 Tell ye the daughter of Zion [the poetical name for the city of Jerusalem], Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, Meek, and riding upon an ass, And upon a colt the foal of an ass. [The prophecy is a combination of Isa_62:11, Zec_9:9. This is the only instance in which Jesus rode. He entered in meekness, for the ass was a symbol of peace as the horse was of war ( Job_39:19-25), but there was nothing degrading about riding such a beast. The Eastern ass is smaller, but livelier, and better framed than the specimens found in our country. They constituted a chief asset in the property of the wealthy-- Gen_12:16, Gen_30:43, Job_42:12, 1Ch_27:30, 1Ki_1:38.] 6 And the disciples { cthey that were sent away, aand did even as Jesus appointed them, cand found even as he had said unto them ba colt tied at the door without in the open street [the streets being narrow, one would very seldom see an ass tied in one]; and they loose him. c33 And as they were loosing the colt, bcertain of them that stood there cthe owners thereof said unto them, Why loose ye the colt? bWhat do ye, loosing the colt? 6 And they said unto them even as Jesus had said: and they let them go. 7 And they bring abrought the ass, and the colt, chim bunto Jesus, aand put on them their garments [The garments were the loose cloaks worn over the tunics or shirts. This cloak survives in the abba or hyke of the modern Arab. The unbroken colt would of course have no saddle, and these loyal disciples lent their cloaks to supply the deficiency, and to do Jesus royal honor. Compare the enthronement of Jehu ( 2Ki_9:13). They prepared both beasts, not knowing which he would choose to ride]; cand they threw bcast ctheir garments upon the colt, and set Jesus thereon. aand he sat thereon. bupon him. da great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to [574] Jerusalem, 13 took the branches of the palm trees, and went forth to meet him [Palm-trees were never abundant in Palestine, but there were many around Jericho, through which city these Galilean pilgrims had so recently come. They were date palms, the leaves of which were often ten feet in length. They are now comparatively rare, but are found in the plains of Philistia. The palm branch is emblematic of triumph and victory-- Lev_23:40, Rev_7:9; I. Macc. xiii. 51; II. Macc. x. 7], and cried out, Hosanna: Blessed i is he that cometh in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel [The shouting appears to have been started by those who came out of Jerusalem; it is evident, therefore, that the apostles who were approaching the city with Jesus had nothing to do with inciting this praise.] 14 And Jesus having found a young ass, sat thereon; as it is written, 15 Fear not, daughter of Zion: behold, thy King cometh, sitting on an ass's colt. 16 These things understood not his disciples at the first: but when Jesus was glorified, then remembered they that these things were written of him, and that they had done these things unto him. [The apostles were not conscious that the prophecies were being fulfilled nor did they understand that Jesus was approaching a heavenly rather than an earthly coronation. But after Jesus was glorified, their understandings were spiritually illuminated ( Joh_16:13). They not only remembered the prophecy, but saw in what sense it was that Jesus was king, and how badly mistaken they had been when they expected him to antagonize the Romans. The greatness of her king would have removed all cause for fear if Jerusalem had but accepted him.] 17 The multitude therefore that was with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb, and raised him from the dead, bare witness. [The two parts of the miracle--the calling and the raising--are both mentioned as alike impressive, sublime, and wonderful.] 18 For this cause also the multitude went and met him, for that they heard that he had done this sign. [It is evident from this that the testimony of those who [575] witnessed the raising of Lazarus had enthused the pilgrims in Jerusalem and had sent a large band of them forth charged with that ardent admiration which produced the shouting of the triumphal entry.] 19 The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, Behold how ye prevail nothing: lo, the world is gone after him. [Again, as at Joh_11:47-49, we notice the self-confessed impotency of the Pharisees, but the Sadducees, under the determined and more resolute leadership of Caiaphas, did not participate in this despair. The Pharisees speak of the world as if its acquisition by Jesus was their loss.] c36 And as he went, athe most part of the multitude bmany [Matthew would have us know that the demonstration was no small affair, but was well-nigh universal. Josephus estimates that the number present at one passover was three million, or about one-half the population of Judæa and Galilee. The language of the Pharisees in 1Co_1:26.] c37 And as he was now drawing nigh, even at the descent of the mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works which they had seen [John has shown us just above that the raising of Lazarus was most prominent in their thoughts]; a9 The multitudes that went before him, and that followed [Jesus approached the city leading a multitude of pilgrims, and we have seen from John's account above that another multitude came out of the city to meet him: Jesus approached the city between two great multitudes.] cried, saying, bHosanna [This is the Greek form or spelling of two Hebrew words, Hoshiah-na, which means, Save now, or, Save, I pray, na being a particle of entreaty added to imperatives. The two words are taken from Psa_118:25, which was recognized as the Messianic Psalm. The shout "Hosanna" was customarily used at the feast of the tabernacles and the other festivals. It was a shout of exaltation about equivalent to "Salvation"]; aHosanna to the Son of David [see Psa_118:26]; cblessed is the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: b10 blessed is the kingdom that cometh, the kingdom of our father David: cpeace in heaven, and glory in the highest. aHosanna in the highest. [This phrase is taken to mean in the highest degree or highest strains or in the highest heavens. It is likely they were calling upon heaven to participate in glorifying and to ratify their shouts of salvation. The Evangelists give us the various cries of the multitude, for they did not all cry one thing. The cries, if seriously construed, were a fore-recognition of the Messiahship of Jesus, but popular cries are soon caught up and are as fickle as the impulses which beget them. But the public recognition of the Messiahship of Jesus gave [577] weight to the accusation made by Simon Peter on the day of Pentecost that they had slain the Messiah-- Act_2:36. Comp. Act_3:14, Act_3:15.] c39 And some of the Pharisees from the multitude [not a committee sent from Jerusalem for that purpose] said unto him, Teacher, rebuke thy disciples. [It is possible that these may have been moved with an honest fear that the enthusiasm of the people would call down the vengeance of the Romans ( Joh_11:48), but it is more likely that they were prompted solely by envy.] 40 And he answered and said, I tell you that, if these shall hold their peace, the stones will cry out. [The expression is probably proverbial ( Hab_2:11). The meaning is that the occasion of the great King's visit to his city ( Mat_5:35) was so momentous that, if man withheld his praise, inanimate nature would lend its acclamations.] 41 And when he drew nigh, he saw the city and wept over it, 42 saying, If thou hadst known in this day, even thou, the things which belong unto peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes. [The summit of Olivet is two hundred feet higher than the nearest part of the city of Jerusalem and a hundred feet higher than its farthest part, so that the Lord looked upon the whole of it as one looks upon an open book. As he looked upon it he realized the difference between what his coming might mean to it and what it did mean to it; between the love and gratitude which his coming should have incited and the hatred and violence which it did incite; between the forgiveness, blessing and peace which he desired to bring it and the judgment, wrath and destruction which were coming upon it. The vision of it all excited strong emotion, and the verb used does not indicate silent tears, but audible sobbing and lamentation. The day then passing was among the last before the crucifixion, which would present to the Jews a strong motive for repentance. Had Jerusalem hearkened unto Jesus then, he would have saved her from that self-exaltation which proved her ruin. But bigotry and prejudice blinded her eyes.] 43 For the days shall come upon thee, when thine enemies shall cast up a bank about thee, and compass thee round, [578] and keep thee in on every side. [from where Jesus then stood he could see the houses which were to be thrown down, he could locate the embankments which would be built, and he could trace almost every foot of the line of the wall by which Titus in his anger girdled the city when his embankments were burned--Jos. Wars V. 6. 2, 11. 4-6, 12. 1, 2], 44 and shall dash thee to the ground, and thy children within thee [the city is figuratively spoken of as a mother, and her citizens as her children]; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation. [The term "visitation" usually refers to a season of judgment, but here, as elsewhere also ( Exo_4:31), it means a season of grace. To not leave one stone upon another is a proverbial expression descriptive of a complete demotion, but in the overthrow of Jerusalem it was well-nigh literally fulfilled. Thus, while the people rejoiced in the present triumph, the prophetic eye and ear of our Lord beheld the judgments which were coming upon the city, heard the bitter cry of the starved defenders during the siege, the screams of the crucified left to perish upon their crosses after its capture, all ending in the final silence of desolation when not one stone was left upon another.] b11 And he entered into Jerusalem [his route led him down the steep face of Olivet, past Gethsemane, across the stone bridge which spans the Kedron, and up the slope of Moriah to the eastern gate of the city], a10 And when he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was stirred, saying, Who is this? 11 And the multitude said, This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee. 12 And Jesus entered into the temple of God [here Matthew tells of the cleansing of the temple, which evidently occurred the next day], 14 And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple; and he healed them. 15 But when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children that were crying in the temple and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David; they were sore displeased, 16 and said unto him, Hearest thou what [579] these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; did ye never read [ Psa_8:2 as rendered by the LXX.], Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise? [Matthew mingles this scene with events which apparently occurred on Monday, but the enthusiasm and the Hosanna cry evidently belonged to the triumphant Sunday. The presence of our Lord in the temple should, indeed, have been heralded with joy, for as that was the day in which the paschal lamb was presented and set apart, it was fitting that Christ our passover should be presented there amidst rejoicing.] band when he had looked round about upon all things, it being now eventide. [a general expression covering the period both before and after sunset], ahe left them, and went forth out of the city bunto Bethany with the twelve aand lodged there. [Having inspected the temple as his Father's house, Jesus withdrew from it, for in the present state of rancor which fermented within his enemies it was not safe for him to spend the night within Jerusalem.]
[FFG 572-580]
J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On vv1, 4 nigh unto Jerusalem
nigh unto Jerusalem
Mat 21:1-9; Zec 9:9; Zec 14:4-9. The two advents are in striking contrast.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Arno C. Gaebelein 1922 · Public Domain On v1 9. The King Enters into Jerusalem.
9. The King Enters into Jerusalem.
The Parables of the Two Sons and the Householder and His Vineyard.
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CHAPTER 21
1. The King Enters Jerusalem. (Mat 21:1-11.)
2. The Second Cleansing of the Temple. (Mat 21:12-17.)
3. The Fig tree Cursed. (Mat 21:18-22.)
4. His Authority Impeached and His Question. (Mat 21:23-27.)
5. The Parable of the Two Sons. (Mat 21:28-32.)
6. The Parable of the Householder. (Mat 21:33-39.)
7. The Lord’s Question and the King’s Sentence. (Mat 21:40-46.)
We are now reaching the beginning of the end. The King with His disciples draws near to Jerusalem to hold his triumphant royal entry into the city, and to be presented as King to the same. What scenes have passed before our eyes in the study of the Gospel. We have followed the mighty events connected with the manifestation of the King in the midst of His people, the miracles of messianic power, which demonstrated before the eyes of Israel that He is Jehovah. We learned how the kingdom was preached and rejected; how His own to whom He came received Him not. In all these events and miracles the most complete dispensational facts were seen foreshadowed, while we learned the same facts from the Words and parables of the King. We are in the last stage now, one intensely interesting, of great importance and solemn meaning. May He Himself through His Spirit open this Gospel still more to our understanding and give us much light and great blessing through the meditation on His Word.
His entry into Jerusalem, which is before us first of all, was witnessed by immense multitudes of people, as we shall learn from the text. Criticism has given a strange motive for the Lord’s entrance into Jerusalem. It has been said that He was carried away by enthusiasm and expected that the people would now surely receive Him as the Messiah-King; while other critics explained His entry to the city as a kind of a concession to the messianic expectations of His disciples. How dishonoring to Him are all such foolish speculation. The simple fact is that He is the King and as such He had to come to Jerusalem and fulfill that which had been predicted by Zechariah, the prophet.
“And when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, at the mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, Go into the village over against you, and immediately ye will find an ass tied, and a colt with it; loose them and lead them to me. And if anyone say anything to you, ye shall say, The Lord has need of them, and straightway he will send them. But all this came to pass, that that might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophet, saying, Say to the daughters of Zion, Behold thy King cometh to Thee, meek and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.” (Mat 21:1-5)
“Bethphage” means “house of unripe figs,” surely significant if we consider the typical meaning of the fig tree, and the cursing of the fig tree, which is recorded in the chapter. From this place He sends forth His two disciples to bring the colt and the ass to Him. This act of the Lord flashes forth once more His Glory and that the King-Messiah is Jehovah. He knew that yonder was an ass tied with a colt as He knew the fish and the piece of silver in the sea, and as He commanded the fish with the stater to go to Peter’s hook so here He demands the use of the ass and colt; He has a right to them for He is the Creator and He can say as He has said: “For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills. I know all the fowls of the mountains, and the wild beasts of the field are mine” (Psa 50:10-11). In Mark’s Gospel we read, “And they found the colt bound to the door without at the crossway and they loose him. And some of those standing there said to them, What are you doing loosing the colt? And they said to them as Jesus had commanded them. And they let them do it” (Mar 11:4-7). No doubt the majestic “The Lord has need of them” made such a deep impression upon the hearts of these men who either owned the colt or had charge of it, that they were ready at once to let them go. It was His Word which demanded obedience and which was obeyed.
But the whole scene had been predicted in the Old Testament and here in the Gospel of the King this prophecy is put into the foreground. The quotation refers us to Zec 9:1-17. We shall quote the whole prophecy:
“Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion, Shout aloud daughter of Jerusalem, Behold thy King cometh to thee, Just and having salvation, Meek and riding upon an ass, Even upon a colt, the she-ass’s foal.”
This prophecy stands in contrast to the Grecian conqueror, mentioned in the first part of the ninth chapter of Zechariah. The Jews acknowledged that the words are a messianic prophecy. One of the leading Jewish commentators (Solomon Ben Jarchi commonly known as Rashi.) says, “It is impossible to interpret it of any other than King Messiah.”
The Jews have also an interesting legend, though foolish, which claims that the ass upon which King Messiah rides is the same which Abraham saddled when he went on the way to offer up Isaac and that is the same animal which Moses used. This shows how firmly the Jews believe in Zechariah (9:9-10) as a messianic prediction. But we noticed that only part of the original prophecy is quoted in Matthew. The Holy Spirit leaves out “Just and having salvation.” In these omissions the critics as well as other unbelievers in the inspiration of the Bible scent discrepancies and errors. But recently a professor made the statement that the writers of the New Testament had a limited and imperfect knowledge of the Old Testament Scriptures and he tried to prove his assertion by the quotations found in the New Testament. But Matthew, Mark, John, Peter or Paul did not write themselves, but it is the Holy Spirit who used them as an instrument. It is not Matthew or Paul quoting the Old Testament, but the same Spirit of God who gave the Old Testament Scriptures through the prophets, quotes in the New His own utterances. And while these critics see nothing but imperfection in these quotations the true believer sees nothing but perfection in them and finds here a strong argument for verbal inspiration. It is so in the passage before us. Man would have quoted every word from Zechariah’s prophecy, but the Spirit of God leaves out “just and having salvation” because this was not to come to Jerusalem then, for Jerusalem would not have the King. The King is coming again to Jerusalem and then when He comes riding the white horse (Rev 19:1-21) all that which is not yet fulfilled in Zechariah’s prophecy will be fulfilled. Then it shall be as we read in the context:
“And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off, and He shall speak peace to the nations and His dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth.”
The Talmudists have labored to overcome the difficulty which they have concerning the coming of the Messiah, when they consider (Dan 7:13) that He comes in the clouds of Heaven, and in Zechariah that He comes riding upon an ass. “If the Israelites are good then He shall come in the clouds of heaven, but if not good, then riding upon an ass.” (Sanhedrin Tract) We return to the account before us.
“But the disciples having gone and done as Jesus had ordered them, brought the ass and the colt and put their garments upon them and He sat on them. But a very great multitude strewed their own garments on the way, and others kept cutting down branches from the trees and strewing them on the way. And the multitudes who went before Him, and who followed cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David; blessed be He, who comes in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the Highest. And so He entered into Jerusalem, the whole city was moved saying, Who is this? And the multitudes said, This is the Prophet, who is from Nazareth of Galilee.”
What a sight this must have been to behold! How eager the disciples were to act their parts. No doubt enthusiastic Peter was here in the lead, only too ready to put His Lord into the place of authority. The multitude was very great. Large numbers had followed Him from Jericho, while equally large numbers came forth from the City. Large numbers of pilgrims had come to Jerusalem for the feast, among them many, no doubt, who had seen Jesus and had witnessed His mighty miracles in Galilee. The news of the resurrection of Lazarus, which is not reported in our Gospel, because it belongs properly only in the fourth Gospel record, had spread throughout Jerusalem and when the news reached there that He was coming near the city, ready to hold his entry, thousands went forth to meet Him. The garments were spread in the way; it was an Oriental custom to put before the feet of kings costly rugs and the multitudes followed this custom by putting their garments down. What a sight it must have been -- the thousands coming to meet Him with Palm branches in their hands, waving them over their heads, while the multitudes which followed did the same. And then they broke out in the glad shouts, quoting partly from the 118th Psalm “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the Highest.” Hosanna means “save now.” The phrase “Hosanna” is used by the Jews at the feast of tabernacles and the waving of the palms reminds one also of that feast, which has such a prophetic significance. It will be kept throughout the Millennium and the nations will go up to Jerusalem to worship the Lord of hosts. According to Jewish tradition the 118th Psalm was also chanted when the people came forth from Jerusalem to meet the pilgrims. And this foreshadows also His second coming. But how different the scene will be then. He comes forth out of the opened heavens, riding upon a white horse; Jerusalem will be besieged and in great distress; a great multitude will accompany Him from above, His many sons, the Saints as well as angels; the remnant of Israel will cry out “Hosanna to the Son of David. Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord.”
When that wonderful entry took place, the King riding upon the colt, and the whole city was moved as by a mighty earthquake, His enemies declared amongst themselves, “Behold, the world is gone after Him” (Joh 12:10). What a triumph it was! The King entering Jerusalem. And in all He is undisturbed. Others might have been swept away by this enthusiasm; but He is calm in all His kingly majesty. Luke’s gospel tells us that He wept. “And when He was come near, He beheld the city, and wept over it.” And what kind of weeping was this? He wept at the grave of Lazarus and that was a still, a silent weeping. But before Jerusalem He broke out in loud and deep lamentations. This is clearly proven by the different words used in the original.
The King knew what was soon to be, and on yonder hill He saw looming up the cross. True, they were crying, “Son of David, save now!” But the question, “Who is this?” is answered in the terms of rejection. Instead of “the King, Jehovah-Jesus, the Messiah,” the multitude answers “Jesus, the Prophet of Nazareth of Galilee.”
The first errand of the King in His city is the temple. “And Jesus entered into the temple of God, and cast out all that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those that sold the doves. And He says to them, It is written, My house shall be called a house of prayer, but ye have made it a den of robbers” (Mat 21:12-13). This is the second time that the Lord acted in cleansing the temple. The first is recorded in the Gospel of Joh 2:13; Joh 2:17, and it took place at the beginning of His ministry. There it is the zeal for God’s house, but here He acts in all His Kingly authority. How great and awful must have been the defilement of God’s temple in those days. Money changers were undoubtedly in the foreground, for money played then in the days of the Jewish apostasy as important a role as it does in the apostasy we witness about us. “We can picture to ourselves the scene around the table of an eastern money changer -- the weighing of the coins, deductions for loss of weight, arguing, disputing, bargaining, and we realize the terrible truthfulness of our Lord’s charge that they had made the Father’s house a mart and a place of traffic.” (Edersheim: Life of Christ, Vol. I., 369.) And besides the money changers were those who bought and sold. All that which was required for the meat and drink offering was for sale by the Temple authorities. With the sale much speculation was connected; covetousness, as Jewish talmudical writings prove, was the ruling passion in this blasphemous traffic. And the most awful fact was that the priesthood, especially the High-priestly family earned riches from it. The Bazaars and the Temple markets were controlled and owned by the sons of Annas.
Into this scene of desecration He enters. No whip of cords is in His hands; the King does not need it. The tables are turned over in wild confusion; the coins roll over the pavement, while the sacrificial animals and birds are driven out, perhaps in a wild stampede, followed by their owners and the officials of the temple. And what He uses is His own Word. “It is written my house shall be called an house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of robbers.” It was His house, as well as His Father’s. Of old in the first house His own Glory appeared and dwelt there. The words “mine house shall be called an house of prayer” are found in Isa 56:7. “For all people” which is in Isaiah, the Lord does not quote. That temple was not meant to be a house “for all people;” the temple in Is. 56:7 is the millennial temple, and that future temple will be the house to which the nations of the earth will come during the coming age, to worship the Lord of Hosts. And so the Lord came suddenly to His temple to cleanse it (Mal 3:1-3). But this again is only a shadow of another coming and the final fulfilment of the prophecy contained in the third chapter of Malachi. Another temple will stand in Jerusalem during the great tribulation and there will be even greater defilement. In that temple one will sit who is clearly pictured in the Word. “That man of sin, the son of perdition; who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing Himself that He is God” (2Th 2:3-4). Him the Lord will destroy with the brightness of His coming.
But a more refreshing scene follows. The temple is cleansed. The noise and confusion is at an end. Nothing is said of the return of these evil occupants. But instead of them, there came the blind and the lame to Him in the temple and He healed them. The vacancy was filled by the crowd of poor, stricken, suffering ones, who were delivered of their pains and diseases. Blessed and glorious foreshadowing of what will be when He comes again and when by His life-giving, healing touch, He will cure “all diseases” and make perfectly whole. And still another thing happens. “And when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonders which He wrought, and the children crying in the temple and saying ‘Hosanna to the Son of David’ they were indignant, and said to Him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus says to them, Yes; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise?” (Mat 21:15-16.) The children sang their Hosanna to Him, the Son of David, and our Lord refers the murmuring, accusing chief priests and scribes to the eighth Psalm. The meaning of that Psalm is clearly established by the second chapter of Hebrews. It is Jesus, the Son of Man, who is here seen in His dominion over the earth. When at last He has all things under His feet, there will be a silencing of the enemy by perfect praise. The praise of the children foreshadows the praise He will receive when He comes again.
Beautifully Edersheim in his excellent work describes this scene. “It was truly spring time in that temple, and the boys had gathered about their fathers and looked from their faces of wrapt wonderment and enthusiasm to the Godlike face of the Christ, and then on those healed sufferers, took up the echoes of the welcome at His entrance into Jerusalem -- in their simplicity and understanding applying them better, as they burst into, Hosanna to the Son of David! It rang through the courts and porches of the temple, this children’s Hosanna. They heard it, whom the wonders He had spoken and done, had only filled with indignation. Once more in their impotent anger, they sought, as the Pharisees had done, by a hypocritical appeal to His reverence for God, not only to mislead, and so to use His very love of the truth against the truth, but to betray Him into silencing those children’s voices.”
No answer comes from the lips of those hypocrites to the Word of God, the Sword, He used once more. The very next act of His is one of deep solemnity. “And leaving them He went forth out of the City to Bethany, and there He passed the night” (Mat 21:17). There they stood in the darkening porches of the temple, the pictures of hate and despair. The night came on rapidly for them. They knew Him and had rejected Him and now He leaves them.
“But early in the morning, as He came back into the City, He hungered. And seeing a fig tree in the way, He came to it and found on it nothing but leaves only. And He says to it, Let there be never more fruit of thee forever. And the fig tree was immediately dried up” (Mat 21:18-19). Early in the morning the blessed One is up to return to the City. What a story the two words tell us “He hungered.” The King was hungry. He who was rich, had indeed become poor. There by the wayside is a fig tree bearing many leaves; there He looked for some of the old fruit, or perhaps some of the unripe figs. He finds nothing and a curse follows, which withers the tree. It is well known that the fig tree is the type of Israel. The cursing of the fig tree stands for the national rejection of the people. Israel yielded no fruit, therefore the barren tree was cut off and cast into the fire, while the root remains (Luk 13:1-35).
“And when the disciples saw it, they wondered, saying, How immediately is the fig tree dried up! And Jesus answering said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith and do not doubt not only shall ye do what is done to the fig tree, but even, if ye should say to this mountain, Be thou taken away and be cast into the sea, it shall come to pass. And all things whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive” (Mat 21:20-22).
They wondered at the power which made the fig tree wither, and He calls their attention that the power of God is ready to answer their faith. The connection is obvious. Israel had no faith in God, hence their bareness. If they have faith, it shall be far different; the power of God is then at their disposal. The mountain is the type of an obstacle. Every obstacle can be and will be removed out of the way in answer to prayer. That there is a reference to Israel in these words is no doubt true. The nation was a mountain and by its disobedience and rejection of the Lord, the nation was an obstacle in the path of the Gospel. But on account of faith this mountain was indeed cast into the sea, the type of the nations. Precious to faith has ever been and ever will be the Word, the author and finisher of the faith speaks here. “And all things whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.” Let us not limit them, nor say as some have said, it is not for us. They are for the children of God and there is no limit to them. All things -- whatsoever; surely there is no limit here; and then the three steps -- asking in prayer, believing and receiving. He, the King, who has all power spake these words; and what a meaning they should have for us! May we cast ourselves upon them in childlike faith.
Again we see our Lord in the temple. He is teaching the people. Perhaps it was a great multitude which had gathered. Soon the enemies came also to oppose Him. These men, the rulers of the people, are now gathering force and getting ready for the great final rejection of the King. But ere this comes He silences all their objections and accusations and shows them in their evil and hateful character.
“And when He came into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to Him as He was teaching, saying, By what authority doest Thou these things? And who gave thee this authority?” (Mat 21:23) What troubled them most was no doubt the scene of the preceding day, the cleansing of the temple. He is face to face with the mighty ecclesiastical rulers of the people, those who constitute the Sanhedrin. How will He deal with them? How will He answer their question? Divine wisdom is manifested in the way He deals with them. It is so in the chapters which follow, in these conflicts with the men who were so soon to be His accusers, to deliver Him into the hands of the Gentiles. “And Jesus answering said to them, I also will ask you one thing, which if ye tell me, I also will tell you by what authority I do these things: The baptism of John, whence was it? of heaven? or of men?” (Mat 21:24-25) Here was the question for them to answer. And in this way He not only silenced them but He also answered the question. John the Baptist to whom He appealed had borne witness of Him. John himself, the forerunner of the Christ to whom He so faithfully pointed, was believed to have been a prophet. If they said, Yes, the Baptism of John was of heaven, as they should have said, they would have both endorsed John’s statement concerning Jesus and this would have condemned them, their unbelief and satanic hatred. They dared not to say that John’s Baptism was not of heaven. What could they do? There they stand with their dark faces, talking over this serious matter. “And they reasoned among themselves, saying, If we should say, Of heaven, He will say to us, Why then have ye not believed him? But if we should say, Of men, we fear the people, for all hold John for a prophet. And answering Jesus they said, We do not know” (Mat 21:25-26). Miserable, self-condemned, dishonest men they were! Alas! how much of the same spirit and worse is found today among the self-appointed ecclesiastical rulers of the people, who reject the Christ of God. The Lord refuses to discuss with them this question. “Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things.” The question they had asked was answered. He is the King, the Christ, the Son of God and as such He was about His Father’s business and that was His authority for cleansing the temple, His Father’s house and His own.
And now a parable. “A man had two children, and coming to the first he said, Child, go today, work in my vineyard. And He answering said, I will not; but afterwards repenting Himself He went. And coming to the second he said likewise; and he answering said, I go, sir, and went not. Which of the two did the will of the father? They say to Him, the first. Jesus says to them, Verily I say unto you that the tax gatherers and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not; but the tax gatherers and harlots believed Him; but ye when ye saw it repented not yourselves afterwards to believe him” (Mat 21:28-32).
The parable needs but little comment. They despised the tax gatherers and harlots, but the Lord proves that these polished, cultured, educated, religious priests and elders were far worse, far more obnoxious. The tax gatherers and harlots are meant by the son who said he would not go and repented and went. The second who said, I go, and does not go, nor does he repent, is the proud religious Pharisee, the high priests and elders. Thus the righteous Judge lays them bare with His mighty sword. Self-righteous they repented not. Convicted and condemned the Sanhedrin stands in the presence of the King.
The chief priests and elders have no answer to the parable the Lord had spoken, and now after, perhaps, a brief silence He gives them a second parable. This one is a parable which reviews the history of their nation and predicts the soon coming calamity. Again He makes His enemies to bear witness themselves, and we shall learn later that these men understood of what the King spake.
“Hear another parable. There was a man, a householder, who planted a vineyard, and put a hedge round it, and dug a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went abroad. But when the time of the fruit came nigh, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, to receive the fruits of it. And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another and stoned another. Again he sent other servants, more than the first, and they did to them likewise. And afterwards he sent to them his son, saying, They will respect my son. But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir, come, let us kill him, and lay hold of his inheritance. And they took him and cast him out of the vineyard and slew him. When, therefore, the Lord of the vineyard cometh, what will he do to these husbandmen?” (Mat 21:33-40.) When the Lord spoke of the vineyard, with the hedge and the winepress, the tower and the husbandmen, as well as of the fruit the vineyard was to yield, they must have recognized at once that this referred to Israel. He meant by it the nation to whom He had come to offer the Kingdom. Israel, a vineyard, is an Old Testament picture. The King, no doubt, had Isaiah’s prophecy in mind, when He uttered this parable. It is founded upon Isaiah, chapter 5:1-7. Jer 2:21; Psa 80:8, and other passages speak of the same fact. The Lord through His Spirit had spoken all these words by the Prophets and now He Himself had come to flash the truth of God’s mercy to Israel, their shameful past and the still greater, impending sin before the hearts of these national leaders. The vineyard so well kept and provided for had not yielded fruit. The servants who came to the vineyard are the prophets whom God sent, and they had rejected and maltreated them. At last the Son came, sent by the Father. This is the full dealing of God with Israel. Prophet after prophet came and spake in Jehovah’s name and then God sent forth His Son. What a moment it must have been when the Lord Jesus Christ uttered these words. The Son the Father had sent stood in their midst and they could not but realize that He is the Son. What will they do with the Son? Will they receive His message? Will they bow to His authority? No. He saith that they took the heir, “cast him out of the vineyard and slew him.” Awful prediction of the coming events. And He knew all what it meant for Himself to be taken outside and be slain there. The climax of sin is here revealed. But let us not pass by the significant word, “let us kill him and lay hold of his inheritance.” Even so by the death of the Son of God we receive, believing on Him, His inheritance.
The question had been asked by the King, “what will the Lord do to those husbandmen?” It is for them to answer and their answer must be their own verdict. Will they dare and give Him an answer? So blinded were they that they did indeed. “They said unto Him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard to other husbandmen, who will render to him the fruits in their season.” Well said! And what they had spoken to their own condemnation came upon these wicked husbandmen.
And now the Lord continues quoting from the Book of Psalms: “Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the Scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner; this is the Lord’s doing and it is marvellous in our eyes” (Mat 21:42). The quotation is from Psa 118:1-29. This psalm is much used in the ritual of Judaism. The rejected stone is the Messiah, and in His rejection He becomes the head of the corner. The same truth is witnessed to by the Holy Spirit in Act 4:11; Eph 2:20, and 1Pe 2:7. The leaders of the people are the builders. What foreshadowings of events to come!
But the Lord now pronounces His verdict upon them. He had heard the words spoken by His enemies in their self-condemnation; He speaks next and tells them that their judgment was right. “Wherefore I say unto you, that the kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given unto a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof” (Mat 21:43).
They had refused not alone that kingdom but the King; the Son they would soon cast out and therefore the Kingdom was to be taken from them. These men who stood there, the generation which had share and part in the rejection of the Kingdom and the King, will never see the Kingdom. It is a sad blindness when men can teach in these days a restitutionism which includes these scribes, elders and chief priests, that they are to be raised from the dead at the time of the coming of the Lord and receive a share in the Kingdom. The Word of the Lord is emphatic and absolute; there is no hope for them. The nation to whom the Lord promises the Kingdom is not the Church. The Church is called the Body of Christ, the Bride of Christ, the Habitation of God by the Spirit, the Lamb’s Wife, but never a nation. The nation is Israel still, but that believing remnant of the nation, living when the Lord comes. He adds another word in connection with speaking of Himself as the Stone, that Old Testament type of King Messiah. “And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder” (Mat 21:44). This is a very significant utterance. The Lord in these few words predicts the coming judgment of the Jews and the Gentiles. The one sentence has been carried out and the other is still to be executed. The Jews have fallen on this stone and they have been broken. How it has become true! The stone is yet to fall and strike the world-powers, the Gentiles, and grind them to powder. Our space does not permit to follow this thought, but we advise our readers to turn in their Bibles to Dan 2:1-49 and read Nebuchadnezzar’s dream and the divinely given interpretation. The stone cut out without hands, falling out of heaven, smiting the great image at its feet, is the Lord Jesus Christ in His Second Coming. The Lord refers to this here. As truly as He broke the Jews who fell on Him, so will He pulverize Gentile world power and dominion, when He is revealed from heaven. The nations are ripe for their judgment.
“And when the chief priests and Pharisees heard his parables, they knew that He spake of them. But when they sought to lay hands on Him, they feared the multitudes, because they held Him for a prophet.”
Thus ends this remarkable chapter. They knew Him; they knew what He meant. They wanted to take Him then, so great was their hatred, yet they were cowards fearing men, not God. The people held Him for a prophet only and not for the Messiah.
Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On vv1, 4 Christ’s Entry into Jerusalem
Christ’s Entry into Jerusalem
v. 1. And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, unto the Mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples,
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v. 2. saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her; loose them, and bring them unto Me.
v. 3. And if any man say aught unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send them.
After the miracle at Jericho, Jesus had come directly to Bethany, a small town on the eastern side of the Mount of Olives. Here He had been a few weeks before, when He had raised His friend Lazarus from the dead, thereby greatly intensifying the hatred of the Pharisees and high priests, Joh 11:53. On this occasion the Lord reached Bethany on a Sabbath and spent the day in the house of Simon the Leper. At the supper made for Him there, Mary had anointed Him for His burying, Joh 12:7. The next morning Jesus continued His journey. But the report of His coming had reached Jerusalem, and many of the festival pilgrims left the city to meet Him, singing the joyful hymn of festive occasions: "Hosanna! Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord!" Joh 12:12-13. With the vanguard of this multitude Jesus came to Bethphage, the "house of figs," a small village on the southeastern slope of the Mount of Olives, almost adjoining Bethany, on the main road to Jerusalem. At the entrance to this small town Jesus halted for a time, in order to send two of His disciples as a delegation. He gives them explicit directions: In this very place lying just before them they would at once, without difficulty, find a she-ass tied, having her foal with her; without asking leave, loose and bring, as though they were the owners. And should the owners or any other person remonstrate as to their right in taking the animals away, the mere word: The Lord hath need of them. He has a reason for wanting them, would serve as a password, bringing about immediate obedience and glad yielding on the part of the owner. Three significant points: The Lord knew that the animals were at the designated place, and He again took an opportunity to convince His disciples that nothing was hidden from Him. His word has almighty power and authority. As the minute occurrences of the future are open before Him, so He, Lord to whom all things belong, can influence the heart of the owner even at a distance to yield to His wishes. The two disciples were absolutely in the dark as to the object of their mission, Joh 12:16, and undoubtedly went with great reluctance to carry out His command, which might have brought them into unpleasant difficulties, but they go at His word, since they knew from experience that He would remove all dangers. Thus the disciples of Christ of all times may trust implicitly in the Word of their omniscient, omnipotent Lord, knowing that even in dark ways His authority will uphold them.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 4 Connecting Statement:
Connecting Statement:
This begins the account of Jesus' entry into Jerusalem. Here he gives his disciples instructions about what they are to do.
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Bethphage
This is a village near Jerusalem. (See: How to Translate Names)
a donkey tied up
You can state this in active form. AT: "a donkey that someone has tied up" (See: Active or Passive)
tied up there
You can make explicit how the donkey is tied. AT: "tied up there to a post" or "tied up there to a tree" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
colt
young male donkey
translationWords
Jesus
disciple
Jerusalem
Mount of Olives
send
donkey
lord
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 3, 4 21:1–28:20 Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem initiates Matthew’s account of…
21:1–28:20 Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem initiates Matthew’s account of how the Messiah’s suffering and resurrection establish salvation.
21:1 Bethphage (a Hebrew name meaning house of figs) was probably located on the eastern slope of the Mount of Olives between Bethany and Jerusalem proper.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.